There is a lovely woman who purhased a property here in NE Baltimore City. The property was previously run as a private supper club. When the property went on the market, the deal was that if the new owner wanted to run it as a private supper club, she could do so because it was already zoned to operate as such. But if the new owner did not want to continue to operate a private supper club, it would have been rezoned into just a normal residential property. Well, thank goodness this woman wanted to continue with the private supper club, because that place is life changing. It's an oldschool place, probably hard to picture if you have never been in an old style Baltimore basement bar. The place isn't a basement, but it feels like a basement. It's shabby and obviously makeshift. But the warmth of the people who are there! You have to know someone who belongs to the club; it's not a place you can just walk in off the street. For starters, it's right in the middle of a neighborhood. Not a restaurant/bar neighborhood. A houses with bikes in the driveways neighborhood. If you didn't know it was a club, you'd never know it was a club. Looks like a house with a big yard. But inside is a full commercial kitchen, a bar, and a separate dining room. Plus a huge yard with picnic tables and games and grills and smokers and a garden. So the owner makes these amazing meals. When you come, you get what she's making. You don't get a menu from which to choose your appetizer and your main and your dessert. You get what's for dinner. Tonight she was serving pit beef she cooked for 2 days, along with fresh spinach salad, pasta salad, and corn on the cobb. Plus, homemade waffles with peaches and fresh whipped cream. All for $20. Cash bar, heavy pours and it's up to you to write up your own bar tab and make sure to pay the tender. I had a tab left over from last time I attended the supper club, but they didn't have a record of it. So I added the drink to tonight's tab. I met new friends, too. Like, walked in there knowing only one person who was going to be there (who wasn't actually there), spent about 2 minutes sitting by myself at a picnic table thinking perhaps I'd made a mistake by leaving the comfort of my cat/couch/knitting project, and then a person at the next picnic table said hi and then his friends said hi and then we were playing cornhole and then .... new friends! Just like that. Just getting out there and smiling at people and playing a stupid game I've never played before and sucking at it and laughing and eating and oh my goodness! So thankful. So glad I didn't sit in and sulk tonight. My divorce hearing is Monday and I'm simultaneously devastated and relieved and then there's supper club dinner party with water balloon toss and rye whiskey on the rocks and I feel better about my place in the world. Such a simple, beautiful, pure night of kindness amongst strangers. My heart feels kinda a little like it got some healing tonight. Just wanted to report. Hope you all had a good Friday night. Peace.