Lunch Lessons

I am a fan of the Food Network show, Diners, Drive-ins and Dives. When I was planning my trip to Baltimore, there were two places profiled on the show that I wanted to visit. Yesterday, Marilyn and I decided to lunch at the first, Chap's Pit Beef. She thought she had passed it before, and her directions proved to be true. Soon we were looking at our future lunch venue:

In case you can't see it, this place is located in the parking lot of a local gentleman's club (and a gold one, at that). Needless to say, this is not a place that I would stop. The outside is not exactly appealing, not to mention the next door neighbor.

I managed to coax Marilyn out of the car and inside, where the decor isn't much better. But by that time, the promising aroma of deliciousness had gotten to us, we placed our order, and waited for the payoff. Marilyn took this opportunity to visit the facilities, which were actually in the kitchen. Finally our order arrived, and we realized why this place made the show. Simply put, our lunch was absolutely, positively scrumdillyicious.

This experience taught me a couple of lessons. First of all, that you can't judge a book (or a dive) by its cover (or neighbor). Sometimes you just have to act on faith and anticipate wonderful results, which may end up even better that expected. Sometimes the best things are where you would least expect them. And finally, you may never get the good stuff if you don't venture out and take a chance.

All those lessons AND a great BBQ sandwich - what a great way to spend a lunch.