OK, so, here's where I took the out-of-towner last night
Thanks for all the suggestions, everybody.
Yesterday, I got to show freelancer and videographer Benji Lanyado a night on the town.
Benji was filming a video which will (hopefully) pop up on the Web site of the Guardian sometime in the semi-near future.
Where did we go? A little bit of everywhere, actually.
We hit up the Sidebar Tavern first -- just in time to watch the suit-wearing crowd mingle with the hardcore punks. Solid stuff.
Then we dropped by the Pratt Street Ale House for a brief chat with brewer Steve Jones, who happens to be from overseas himself ...
Our third stop was the Idle Hour, where DJ Rezzie Ron was spinning. Rezzie Ron is named after Resurrection Ale, and it looked like he was pounding Resurrections last night. Hilarious. I swear, for some reason, my phone still smells like Chartreuse -- even though I only had one shot of it. Weird.
The Owl Bar (pictured) was stop No. 4, because I wanted to show Benji some Baltimore history.
Then we set out to find some live hip-hop, which was harder than you'd think on a Monday night. For some reason, Five Seasons was closed and padlocked. Ste. 18 didn't have anything going, either, but some folks there told us to check out Club Reality.
We hit up Eden's Lounge because it was on the way, but even Eden's was shuttered for the night. Thankfully, a DJ was spinning at Club Reality, and there was a decent amount of people there.
I had to show Benji the Station North Arts and Entertainment District, so we dropped by the Metro Gallery for No Rule. Quite nice, quite nice.
We ended our little adventure with a pint at Kooper's Tavern Fells Point. It was a blast. Benji loved that the Block is only a block from City Hall.
I'll post the video when it gets edited and goes live. It will need a lot of editing, methinks. But maybe -- just maybe -- it might turn out OK. We certainly stirred up a little mischief.
Thanks again, Benji, for putting up with me, and Guardian editors, for coming up with the idea. Cheers!
(Baltimore Sun archive photo)
Erik Maza is a features reporter at the Baltimore Sun. He writes for several sections of the Sun paper and contributes weekly columns on music and nightlife. He also writes and edits the Midnight Sun blog. He often covers entertainment, business, and the business of entertainment. Occasionally, he writes about Four Loko, The Block, the liquor board, and those who practice "
Comments
That's quite an accomplishment for a Monday night, but if you couldn't do it, who else could?
Chartreuse? I assume that's the name of the liqueur and not someone you met on the Block.
Posted by: Owl Meat Gravy | October 6, 2009 11:42 AM
Damn! I have a package for an editor at the Guardian. Your guy could have hand-delivered it for me and saved me the $40 postage. I'd have even spotted him a drink. The Guardian's writing a book on The Wire, so maybe he was in town in conjunction with that. They're really fascinated with the show.
Posted by: pigtown | October 6, 2009 11:58 AM
Based on news reports I hear about local government, are you sure that city hall isn't on The Block?
Posted by: SS2 | October 6, 2009 12:16 PM
Very impressive Sam, especially for a Monday night. Good work! Glad to hear he had a good time.
Posted by: Brad | October 6, 2009 12:32 PM
Kudos on avoiding sobriety checkpoints...
gotta say I'm not a fan of the Pratt St. Ale House...why not just go to the Wharf Rat and go straight to the source?
Posted by: Frankie Sez | October 6, 2009 2:22 PM
Frankie,
Just because I went to these places doesn't mean I drank there. I had a shot of Chartreuse at Idle Hour and a pint of McHenry at Kooper's.
Also, I'm not sure what you mean by "straight to the source." The Pratt Street Ale House houses the brewery which produces the Oliver Ales line.
Posted by: Sam Sessa | October 6, 2009 2:28 PM
Ummm........ Frankie S.? The Pratt Street Ale House IS "the source" for the Wharf Rat's beers, NOT the other way around. The brewery is in the Pratt Street location's basement. Now the Wharf Rat officially has to buy its beer from PSAH, although there's a "gentlemen's agreement" in effect there. ....
Posted by: Alexander D. Mitchell IV | October 6, 2009 2:37 PM