Sotta Sopra on Sunday, August 8

Those of you who did not carpool with us to Sotto Sopra on Sunday missed a great evening.  Sotta Sopra is a Contemporary Italian restaurant located on Charles Street next to the Basilica.  It has a casual, yet aristocratic atmosphere.  It's walls are full of shiny mirrors and fancy murals creating an atmosphere of an Italian restaurant from long ago.

They are unique in that their menus for these special events are authored by a group of young Italian chefs, whom interchange with other chefs every eighteen months.  This switch helps the flow of new and more inventive dishes.  Our chef for the evening was Serrick McNeill, who intends to open his own restaurant one day and currently has thrown his hat into the catering ring.

Our menu for the evening consisted of four courses, starting with Gazpacho, then Risotto served with Shrimp, Mussels & Calamari in a tomato bisque, then Beef Braciole with capers, olives, tomatoes and white wine served with potato lasagna.  The last course was a wonderful Vanilla Pana Cotta with mixed berries compote.  Everything we ate was excellent. 

This particular special event was a tribute to the Italian Classics.  We were serenaded between courses by Tenor, Elio Scaccio, who walked between the tables singing his renditions of the old Italian songs. With four courses of food, the break in between each course while we listened to Elio's music, enabled us to make room for each upcoming course. Elio also had two additional vocalists join him, who either sang alone or in duets with Elio. The members of Second Chancers who attended said they had not experienced an event like this before, and all agreed it was wonderful.

Sotta Sopra is one of the top 10 restaurants in Baltimore. Their regular menu is extensive and if you have never been there before, you must try it some time.  We hope to go there again for one of their special events, such as their wine tasting event or one of their opera nights.

Kent Island Yacht Club, Chester, MD, Friday, July 16

We have some dancers in our group. Friday night we were invited to join Peg Fitzpatrick at the Kent Island Yacht club.  There were 14 members who responded to the event, which was listed on our calendar http://www.secondchancers.net/.

Five of us met at the Safeway in Arnold and carpooled in Lorraine's van.  The rest of those who responded drove their own cars and arrived at various times during the evening.  Most arrived around 7:15pm, and no one had problems with any bridge traffic. For those of you who worry about crossing the bridge, Peg said that crossing anytime near 7:00pm on a Friday usually works out well.

The Club Commodore greeted each of us. He put together several tables. We had our own corner in the club, almost surrounded by windows - with a great view of the water and boats outside. The yacht club's members were very welcoming and friendly.

Some of our members went strictly to dance, others just wanted to relax and listen to the live band. A few of us had some lite fare, and all seemed to enjoy a night out. We can attest that their crab cake sandwiches were great. Full of lump crab meat.

We suspect that the Commodore had the band leader announce that there might be some ladies visiting who wanted to dance. It wasn't long before a couple of the yacht club members came over and asked them to do just that.  Walt also danced many steps on the dance floor with those who wanted to.

The band played all kinds of music, and though it was very hot and humid that night, it was quite cool in the club house. When the band took one of their breaks, a few members went out on the pier to enjoy the night breeze and take a break also.

Peg was such a nice host.  She told us she would do this again for us sometime in the future.  Thanks Peg.  Very nice evening out!

Crab Feast @ Annapolis Moose

Our night out at the Moose on Thursday night was excellent.  A large group of our members attended and most ordered the steamed crabs.  However, those who ordered other food off the menu said it was good also.  Comments were positive all around.

There is ample parking close to the entrance, and the Moose personnel are very friendly and accommodating.  Even though we were a large group our waitress gave us separate checks, which is a big help to us, but can be a nightmare for a waitress. 

Sue Sohn is a member there and organized the evening for us.  Frank Welch is also a member of the Annapolis branch, so maybe we will have many more pleasant nights there to come.  We hope so.

Thanks Sue for our first steamed crabs of the season.

June 6th, Sunday Brunch

Brunch at Harry Browne's in Annapolis on Sunday was excellent.  We could order off the menu, which was really inexpensive ($8 to $13), or we could get our meal from the buffet.  With the buffet we not only had a choice of many breakfast items, but fruits, soup, salmon, and dessert (with lemon tarts to die for).  Bloody Mary, Champagne, or Mimosa was complimentary with the buffet.  We sat near the window in our own little cubical.  So it was very private for us also.

We all car-pooled, meeting at 2 places, Waugh Chapel and Riva shopping centers.  That way we only needed 2 cars.  We parked in a garage in Annapolis and walked to brunch.  After brunch we went to Annapolis First Sunday on West Street.  Various vendors were on both sides of a section of West Street, which was blocked off to traffic, selling their wares.  A few of the members purchased some of their very unique items.

What a nice day it was to be with others, chatting, good food, and having fun.  Much better than sitting at home if you had nothing else to do that day.  Our day lasted until around 2:00pm, after returning to our cars and heading home.

Lunch at Kentmoor Marina

What a nice day!  Nicole and Jean co-chaired a lunch at Kentmoor Marina in Stevensville.  Several of us met at Dottie's home and carpooled across the Bay Bridge.  We met a couple other members at the Marina.  The day was beautiful, sun shining, breezy and warm.

Lunch was good.  Everyone ordered seafood of some kind.  After lunch we tried one of their famous drinks, the Polar Bear, made with ice cream (see table).  We took our drinks outside to the picnic tables and the beach.

In addition to the picnic tables, there were hammocks and swings along the beach front.  A couple of us walked the beach for a little while and then tried out the swings. 

If you sat home alone on Sunday, May 16, take a look at the day we had.  Don't miss out the next time.  Good conversation, good food, and a beautiful day was had by all.