UX 7169 J31 4C BWI IAD. Had to get back for a session Tuesday, so was sort of uneasy about the radar being out in Boston, but apparently the Feds had got the problem taken care of ahead of schedule. Headed to the airport in a driving rain, assured by the 1P desk (I always call them; they're better than the 1K desk a lot of the time, plus there isn't that stupid telephone tree) that there were no delays in the system. And in fact everyone was flying without a hitch out of BWI. Boarded about 9:40, took off about 10 (10 min
late). I forget who complained (here or on Hot Talk?) about row 4 having legroom problems; I had never had the seat before (6C being my regular seat on those things, right near the door), but I checked it out - 4A is indeed a lousy seat, but B and C are fine.
Climbed out quickly but stayed in rain and buffeting winds all the time. Flight time a bumpy 20 min, endurable for 500 status miles and 500 bonus miles! Alit (great kiss landing) a couple min late and headed to the C7 RCC (delay on the people mover from A to C)
which had blueberry Danish, okay, and lots of Biscoff cookies, major yum. Clucked a bit over the front-page story about the shootings at the National Zoo, and then it was time to go to C12 for
UA 1986 752 2D IAD BOS. I got at the end of the line at the gate, as I'd spent a relative lot of time at the RCC. F was 2/24 when I arrived but soon got 6 additionals including a flight deck type in full uniform (who asked nicely before being granted a "make
yourself comfortable" upgrade), a somewhat scsi-looking ramp person who had probably just come off his shift, a young man and his son (probably a SA, guessing from the almost effusive treatment from the crew), and a few businessy-looking folks. Y looked to be
about 1/2 full, maybe less. I went up before taxi and asked if we could have ch 9, got a rather huffy "Ch 9 will not be available on this flight" from the captain. So I went to sleep only to be awakened by an odd foodlike smell. Turkey club sandwiches, which is
okay, especially for a no-food flight; but ice cold - this of course means ice cold bacon, which is not a pleasurable experience. Chowed and then went right back to sleep until woken by one major turbulence event on descent, followed by a notably bumpy landing
which was, however, about 10 min early. I slept through most of the hour, but I got the feeling that the service was stiffly efficient (aside from the FA who couldn't understand "water no ice" and "a snack would be great," but that might be my enunciation.

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Cheers
Michael *G

So the major nonmusic-making event of this trip was the taking of KK-phobe Carol and her family out for a rematch - we went to a brand-spanking-new KK on the Ritchie Highway near (north of? I dunno, I always get lost around there) Annapolis.

We got a dozen assorted, while Carol groused about "grease and sugar bombs" - the girl behind the counter gave her a sample right off the line, which meant that all the rest of us had to be given samples, which means that we got a special Krispybaker's dozen of 17. The upshot is that she still says she doesn't like them, but her husband and kids adore them; on the other hand I caught her nibbling later on the remains at home.
= = =
Two crabcakes.
We went to Hayman's Crab House, a dingy old watermen's haunt in Edgewater, for lunch - steamed clams were yummy, steamed and fried oysters (not at the same time) were pretty good. Crab cakes were respectable, relatively little filler, seasonings of green pepper and scallion. Offseason prices quite reasonable. However, every time I get within a day's journey of THE CRABCAKE FACTORY, on the edge of Annapolis near Parole, I stop by for the $10.95 crab cake sandwich and a cold draft. The crab cake is a monster, about 6 oz (the first couple times we went, they were even bigger, but many people were not finishing) of mostly lump crabmeat, impeccably fresh, with a light celery-seed based spicing. I think that this is the bargain of the Chesapeake Bay area: recommend it for anyone going in that direction. http://www.crabcakefactory.com , and I do not have any commercial interest in it, if you're wondering.

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Cheers
Michael *G

One notable thing: in 9 (or was it 11) crab cakes sampled at the Crabcake Factory, we've encountered 2 crab crunchies total, that's total.

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Cheers
Michael *G