Hogans, you're forgiven

About a month ago there was an incident at Hogans, our FAV local bar. Back story, Tony and I have been going there since we moved into the city. It's two blocks away, all locals, good food, cheap drinks, good conversation....a different version of Cheers. Mark is always working, Bobbo is always there playing pool, Mr. Hogan is djing on a good Sat. night. You get the picture. But that night a couple of weeks ago we were there with Kari, Mike, and Craig, getting drinks, hanging out. And the bartender got pissed, some old men made a couple of lude gestures, and we left. What happened? We go there all the time. We love that place, they know us. Apparently, we were dispendable. Boycott on.
But after a day like today we needed some greasy bar food and some beers, so we broke down and left our boycott behind, we ventured back to good ol' Hogan's Alley. Food - greasy and great, Corona's - nice and cold, conversation - wonderful, everyone chatting about the local politics, police and fire departments and the commisioners they have in the back pocket, life on the loading docks down at The Point, and we once again felt like locals, felt welcome, like people were glad we were there. And we were glad to be there, to be part of it. (If 'The Wire' is running through your minds right now, you're right one, it was like we were sitting by McNaulty, Hurk, and the working guys from the dock....and i mean this in the kindest way, minus the whole illegal stuff). This reason, feeling like you belong to a little niche within a big city, is one of the wonderful feelings that have made living in the city such a great experience. I was always hoping to get to live in a city and get to experience things like this. I will always look back on these memories and be thankful that we moved to Baltimore. We're so terribly homesick, but nights like tonight bring a smile to our face. Hogans, we forgive you.

Wine Tasting

My friend Sharon introduced us to a new hangout, The Vine. Which on Wednesday nights has wine tastings. For $5 you can have 5 samples of wine. Sharon and Sean joined us for our first night at The Vine.

The first wine of the night was a white wine, Cascal Garcia Vinho Verde. It was from Portugal. It was much like a sparkling wine. It was crisp and clean, very nice for a warm weather wine. My favorite wine of the night was the 4th, a red, Chateau Haut Marchand. It was a Bordeaux made up of 60% Merlot, 25% Cabernet Sauvignon, and 15% Cabernet Franc. It tasted of berries, although it was very dry, not as acidic as I expected. It had a lot of tanins. Very good. I thought my favorite wine was going to be the Chianti, as I am particular to Chianti., but this one beat it out. The atmosphere was very laid back, anywhere from men in ties just coming in from work to me, in my boundry water shorts and a t-shirt. The service was good, especially considering how many people were in there, which I was surprised at how many there were. We will be trying to go back to The Vine soon for more tastings!!!!