I'm back, bitches. Where do I even begin?? Unless you've been under a rock for the past 5 days (or you simply don't care about me), you would have known that I've been TRAPPED in Baltimore, MD...stuck in a downtown hotel while the Blizzard of '76 ripped through the Mid-Atlantic.
The week started out fine. I flew into BWI without an issue, rented my car, and then found out that the 2nd half of my bid-ness trip (Fredricksburg) got cancelled!! Thanks.
Anywho, so Monday was actually fairly surprising. After renting a car to drive up to Harrisburg and then checking into a Holiday Inn, I needed somewhere to eat. I get fairly excited on business trips, mainly because I can splurge on extravagant and decadent meals that I normally wouldn't (sh*t, everyone does this, right??). After talking to 3 separate people about the "go to place" in the area, I was unanimously directed to the local watering hole named Gilligan's.
Yes, Gilligan's.
As you may have guessed, I didn't exactly have a warm and fuzzy touching me on the inside going into this. I drive up to this piece, and it looked JUST like you can envision for a mom and pop Harrisburg outskirts bar. Sign discolored and damaged, nowhere to park, Hillbilly's leaning against their trucks, etc. I walk in, and am immediately greeted by 3-4 servers just lounging around in a couple of booths....puffin away on their, what I'm presuming to be, Newports.
BK: "Uhhhh, am I in the right place?"
Server specimen A: "Phreww the dorrrr thurrr" (pointing to a door in the back)
Not to beat around the bush, but I practically high stepped it to the back. These ladies were something else, and they were all looking me over like I was ground chuck. Sorry, I wear a Navy Pea coat. It's nice.
Anyway, so there was indeed an entire semi-legit bar area in the back, with actual patrons. You could compare the atmosphere to, say, Scorchers over there on E. 12th. Fairly dingy, Pennsylvania sports shizz hanging from every wall, et al.
I ordered me up a Michelob Ultra (which ended up being a PBR on accident; no worries, the nice lady bought me my 2nd one), and then PEELED open the menu.
I may sound like I'm laying this on thick, but that's def. not the case....the place was SEEDY. Anyway, so this is all leading up to something, I PROMISE!!! So I open the menu, have a quick glance, and then am honestly taken aback. I have honest sticker shock. You should have seen the high end options I had to choose from....veal marsala, jumbo lump crab cake, fillet mignon, NY strip, swordfish, rack of lamb....you name it, WITH the prices to boot.
As a starter, I went with a daily special. If you know anything about anything in the culinary world, you NEVER order a special, let alone a seafood option at the beginning of the week. I ordered a nice $7 bowl of PEI mussels.
They were amazing. The portion, literally, could have been an entire entree.
I followed that up with another chef's special (i know, i know) the King Cut of Prime Rib, with a VERY healthy sized baked potato and side salad.
My GOD, what a meal of food!! This cut of Prime Rib was f*cking huge, and perfectly cooked. After the mussels and salad, I could barely eat half. Simply amazing.
I might as well have been eating crow....
In the words of some hack more famous than I: Never judge a book by it's cover.*
* - don't worry guys, I still basically hate everything about PA
Due to my unfortunate incarceration in Baltimore, I fell behind in my blogging, and I apologize for that. I was definitely still keeping my journal...and I'll have you know, IT....IS.....UGLY in there.
To my credit, I did find a treadmill each night to hammer out 30 minutes of cardio. Better than nothing I suppose.
I won't blog about all 4 of my missed days, I'll just review a few of the highlights:
Monday the 8th:
Grand Caloric Total = 2340 ish
Highlights: The previous 5 paragraphs
Tuesday, the 9th:
Grand Caloric Total = 1945
Highlights: Finding a bar in the Inner Harbor that was ACTUALLY open. Peter's. Not a bad place. The bartender dude was playing cuts off of his iPod, so I was able to enjoy the Shins and a little Modest Mouse with my Turkey Reuben.
Wednesday, the 10th:
Grand total consumed = 2195 Calories
Highlights: Come on maaaan. You have to give me some credit. By this point, the ENTIRE city of Baltimore was under a Phase 3 city-wide emergency lock down. NOTHING was open; NOBODY was on the streets.
I took a jaunt outside to find some grub at noon, but the only places open were a 7/11, and 2 Chinese take out places. I scrounged through the day on Pringles, and prepackaged ham and cheese. I was going maaaad...sitting in a hotel room all day, staring at the Weather Channel will get to you.
Thursday, the 11th:
Grand total consumed = 2200 Calories
Highlights from the day: AGAIN, the only places open for lunch were now the massive chain conglomerates...the Cheesecake Factories and Hard Rock Cafe's of the world. I chose the ESPN Zone....and boy was I disappointed.
I found myself sitting in the BWI and PHILA airports for a total of 6 hours. Oh effin joy. It was almost IMPOSSIBLE for me to eat well.
In the immortal words of Layne Staley of Alice in Chains:
"No more hiding or disguising the truths I've sold
You find me sitting here by myself, No Excuses that I know"
I promise to get back after it this weekend. No Excuses.
BK out
xoxo
The week started out fine. I flew into BWI without an issue, rented my car, and then found out that the 2nd half of my bid-ness trip (Fredricksburg) got cancelled!! Thanks.
Anywho, so Monday was actually fairly surprising. After renting a car to drive up to Harrisburg and then checking into a Holiday Inn, I needed somewhere to eat. I get fairly excited on business trips, mainly because I can splurge on extravagant and decadent meals that I normally wouldn't (sh*t, everyone does this, right??). After talking to 3 separate people about the "go to place" in the area, I was unanimously directed to the local watering hole named Gilligan's.
Yes, Gilligan's.
As you may have guessed, I didn't exactly have a warm and fuzzy touching me on the inside going into this. I drive up to this piece, and it looked JUST like you can envision for a mom and pop Harrisburg outskirts bar. Sign discolored and damaged, nowhere to park, Hillbilly's leaning against their trucks, etc. I walk in, and am immediately greeted by 3-4 servers just lounging around in a couple of booths....puffin away on their, what I'm presuming to be, Newports.
BK: "Uhhhh, am I in the right place?"
Server specimen A: "Phreww the dorrrr thurrr" (pointing to a door in the back)
Not to beat around the bush, but I practically high stepped it to the back. These ladies were something else, and they were all looking me over like I was ground chuck. Sorry, I wear a Navy Pea coat. It's nice.
Anyway, so there was indeed an entire semi-legit bar area in the back, with actual patrons. You could compare the atmosphere to, say, Scorchers over there on E. 12th. Fairly dingy, Pennsylvania sports shizz hanging from every wall, et al.
I ordered me up a Michelob Ultra (which ended up being a PBR on accident; no worries, the nice lady bought me my 2nd one), and then PEELED open the menu.
I may sound like I'm laying this on thick, but that's def. not the case....the place was SEEDY. Anyway, so this is all leading up to something, I PROMISE!!! So I open the menu, have a quick glance, and then am honestly taken aback. I have honest sticker shock. You should have seen the high end options I had to choose from....veal marsala, jumbo lump crab cake, fillet mignon, NY strip, swordfish, rack of lamb....you name it, WITH the prices to boot.
As a starter, I went with a daily special. If you know anything about anything in the culinary world, you NEVER order a special, let alone a seafood option at the beginning of the week. I ordered a nice $7 bowl of PEI mussels.
They were amazing. The portion, literally, could have been an entire entree.
I followed that up with another chef's special (i know, i know) the King Cut of Prime Rib, with a VERY healthy sized baked potato and side salad.
My GOD, what a meal of food!! This cut of Prime Rib was f*cking huge, and perfectly cooked. After the mussels and salad, I could barely eat half. Simply amazing.
I might as well have been eating crow....
In the words of some hack more famous than I: Never judge a book by it's cover.*
* - don't worry guys, I still basically hate everything about PA
Due to my unfortunate incarceration in Baltimore, I fell behind in my blogging, and I apologize for that. I was definitely still keeping my journal...and I'll have you know, IT....IS.....UGLY in there.
To my credit, I did find a treadmill each night to hammer out 30 minutes of cardio. Better than nothing I suppose.
I won't blog about all 4 of my missed days, I'll just review a few of the highlights:
Monday the 8th:
Grand Caloric Total = 2340 ish
Highlights: The previous 5 paragraphs
Tuesday, the 9th:
Grand Caloric Total = 1945
Highlights: Finding a bar in the Inner Harbor that was ACTUALLY open. Peter's. Not a bad place. The bartender dude was playing cuts off of his iPod, so I was able to enjoy the Shins and a little Modest Mouse with my Turkey Reuben.
Wednesday, the 10th:
Grand total consumed = 2195 Calories
Highlights: Come on maaaan. You have to give me some credit. By this point, the ENTIRE city of Baltimore was under a Phase 3 city-wide emergency lock down. NOTHING was open; NOBODY was on the streets.
I took a jaunt outside to find some grub at noon, but the only places open were a 7/11, and 2 Chinese take out places. I scrounged through the day on Pringles, and prepackaged ham and cheese. I was going maaaad...sitting in a hotel room all day, staring at the Weather Channel will get to you.
Thursday, the 11th:
Grand total consumed = 2200 Calories
Highlights from the day: AGAIN, the only places open for lunch were now the massive chain conglomerates...the Cheesecake Factories and Hard Rock Cafe's of the world. I chose the ESPN Zone....and boy was I disappointed.
I found myself sitting in the BWI and PHILA airports for a total of 6 hours. Oh effin joy. It was almost IMPOSSIBLE for me to eat well.
In the immortal words of Layne Staley of Alice in Chains:
"No more hiding or disguising the truths I've sold
You find me sitting here by myself, No Excuses that I know"
I promise to get back after it this weekend. No Excuses.
BK out
xoxo
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