How I Spent My Day Off

"How I Spent My Summer--...er, I mean, My Day Off"

by Eric Freed

Today was a rare day off, and I aimed to spend it somewhere other than on the couch all day.  So I got my daughter up and off to school, and then I went right out to breakfast at one of my favorite breakfast joints, Eggspectation.  And it was gooooood!  The Eggs-iliration has pancakes, potatoes, tomato slices, fruit garnish, and, of course, eggs!  Scrambled is the way I like them.  I also got a small OJ and coffee.  One note about the coffee....it isn't very good.  I love a good diner-style coffee, and this isn't it.  Everything else is great.  They even brought me some sugar-free syrup for my pancakes.  My server, Stevie, was very attentive and kept checking on me, which was nice of him since he had a lot of tables and I was the only one with only one customer.

Despite it being my day off, I decided to mix in a few errands along with the fun stuff.  So my next stop was at Kohl's, off of Montgomery Road in Ellicott City.  I needed to get a few dress shirts for work, and some khakis.  I struck out.  My meds have caused me to put on more weight than I'd like, and my clothes need to be upgraded.  I've been doing it slowly in intervals over the past two years because dress clothes aren't cheap.  I was disappointed to find that they had nothing in my size.  Everything was just a touch too small.  This is pretty typical.  While I can find some pants with a 40" waist, and some with a 34" inseam, you can't find any with both.  And forget trying to get an 18" neck on a dress shirt.  Apparently these aren't standard sizes.  Either that, or everyone is that size and they're sold out.  Looks like I'm going to have to buy them online.

My next stop was at Ollie's in Jessup.  Ollie's is a fun little store with a lot of junk.  They have fairly good prices on lots of things, and it's kind of like going to a flea market.  I really wasn't looking for anything in particular.  I just wanted to look around.  You never know what you might find.  I didn't find anything I wanted, this time.

Next was Home Depot.  I needed some filters for my heat pump, and I'm in the market for a new snow shovel.  I'm one of those guys who believes in the Farmer's Almanac, which says we're going to get a LOT of snow this Winter.  I want to be prepared.  I was very disappointed to see that, even though they have a whole section of the store filled with Christmas decorations, and even though, last I checked, Christmas is celebrated in December, which is a Winter month, there were no snow shovels in the store.  So much for being prepared....

Next stop:  Daedalus Books!  This is probably my favorite store in the Greater Columbia Metropolitan Area.  I could literally spend hours in this place, just browsing.  This isn't the kind of book store that you go to find a specific book.  The books here find you.  They have a fantastic history section, and I love the travel section.  They have a huge selection of cook books.  There are DVDs, and CDs, and a huge kid's section.  And you can walk out with 10 books and not spend more than $50.  It's great!

After an entire morning of running around, I debated whether I should just head home for lunch, or grab a sandwich somewhere and then catch a movie.  It was almost 1 p.m., and the debate ended when I realized that my daughter would be getting out of school around the time the movie would be ending.  So I compromised.  I got a sandwich to take home.

I let Siri on my iPhone give me a list of sandwich shops in the area, and I decided it would be a place I had never tried before.  The top of the list was Bon Fresco Sandwich Bakery, just off of Oakland Mills Road, behind the Ledo's Restaurant.  I almost missed it, given how hidden it seemed, kind of hiding in plain sight.  Wow, what a gem!  All I can say is that it's an unassuming little place with a big appetite of flavorful sandwiches.  I got the Turkey Picante Sandwich (roast turkey, hot pepper cheese, roasted peppers and veggies, with poblano pepper hot sauce, on ciabatta bread).  I got it to go, and headed home.

Faithful Pup Scout was sooooo excited to see me.  She wasn't very happy when I left this morning.  We sat down on the couch and I ate a very delicious sandwich.  Soon, though, it was time to go get my daughter.  While I was disappointed that this meant my day off was essentially over, I was very excited to see her.

And that's how I spent my day off.  Have a great evening, everyone!