Attman's Deli and Another Trip to Church

 Baltimore, MD

PICKLES!

Public Transit

Today is a rainy chilly day so we decided to change our plans and do some local indoor things.  All of the museums we still want to go to are closed M-W so we decided to go to Attman's Deli.  We also decided we would take The Yellow Bus line there to stay out of the rain.  The Charm City Circulator runs a series of free busses that all converge downtown.  They use colors to help you see the routes on the map.  We took the Purple line to the museum a few weeks ago and I mentioned people were getting on and showing their tickets and being told the bus was free in a previous post (I think).  This led to at least one person saying, "Darn, I wasted a ticket".  Well today we were riding Yellow.  As we waited I started seeing things that made me think that Yellow wasn't free.  But the lines named after colors are the Charm City Circulators and not the MTA City Link that charges $2.  But the sign we are waiting at says City Link and shows you how to download the bus pass app.  I was getting mixed signals for sure.

The sign we were waiting at

As the bus approached I began to doubt my confidence that the bus was free.  I didn't want to waste $4 but I also didn't want to not be ready so I opened the app and got ready to purchase 2 tickets.  As we got on we saw people showing tickets so I went ahead and bought 2 and showed the lady.  On the bus Donna and I discussed the terrible information architecture that led to this misunderstanding and probably daily misunderstandings.  Busses that you have to pay for should be numbers and busses that are free should be colors or say FREE in the name or something.  Once you know you know but Charm City Circulator is made for tourists.  It should be abundantly clear.

These are all of the Color Lines that you have to pay for

These are all of the Color Lines that are free

I guess now we know but it really should be more clear for tourists.  Anyway, the bus arrived, we paid our fare and we were off.  Soon we were getting off and walking to the Deli.

Our walk took us by The Phoenix Shot Tower.  When it was built in 1828 it was the tallest structure in the United States.  Molten lead was dropped from a platform at the top of the tower, through a sieve-like device, into a vat of cold water at the bottom of the tower to produce "drop shot" for muskets. When hardened, dried, and polished, the shot was sorted into 25-pound bags.

It also took us by a mural that is fading fast.

Attman's Jewish Delicatessen

Attman's Delicatessen opened in 1915 and is located on Corned Beef Row.  I looked up "Corned Beef Row" and picked up text from this site.  

"Food has a long history at 1019 E. Lombard Street. After starting their business on Baltimore Street in 1915, Harry and Ida Attman purchased this building in the early 1930s. They bought it from Nathan and Elsie Weinstein, whose grocery business also dated back to 1915. Before that, around 1910, Russian-born Joseph Lusser sold fish and poultry here. His family shared the house with two other Russian Jewish families.

The opposite side of Lombard Street was occupied from the 1930s through the 1970s by the well-known Tulkoff’s horseradish plant, now located in Dundalk. Another local fixture, David Yankelove, sold chickens on the north side of the street until the 1980s. David’s father, Louis, had been a butcher here beginning in the early 1900s.

The empty space to the right of Attman’s was formerly Smelkinson’s Dairy. During the Riots of 1968 following the assassination of Martin Luther King Jr., Smelkinson’s burned to the ground. However, most of Lombard Street survived the riots with little damage and the street remained vital until the late 1970s, when a combination of inner city decline and the rise of the suburban shopping mall caused its small family businesses to close."

This is our second Kibbitz Room on this trip.  This one is just a dining room and not a cool bar like in LA.  That was a fun day too!

The sandwiches were fantastic.  It was a great place and I would go back again but not before we go back to Chaps Pit Beef!

The Bus That Never Came

After eating I noticed the bus that would take us to Checkerspot Brewing was coming so we hustled out to the bus stop across the street and waiting.  There were 3 men waiting too.  The bus didn't come so I looked at the app and it said 15 minutes now.  Bummer.  We heard the men talking about how many busses haven't showed up so we decided to change our plan.  We were only half a mile from The Ministry of Brewing and Donna hadn't been there yet so we decided to walk there and figure out next steps after a beer.  The walk was mostly dry and soon we were going to church!

The Ministry of Brewing

John Waters likes to say, "Movie theaters start out as first run theaters, then turn into revival houses, then turn into porn theater, then turn into churches, and then close."  Our experience is that sometimes churches turn into cool breweries.  We have been to one in Pittsburgh and now one here in Baltimore.  It's a great way to save a beautiful building.

The front steps of the Ministry of Brewing.  Love is Ale We Need!

Solid beers in a beautiful space.  What more could you want?  Maybe a pretzel with cheese?  Yes a pretzel with cheese and a wurst please!

By the time we were done relaxing with our beer it was raining pretty hard.  We decided to use our privilege and grab a Lyft home.  We had a nice evening at home making Vegetables With Gravy and Jalapeno Cheddar Soda Bread and then watched Baltimore Public Television on our Roku.  They have some really great local shows.

That was it for today.  If you missed yesterday's adventure you can see it here.  We went to The Capital of Pennsylvania.