How Southern is Maryland? Just remember that John Wlkes Booth was a Marylander, born & bred. Baltimore was kept under Marshal Law during the Civil War to keep it from suceeding from the Union. One of the deepest Southern accents I ever heard belonged to a lady I worked with back in the early 70’s. She was a native of Maryland’s Eastern shore. Baltimore’s affinity with Philadelphia comes from it’s having been a major port of entry for the German immigrant in the last century, many of whom went on to Pennsylvania but just as many stayed here. My own ancestors on my father’s side are Pennsylvania Deutch.
Well, I’d better stop, I’m starting to digress, those of us into genealogy have a tendency to to that!

wanderingjew,
We are below the Mason-Dixon line, so, geographically, we are southern.
Historically- Lincoln only receved 4% of the votes in Maryland during the election of 1860.
South of Baltimore and on the Eastern Shore, the influence is definitely more Southern. But, back to the future! I agree with your thoughts on Balto.-Philly. In fact, I LOVE Philly. My Dad took me to my first Mummer’s parade when I was five years old. Anumber of my university friends grew up there. I love to eat in Philly!

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

Bushie,

I believe cider vinegar is traditionally used, however many restaurants in Maryland only have malt vinegar available, both are good, however malt vinegar is a little stronger and may take away some of the flavor of the old bay seasoning.

Thanks for the tip, WJ! I’ll try the cider vinegar instead.

wanderingjew-
Thanks for the recap. I will definitely try some of the places you visited.
Biscuits are definitely an item here in Maryland. We are,after all, the northernmost southern state. That’s one thing that I like about Maryland- we have the influences of both the North and South.

Franks Diner is on Route 1, just south of the Rt. 175 interchange. Right side of the road as you head south towards Laurel.

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew

Fries were served on the side, which I decided to transform into Chesapeake Style fries by adding vinegar and old bay seasoning…

WJ, someone mentioned the "Chesapeake Style" fries on another thread; it may have been you. I LOVE malt vinegar on fries (I always use that instead of catsup on my homemade fries), but I’ve never tried Old Bay on them. I keep Old Bay in my cabinet for shrimp/crawfish boils, so I’m going to season my next batch of fries with it.

I’ll add my "thanks" for posting your trip details. You always come up with some of the best places…

Thanks for your trip report, wanderingjew. I always enjoy reading them.

quote:

Originally posted by Lone Star

Thanks for the write-up wanderingjew! Sounds like a great trip with great food.

I have never heard of stuffed ham before.

Stuffed Ham is a Southern Maryland tradition. The ham is not smoked or dry cured in the manner most people think of as ham, it is corned (hence Wanderinjew’s likening it to pastrami) The ham has slits cut into it that are stuffed with seasoned greens, any extra greens are placed over the top. The ham is then tied up in a clean cloth (a clean white t-shirt works well) & simmered until done.[:D]

By the way Wandering, do you have an address for the diner in Jessup? I might have to give it a try.

Thanks for the write-up wanderingjew! Sounds like a great trip with great food.

I have never heard of stuffed ham before.

Sounds like a great trip! Thanks for posting your summary of the trip.

Ok, back from the final baseball trip of the season and no rain![:D]I started out on friday morning after a breakfast of Jonnycakes and Canadian Bacon right here at Jiggers Diner in East Greenwich RI. The Jonnycakes are South County style. Thick and substantial with that "cornmeally" bite. Then I continued on to Edison NJ and decided on Jack Cooper’s Celebrity Deli only because the directions seemed easier. As it turns out Jack Cooper just retired and sold his deli to a Korean American however they are keeping the Jack Cooper name and leaving the deli as is. I ordered the Pastrami & Corned Beef on Rye. I thought the meat was a little too lean but the sandwich overall wasn’t bad, but not as good as the Carnegie or 2nd Avenue Deli. Of course I had a Dr Browns Cel-Ray soda to wash it all down. I arrived in Wilmington DE in the afternoon and passed the Charcoal Pit and Capasulla’s on the way to my hotel. I noticed the "steaks" sign underneath the Charcoal Pit sign, so curiousity got the best of me. I decided on a mid afternoon cheesesteak snack at the Charcoal Pit. It was surprisingly good, and came with hot pepper relish on the side, although the bread could have been a little chewier. Before heading to the ballpark, I stopped at Capasulla’s and got the "baby" cheesesteak. The bread was great, a good chewy philly style roll, however I prefer cheesesteaks where the onions sit on the grill for a while and are more limp, at Capasulla’s the sandwich is made to order and the fried onions are relatively "fresh" and have a "snap" to them. Anyway I headed to the ballpark and saw the Wilmington Blue Rocks beat the Potomac cannons 1-0. On Saturday I headed to the Post House in Wilmington for breakfast, of course I had scrapple, that was the most notable item on the breakfast menu. Everything else was ok. I then headed down to Peanut Country in Wakefield Virginia and went to the Virginia Diner for Lunch. Had the Fried Chicken and BBQ pork platter along with spoon bread, mac n cheese, collards and stewed tomatos over black eyed peas. Unfortunately they did not have peanut soup available on the menu that day [V] The piece de restistance was the Peanut Butter Silk pie. Absolutely decadent! I drove to Norfolk and headed to Lockharts for dinner. I had the crab norfolk, but was somewhat dissappointed. Not that it wasn’t good, but I guess I was expecting to hear gregorian chants and see angels dancing around my head, oh well, the corn bread was delicious though as well as the steamed cabbage. I then went to see the Norfolk tides lose to the Richmond Braves. The next day I drove to Richmond for an artery clogging breakfast at McLeans. Had their big breakfast which consists of 3 Eggs, Cheese, Fried Apples, Grits, Biscuits, Juice and Choice of meat, in my case, fried bologna. I’ve been there 1/2 dozen times and have never been dissappointed. I continued on to Bowie MD and noticed that Rips Country Inn was practically right across the street from the Ballpark. I parked my car at the ball park and walked to the restaurant and had a good (not great) Crabcake Sandwich. Fries were served on the side, which I decided to transform into Chesapeake Style fries by adding vinegar and old bay seasoning. After the ball game between the Baysox and the Reading Phillies, I drove down to St Mary’s Landing in Charlotte Hall and had the Stuffed Ham which I understand is traditionally served cold. It was delicious, had a tangy bite to it, almost like pastrami. On Labor day, I decided to skip Baltimore altogether, in attemtp to avoid traffic, I found a place in Jessup MD called Frank’s Diner, an old fashioned diner out of the 50’s and had their chipped beef on a biscuit. I was surprised to see that biscuits are still served as far north as Baltimore. My final stop was at Swanky Franks in Norwalk CT for lunch. The place was packed! Their hot dogs do snap when you bite into them, so do their onion rings. A great way to,29,28292.013,1,-1,209.37.78.5
28304,28292,28292,2003-08-27 09:03:36,RE: Ballpark Trip Labor Day Weekend”