Hello, my minions! I hope everyone has had a fabulous week!!! I sure did! This new life of retirement is pretty awesome and spectacular. Wish I had done it sooner!

One thing that is making this transition so much easier is that I have activities to keep me motivated and moving on toward the next day. I have so much time to ponder life’s questions, such as “Which is better, Mid-Atlantic or New England?” As I have told you previously, I am from Baltimore, MD originally, and I moved to New Hampshire because my spouse and I fell in love with the state when work moved her to Dover, NH. We decided to just find the house, check out the neighborhood, and basically, our only border was trying to keep it in New Hampshire; although there was a time I really wanted to move to Bangor, ME but the last thing I wanted to do as a new writer was to always be in the shadow of the town’s more famous writer. I mean, the last thing a new author wants to do is live in a shadow as great as that of Stephen King. And frankly, his shadows scare me, lol.

As I go about my daily life without the stresses of work, I have plenty of time to ponder, and I have come up with one burning question: Which is better, Mid-Atlantic or New England?

1. Well, let us start with some obvious items. New England has beautiful foliage. OMG, it is impressive. It turns surrounding areas around very busy with traffic, but I can’t blame them. This area is so beautiful and breathtaking. It makes me wish I had the talent in painting that I have in writing so I could paint some of the beautiful sites around me. When I first arrived, I filled my phone with the most beautiful pictures. What I learned, though, is pictures never do it justice. It may be enough to impress those who have never seen the beauty firsthand, but it does nothing to show the true beauty. And it isn’t just in the fall. Even just driving to run simple errands, I am treated to the beauty around me. And it doesn’t matter the season. Even the coldest, dreariest winter day still looks beautiful up here. This is what is called “God’s Country,” as so much is still unspoiled by man. I have the Appalachian Trail about 10 minutes from my house, and within an hour is the White Mountain Forest. I live in what is called the Upper Valley, which is surrounded by mountains. It is incredible to know that no matter what window I look out of in town, I see mountains. By contrast, my last home in Baltimore was in an area called “Hampden.” Hampden is known as a hipster paradise, and I lived right off of the area known as “The Avenue.” On this avenue, there are second-hand stores, restaurants, and ice cream shops, to name a few. There is one restaurant I took some friends to that did dinner through science and came up with all kinds of interesting food combinations that normally I wouldn’t try, but I did enjoy the crab foam on the deviled eggs made with bacon fat. In addition, there used to be a pretty famous restaurant named “Cafe Hon” that was on an episode of Kitchen Nightmares. If you ever want to see how to become completely hated in a town, find this episode. It is season 4, episode 15. I lived right behind this restaurant during filming, and I saw the trailer at the end of a street. Although it was non-descript, having things filmed in Baltimore is a regular occurrence, especially in Hampden, home to John Waters. Additionally, in Hampden, there are a bunch of street festivals, which, if you like those things, is awesome! If you are like me, it was loud, lol. However, what Baltimoron can resist HunFest? The day that you wear your biggest beehive hairdo and you call everyone Hun. It is the best of Baltimore’s heritage and so much fun. So, let’s call the winner of unique things would be New England.
2. Let’s talk sports!!!
   • Red Sox vs. the Orioles. I would love to have my niece weigh in on this. She is the Orioles guru, along with my brother. When I texted her, here is what “E,” told me:

“The Orioles have a way better future ahead. They have the #1 minor league system. Meaning they have the best prospects waiting for them ahead. The Red Sox have only two players on the top 100 prospect list (the Orioles have 8.) The Orioles are playing way better than the Red Sox are currently. The Orioles are in second place in their division, whereas the Red Sox are in fifth place in that same division.”

Ravens vs. Patriots-Yes, the Patriots have won 6 Super Bowl championships since the Ravens became a team in 1996. However, this is all on the back of one man. He may be a GOAT, but that does not make for a better team. Just a crippled team anytime their star player gets injured. Now, let’s look at the power rankings list of the most successful teams of the Super Bowl era. Now this is funny. Ravens are #10 on the list, and the Patriots are #11. But this ranking isn’t entirely fair. The Patriots were the powerhouse of the first two decades of the new millennium. If you take away Tom Brady, then their numbers plummet even more. Both have awesome fan bases, but there is something about tailgating outside the Raven’s Stadium, also known as M&T Bank Stadium. There is even a film with the line “Crab Cakes and Football. That’s what Maryland does.” So, with both areas having solid teams and even stronger fan bases, I must say that Baltimore eeks out a victory!

3. Food. Okay, this will be tough. I will start with the delicacies I have been introduced to here. First and foremost, up in New England, you can get ANYTHING, and I mean ANYTHING, maple-flavored. Beer, wine, popcorn, cotton candy, candy, edibles, you name it, there is a maple-flavored item. My favorite is a habanero maple seasoning that I put on my steaks. Nothing like the sweet/hot flavor. I also moved up here thinking I did not like lobster. Well, come to find out, I love lobster. Just not the chum that gets sent down to Baltimore. I was also introduced to whole belly clams. Now, moving here, I wasn’t a big clam fan. I mean, it is chewy, tasteless, and is mostly breading. In Baltimore, it is more a filler on a seafood platter or a kids’ meal in a seafood restaurant. But in New England, holy cow. They are so good. They have a slight tang, like Mid-Atlantic oysters; however, they hold up so much better to frying. It is becoming one of my favorite seafood dishes. In addition, I now only eat freshly butchered meats from the local slaughterhouse, where I worked as an office manager until my retirement. I eat eggs from a local farmer. Due to the lack of restaurants, I eat mostly what I cook, and it is amazing how my taste buds have woken up. But there are a few things that I miss about the Mid-Atlantic grocery. One weird thing is New England has more brown eggs than white eggs. I can’t tell the difference, so that is just an odd sidenote. However, cheese is the one thing that is a different color and has a different taste. But a particular cheese. Cheddar. Most cheddar cheese in New England is white in blocks and individually packed sticks. I love cheese and go through a minimum of 6 cheese sticks of extra sharp cheddar daily! Although the white is good, there is something different about the yellow cheese. I miss it, and trying to stock it up when I am in town just doesn’t work. New England also has a brand of potato chips called Humpty Dumpty which reminds me of Herr’s chips, although made in PA, so slightly out of the Mid-Atlantic area. One of the most popular favors of Humpty Dumpty chips is called “All Dressed,” which is a combo of bbq, ketchup, and salt and vinegar. One last item is New England really does have the best hot dog buns. They are quickly grilled with a bit of butter and are just phenomenal. However, let’s get real. Mid-Atlantic has so much more!!!! Let’s not forget that Maryland is home to McCormick spices. OLD BAY. Nothing more is said here. Steamed Blue Crabs. Berger cookies ft shortbread cookies covered on top with chocolate fudge. So freaking good. Baltimore is also the home of Royal Farms chicken. It is the best chicken, and it is at convenience stores. In fact, just a quick check around the web of multiple rankings, Royal Farm Chicken is in the top three of every list I checked. Mid Atlantic also has Pit Beef, as described below:

“

Pit beef is served in many restaurants, bars, and pubs in the Charm City area, and surprisingly, it is rarely found outside Maryland. It is essentially a juicy roast beef sandwich cooked on a grill. All manner of grills are used, charcoal, wood, and gas.

The meat is a large hunk of beef, often from the rump, often top round, sometimes bottom round, and sometimes sirloin. It is rubbed with a savory spice and herb mix, usually cooked until it is dark and crispy on the outside and rare inside, sliced thin across the grain so there is a narrow crusty ring of flavor from the exterior in every bite. Then it is heaped on a roll of rye bread. You can usually order your preferred doneness since the edges and tapered sections are cooked more and are less red. Cooks will often throw slices back on the fire if you don’t want yours rare.”

That is how good pit beef is. I couldn’t describe it, so I went to a website, and now I have to put a citation. I hope everyone understands that one of the reasons I am a fiction author is that I despise making citations. So, you are welcome. Don’t forget raw onions, bbq sauce, tiger sauce, and horseradish on your sandwich. I prefer mine on a Kaiser roll with extra bbq sauce. We, of course, have tons of seafood. The steamed crabs like previously mentioned, tons of different kinds of oysters, crab cakes, crab soup, cream of crab soup, crab balls, soft shell crabs, scallops, shrimp, shrimp cheesesteaks, shrimp salad, scallops, mussels, all either fried or broiled. We have rockfish, shoo-fly pie, and Smith Island cake; you are in a food paradise in this area. So even with the lobsters and maple, New England food has nothing on Mid-Atlantic.

So although it seems like Mid-Atlantic squeaked out a victory, where I am from is not the way it once was. Now I am on high alert to walk down streets in my hometown in daylight that I used to hang out in at night with no adults in sight. I remember leaving the Jr Prom to go to the Inner Harbor. At night. On a Friday!!!!! I would never do that now. So, what can I say as I bring a bit of Mid-Atlantic to New England and when I visit a little New England to the Mid-Atlantic in the end? I am an East Coast girl; I am hip and have style you would really dig. Or at least I did 35 years ago!

Until Next Time…….

Coppieters, Kris. “Authentic Pit Roast Beef Done Right in Your Own Backyard.” Meathead’s AmazingRibs.com, Nov. 2022, amazingribs.com/tested-recipes/beef-and-bison-recipes/amped-roast-beef-cheap-baltimore-pit-beef-recipe.