Text 18269, 77 rader
Skriven 2007-07-28 05:39:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: 892 Thursday
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If I went back to the rehab place (which looks more and more to
be a long-term solution) with my father, I'd have had about 15
minutes there before having to head out, so I decided to go
directly to Union Station from the dialysis center, giving me
an extra hour and half. Got on the 4:15 train - my outdated
schedule said 4:20 - expecting to beat rush hour. Found myself
in the midst of the returning 7:30-3:30 shift people and had a
hard time finding a seat.

I'd arranged with Dale to be met at the Halethorpe station,
which is by a fair bit the closest station to the restaurant
where we were going to meett; given my being early, it might
not have been the top choice, but I was on the Penn train before
figuring that out. The train ride was okay, and I lucked out
by getting a seat on the 3rd car (out of 7 or 8), because it
turns out that Halethorpe is a small, makeshift-looking thing,
and they let passengers out only at the doors on the ends of
the 2nd car. It's odd - the train stops on the express track
(there's no platform for either the express or the local
track), with the conductors providing little stepstools; then
you walk across the local track to these high staircases that
take you to an overpass and then down the other side to the
parking lot, which has a trailer for ticket sales and a couple
of drink machines that have handwritten signs saying "machines
working." Streets and Trips has the station in the wrong place,
as well as showing the overpass street intersecting US1 instead
of soaring 30 feet above it as it really does.

Dale and Clean Dave picked me up in due time, and we went back
to Casa Shipp for an hour or so of chatting and noshing before
the dinner expedition.

Caravaned to Dimitri's way up in Catonsville - turns out to
be a pretty pleasant restaurant in a quite nondescript building.
Greek-American menu, prices fair but not cheap.

At the far table: Dale and Gail; Dirty Dave. Glen and Joan; me;
Steve and Ruth. At the near table: Burt and Shirley; Dave,
Maryanne, and Lynn.

If you're a first-timer, they have a first-timer plate - samples
of stuffed grape leaves (standard, tasty, vegetarian), gyro meat
(nice beefy porky flavor, no lamb I think, lots of onions),
tzatziki and olives (didn't try), spinach and rice pilaf (very
wet but pretty good tasting), and avgolemono soup (I like mine
better). This is a sort of propaganda thing and is free.

Bread was fresh, a bit oversoft, served with butter and a saucer
of herbs and cheese, over which you may pour a glug of olive oil.

As I wanted to start off the weekend modestly, I just had the
mussels appetizer - a dozen or so greenlips in garlic butter,
served on the half shell with a tangle of julienne lettuce in the
middle of the plate. Quite tasty and (barely) enough food, though
not what I'd have expected, which is a bigger bowl of whole ones.

Things I tried from others' plates:

Sour beef - the local Greek diner (I'm imagining that like similar
places Hellas, Timbuktu, and G&M, Dimitri's had its origins as
such a thing) take on Sauerbraten - was quite palatable if a
little sweet; lamb chops were quite nice (I got to gnaw on
a rib bone); veal santorini, though it had cheese and was made
with rather mature veal, was very appetizing.

Voga Pinot Grigio, the wine of the week, was pleasantly citrusy
and appley, good acid but with a touch of sweetness. It was even
better as the special of the day was all wines half price.

Back to Columbia for more chewing of the figurative fat, and
then bedtime. As it was too late for me to go to any of the
places I call home, I snagged a spot in the Hat Room, the other
bed occupied by a gently snoring Uncle Dirty Dave.

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