Beer And Wine

The weekend is so close you can taste it. If you're headed east to the Atlantic, take a look at our guide to 100 Best Beach Eats , which covers Ocean City, West Ocean City and Delaware towns stretching from Fenwick Island to Lewes. It might be hard to get to on a busy weekend, when the Ocean Gateway (Route 50) is bumper to bumper, but sometime this summer make sure you stop by the Shrimp Boat on Stephen Decatur Highway. This 23-year-old roadside shack is the real deal, where the locals have always come to buy fresh seafood and steamed-while-you-wait shrimp.

Sundays in Baltimore County, even Super Bowl Sundays, are not what they could be, says business owner David Trone, operator of Beltway Fine Wine & Spirits in Towson. Trone is hoping the hoopla over the Ravens vs. 49ers will help consumers focus on what he sees as outdated liquor laws that keep most beer and wine shops in the county closed on Sundays. This Sunday, he says, Baltimore County residents who failed to plan ahead for Super Bowl parties could find themselves having to cross county lines to stock up on beer and wine.

The Sun's Feb. 23 editorial, "Raise the tobacco tax," really burns my butt.I am convinced the lawmakers who would be responsible for the doubling of tax on tobacco products do not have health on their minds. If they really wanted to save lives, they would increase the taxes on alcoholic beverages, especially beer and wine.The reduction of drinking due to increased cost would save more innocent lives than the reduction of smokers. The reduction of drinking would save more marriages, jobs, friendships and sanity than any decrease in smoking.

Update, Dec. 7: This event has been canceled, due to inclement weather. Baltimore's food truck rally returns to McHenry Row on Dec. 7 for a special Christmas event, featuring the lighting of the McHenry Row Christmas tree. The event will include live music, photos with Santa Claus with pets and children. Beer and wine will be sold -- guests can purchase a $15 unlimited drinks wristband. The McHenry Row Christmas tree lighting and food truck rally will be held from 5 p.m. to 10 p.m. on Dec. 7 at 1514 Key Highway.

Charles Smith is a connoisseur of fine wines and beer. But he is looking not as much for a rare vintage as he is for chemical purity.Discouraged by the extensive list of chemical additives in commercial beer and wine, his quest for healthful, chemical-free and tasty beverages has led him to home brewing.The organic gardener keeps a copy of an article from Zymurgy, a magazine for home brewers, listing 52 additives, including formaldehyde, that may be used by large breweries to produce and preserve commercially made beer.

It's Tuesday afternoon, and the Rotunda Cinemas' owner-operator, Ira Miller, waits for "Secretariat" to let out so he can show off his new third theater. He hasn't peeked in yet to see how big a crowd has come for the inspirational saga of the champion racehorse. But as the closing credits rise, a steady flow of satisfied customers stream into the lobby. Many sport "I Voted" stickers, as if they left home that morning to cast their ballot and decided to make a real holiday of Election Day. Miller beams like a Triple Crown winner.

Art Somers just discovered he's one heck of a brewer.Two weeks after weighing, grinding, boiling and stirring to get the recipe for Puddington Creek Alt Ale just right, he takes a swig of his personal beer and declares it a winner."

Golfers playing Howard County's newest course now can head for the traditional 19th hole -- drinks in the clubhouse -- thanks to a decision last night by the Howard County Liquor Board.The five-member panel -- the five Howard County Council members -- approved the sale of beer and wine at the Fairway Hills Golf Course in Columbia despite concerns expressed over the last two months by some nearby residents.The residents felt serving beer and wine will set a bad example for neighborhood children and possibly lead to more errant shots into their back yards.

Carroll County Board of License Commissioners approved a new liquor license for Four Seasons Sports Complex in Hampstead to accommodate the increase in business at the club after the opening of a miniature golf facility last spring.The new license allows the complex to serve beer and wine seven days a week to the general public at its Biz-E-Town Cafe and Restaurant, said Joseph Leggee, director of operations at Four Seasons Sports Complex.The cafe replaces the club snack bar, which could not sell beer and wine Sundays and served members only.

Delmarva's Southern Cafe is set to open Friday in Canton. The new comfort food restaurant, located in the Harbor Enterprise Center, also known as the Broom Factory, will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. And they will serve breakfast at dinner, if you get my drift. On the menu - biscuit sandwiches, baked cheese skillets,  country-fried rib eye, cheesy shrimp and grits, burgers and Tenderjack's chicken tenders, a specialty at Tenderjack's, the Virginia-based restaurants Delmarva's owners, Paul Stratmeyer and David Levitt, have a share in. Levitt was an owner of the Tenderjack's in Leesburg, Va., with two other partners.

Damascus is about to get wet. The Montgomery County town, which had banned the sale of alcoholic beverages for as long as anyone can remember, voted Tuesday to permit local restaurants to sell wine and beer. Four times in the previous 35 years, residents of the unincorporated town of just over 15,000 had voted to keep the place dry. In 1996, the ban was upheld by a few hundred votes. But this year, the vote wasn't close, as 66 percent said yes to alcohol. Retail sales of alcohol will not be permitted.

Don't let Sandy dampen your weekend plans. The storm isn't expected to visit Maryland until late Sunday -- or Monday, or Tuesday. Keep an eye on Scott Dance's Maryland Weather Blog and follow him on Twitter @mdweather for the latest storm updates. Stop by October's Final Friday at Penn Station event for the Charles Street Fall Fest . The event features some 20 vendors, including Station North Arts Cafe, Mick O'Shea's, Cazbar and Lumbini, offering food, drinks, vintage clothing, collectibles, jewelry and much more.

I know we all try not to think about it, but ... your wedding is likely one of the most expensive days of your life. Everyone has their own tips and tricks for saving money on the big day, so here's my two-cents on keeping a little extra in your pocket -- and how much I've saved so far using these strategies. The cake Tell your baker you would like to do two tiers on display with a sheet cake (or two depending on the size of your wedding) in the kitchen. This allows you to have a beautifully decorated cake on display for your guests but can save you significantly because the baker doesn't have to decorate as much.

If your favorite food truck wasn't in its regular location on Tuesday, it's because it went to Hopkins. Some 22 food trucks in all were dispatched to Johns Hopkins Medicine facilities all over creation, from Bayview to Homewood to Green Spring Station. The Food Truck Frenzy was hosted by Johns Hopkins Medicine as part of its United Way campaign. The trucks were planning to make a donation to the campaign as was the Maryland Mobile Food Vendors Association. The trucks were scheduled to serve at Hopkins sites from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Baltimore's food trucks return to McHenry Row for a special Halloween Gathering . The rally will include an adult costume contest - the grand prize is a stay in the McHenry Row guest suite.

The 10-day Baltimore Beer Week schedule is overflowing with food-related events, ranging from five-course dinners to pumpkin pancake breakfasts. There are tastings of beer with charcuterie, chocolate and cheese. Many of the dinners have limited seating and sell out fast.   Even before Baltimore Beer Week kicks off officially tonight with the Opening Tap Celebration at Power Plant Live, Big Jim's is convening a Power Brunch at Cross Street Market - get a three-beer flight of Flying Dog and a Big Jim's sandwich for $10.  The marquee dining events include the Stillwater Artisanal Beer Dinner on Monday at Fleet Street Kitchen, the Heavy Seas Brewery Dinner on Wednesday at Heavy Seas Alehouse and the Sierra Nevada dinner at Alewife on Oct. 27, when chefs from the Food Market and Roy's join Alehouse's Chad Wells.

Delmarva's Southern Cafe is set to open Friday in Canton. The new comfort food restaurant, located in the Harbor Enterprise Center, also known as the Broom Factory, will serve breakfast, lunch and dinner. And they will serve breakfast at dinner, if you get my drift. On the menu - biscuit sandwiches, baked cheese skillets,  country-fried rib eye, cheesy shrimp and grits, burgers and Tenderjack's chicken tenders, a specialty at Tenderjack's, the Virginia-based restaurants Delmarva's owners, Paul Stratmeyer and David Levitt, have a share in. Levitt was an owner of the Tenderjack's in Leesburg, Va., with two other partners.

The Howard County liquor board denied a license yesterday for a Columbia gas station to sell beer and wine.In a 3-2 vote, the board -- composed of the County Council members -- refused to approve a beer and wine license for the Columbia Exxon service station on Little Patuxent Parkway near the Banneker fire station. Owner Lloyd M. Thacker of Ellicott City said he wanted to sell alcoholic beverages in the convenience store.The service station would have been the first in Howard County to sell alcohol, a precedent council members said they did not want to set."

Summer Sounds at the Square Where: Belvedere Square, at York Road and Belvedere Avenue When: 6 p.m.-9 p.m. tomorrow and every Friday through Oct. 14 Why: It's kind of a minifestival every week, with free tunes from some local acts - The Mooks perform tomorrow - and a European-style market. Eat some ethnic food, slurp local beer and wine in the cordoned-off parking lot and browse retail shops open late in the area. Information: 410-464-9773, www.belvederesquare.com Admission: Free

Baltimore's food truck rally is coming back to McHenry Row this Friday. The Gathering, as the rally is known, has evolved into pretty much a weekly event, with the event moving among four or so regular sites -- along with McHenry Row, the Gathering has been staging in Hampden, Little Italy and at the Museum of Industry. This Friday's Gathering will include live music by Damion Wolfe, Name if Anything and Celia Kipp & The Last Ditch. Beer and wine will be sold -- and a $15 unlimited drinks wristband.

Don't ask for a drink menu at the Waterfront Hotel in Fells Point; the popular hangout doesn't have one. The bartender will merely point to the assortment of canned beers on the wall, a ho-hum selection of been-there, done-that domestics and imports. It doesn't matter. The only list that counts at the Waterfront (which, by the way, isn't actually a hotel) is written in chalk on the bar's wall: It's a rundown of the artists scheduled to perform on the bar's typically crowded downstairs floor.