Firemen to the left of me, firemen to the right of me, oh, what a night. And the brother of the guy who runs the shindig here ... nice guy, retired NYFD.

If you happen to end up in Baltimore, Maryland, near Camden Yard, Pickles Pub is the place to be. Awesome food, nice wait staff. Had some fine beer ... something called Flying Dog ... well named, bit of a citrusy finish, very hoppy. Only non-see through beer was Guiness and the waitress recommended this stuff. Oh, and they do this burger basket called the Chesapeake ... they slap a ton of crab dip between your burger and the cheddar cheese, and sprinkle Old Bay over everything.

Baltimore is all about the Old Bay. Good stuff. And enough of the crab dip oozes out of the burger to swab it up with the fries.

Heaven.

Oh, and my teammate ordered fried pickles. I do not like pickles. I usually point at the pickle that is ubiquitous on the American Diner Plate and tell people that it is menacing me and must be dealt with harshly. Beer Batter Fried Pickles are proof that you can deep fry just about anything and make it taste good.

Proof of drunktedness. Pickles never taste good. NEVER.

Just wait until UG reads this. He'll patiently explain that you have just never had a good pickle.

One can easily be had, though, if you just mosey on down to Southern California.

Have you been to "Little Italy" yet?

Vaccaro's can't be missed. The chocolate cannolis are to die for. I was never a fan of Italian cookies until I tried them at this place. They are moist and delicious and tiny, so I don't feel too bad if I eat a pound of them.

Absolutely correct. I am heading back for more of the Flying Dog stuff tonight.

I don't know that we'll have time this trip for Little Italy. Our favorite restaurant there is DaMimmos ... a couple of years in a row it was a necessary part of our trip to arrange for their limo to pick us up at the hotel. I loved their Lobster and Crab Ravioli and also experienced the heaven that is the Chicken Piccata. I have never had it quite as good anywhere else, and trust me, I've tried to find better. I do love Cannoli, though.

No in-room fridges here, so leftovers are not an option, which also guides food and restaurant choices.

The conference was held at the Omni for a couple of years, which meant we were pretty much trapped there. It had, however, two fine qualities ... one was Shula's II, where they had a lovely steak soup and outstanding Sweet Potato Fries. The other saving grace was a cigar bar where they didn't mind if you smoked cigarettes. Other than that there wasn't a lot to recommend the place ... dirty rooms, frequent fire alarms, and a location in the badlands, so everytime you stepped outside a doorman was warning, "Hon, don't you go nowhere I can't see you, okay hon?" And there was a Baltimore City Cop stationed in the lobby at all times. The Hilton is closer to the harbor, but not close enough that you could scoot over there, grab lunch, and be back in time for the afternoon session.

Smoking indoors is a plus in and of itself.

Here we don't even get a windbreak, or an area with an ashtray.

Okay, so I didn't do a lot of posting this week. In fact, I only paid for one day of internet ... really didn't have time to use it any way.

Did get to Little Italy (Chippiarelli's), spent a lot of time at Pickles Pub, but mainly was at the conference site, including a big 50s party. Everybody loved my costume, which was a pair of Mickey Mouse Ears. I do have some pictures, but have to wait for our "official photographer" to get her pics off her camera and shared around to everyone.

applecore

respectfully, you're wrong.

drunkeness or no, these are gooooood.

I'm posting in the Baltimore thread, which means another two years has passed since the last time ... Once again, the conference is at the Hilton, I'll be heading there Wednesday. Not sure yet how I'm getting home, probably Amtrak, should have booked my ticket last week, they've already gone up in price, dammit. Actually, as of right now the Acela ticket is around the same as the regular train, may consider that option.

Baltimore. You poor thing. Don't forget to tip your strippers.

My oldest son spent a summer in Baltimore. It was one of the most depressing places I've ever visited. Found an Irish pub that had pretty good food, and that was about it on the positive side of the scale.

As for Flying Dog, I completely agree. Raging Bitch is very hoppy, citrusy finish, very distinctive. Snake Dog is a little less demanding but pleasant. I'd drink either one in preference to most IPAs.

Oh, and pickles ... wolf, you just need to open your mind and taste buds to the complexities, the garlic and the dill ... ;)
I didn't eat pickles until I met my ex; my very wasp family considered them too ethnic except when eaten with a Montreal corned beef sandwich. It may be a genetic thing, though - while I enjoy pickles, I don't go out of my way to eat them; my kids, on the other hand, LOVED them literally from infancy. They would try to eat them before they had teeth. I have some great photos of them knoshing down.

Baltimore is just fine. It produced The Wire, which is epic.