I was driving down Main Street in Ellicott City around noon on Saturday. As fate would have it, I ended up stopped right in front of a group of carolers. It was the perfect holiday scene. The only thing missing was snow. Thankfully I had my trusty camera close at hand and was able to snap a couple of pictures before the light at Main Street and Maryland Avenue turned green again. I have no idea who they were but I’m glad I got to hear them even it was for the briefest of moments.Sunday I found myself over in Oakland Mills Village Center for a “BlogTail Holiday Party” at the new Second Chance Saloon. It was a rather small gathering for a cold Sunday afternoon but the company kept everyone warm. JessieX and Cheri Beck hosted the meet up which was also attended by Hedgehog and Kate Dino. I spent most of the time talking to Dave and Kate. It was a short party since about half the attendees including the hosts, were off to the Cookie Swap next door at three o’clock.
Again, I’m not going to write a review of Second Chance. There are other good local blogs for that. It wouldn’t be fair either. I only had a couple of beers and an order of three blue cheese sliders. I will say that the sliders were delicious, cooked to medium perfection. The service was about as slow as I’ve ever experienced and the place just wasn’t that busy at two o’clock on a Sunday afternoon. I met one of the owners, a woman named Wendy and she seemed nice. I’ll go back and check it out for a real meal in the next few weeks.
Of course Oakland Mills is also home of the formerly controversial Meridian Square office condominium project. I say formerly because despite this nice sign that says Coming Fall 2008, nothing much is happening at this site. I saw this one coming. The tightening of the credit markets have made financing for this type of project very hard to come by, even with a wired deal with the county. I wonder if there is an expiration date on that deal?
