Bill Hood's Grocery Store

Hood's Grocery was located in the old Opera House on lower Main Street. It was of the old way of doing things. You would go in and after passing the meat display case on the right, usually displaying a pig's head, pig's feet, and some "souse" meat, and approach the sales counter. You simply stated to the clerk, usually Mr. Hood, what you needed, and he would go behind each of the refrigerated cases or reach canned or boxed items down from the to-the-ceiling shelving, and bag it himself. No aisles, no carts, no ten cash registers, no express lane, just one customer served at a time. You could find the regulars there every afternoon, leaning on the beer cooler, drinking away.
So there you have it, lessons for a 10 year old - life is bad for pigs, and everybody has a few beers at 4 o-clock.

Valmas' Brothers Restaurant

There was a menu from Valmas' Brothers Restaurant for sale on ebay, and it got me remembering the old restaurant. As I recall, there were 3 Greek brothers that formed the restaurant, just can't remember the names. Perhaps one of them was Frank, and a waitress named Edith. And 5 cent cokes, and 10 cent hot dogs, and a warm place to wait for the schoolbus on cold Winter mornings. Package goods, Pepsi machine on the corner, and a good place to find customers that perhaps needed their shoes shined. An old stand up wooden phone booth inside, contertops, barstools, and booths. And neon signs, and neon outlines in the windows, and you could trick innocents to stand too close to the glass outside, and the transformer would give them a mild shock. The things we did to amuse ourselves...

Ellicott City Fall Festival 2009

It looks like the Fall Festival is happening on Saturday, September 26th from noon to 5 (2009). Ellicott City festivals used to be a lot of fun. Perhaps I'm just getting to old and grouchy, but I don't find large groups of people much fun anymore. But if you're a family with small kids looking for something entertaining to do, it might be worth checking out. I found out about it here

Fall in the Historic District

This is a nice time of the year to stroll the streets of the old town, perhaps with a coffee in hand. Cooler weather makes it more comfortable to walk those uneven streets and sidewalks. Everywhere you go, it seems like you are either climbing up one incline, and then walking down another.
Soon, the seasonal change will also arrive, and the leaves will be changing color, so everyone should plan a trip there to enjoy it before Winter arrives.