Sometimes you can't go home
Got this email from Midnight Sun reader Patrick:
Sam,
Reading your article (in today's paper) about the Knotty Pine Inn (pictured) brought back memories of what happened to the Emerald Tavern on Harford Road in Parkville.
The Emerald was a neighborhood establishment for decades along that corridor. The bar was relatively dark, had a long, oval bar in the middle of the room, a low ceiling and the restroom was always filthy. But I loved the place. I'll always remember that I was there one evening when I saw the Orioles pull off a triple play on the television. (Things like that somehow stick in the crevices of one's mind).
About eight years ago a new owner purchased it, and it closed for what was probably a year (I happened to go in there by coincidence the last night it was under the old ownership) ...
I would occasionally call and ask when the place was going to reopen. Obviously, I eagerly anticipated the reopening of the place.
The truth is, some eight or nine years later, I'm still getting used to the "new" Emerald. Too many mirrors, too much light wood, and a bar tucked along the far wall as you enter. The old charm was gone, as if sucked away by a vacuum.
The music on Saturday nights is usually quite good, and there is seldom a cover charge, but every time I set foot in there, I still "pine" for the old Emerald.
Sometimes, you simply can't go home …
(Photo of the new Knotty Pine Inn, top, by Algerina Perna/Sun photographer. Photo of the old Knotty Pine Inn, bottom, by Kenneth K. Lam/Sun photographer)
I've been The Baltimore Sun's nightlife and local entertainment reporter for a couple years, and it's surprising how much the scene has grown in that time. Most of Baltimore's bars and clubs are unpretentious places with fairly cheap drinks and plenty of character. I like dancing and think this city needs more clubs, but nothing beats having a cold, locally brewed beer with friends in a comfortably full corner bar.
Comments
I feel the same way about Nacho Mama's since they renovated the interior. I really hate the Elvis portrait area in the back with the almost lounge-y goth feel, and the "NATIONAL BOH" or whatever it says behind the bar in big, silver, straight-from-Pottery Barn letters. The way they have rearranged things on the wall is Bennigan's-esque. Despite all that, I still lurve NM's, but I really preferred it the old way.
Posted by: AC-M | January 8, 2009 2:41 PM