Wednesday, October 11, 2006
ANN'S DARI-CREME
The prospect of going out to buy a futon seemed unavoidable, so I decided to throw in the towel and buy some new jeans while we were at it. I hate clothes shopping maybe more than I hate furniture shopping. It’s not just the frustration of trying to find something in my size; it’s mainly that even when I do find something in my size, it’s not in my size. How can pants that are supposed to be the same length have one pair that doesn’t reach my ankles and another swallows my whole foot? And how are you supposed to find the right size when they’re designed to shrink? It’s even worse with the clown pants that are so “fashionable” these days. The first Sunday circular I grabbed that advertised a jeans sale was JCPenney, so we decided to go to Marley Station Mall (“Yuppie Station Mall” to those in the know).
A wrong turn landed us in downtown Glen Burnie, so as long as we were there I decided to stop in at the game shop at the corner of Key Highway and B&A Blvd. to see if they had any Pirates cards in (Davy Jones’ Locker is still sold out.) While we were there, we noticed that there was a futon shop on the opposite corner, so we went in and looked around. We found one we liked, ordered it and paid for it. It’s nice, and we needed it, but I’m glad this is for the home office and therefore a business expense.
By the time we were done, though, we were famished. My wife, knowing our destination, was already looking forward to a double dog with the works from Ann’s, but was so hungry she considered stopping somewhere else first. Ann’s Dari-Crème has been in business a long time. They were one of the businesses in the area when the mall started to be built. They were offered a large sum for their land, but they didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. Now they exist in a little crèche just between the mall’s parking lot and Ritchie Highway, and they do box office business. Their building is particularly tiny, and a rush of ten customers makes it almost impossible to stand inside. You walk up to the counter, tell them your order, and step to the side. They don’t write anything down, and no matter how many people or orders they have, the wait is never very long. When I walked in, the line, as usual, was practically out the door. A woman came in behind me and asked me if the line was moving fast because she was in a hurry. I said, “Honey, it’s Ann’s. The line is always fast.” Hunger could have colored my perceptions, or maybe I jinxed things, but while we weren’t zipping through, the wait wasn’t unreasonable. The hot dogs themselves are foot-longs, served on plain white sub rolls. You can order them with your choice of toppings, but I’m glad I know what choices are available because they’ve changed their signage and I didn’t see them listed anywhere. “The works” consist of chili (near as I can tell it’s Hormel, right out of the can), mustard, and chopped onions. Absolutely none of the pieces stand out in my opinion, but put them all together and they are very good. Maybe not as incredibly good as my wife feels, but it’s worth it to go to Ann’s just for the experience. Even though they did, for the first time, screw up my order (bringing me a single instead of a double) but they fixed it quickly. Maybe the charm’s in the simplicity, but we’ll be back.
Maybe when I need some more jeans.
A wrong turn landed us in downtown Glen Burnie, so as long as we were there I decided to stop in at the game shop at the corner of Key Highway and B&A Blvd. to see if they had any Pirates cards in (Davy Jones’ Locker is still sold out.) While we were there, we noticed that there was a futon shop on the opposite corner, so we went in and looked around. We found one we liked, ordered it and paid for it. It’s nice, and we needed it, but I’m glad this is for the home office and therefore a business expense.
By the time we were done, though, we were famished. My wife, knowing our destination, was already looking forward to a double dog with the works from Ann’s, but was so hungry she considered stopping somewhere else first. Ann’s Dari-Crème has been in business a long time. They were one of the businesses in the area when the mall started to be built. They were offered a large sum for their land, but they didn’t fall off the turnip truck yesterday. Now they exist in a little crèche just between the mall’s parking lot and Ritchie Highway, and they do box office business. Their building is particularly tiny, and a rush of ten customers makes it almost impossible to stand inside. You walk up to the counter, tell them your order, and step to the side. They don’t write anything down, and no matter how many people or orders they have, the wait is never very long. When I walked in, the line, as usual, was practically out the door. A woman came in behind me and asked me if the line was moving fast because she was in a hurry. I said, “Honey, it’s Ann’s. The line is always fast.” Hunger could have colored my perceptions, or maybe I jinxed things, but while we weren’t zipping through, the wait wasn’t unreasonable. The hot dogs themselves are foot-longs, served on plain white sub rolls. You can order them with your choice of toppings, but I’m glad I know what choices are available because they’ve changed their signage and I didn’t see them listed anywhere. “The works” consist of chili (near as I can tell it’s Hormel, right out of the can), mustard, and chopped onions. Absolutely none of the pieces stand out in my opinion, but put them all together and they are very good. Maybe not as incredibly good as my wife feels, but it’s worth it to go to Ann’s just for the experience. Even though they did, for the first time, screw up my order (bringing me a single instead of a double) but they fixed it quickly. Maybe the charm’s in the simplicity, but we’ll be back.
Maybe when I need some more jeans.
# posted by Renfield @ 1:14 PM 
