Beer Garden

Pickles Pub, located across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, has long been synonymous with opening day. Thousands of orange-drenched fans make it their first stop (usually of many) on one of Baltimore's most lively days. But at 10 a.m. on April 5, hours before the Orioles host the Minnesota Twins for the first home series of the season, the Deck at Camden Yards - a new, outdoor beer garden at the Hampton Inn -  will open next to Pickles. Deck partner Fritz Brogan says the latest addition to Washington Boulevard will open for Orioles home games, Ravens home games and special events such as the Grand Prix.

Pickles Pub, located across the street from Oriole Park at Camden Yards, has long been synonymous with opening day. Thousands of orange-drenched fans make it their first stop (usually of many) on one of Baltimore's most lively days. But at 10 a.m. on April 5, hours before the Orioles host the Minnesota Twins for the first home series of the season, the Deck at Camden Yards - a new, outdoor beer garden at the Hampton Inn -  will open next to Pickles. Deck partner Fritz Brogan says the latest addition to Washington Boulevard will open for Orioles home games, Ravens home games and special events such as the Grand Prix.

The last night of the Harford Farm Fair carnival was canceled Saturday evening after steady rainfall in the area. The carnival was deserted early Saturday afternoon as organizers initially made plans to re-open once the rain stopped. They had no plans to give up and cancel entirely, according to Farm Fair Chairman Skip Pieper, who said later at 5:30 p.m. that the carnival was officially canceled. "Needless to say the weather had a severe impact on our attendance," he added.

Vienna, Va. ABBA The Concert You've seen the movie and the musical, so why not see the tribute concert to the 1970s Swedish pop group? Dance and sing along to hits such as "Mamma Mia!," "Dancing Queen," "Waterloo," and more. Named "the best ABBA tribute band in the world" by the Official ABBA Fan Club, ABBA The Concert has performed more than 1,000 time since its inception in 1996. ABBA The Concert is at 8 p.m. Sunday, Aug. 12, at the Filene Center at Wolf Trap, 1551 Trap Road, Vienna, Va. Tickets are $38 for in-house and $25 for the lawn.

Sometime soon, the last schnitzel will be fried, the last malty marzen will be poured, and the accordion will grow silent. Blob's Park, a German-style beer garden that opened on a Jessup farm more than 70 years ago, will close within the coming year, according to manager John Eggerl, making this year's Oktoberfest celebration the last. The cavernous Bavarian-style building, where generations have gathered to hoist a few beers or whirl to rousing polka music, will be demolished to make way for a new development.

It's a Friday night in October and the revelers sit at long tables in a Bavarian biergarten. The bratwurst is ample, the beer pitchers overflowing and the polka music is almost nonstop. German culture is all around. Germany, however, is an ocean away. This is Blob's Park, a Teutonic outpost in Jessup that for more than three-quarters of a century has offered a little piece of Germany tucked away on a Maryland farm. And at the heart of it all is the polka. "The people ... come here to dance," says Leon Umberger, hardworking accordion player for the house band, the Rheinlanders, wiping sweat off his forehead on a recent night.

Heavy Seas Alehouse will officially open February 15, the pub and restaurant announced this morning. It also confirmed that Matt Seeber, a former chef at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will be its executive chef. "Baltimore at its core has a long-standing love affair with beer and we look forward to making an impression on the scene and raising the bar on the brewhouse experience," Seeber said in a statement. The new restaurant, located in Little Italy, licensed the name and trademark of the longtime Baltimore brewer, Heavy Seas Brewing, in November.

The 40th anniversary of Chez Panisse in Berkeley hasn't passed without notice. Here's a nice, long piece from Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle.  I've never been but features colleague Michael Sragow has -- he was teaching a Berkeley graduate journalism course on writing on film. He just told me that Chez Panisse was one of the few things that entirely lived up to its reputation. " Baltimore photographer and Zagat editor Marty Katz told me that when he showed up at Chez Panisse in between the breakfast and lunch sevice the staff took pity on him and brought out fresh muffins for him. And here are pictures and coverage from Friday night's anniversary party at the Berkeley Museum of Art (Eater SF)

BERLIN -- They were 23,000 strong, brimming into the streets of Munich last Friday night like the foam of a quickly poured beer. They were angry -- hopping mad, you might say -- and by the time they finished they'd washed away their opposition, and doubtless a few thousand brain cells as well.Thus did the Volk of Bavaria save a 400-year-old tradition from the petty doings of judges and bureaucrats, with an uprising that by yesterday morning had been labeled the "beer revolution."The issue was beer gardens, or, more precisely, the closing time of one particular beer garden that had drawn the attention of a local judge.

11:30 a.m. Pee Wee Preakness at Federal Hill Park. Hundreds of local schoolchildren will take part in the first event of the weeklong Preakness Celebration. The afternoon attractions will include hippity-hop races, balloon sculptors, music and clowns. 4 p.m. to 10 p.m. BB&T Harbor Balloon Festival at the Inner Harbor. Hot-air balloons will surround the harbor while the Coasters provide musical entertainment at Rash Field at 7 p.m. Food stands, a beer garden and free carnival rides will keep the whole family happy.

The last night of the Harford Farm Fair carnival was canceled Saturday evening after steady rainfall in the area. The carnival was deserted early Saturday afternoon as organizers initially made plans to re-open once the rain stopped. They had no plans to give up and cancel entirely, according to Farm Fair Chairman Skip Pieper, who said later at 5:30 p.m. that the carnival was officially canceled. "Needless to say the weather had a severe impact on our attendance," he added.

Heavy Seas Alehouse will officially open February 15, the pub and restaurant announced this morning. It also confirmed that Matt Seeber, a former chef at Tom Colicchio's Craftsteak restaurant at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas, will be its executive chef. "Baltimore at its core has a long-standing love affair with beer and we look forward to making an impression on the scene and raising the bar on the brewhouse experience," Seeber said in a statement. The new restaurant, located in Little Italy, licensed the name and trademark of the longtime Baltimore brewer, Heavy Seas Brewing, in November.

In recent years, beer gardens have enjoyed a renaissance on the East Coast. New ones have popped up in New York, Philadelphia and, last year, Washington. So it was with great anticipation that I went to Baltimore's new beer garden, Leinenkugel's at Power Plant Live. I've been hearing from local beer drinkers and beer experts that it's one of the best things the Inner Harbor complex has done in a while, and they're right. The new bar lives up to the hype — its best quality is the gorgeous greenhouse that is its home, an all-glass box beautifully lighted by shiny orbs on rustic chandeliers.

Here's the part where you tell me how wrong (or how right!) I was on a review. This week's bar review is about the new Leinenkugel's Beer Garden at Power Plant Live, among the several beer gardens that have popped up across the country in recent years in what some are seeing as a beer garden revival. From the review : "The new bar lives up to the hype - its best quality is the gorgeous greenhouse that is its home, an all-glass box beautifully lighted by shiny orbs on rustic chandeliers.

Belvedere Square - York Road and Belvedere Avenue, continues its weekly outdoor concert series featuring live music by local bands on Friday evenings. Sept. 9 will feature Celtic rock group Donegal Xpress, 6-9 p.m., in the courtyard. Free. Go to http://www.belvederesquare.com or http://www.dxplive.com. Baltimore Symphony Orchestra - at Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, 1212 Cathedral St., offers a Season Preview Concert, Sept. 9, 8 p.m., featuring music by Copland, Prokofiev, Stravinsky and Tchaikovsky.

The 40th anniversary of Chez Panisse in Berkeley hasn't passed without notice. Here's a nice, long piece from Sunday's San Francisco Chronicle.  I've never been but features colleague Michael Sragow has -- he was teaching a Berkeley graduate journalism course on writing on film. He just told me that Chez Panisse was one of the few things that entirely lived up to its reputation. " Baltimore photographer and Zagat editor Marty Katz told me that when he showed up at Chez Panisse in between the breakfast and lunch sevice the staff took pity on him and brought out fresh muffins for him. And here are pictures and coverage from Friday night's anniversary party at the Berkeley Museum of Art (Eater SF)

What: Maryland Seafood Festival When: 11 a.m.-9 p.m. tomorrow, 11 a.m.-8 p.m. Saturday and Sunday Where: Sandy Point State Park, off U.S. 50 at the western end of the Bay Bridge near Annapolis Why: Three days packed with live music, arts and crafts and, of course, seafood. New this year are the rockfish-catching tournament, wine-tasting tent, beer garden and Rusty Wallace's racecar display. Prices: $10 for adults, $6 with a military ID, $4 for children 7-12 and children under 7 are free with a paying adult.

An early-morning fire caused extensive damage Friday to The Old Stein Inn, a well-known family-owned German restaurant in Edgewater in Anne Arundel County. The fire, in the 1100 block of Central Ave., was discovered about 5:30 a.m. and grew to three alarms before it was contained. Because there was no hydrant in the area, firefighters were required to break the ice in a creek three-quarters of a mile away to pump water, said Anne Arundel County fire Lt. Cliff Kooser. Firefighters from the Naval Academy and from Annapolis also responded, he said, and battled icy conditions for more than 90 minutes.

A year ago, Hope Tarr found herself marveling at a new beer garden inBrooklyn. Tarr, who co-created an iPhone app that tracks beer gardens in New York City, had grown up in Baltimore listening about these outdoor promised lands where German suds flowed freely and the oompa music never stopped. Her dad used to talk about Blob's Park Bavarian Beer Garden in Jessup reverentially. "The promise was always, when you're old enough, I'll take you to Blob's," she said. Now, in Brooklyn, she'd realized what the fuss was about.

In a month's time, we'll be happily saying goodbye to the sweaty summer. Here at Midnight Sun, we're not only anticipating tolerable temperatures, but we're also circling the fall events and releases we wish were here already. We present the five we're looking forward to most ... not named Jay-Z and Kanye West's Watch the Throne Tour: 1. Leinenkugel's Beer Garden opening Although the Power Plant Live addition will have opened right before fall - the official grand opening is Sept.