Located in walkable downtown Chattanooga it is close to some great restaurants.

This is another Children’s Museum that we got to visit. Now remember these reviews are from being with a shy 2-year-old and are not so much to be used as a review, but just to point out its existence. And just whether or not it is worth visiting.

This museum has the usual playground activities, water-based activities, and crafts all based around learning. While not quite as large as some of the ones located in big cities, this is still a good-sized and nice museum. We recommend this place, and if we had time we would have explored the aquarium near by, which can be added as a package deal.

Here is a link to their website http://www.cdmfun.org/

This is the front of Devil's Backbone Brewing Company. Part of the Brew Ridge Trail. THE BREW RIDGE TRAIL - MORE BREWERIES THAN STOP LIGHTS. The Brew Ridge Trail celebrates the craft beer industry in Nelson and Albemarle Counties. The five breweries and two cideries that comprise the Trail offer award winning beer in unique and scenic settings.

As we continued our trek down the less-traveled highway, we found several more breweries and brewpubs. Come to find out they are associated with the Brew Ridge Trail. And along this highway were also several wineries and vineyards. We plan on taking our time the next time we go through there, maybe stay a few days :)

This shoe, #430, was taken when my camera was still attached to my dashboard and we were sitting at light. The bottom photo was taken up on the mountain at Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia

The drive to Cincinnati from Pensacola went really well. We stopped over at our friend Kevin’s home on Signal Mountain outside Chattanooga, TN and slept in his driveway for the night before heading out early in the a.m. I did have a little worry about our accommodations in Cincinnati for a bit that about made me have a panic attack, but we got that straightened out thankfully.

We were once again shacked up at Trish’s place for the duration of the holiday stay. Trish also allows me to let my mother stay as well so I can see her more and she can have more time around Nora. But the problem is, Nora does not like to spend time around her. Nora is not fond of old people, she just doesn’t trust them. We think it stems back to when she was very little and the old asian women working at the Chinese buffets would always try to pick her up and should would scream for mommy and daddy to help her. She literally would say “Help Me!” It was fairly humorous at the time but it has made it difficult for both grandmothers to connect with her.

And it really did not help that my mom had contracted a staff infection and a nasty bout of cellulitis under her right eye, causing it to acutely swell and discolor. Plus her eyesight has deteriorated quite a bit over the last few years causing her to walk like a zombie with her arms out and fumbling over things. Hell Sharon and I were even a little scared to get too close. My mom, bless her heart, never did give up to Nora’s dismay. She was determined to hold her, but Nora was having none of that as she kept her distance, always aware of where Grandma Marge was lurking.

Oh yeah, did I mention we came at a time when Trish’s heat was not working. Luckily we come prepared with space heaters. Also good thing it was a mild winter so far!

We took a day to go to a Christmas event that Trish’s YMCA, which she is the executive director of, was throwing for the community. There was craft-making, treats, hot cocoa, caroling and a tree lighting. Even a 30 year santa with a terrible fake white beard was there to complete the event.

The gym was where the crafts were being created and while in there I saw the climbing rope. I had not climbed one since in grade school probably and wondered if I could still do it. I mentioned it to Trish and she told me of a guy that was well over 60 doing it just the other day. I figured I could still do it then. She scoffed at me when I told her…it was game on! I looked at the height for a few seconds and then turned to her and excliamed ” I bet I can do it in under a minute!”

She chuckled and then said once the gym clears out I can try it. She did not think I could do it. And once time came to climb, I too was a little bit hesitant. But I am a good climber, always have been, so I figured I would still be the same monkey I used be so I grabbed the rope and told Trish to time me. She said go and off I went. Hand over hand, and pushing myself with my feet. I was actually going faster than I thought I would. I reached the top, and she informed me I did it in under 15 seconds. I felt so vindicated! I began sliding back done and kinda lost control and burned my hands a bit, but it was worth it. I didnt even need to be triple-dog-dared.

When we got back to Trish’s we noticed Nora was starting to show signs of getting a cold. Not good. Traveling with a sick two-year-old is not good at all. But par for the course with us. A road trip isn’t good without some adversity right? :)

When I lived in Cincinnati I played a lot of sand volleyball during my adult years. I had learned of an indoor sand volleyball complex, Grand Sands, just a mile or so from where I grew up and got with a friend of mine who still plays and we decided to meet up and play. Unfortunately he is just as unreliable as he was when he was 16. Luckily though, I knew several other players there and got in some great games. It some getting used to the ceiling and florescent lights compared to a sky and sun, and walls instead of sand dunes. It was great to be able to get some playing in though, when it was so cold and rainy outside.

My brother Doug always invites us over for a wonderful dinner that he skillfully prepares for us. He takes great pride in what he creates and he has always come through. This evening he was to create homemade pasta and a sauce along with many other sides. But it was the homemade pasta that was to be his centerpiece. We had sat down to eat and a well-prepared salad was passed around as the first course. While eating it, I heard many strange noises coming from the kitchen. I also noticed Trish was staring into the china cabinet pretty intensely.

Come to find out she was looking into the mirror in the back of it, watching my brother work frantically in the kitchen. After about 30 minutes or more we started to ask Doug if he needed any help. The kitchen was a disaster area and he had pasta shrapnel all over him, and was “bloody” from the pasta sauce. It looked like a roadside bomb went off next to an italian eatery! The pasta he created looked like 5 pounds of spaghetti molded into the shape of loaf of bread.

He then looked at us and asked “So what do you guys want on your pizza, I give up.”

We still had a fun time there, catching up on what new is going on and also reminiscing about old times. It was mostly about them seeing Nora anyway and she was quite sweet the whole night despite having her nose run constantly.

The infection on my mom’s eye was not going to go away on its own, I am sure the eye would pop out in a few days if she let it go on any further so the following day we took her to the doctor for medication. We were all hoping for a miracle but the infection was pretty bad and never really went down until the day we were to drop her back off.

It is always something with my mom. Last time we came home to Cincinnati it was the incident with the Clairol. One evening my mom attempted to color her own hair in Trish bathroom sink with Clairol and splashed color everywhere. However being partially blind did not notice so she just walked out. Dripping color the whole way down the steps to the living room. Trish walked into what she described as massacre looking crime scene, only somewhat relived it was not blood as she still had to try and clean it up. Which I guess hair color stains pretty bad in a white bathroom. Trish was calling for me to go grab my mom before she sat back on the couch. I went into the bathroom to find Trish on her knees frantically scrubbing the tile and walls. I torn down the steps to just catch my mom from lying her head on a couch pillow. I helped her get a towel all around her hair and eventually washed it out of her hair in the kitchen sink with sprayer. Trish and I still crack up about the follies of that night.

Over the course of a few days we did manage to get to see quite a few friends. The days passed quickly and it was time to depart. We loaded the van and went to our friends the Costello’s before heading out to West Virginia. We left out at 11:00pm and I stopped driving about an hour past Charleston at about 3:30 am. I was tired. But I was on a mission to get Nora to see snow for her first time and knew we were tight on time and rose back up to carry on driving at around 6:30am. Our destination for snow was Wintergreen Ski Resort in Virginia just off the Blue Ridge Parkway.

The drive to get up to the resort was pretty extreme with a 15% grade hill that meandered for around 5 miles up. The van trudged along slowly but it was going strong. Upon getting to the top we were rewarded with several areas with manmade snow where we could go play with Nora for a bit. Keep in mind Nora is a Florida girl through and through and the only experience she had with snow was the white fluffy cotton they used for decorating around the mall. She was cold, and was not fond of the snow. Her only remark was “Its icy.” I made a miniature snowman for her and we took pictures of her in the snow and got back into a heated place so her cold would not worsen. The drive down was white-knuckled. I kept the van in low gear and surprisingly the brakes did not heat up much.

We stopped just a bit after getting down the mountain at a Brew Pub along the Brewridge trail (see this review for more info)

It took us another 6 hours to arrive at Deal Island where we were to spend Christmas. That night, Nora through a five hour crying fit when it came time to go to bed, we still dont know if it was reaction to the cough syrup or what. As the syrup was an expensive natural herbal syrup with little in the way of malicious ingredients. She thrashed about and screamed that she wanted to go home. The best way I can describe it is that she was violently homesick. It broke my heart. Eventually she passed out. She has never acted that way, and did not again the rest of the trip.

The next morning she woke up sweet and told me she was sorry. I told her it was okay. But then she said. “Im sorry I hurt you, are you going to be okay?”

I told her “Daddy is fine, you didn’t hurt me.”

Sadly she answered, “I hurt your heart.”

At first I was puzzled. Then it dawned on me. She heard me say that it was breaking my heart last night, and she took it literal. It was so sweet. I just hugged her and told her that Daddy was strong and that I was just fine.

Another funny thing Nora said that really made my day was when Dave (Sharon’s pops), Nora and I were on our way back from seeing Santa. Every Christmas the local fire department on the island rides Santa, waving and passing out candy, around on a fire truck with lights and sirens blazing through the neighborhoods. So anyway, we were walking in the house and she mentioned the pretty stars. I mentioned to her that the bright one might be a planet. “That one there I think is Uranus.” I told her.

And without hesitation she looks up and then back at me and with a puzzled look says. “That’s my anus?”

Dave and I could not stop laughing. It was one of the funniest things I have ever heard. Out of the mouths of babes my mom always used to say.

Nora was finally getting over her cold and was becoming more like her sweet self just in time to head up to Baltimore to see Aunt Glenda as well as Rachie who was flying in from South Florida for New Years. Not sure how much more whining and asking to have her nose wiped every 5 seconds we could have taken :)

to be continued…

This shoe, Lost Sole #427, was found while visiting a Mennonite sorghum mill. Their cookies were the bomb. The photo below it was taken at the hoedown itself.

We did the usual and got the Ark loaded and ready to go the night before and slept in Ark while parked in the driveway so I could just wake up very early and take off. This way Nora could be sleeping for a good portion of the drive.

The first hours were uneventful, we left around 5am as I slept in a little. The first 4 hours were uneventful. We stopped for breakfast when Nora woke and took back off. It was just before making it to Birmingham that the Ark experienced a breakdown. It started overheating and we were forced to pull off to the shoulder of I-65 as the engine had kicked off. I was pretty worried.

I knew I saw steam and coolant come out, but when I stepped out of the van I saw it had covered the whole passenger side with and orangish-brown looking coolant. “Water everywhere!”, as Nora quipped. Dripping off the door handles, the mirrors and streaking all the way back to the rear windows! This might not be good I thought to myself that the engine might be cracked to let out that much coolant.

So we fired up the laptop and got online to find an auto part store. We were in luck, just a few miles down the road was a Carquest and a Walmart. I filled up the radiator with the extra coolant we had and water from the freshwater tank on the van.

It started right up and ran cool the whole way to Walmart exit. We got off and parked in the parking lot, leaving it run for a bit to see what happened. And it ran just fine. In fact the gauge never went off cold. Which seemed a bit odd. I guessed we burned out the sensor from it getting so hot. I figured Id repair that once we got to our destination.

We bought more coolant and water, and headed on our way. Since the gauge was not working I was on the lookout for the first hint of steam. It was about 15 minutes later when I noticed steam starting to come out of the hood. The van was again overheating, and running very rough this time, and I immediately pulled off and shut off the engine.

I feared the worst, that it was in fact a blown engine. And after speaking to Sharon’s brother who was pretty sure it was a cracked block or blown head gasket I was nauseous. Here we were, 4 hours from home. Scenarios were racing through my head. Do we rent a car? Do we try to fix it here and hang until it is completed? What the hell should we do?

I eventually got hold of my anxiety and looked online again. Just 1.4 miles ahead was a KOA and off that exit was a retail utopia. Anything we needed. We decided to limp to the campground and assess the damage and maybe it will be something I can fix. In the meantime we could plug the ark in and relax a bit and let Nora play, while I researched the problem online. What I found was that the thermostat and other temperature controls are run by the temperature sensor and if it is inoperative the van could overheat. After inspecting the sensor, it was in fact destroyed. I also read that sometimes plugs get fouled, even damaged, when an engine severely overheats, causing it to run rough. So I had a game plan.

Upon checking on google, I found and Auto Zone just a half mile down the road from the campground. I took my bike off the rack and took off to see if they had any ideas what could be wrong also.

They agreed with what I learned and also suggested I get a new thermostat. The guy behind the counter did not think I had blown the engine at all. He knew how tough the engine’s were in the big chevy vans. That gave me some relief. I took off back for the ark. I left with 8 new spark plugs, a thermostat, coolant, radiator stop leak, and a new sensor. I was on a mission to repair the Ark.

The temp sensor was a bitch to get off. It was in an almost totally inaccessible spot for regular wrenches. Some engineer somewhere must have made a special tool for getting to it when he designed the engine. THANKS! Eventually after much swearing and cut and smashed fingers I got it off and the new one in. The thermostat was easy. I hoped the spark plugs would be as well as I had not removed the cockpit engine cover inside the van before to know how accessible they would be. To much great relief it was easy to get off and once removed the spark plugs were all right there. Luck was on our side as I instantly noticed one of the spark plug wires was no longer connected. It must have been blown off when it got really hot. I simply slipped it back on and started the Ark to see how it ran.

It fired right up and purred like a kitten. We wanted to test it before we decided on whether or not to push on to the hoedown so we ventured out for Thai food. Which is our style of comfort food :) The Ark ran beautifully. We ate and went back to the campground and prepared the Ark for an early departure.

I was excited to get going so we ventured as steathily as a hulking old van could be at 3am in the morning. It felt so good to feel it just glide down the highway. It ran smoother than it ever had.

We made it to Kentucky without a another problem. The hoedown was fun, although hampered by a passing storm right in the middle of the festivities. They just crammed themselves into the house to continue the party until the rain stopped. I felt bad for those in wet tents as we were snug as bugs in the Ark.

We did get in a great bike ride during the one day we had to play. We rode down with Nora to a beautiful creek to play at, she had a blast running around the shallow gravel bars and shoals. It turned out to be a very relaxing weekend with family that went by way too quick. Of course we lost a day due to the breakdown, but the crisis was averted so all was well.

As I write this we are gearing up for a Christmas journey to Ohio then to Baltimore and just pray the Ark gets us there and back again. I am not too worried as it is a work horse, but one never knows what lies in store. I just hope it isn’t too cold up there, Nora hates the cold!

The outside of BJ's in Culver City, CA

The restaurant combined my 2 of my favorite things. Fish Tacos and on-site fresh brewed beer. First the tacos.

While I assume I could have asked for them to be grilled, the fish in the tacos comes fried. I prefer grilled, but pretty much only for the health factor.

These tacos were really good. The tortillas were very fresh and they were rolled tight with lettuce, tomatoes and with a side of a creamy avocado sauce. I would have to rate them a 8.5 out of ten.

The menu had many other great sounding choices as well. Something that stood out were the reasonable prices, especially for being in California and close to LAX and Marina Del Ray.

And even a better deal were the $3 pints of their draft beer. There is something about finding a deal that always makes something better. I am not sure if that is what added to the high rating I would give their beers or not.

The beers were really good, very smooth and drinkable. Nothing tasted over the top in the ones I sampled, those being the porter, the stout, the brown and the Irish red. I of course opted for the brown ale, for my full pint, aptly named, Brewnette. It really stood out as one of the top brown ales I have encountered, Full flavor, but not heavy. A beer you could end up drinking too many of before you knew it. A true session beer.

Lost Sole #426, found while participating in the "Santa Monica Road Rally", more like the daily rat race in L.A. And wouldn't you know it, a cop stopped and wanted to know what I was doing. Of all the crime going on in L.A., they take the time to stop and harass someone just taking a photo of a shoe.

It was Sean’s wedding and Skippy, Jason, Mark, Gary, Scooter, Dink, Trish, Kevin, Jeff and I all went out to L.A. for the wedding. The only true member not attending was Kramer. Getting all of us together like this, especially without any families. Except Kevin who brought his new bride out, as she had never met any of us yet and this was a great chance to meet everyone at one time.

Numerous funny stories happened that weekend, Jason getting a little tipsy and throwing up on the bus ride home from the wedding, Jason getting crapped on by a bird the next day, Mark getting so hung over he ended up in his infamous “fetal position”, Scooter doing a bang up job as the reverend while performing the wedding ceremony. We will forever recall the crazy people from L.A. and their outlandish behavior, as it was something I’ll never forget, nor will anyone else that was on that bus with them that day.

While those were all entertaining on their own merit. It was Skippy’s and I’s quest to find the Hell’s Kitchen restaurant and get a photo standing out front of it that causes me to smile every time I think of it.
The first night we got there all of us decided to go hit one of the local Marina Del Ray bars on the beach. But I couldn’t drink much as I had volunteered to go pick up Dink and Skippy from the airport. We went straight back to the hotel as everyone had already gotten back from the bar and it was getting late. We sat around for a bit but everyone was pretty wiped out from traveling. But not Skippy or I. I mean we were in L.A. and had no wives, no kids and no curfew. We were ready to explore. But where do we go at 1:30 a.m.?

Skippy was hungry as he never had dinner, and he wanted pizza. So we thought the best chance to find a pizza place open at this time of night would be on Sunset Blvd. in Hollywood.

Armed with a rental car a GPS we set out. Sunset Blvd. was actually quite easy to find. We enjoyed cruising through Bel Air and Beverly Hills. Seeing all the famous roads and landmarks.

It reminded me of when we were 16. We would buy root beers and a bag of Doritos and jump into Skippy’s little Honda Civic to drive around downtown Cincinnati late at night. Skippy had a police scanner at the time and we would listen for any action, fires or crimes, and go check them out.

And driving around town was always a blast. Skippy is quite the comedian and would always have me rolling. It was so much fun to feel so young and free.

I felt that way again with him as he does his impression of a large black woman as a fire dept. dispatchersending a truck to a four alarm fire on the corner of “Baskeweeben and Winesty” (AKA Basketweaving and Glen Este:). It was hilarious, and I really think he needs to record it. It wasn’t racist; it was just really funny and clever. The way he weaved all the little details and nuances into the skit was brilliant.

Once we did get to the main strip of bars we parked and headed out on foot. We strolled by the famous Whiskey a Go-Go, and Viper Room. They were both closed for the night but it was just cool to be where so many headline-making stories took place.

We stumbled upon a small pizza joint that had beer and was still serving! The pizza was by the slice and very large slices at that. Along the walls were autographed messages by numerous celebrities. Demi Moore was the most famous that I could see from our table. That hit the spot.

Now to find a bar that was still open might be a challenge.

The one we chose to check out was a wild little place called the rainbow room. It was a large place but sectioned off into several tiny spaces, which were too crowded for our liking. It was really interesting though, and the people watching was top notch. There were people from all walks of life there, from Yuppies, to Punk Rockers, to Goth, to Hippies.

We did stop for a second to watch a sort of bizarre performace. It was a female led band tucked away in a room the size of a bedroom. Seriosuly, the bar was an old house at one point and I think that room was previously used for a bedroom. About 5 people, 3 of whom were photographers, were able to fit in the room with all the drums and band members. They were really good but since we never made it through the door and it was not prime for hanging out for long.

It was now approaching 3 a.m. and nowhere else was serving beer so we called it a night and began heading home. On the drive we discussed that we wanted to get a picture together by something famous that we both liked. We decided on finding Gordon Ramsey’s Hell’s Kitchen, the restaurant that they filmed the L.A. seasons of the TV reality show at. It would have to wait until tomorrow as the need for sleep was overtaking our adrenaline from earlier.

The next day after breakfast we got online to see where the exact location of the restaurant. To our dismay there were three listed but it was hard to make out which was the actual restaurant. And we did not find where someone had actually been to one to verify its whereabouts. So we just started we the first address we found.

It was a bust, it was just a small warehouse, not sure what role it had played, but it was not what we were looking for. Good thing was, it had been only 10 minutes from the hotel. No big deal. The wedding was that afternoon and we had no more time to explore and would have to resume the search the next day.

The wedding had many stories played out but will wait for another time to be recounted. That next day after walking the boardwalk again and hanging at the beach and bars most of the night it was time for friends to part. I took Mark, and Dink to the airport in the early afternoon. My flight did not go out until 1:30 a.m. and I volunteered Skippy to take me early, as I wanted to resume our search. Not so much as to really find it, but it gave us a purpose to our wondering. It was just fun to hang out together and spend time.

I plugged the next address on the list and we were off. Another bust. While it was on a studio property, it looked just like some storage warehouses again. For sure the next destination would be where it was located.

Hell’s Kitchen never surfaced at that location either; curiously enough it was another set of warehouses. Could the restaurant be just a stage trick? On screen it looked like a major restaurant on a bustling street in L.A. But this was Hollywood, where nothing is actually real.

Skippy also wanted to see Mann’s Chinese Theater and the Walk of Fame. It was so crowded that we never stopped the car to get out. I think we were Hollywood-ed out at that point.

Now I noticed we were running a little late for flight, I wanted to get there with an hour to spare and we were cutting it close. But thanks to some road rally-esque driving down blvd, we made it on time. And I know it was crazy because it was even making Skippy nervous the way traffic was moving. I really wasn’t doing it on my own; I was merely keeping up with the flow and trying not to be run over! What was funny, was that Skippy was acrtually nervous. The guy who, while having his Toyota 4×4 truck loaded with people hanging off everywhere, would go zooming down the streets, in and out of parking lots, on medians, shoulders, all with the theme from Beverly Hills cop blaring on his radio and his volunteer fire department sirens roaring. I can still hear the music…”Shakedown, breakdown, takedown. Everybody wants into the crowded light. Breakdown, takedown, your busted …”

This was taken at Sean's wedding. Skippy is the one front and center with the teal shirt. Their were 2 guys missing from the sot, Kevin and Sean as they were probably off spooning somewhere *LOL*

When I finally got on the ground and saw Nora and Sharon I was so happy. Nora ran to me yelling “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” It just made my heart melt. Time goes by so quickly. Thank goodness for friends and family to make that time a good one.

This is a shot from Spring Break 1988. From top left to right: Scooter, Me, Sean, Mark, Jason, Jeff, Chris, Gary and Skippy at far bottom left.

I must add, Jim did not get the name Skippy until he was 17-18 years old but that is a story for another time.

I guess the earliest memory of us belongs to Skippy. He claims that he remembers in kindergarten me telling our teacher, “Miss Benny, I gotta go potty.” Now how he can possible remember such a trivial event is beyond me. Part of me thinks he is making it up to try and embarrass me. But since he is self-declared, sharp as a tack, he probably really does remember it. But this story is going to be told as I recall it, not him. I am sure after he reads this that some facts would be under dispute by him.

It was summer break and we were both 6 years old. I was playing in a fort I had constructed using scrap wood braced up against the back fence with a sleeping bag draped over the fence with a hole in it so I could spy on the kids in the yard behind us. This day there were a few new kids playing. A boy, and from what I could tell, his sister. I assumed that fact because only siblings would fight like they were.

After a bit the boy noticed me looking through the hole in my sleeping bag and came over to the fence. “Hey” he shouted, “I see you looking at me! What are you doing?” he asked as he stood at the fence. I was caught. I peered out and did the only decent thing I could think of. “What’s your name?”

“I’m Jim, who are you?” he responded.

“Randy.” I then asked him if he wanted to come over and check out my fort.

He jumped over the fence and proceeded to crawl into my makeshift shelter. Now being only 6 years old I was not allowed to use hammer and nails so the structure was not very sturdy. I warned him as he came in. “Just be careful and don’t hit the main board.”

No sooner did I get those words out did he brush against the board in the middle and the entire fort came crashing down on his head.
I asked him if he was okay and he was somewhat laughing and replied, “yes, I have a hard head.” Only after several decades as friends did I find out what a profound statement that was. Skippy undisputeabley has the hardest skull I have ever encountered.

I came to find out his family had just moved into the house caddy corner behind mine. And that was in fact his sister Jennifer. And man did they have a volatile relationship.

From that day on we were inseparable. And I could not ask for a better best friend. He has been there through it all. Deaths, Weddings, Births and numerous adventures that provide me with an almost endless supply of subjects for my stories.

We have had our fights but always work them out. The only regret is that we do not nearly get to see each other as much as I would like. I wish our kids knew each other better.

Now I was not the first one in The Gang to be friends with Skippy. Jason actually gets that honor. Jason and him met around age 3 and were partners in crime while being neighbors until both moved away.

It was not until Jason and I became friends through little league baseball that Skippy and him reunited through me. Were we all an easy fit and immediately became like the 3 musketeers. Jason had been friends with Wayne and brought him into the group.

During high school Skippy went to a different school than Jason and I but we all still hung out a lot.

At high school Jason started hanging around Mark, who was best friends with Sean. Mark’s brother Gary was just 2 years younger and was best friends with Scooter, a.k.a. Marvin. The 4 of them all hung out and soon the 2 groups of friends get close. It was now a group of 8.
Mark had been dating a girl but broke up soon after, however they remained good friends. At a high school dance at her school, we met her new boyfriend Mike. Mike had 2 other friends with him, Chris and Jeff. And as usual as the circumstances were, we all just seemed to click. Now we were a group of 11.

The real foundation for the relationships and the beginning point of the Gang was spring break 1988. Sean, Mark, Jason, Skippy and I’s senior summer! We built bonds that week that have lasted our entire lives.

Eventually we took on new members. Almost like a fraternity, we made them go through initiation and even called them pledges. We added in order, Scott, Ryan, Kramer, Trish (did not have to pledge officially but still earned her way in) and Kevin. Bringing us to 15 strong, but we never really stayed at 15, we lost Scott to a parental ban, and Chris to religion. Officially the gang now stands at 13.

We range quite a bit in personalities and we all live scattered about the U.S. Somehow our friendships break all the barriers. Every time we see each other it is like we never missed a beat. We love talk a lot about old times and the fun we had whenever we get the rare chance to all be together.

I am now on a jet headed for Sean’s wedding in L.A. Present will be myself, Skippy, Jason, Mark, Gary, Scooter, Jeff, Ryan, Trish, Kevin, and of course Sean. All we are missing is Kramer and Wayne. Except for Kevin and Sean, all the guys are riding solo this trip and I am sure there is going to be a story or two to be told of what holds to be an epic weekend.

I just love the bar with exposed brick. (Not my photo)

The Ale House is home to Oliver Brewery who makes some great brews. I only tried a couple, and looking back not sure why I didnt try more.

Cherry Blossom Ale: A fantastic wheat ale with pureed dark cherries added to it. Unlike many fruity wheats, this one really worked great, not overly sweet but the cherry flavor was perfectly represented. This reminded me of a cherry lambic, or on of my favorite all times beers, Lindemann’s Framboise. A+

Old Habit: As you can tell by my beer choices on my favorite beers list, that I love brown ales. And this one was pretty good in my opinion, but not quite a favorite. I need to start paying better attention maybe as I have drank so many they are become to all blur together. With that said I apologize I am not giving a better review, but I believe this beer gets a B rating from me.

Three Lions: This was another brown ale. I did not like this one, mainly because it is a high alcohol content beer. I am not fond of them as the alcohol has a little burn and bitterness that detracts from the taste to me. Because of that fact I am not going to rate this beer as I am not a good person to ask about this style.

Beyond the beer, I found the menu to be really good. I had the rockfish italiano and it was exceptional. Now Sharon and Glenda were also with me and were not as enthused with theirs but still liked them, Sharon had the corn and crab quesadilla and Glenda the Thai chicken salad.

Overall I give the Brewpub an A-. I would like to return and try more of the beers.

The National Aquarium at Baltimore is a fantastic aquarium, it ranks in the top on my list. Not quite the Shedd Aquarium in Chicago, but it is a great place nonetheless. It has a really nice layout where you wander up ramps to the numerous levels of exhibits.

The highlights are the large shark and ray tank, the dolphin show and the indoor rain forest. The price is very reasonable and the place is great for kids.

Another big plus is the location. It is set right in the heart of the inner harbor in Downtown Baltimore, on the water. The inner Harbor is a large area with shops, museums, activities, pubs and restaurants. It has been developed into a great family destination.

They may use paper plates, but they do use glass for their pints at least!

Koko’s is somewhat of a hole-in-the-wall kinda place. The food is served on paper plates and only recently have they changed over to actual silverware instead of plastic. It is away from the beaten path of downtown and pretty much only locals know of it. The funny thing about this place is if you want to eat dinner there you better make reservations.

Sharon’s aunt Glenda took us there proclaiming she was taking us to the place of the best crab cakes ever and they did not disappoint. First thing you notice is the size of them. They are huge! When you first sink your fork into them you notice how moist and soft they are and just full of large chunks of bright white lump crab meat. I mean these are so heavily packed with crab I don’t know how they stay together. I guess it must be the creamy sauce they saute the crab in. I dont know exactly what made them so heavenly, but I could not get enough of it.

I am here to tell you, those crab cakes are the best I have ever had and almost guarantee you will feel the same way. So if you are a crab cake fan, and are ever in Baltimore you MUST have a crab cake at Koko’s pub!!