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Month: October 2021

Picking Crabs: A Maryland Tradition

Picking Crabs: A Maryland Tradition

There are some foods that are synonymous with a state’s identity.  Maine has its lobster, Georgia has their peaches, Louisiana has the crawfish; however, in Maryland, one food item reigns supreme. The Maryland blue crab. Nothing beats sitting down at a long, paper-covered table piled high with freshly steamed blue crabs, the air filled with the signature smell of Old Bay seasoning.  Armed with a mallet and a small knife, it’s now each diner’s job to dissect these crustaceans, picking…

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A Little Town Celebrates a Big Milestone

A Little Town Celebrates a Big Milestone

My small town of Clear Spring, MD (population 479 – salute!) celebrated a big milestone this past weekend. It was the town’s 200th anniversary. Now, it’s not every day you get to live in a town that has been around long enough to celebrate its own bicentennial, but for an “older” gal, I have to say she still looks pretty good. This past weekend was celebrated with home tours, scavenger hunts, and panckake breakfasts.  Lots of folks were popping in…

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Urban Blight – The Doom of Any Town

Urban Blight – The Doom of Any Town

Perhaps you’ve seen examples of this in your town.  A big shopping plaza filled with several big-box stores opens up to great fanfare, then as the years go by, the stores close one-by-one, leaving large, abandoned buildings and deserted parking lots to litter the landscape. Do you know what I mean?  I’ll use some examples from the largest town near me – Hagerstown, MD (population @40,000).  It’s at the intersection of two major highways, I-70 and I-81.  You’d think that…

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Pumpkin Spice Flavor Is Back – And It’s In EVERYTHING

Pumpkin Spice Flavor Is Back – And It’s In EVERYTHING

Unless you’ve been living in a cave or your internet connection has been down for the past month, you’ve no doubt seen or heard that one of the heralds of the fall season is the return of that obligatory flavor of autumn, pumpkin spice.  Ohhhh, and it’s not just in flavored coffee at Starbucks.  No, some overzealous salesman at the spice factory has managed to ensure that this seasonal spice blend has found its way into way too many products,…

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