August 1, 2007
So, I'm a little bitter that I didn't get to see Pete Yorn & Guster last night at Wolftrap. *sigh* However, we did attend the 100th year of the Glen Burnie Carnival. Excuse me, the Big Glen Burnie Carnival...because, well, you know, that's tradition around here. It's all still there: the same games, "corn bingo", the rickety old Zipper, the Tilt-A-Hurl. And of course, the trip wouldn't be complete without a souvenir GB Carnival plastic cup to put in my kitchen cabinet. We ate the $7.50 pizza (you know, for a whole pizza) and the $1 french fries. I even had the 2oz crabcake, which is barely large enough to cover a Saltine...just because I had to see what that was like. It wasn't bad, for carnival food. Nothing like my crabcakes, of course, but decent $2.50 food. Anyway, the kids enjoyed the crap out of it, and it was actually a nice evening-not too hot, breezy, and best of all, not too crowded. It's always like homecoming, going there...I always see people I went to school with or whatever. The kids want to go back on Thursday, because we didn't get to do half the things we wanted to do. It's considerably more expensive, now that I have three children...even though each ride still costs $1 and the games are cheap. G and I decided that corn bingo is probably the most lucrative business there. You can play three cards at a time for $1, and it takes, what, 5 minutes for someone to call bingo? The corn markers cost nothing, and they've been using the same cards for probably 50 years. Not to mention that you don't have to stand in line to do it. We also agreed with the bingo guy that there should be beer (and wine, of course) sold at the bingo stand. On the other hand, the GB carnival attracts enough of Glen Burnie's finest as it is, without the addition of alcohol.
We also recently went to Artscape, which was fun, but we got there late. Man, did it bring back memories!!! The smells, well, you know, after the nasty Bourbon Street-esque smells, were devine. All those foods, and I couldn't wait to eat. About a block away, I smelled the jerk chicken, which I am a sucker for. I immediately decided that while it would be hard to choose if I really looked around, jerk chicken was what I wanted. It was to be served with red beans & rice (the Jamaican style, not the New Orleans style) and sauteed cabbage/veggies. My mouth was literally watering, and I was starving. I stood in that line for no less than 45 minutes, I'm not kidding. It may have been an hour. I kept looking to see if they were actually slaughtering chickens and cleaning them out of the back of their truck. Little did I know, their jerk chicken is marinated, grilled, taken off the grill to be seasoned and cut up, returned to the grill, then removed and re-seasoned and re-grilled again. G had time to find his food, get drinks, and feed the boys while Cameron and I stood there, sweating to death and shifting our weight from one foot to the other. We listened to the real Jamaican ladies in front of us, colorfully insulting the catering staff in their sing-songy accents. Finally we got our food, and it was darn good, but not worth the wait and the frickin' $12 I spent on it.
Then there were the mojitos, which I was really excited to find. I asked G to get one for me, and he brought it back, commenting on drinking a salad. Yes, there was real mint in it. Too bad there was no real rum in it. Needless to say, I promptly switch to Zima. At least, per the bottle, there's 5% alcohol by volume in that, right?
No really good bands played this year (well, none on the day I was there). I saw a band, I think it was called Fools and Horses, which also played with Cowboy Mouth a few weeks ago. They were ok. I even recognized one of their songs.
I did see some good art, but it's kinda hard to get close to the stalls, what with that big honkin' double stroller I have and all. It's also weird to see my generation, including artsy people, with children in tow. Next year I hope to see some more, maybe even buy something good. G and I saw some lamps that we liked, which he assured me he could easily make. We'll see if he does. Heck, maybe it will be us in one of those stalls next year. Or maybe I'll apply for a temporary liquor license and sell real mojitos. Or jerk chicken without the 40 minute wait. Or maybe I'll just go early and stay late, and have more fun.
I can't believe it's August already. Enjoy your last month of summer!
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