Text 27217, 77 rader
Skriven 2012-07-15 10:11:00 av MICHAEL LOO (1:123/140)
Ärende: make that three 961
===========================
I had this 0600 flight out of BWI - figured I'd get there
the night before, sack out uncomfortably for a few hours,
and then go get on the plane, likely in coach, as on
Delta [this turned out to be so - I had the dubious honor
of being first on the "upgrade did not clear list"]. I
then decided that a hotel room would be superior to that,
with air conditioning (like the airport, unlike the house)
and a bed (like the house, unlike the airport); this would
set me back a good hundred bucks, though. And then I thought,
why not take the Shipps to dinner, sack out a few hours at
their place, and have them truck me to the airport, which is
about 15 miles away. Nothing like imposing on your friends.

Anyhow, I was to take the airport bus and get off at
Burtonsville, where they would pick me up. As I was getting
ready, my brother said that he was going in that direction
and could take me there. I thought a second and decided that
saving $8 or 10 was worth a half-hour harangue on whatever
subject, so off we went. Relatively few acrimonious words,
and I got the good news that he's adjusting to his CPAP
machine. Dale and Gail were easy to find at Burtonsville, as
was Kloby's Smokehouse, which we agreed upon as a good dinner
choice. This is a medium-size bar-restaurant in a strip mall
in Maple Lawn, a community that seems to have been built as
a strip mall haven. We were greeted by some preternaturally
energetic young people, who seemed eager to jolly us along
so as to take our money in the most expeditious manner, no
surprise, but also to make sure we were happy, a characteristic
that is hit or miss these days.

We started off with a couple Flying Dog products, the Pearl
Necklace oyster stout, which was fine and creamy (on nitro)
but turned out, I discovered, to have lactose in it; the
Rarities Red ale was on the bitter side - Michael our server
recommended it but was blinded by his love of hoppy brews,
and I don't think Dale really enjoyed it. A bottle of Bud
was only $2.50.

Gail had pulled pork, pretty decent, with fries, pretty nasty.
The bite I got had a bone in it, which I pointed out added
authenticity. Dale's two-meat plate consisted of lean brisket
and ribs, both fine for what they were (I thought the bite of
rib I tried a little oversmoked). On the side he got collards
and some rather sweet beans that he thought more chililike
than beanlike. My one-meat fatty brisket plate (Michael
guaranteed he could do that) was rather not fatty enough, so
I rather nicely asked for a couple slices of fat to go with,
which after some delay was rather nicely provided. To me, the
fat was way more appealing than the brisket itself, which was
underdone, not sufficiently flavorful, and a little tough. The
fat, which apparently they normally throw away, was perfectly
smoked, and its rub was not too salty - rather excellent, in
fact. I mentioned that if they'd just given me this fat (which
came in about a 1/4 lb serving) and not the meat (1/2 lb), I'd
have been better pleased than with what I initially got, and
they would have had 1/2 lb more brisket to sell. My sides were
collards, decent, pork-spiked, and not too salty, and what they
call chili, which was somewhat more chililike than Dale's beans,
but more beany than what I prefer.

Just for the name I ordered a pint of Oskar Blues Deviant Dales
IPA, which was a piney, citrusy, fairly intensely hopped ale,
more in the American style. It was okay, a bit of an eye opener.

The Shipps had a coupon for $10 off a $60 purchase, so we asked
our server to tot up the bill: we were somewhat under so decided
to order dessert - Dale and Gail split a dish of butter pecan
ice cream, and I had a Guinness, which turned out to be cheaper
than the fancy micros, but this got us over the threshold, so
it was like getting free dessert.

I'd probably go back, if encouraged by, say, a ride who was
hungry for substantial portions of protein..

___ Blue Wave/386 v2.30
--- Platinum Xpress/Win/WINServer v3.0pr5
 * Origin: Fidonet Since 1991 And Still Here. Join Us: www.DocsPl (1:123/140)