An Evening In Ellicott City

Through the years, I've always enjoyed spending a Saturday or Sunday afternoon strolling down Main Street in historic Ellicott City. The old buildings and hilly landscape transport me back to a time when things were a little less complicated. Unfortunately, a couple of major floods over recent years have wreaked havoc on small business owners in this historic district. But on my first trip back since the last flood, I was happy to see that business was booming and the streets were crowded with enthusiastic visitors. 

My long-time friend, Mike Young, happened to be playing an outdoor gig with his band (Radio Monkey) near the Little Market Cafe. This was the primary reason for yesterday's visit. But we were able to squeeze in a quick dinner and a little shopping beforehand.

Our first stop was at the Manor Hill Tavern. We made our way to the upstairs bar where I was greeted by a small but interesting chalkboard list of the house beers. It was a bit torturous to me as I had volunteered to be the designated driver for the evening. I figured I could have one decent draft beer with dinner and switch over to soft drinks for the rest of the evening. So, I narrowed my choice down to two brews which were, interestingly enough, named MaryAnn and Ginger. Both were IPA's which is my go-to beer type. But since I've been partial to the Mary-Anns of the world since the early days of Gilligan's Island, I went with that one. 

When it came time to order dinner, I went with the Honey Blue Crab Pizza. It consisted  of Alabama White BBQ, lump crabmeat, Fritos (yes, that's right), corn, blue cheese, and honey habanero. How could I pass this up? When I placed my order with the bartender, I asked if I could get my pizza with no corn. I explained that I'm having a colonoscopy in a few days and my doctor instructed me to avoid seeds, nuts and corn for the days leading up it. She laughed and assured me that it wouldn't be a problem. Yeah, I know, sometimes I surrender way too much information. By the way, the pizza was absolutely delicious! Even without the corn!

After dinner we strolled along Main Street and visited a few of the local shops. One of which was a hat store. Even though my hat collection is pretty much limited to baseball caps, I'm fascinated with all kinds of hats. For instance, cowboy hats have a way of instantly upping the sexiness of any girl next door. Imagine Mary-Ann in a cowboy hat. Ginger who? And how cool does Slash look in that big black top hat while he's playing the intro to "Sweet Child of Mine"? I would love to walk into work one morning wearing that thing. But I don't think that it would have the same effect. Anyway, I left the shop empty handed.

I headed towards the Little Market Cafe with Tina, Toni and John. The area was already buzzing with activity. We were lucky enough to find an empty table near the side of the stage. As we settled into our seats, a guy came walking by with an interesting record album in his right hand. We inquired about it and he told us that it was an obscure John Lennon album that he had bought at one of the local shops. He had a brown paper bag his other hand. He informed us that he also bought a set of Num-Chucks and he slowly pulled them out of the bag. It was a weird segue. We just laughed, and said, "Relax Mr. Miyagi, we're not here to steal your Lennon record." The guy casually slipped the wooden sticks into the bag and quietly walked off into the sunset.

We were joined a short time later by our good friend and old high school buddy, Derrick. We chatted with Mike for a bit before he hit the stage with his Les Paul. Norm, another old high school friend, stopped by to complete the mini-Gibbons Class of '83 reunion.

Everyone's focus turned towards the stage as the band kicked off their first set. They played a variety of popular songs from the 80's and 90's. The tight musicianship of the trio was noticeable. I've known Mike since we were freshmen in high school. Even back then, his ability to navigate around a fretboard was remarkable. He has since grown into one of the most respected guitar players in the area. He was especially impressive of this June evening as he had to battle hoards of flying cicadas. At one point, he had four of the winged creatures clinging to him while he delivered a guitar solo.

The trio delighted us with the Judas Priest version of "Diamonds and Rust". In my opinion, one of the best covered songs ever. Of course, the song always excites us to a point where we feel the need to sing along. As the bridge of the song kicked in, I think we were louder than the band's PA system:

Now I see you standing with brown leaves all around and snow in your hair

Now, we're smiling out the window of this crummy hotel over Washington Square

Our breath come out in white clouds and hangs in the air

Speaking strictly for me, we both could have died then and there....

While it certainly wasn't pretty, it was fun. I was so amped up with musical energy that I tore the lid of my bottle of Deer Park and guzzled it with reckless abandon. (By the way, next time someone else is driving!)

The band closed down the evening with a blistering version of Iron Maiden's "Wrathchild". This was a song that Mike and I grew up listening to and played with our respective bands back in the day. While some of the younger people in the crowd had probably never heard the song, it still forced them to bob their heads. Paraphrasing Derick, "That's the way you close a show!"

As we wound down the evening, we all said our goodbyes. We acknowledged how, no matter how long we go without seeing one another, we can always pick up right where we left off. It was a very nice moment.

Our day in Ellicott City was very enjoyable. We ate good, spent some quality time with long-time friends and heard some great music. Looking forward to doing it again real soon....

kw