Remington October 2021

B. Willow Among Top Ten Plant Shops

 October 20, 2021. Our own B. Willow made Baltimore Magazine's Top Ten of the Most Delightful Plant Shops. As we all know, owner Liz Vayda has made an impact on our neighborhood with her amazing ventures, including potting workshops and plants instruction in schools, fundraising efforts for plant conservation, and supporting local vendors with sidewalk pop-ups. There is a variety of tropical, succulents, desert plants, air plants, and cacti.  Beware of those cacti!  I bought several and they grew bigly!  The shop also delivers with one of the cutest vans around and offers virtual plant consultations. 220 W. 27th St., Remington. 

Source: (Accessed 10/20/21) https://www.baltimoremagazine.com/section/homegarden/baltimore-plant-shops-for-houseplants-delightful-greenery/

Baltimore RunFest

October 9, 2021.  Oh, I love the Baltimore Marathon when it is called the Baltimore Marathon and not the Runfest or whatever.  I call it the Remington Road Rage Run.  Sure I could be standing on the corner of Wyman Park Drive and Remington Avenue cheering on the runners, but I prefer sitting on my porch watching the traffic jam.  It's inevitable that I will see some burly truckers in their semis banging their heads on steering wheels and wondering why they chose this route.  Or people in their compact cars attempting U-turns while wedged between fellow travelers.  Alley traffic suddenly doubles and every year I keep reminding myself to set up a coffee stand in my backyard, but, like the people in the cars, I forget about the event until it's race day.

Remington September 2021

Greedy Reads Makes Top Indie Bookstore List

September 13, 2021. Our Greedy Reads  garners a spot on the USA Today list of "30 cool indie bookstores across the country that you'll want to check out."

Greedy Reads, Remington

Founder Julia Fleischaker opened her independent bookstore after working in the publishing industry for nearly 20 years.  The Fells Point location did so well she decided to take a chance and open one in our semi-literate neighborhood.  A bold move considering many people, including myself have moved to ebooks or bought hard copies online at discount prices.  But Greedy Reads books are carefully curated and the wide variety of titles make it hard to resist dropping in to grab an eye-catching title displayed in the huge show window.  Then, of course, you have to peruse all the games, puzzles, tote bags, and t-shirts.  I rarely escape with a charge under $50.

The shop on 320 West 29th Street was originally the location of the old Continental Oil Building.  (See my Remington Renaissance blog for more details about the old building.)  JHU occupies the top floor (and about every other building around Greater Remington).  

Greedy Reads is the only Maryland bookstore to make the list, so, kudos to Julia and condolences to Atomic Books.

Source (accessed 9/20/2021):  Gabby DeBenedictishttps://patch.com/maryland/baltimore/baltimores-greedy-reads-makes-list-best-indie-bookstores.  

Photo by me.

Remington August 2021

 

Ottobar Serious about Covid Mandate

August 20, 2021.  Tecla Tesnau, owner of The Ottobar on N. Howard Street is serious about preventing the unvaccinated from invading her venue.  After the mask mandate was rolled back in July, she felt The Ottobar was really back in business.  Except, as we all found out, July was ground zero for another uptick in Covid cases as the Delta infiltrated the US.  Four of her staff had breakthrough cases and she immediately shut the establishment, again.  It was during this shutdown that she was determined to keep her staff and patrons safe and, regardless of whatever the CDC, state, or city was recommending.  Now,  part of the entry ticket requires a picture or an actual vaccination card or a timestamped negative test result performed within 72 hours before you are allowed to enter.  Yay, Tecla!  I saw this one coming.

There have been some drawbacks as extra staff and security had to be hired to check IDs and cards, but the bands and staff fully support her decision and she says that 90% of the feedback she hears is supportive.  Like all of us, she hopes the pandemic is waning and is waiting to see some "normalcy" next month.  In the meantime, you don't show proof, you don't see show.

Source (Accessed 8/20/21): Amanda Yeager, Baltimore Business Journal, www.bizjournals.com/balti
more/news/2021/08/19/ottobar-vaccine-requirement-policy-baltimore.html