July 2009 Archives

Are Crisfield's Crab Cakes Really That Bad?

on July 29, 2009 3:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

I was REALLY surprised to read the rating that Washington Post writer Jane Black and colleagues gave to the crab cakes proffered by Silver Spring's landmark 1945 Crisfield Seafood Restaurant in her July 29, 2009 article, "The Lump Sum". Ms. Black included Crisfield under the rating "Don't Bother" (the three other categories in increasing acceptability were "So-So," "Good," and "The Real Deal."

One has to log on-line to the Post to read her critique:

Crisfield Seafood Restaurant
Two 3.5-ounce backfin crab cakes, $20

The tiled walls and old-time lunch counter set the tone for this crab cake: the ultimate blue-plate special. Made with local backfin crab, the cakes are seasoned lightly with Old Bay, green pepper, onion and a bit of cracker meal, then deep-fried. You get a generous portion, but the crab lacks the sweetness of some competitors, and the overall texture is a bit pasty. The skinny french fries and creamy coleslaw are the main attractions.

8012 Georgia Ave., Silver Spring, 301-589-1306, www.crisfieldseafoodrestaurant.com.

Gosh, by telling the world to not bother with Crisfield's crab cakes, you'd think they were inedible. I think this is really unfair of Black and her colleagues who conducted the taste tests, considering they made the following statements about the other establishments that Crisfield was lumped in with:

"...two greasy lumps.."

"...bland, smallish pieces of local crab..."

"...the exterior was marred by greasiness."

"...crab cakes that give the dish a bad name."

"...lifeless and overly salted..."

"...pretty flavorless to boot."

"Fishy flavor is a bad sign in a crab cake."

Now, I'm no connoisseur of crab cakes, having grown up in Ohio where the closest we came to seafood was Mrs. Paul's fish sticks. But, I've been a Crisfield customer going on 20 years and I love their crab cakes...even though soft-shell crabs are my favorite.

Are Crisfield's crab cakes really that bad? Please share your opinions.

My other favorite seafood restaurant!

Traitor Joe's

Jerry A. McCoy

on July 27, 2009 6:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Recently I stopped into the Silver Spring Trader Joe's grocery store and was very saddened by what I didn't see.

Allow me to explain.

Prior to this location opening in spring 2005, the manager contacted the Silver Spring Historical Society asking us if we had any old photos of Silver Spring that their staff artists could use as models for a mural that he wanted to be painted as part of the store's Silver Spring-themed decor.

"Of course we have photos you may use!" I replied, even though I no more thought of their location at 10741 Columbia Pike...almost 3 miles out Colesville Road from downtown Silver Spring...as being located in Silver Spring then I think of the location of the former Naval Surface Warfare Center on New Hampshire Avenue in White Oak as being in Silver Spring (which it is).

Two young women named Julie and Leah met with me a short time later to look at the many images of old Silver Spring that are in the historical society's archives. They chose about a dozen images which were provided at no cost to Trader Joe's. The only thing that SSHS requested was that a sign be placed near the mural indicating that assistance was provided by the Silver Spring Historical Society.

Before Julie and Leah departed, they took a Polaroid photo of me and said they would recreate the photo as a stand-up display that would be placed in the store, along with other similar portraits, of folks proclaiming how much they like Trader Joe's.

Several months later when the store opened, customers were met with a mural that extended nearly the full length of one wall of the store. Located primarily over the deli case, the mural depicted a "Main Street" view of a town with several of the buildings depeicted being clearly (at least to me) reproduced from the photos provided.

Familiar Silver Spring landmarks such as the (top) ca. 1850s Acorn Gazebo and the 1938 Silver Theatre and Silver Spring Shopping Center and (bottom, left to right) 1845 Silver Spring mansion, 1937 Silver Spring post office, and 1946 Canada Dry bottling place were incorporated into the Trader Joe's mural, completed in 2005. All photos by Jerry A. McCoy.

And sure enough there I was...a three ft.-high caricature rendered in acrylic on plywood placed above the section of the deli case where the prepared sandwiches were!

Over the years it was kind of fun to see myself immediatedly to the left as I entered the store. Once in a while I would tell the cashier when checking out that I was the guy above the deli case. At first they didn't believe me but after they took a quick look at the very accurate rendition of myself they were always impressed.

Cashiers may be easy to impress but not managers. In early 2008 I visited the store and my caricature was nowhere to be seen. I asked the manager what happened to it and he said it was thrown out along with all of the other portrait stand-up displays. I was devastated and more than a little ticked off that they didn't have the courtesy to contact me to see if I wanted it. I shouldn't have been surprised though, as they never did get around to installing the sign that I had asked for indicating that SSHS had assisted in the production of the mural.

And then, this past weekend I went in to buy a case of Poland Spring seltzer water (which they don't seem to carry any more) and the entire mural streetscape was gone! It had been completely painted over with robin egg blue paint upon which had been painted puffy clouds. The only evidence remaining of the original Silver Spring-themed decor is the four curled spurting water jets that were lifted from the Silver Spring Regional Center logo.

Maybe Trader Joe's got tired of the Silver Spring homage. Maybe it will have better luck with illustrating where they really are....Burnt Mills.

Resurrection of Historic "Silver Spring Park" Name

Jerry A. McCoy

on July 18, 2009 1:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I'm amazed and somewhat pleased to discover yesterday that Dr. Ulysses Glee, owner of the property at the southeast corner of Fenton and Silver Spring Avenue, has changed the name of his proposed Moda Vista project to Silver Spring Park.

For years I have been espousing the return of this, the original name of our neighborhood (est. 1905), instead of the generic East Silver Spring moniker that we have been burdened with for decades. This revised name is certainly a more appropriate and authentic acknowledgement of the historic roots of the neighborhood than some nonsensical Italian-sounding phrase that essentially means "fashionable view."

Who knows, some day we may even be able to have a Silver Spring Park Citizens Association!

Silver Spring Volunteer Fire Dept. #1

Jerry A. McCoy

on July 17, 2009 6:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Photo by Ernest Gosbee

Construction has finally begun on the (further) adaptive reuse of the original 1914 Silver Spring Armory into Hook and Ladder brew pub!

This 1950s photograph (can anyone date this more accurately?) shows the SSVFD #1 company and apparatus lined up in front of of 8131 Georgia Avenue . The armory's original 1914 Gothic Revival facade was replaced in 1932 by the a Colonial Revival facade. The decorative architectural lunettes above the two engine bays were demolished between 1955 and 1956 to create the present three bays.

Hot Town, Summer in the City

blogpop

on July 1, 2009 6:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

July 2009

PHOTO COURTESY DOUG WHEELER

by Jerry A. McCoy

The largest fire in the history of Silver Spring took place 60 years ago this month when the Silver Spring Building and Supply Co. lumber yard went up in flames. The fire was reported around 5:30 p.m. on July 4, 1949, occurring in the block bounded by Georgia Avenue, Ripley Street, the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad tracks (today's Metro/CSX tracks) and Bonifant Street.

Over 300 firemen responded to the blaze from units in Montgomery and Prince Georges counties as well as Washington, DC. In addition to the lumber yard, the fire consumed the company's woodworking mill and five other service buildings. Fire Chief John A. Gilson officially estimated the damage at $400,000 ($3.5 million in 2009 dollars) and that the cause was arson. Undamaged was the company's 1922 Colonial Revival style brick headquarter building, located at 8222-26 Georgia Avenue until this past spring when it was gutted by its owner.

The heat from the flames was so intense that spectators a block away had to shield their faces. Over 50 firemen were felled by the smoke and heat. Waitresses from restaurants located in the vicinity of the fire brought large pitchers and glasses to serve ice water to the parched firemen.

Policemen labored to keep (even then) heavily-traveled Georgia Avenue clear for responding emergency vehicles. Their efforts were compounded when thousands of people, drawn by the smoke and flames, poured into the area to observe the drama.

Many of those onlookers can be seen in the accompanying remarkable aerial photograph of the fire that recently surfaced. Visible is Georgia Avenue with Ripley Street intersecting near the lower left corner. Clouds of billowing smoke are drifting north from the lumber yard over Georgia Avenue. A large portion of the lumber yard is today occupied by the Bonifant half of the Bonifant-Dixon parking garages.

Only a handful of photographs of the fire have surfaced over the years. Certainly hundreds must have been taken and still sit in scrapbooks. If you have any of these photos or know of someone who does, please share them with the Silver Spring Historical Society. Contact Jerry A. McCoy at (301) 537-1253, email sshistory@yahoo.com, or write PO Box 1160, Silver Spring, MD 20910-1160. Visit the Silver Spring Historical Society web site www.sshistory.org.

Continue reading Hot Town, Summer in the City.

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Jerry McCoy is founder and president of the Silver Spring Historical Society, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to create and promote awareness and appreciation of downtown Silver Spring's heritage through sponsorship of educational activities and the preservation and protection of historical sites, structures, artifacts and archives.

Jerry may be reached at sshistory@yahoo.com or 301-537-1253. The society's web site is sshistory.org