My bassoon to Baltimore

Last weekend I had two days off.  When looking at my calendar, I didn't see a bloc of free time this large until June vacation.

Although I hadn't noticed anything clearly wrong with my bassoon, I thought it would be a good time to schedule an appointment with Holden McAleer, my bassoon repairman. Holden does great work and enjoys the one-on-one with his clients talking about the bassoon and making adjustments to the instrument.

Just up Harford Rd.  from Holden's shop is a local coffee roaster, Zeke's.  Of course, I went in and had a tour.  They mixed an espresso blend for me right out of the green coffee vats.

Zeke's just opened a storefront cafe.  It serves their coffees and sells bags of their roasts along with pastries and sandwiches.  I spoke with Todd, one of the employees.  He designed the logo -- a crab holding a coffee bean.

I had an excellent espresso there.  Very full flavor and great crema.

While Holden worked on my bassoon, I went to the Federal Hill section of Baltimore and lunched at Ryleigh's Oyster Bar. There were seven different kinds of East Coast oysters on the raw bar menu.  I tried the Chincoteague from Virginia and one from the Maryland part of the Chesapeake.

I also had the Maryland crab soup and a pint of "Raging Bitch" Ale.  Somehow my mouth formed the words, "I'll have a Raging Bitch, please." when the woman behind the bar asked for my order.