In The Annapolis
Tom Lake, Cantler's/Chick & Ruth's, Jim Croce, A'ja Wilson, Sleeping Sommer
Welcome to my weekly newsletter. This week’s issue features Facebook friends who frequently furnish photo comments, the latest triumph by Ann Patchett, two great places to dine in Maryland’s capital city, a singer/songwriter who tragically died 50 years ago today, a peak playoff performer, and letting sleeping crabs lie. I hope you enjoy the picks and pics.
Fave Five 51: In The Annapolis. Patchett Perfection (Tom Lake), Appetizing Annapolis (Cantler's, Chick & Ruth's), Bad Bad (Jim Croce), Aces’ Ace (A'ja Wilson), and Sleeping Sommer.
Fave Five Lists: Prolific Picture Punsters
I post a captioned photo every day on Facebook in an album called My Visual Punditry, from which I select the weekly Picture Puns for Fave Five. My intent is to make people laugh, but I also regularly receive humorous comments from friends. Five of them frequently respond, in some cases, every day. Here are the five most loyal commenters.
Jay Sloofman, Clayton classmate and accomplished bridge player
Cheryl Frueh, Ann Arbor resident, artist, music lover, and fellow traveler
Don Alles, Twin Cities resident originally from Battle Creek, former Cayamo roomie, singer/guitarist, and indefatigable concert/festival/cruise attendee
Holly Seguine, my former Deloitte colleague and Barb’s fellow synchronized swimmer
John Trotter, New Yorker originally from Springfield (Missouri), photographer, biker, and Barb’s cousin
Book Best Bet
Two issues ago I wrote:
I am currently reading Ann Patchett’s latest book, Tom Lake, and her style, structure, word choices, and avoidance of the obvious are much more to my liking.
I finished reading it today, and I think it is Ann’s finest novel, which says a lot because she is one of our greatest living authors. It consists of two intertwined stories, one in 2020 in northern Michigan and another in 1988 at fictional Tom Lake (which made me think of Interlochen Center for the Arts.) I cared deeply about all of the characters, the recalled story is compelling, the details about Michigan are accurate, and the writing is superb. I gasped, laughed, and cried multiple times as subtle plot points and character connections were revealed. I think it is a masterwork, and I highly recommend it to anyone who loves great writing and wants to be moved while reading it.
I previously wrote about These Precious Days and This Is the Story of a Happy Marriage, both non-fiction works. This novel was a treat, as are all of her others. I hope she will write another before too long.
From Amazon: In this beautiful and moving novel about family, love, and growing up, Ann Patchett once again proves herself one of America’s finest writers.
Patchett leads us to a truth that feels like life rather than literature. — The Guardian
In the spring of 2020, Lara’s three daughters return to the family's orchard in Northern Michigan. While picking cherries, they beg their mother to tell them the story of Peter Duke, a famous actor with whom she shared both a stage and a romance years before at a theater company called Tom Lake. As Lara recalls the past, her daughters examine their own lives and relationship with their mother and are forced to reconsider the world and everything they thought they knew.
Tom Lake is a meditation on youthful love, married love, and the lives parents have led before their children were born. Both hopeful and elegiac, it explores what it means to be happy even when the world is falling apart. As in all of her novels, Ann Patchett combines compelling narrative artistry with piercing insights into family dynamics. The result is a rich and luminous story, told with profound intelligence and emotional subtlety, that demonstrates once again why she is one of the most revered and acclaimed literary talents working today.
Restaurant Recommendations
Appetizing Annapolis
Barb and I recently visited Roger, Cristi, Sommer, and Kieran in their home in Maryland. We all took a drive and ended up in the Annapolis for dinner and dessert.
Cantler's Riverside Inn 458 Forest Beach Road, Annapolis, MD 21409
Barb wanted to pick crabs, so Roger recommended this well-known spot for fresh Maryland blue crabs that are kept in a tank outside the restaurant right next to the water.
Roger, Cristi, and Barb started with an order of rockfish bites (wild caught rockfish cut into strips and blackened, over warm sweet and tangy napa slaw and topped with a creamy cucumber wasabi sauce). The also shared a dozen hard shell blue crabs (steamed live and seasoned with J.O. spice). Cristi and Roger patiently showed Barb the art of getting the good stuff out of each crab.
I started with one pound of peel-n-eat shrimp. I mixed my own cocktail sauce using ketchup, J.O. spice, and Tabasco sauce.
I then had a lump crab cake sandwich made with Maryland jumbo lump crab meat, herbs, and seasonings then butter broiled and served with lettuce, tomato, and tartar sauce on the side. Everything was delicious and the service in this busy and popular place was very attentive.
From the restaurant: An Annapolis, Maryland icon, Cantler’s waterfront restaurant and crab house has been serving the area’s freshest seafood to watermen, boaters, and land lovers alike for nearly four decades. Sheltered in the quiet waters of Mill Creek, Maryland and just minutes from Annapolis City Dock, Cantler’s proudly serves Maryland Blue Crabs, Crab Cakes, Crab Imperial, Clams, Oysters, Shrimp, Fish, Lobster, Scallops, Land Lovers Platters, Sandwiches, and Steamed Hardshell Crabs.
Cantler’s owners and founders, Jimmy and Linda Cantler, are native Marylanders. Jimmy worked as a waterman on the Chesapeake Bay. The Cantler family has worked in the seafood industry for five generations. In 1974, Jimmy started a restaurant dedicated to serving fresh seafood in a casual family atmosphere. Today, all seafood is inspected by experienced handlers to ensure only the highest quality product reaches our customers.
Chick & Ruth's Delly 165 Main Street, Annapolis, MD 21401
After our sensational seafood supper, we sought something sweet, so we drove downtown to this delly for dessert. I would like to return to try their crab cakes and deli sandwiches, which looked appetizing.
I ordered caramel apple walnut pie with moose tracks ice cream. Both the pie and the ice cream were delectable, and the combination was divine.
I had help from Kieran in finishing it:
Sommer and Cristi shared a "Donut Worry, Be Happy" fancy shake: Strawberry shake, vanilla icing rim dipped in rainbow sprinkles, topped with a rainbow sprinkle donut and whipped cream. They liked it and were able to bring the donut home for breakfast the next day.
From the restaurant: An Annapolis institution for over 50 years, Chick & Ruth’s is the go-to local experience for great food and the best service anywhere in town.
Our menu has something for everyone, from creamed chipped beef on toast to personal pizza or jumbo lump crab cakes. All pies and breads are made fresh every day on the premises. No mixes, no preservatives, all handmade.
Marvelous Musician
Today is the 50th anniversary of Jim's untimely death in 1973. The year before, I heard "Operator (That's Not the Way It Feels)" on the radio and bought the LP You Don't Mess Around with Jim. I also love "I Got a Name."
This is also the 39th anniversary of Steve Goodman’s death. A doubly depressing date.
From Wikipedia: James Joseph Croce (born January 10, 1943 in South Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; died September 20, 1973 in Natchitoches, Louisiana) was an American folk and rock singer-songwriter. Between 1966 and 1973, he released five studio albums and numerous singles. During this period, Croce took a series of odd jobs to pay bills while he continued to write, record, and perform concerts. After he formed a partnership with songwriter and guitarist Maury Muehleisen his fortunes turned in the early 1970s. His breakthrough came in 1972; his third album, You Don't Mess Around with Jim, produced three charting singles, including "Time in a Bottle", which reached No. 1 after his death. The follow-up album, Life and Times, contained the song "Bad, Bad Leroy Brown", which was the only No. 1 hit he had during his lifetime.
On September 20, 1973, at the height of his popularity and the day before the lead single to his fifth album, I Got a Name, was released, Croce and five others died in a plane crash. His music continued to chart throughout the 1970s following his death. Croce's wife, Ingrid Croce, was his early songwriting partner. She continued to write and record after his death and their son A. J. Croce became a singer-songwriter in the 1990s.
Operator (That's Not The Way It Feels)
I Got a Name
My Playlist
Sports Star
I was not familiar with her until she tied the WNBA single-game scoring record with 53 points. Then she recorded the first 35/15/3/3 (points/rebounds/steals/blocks) stat line in WNBA history, and I took notice. Her actual numbers in the recent playoff win were 38/16/3/4!
A’ja Wilson’s historic performance powers Aces to playoff win over Sky
From the opening minutes of Sunday’s Game 2, Wilson asserted her dominance on both ends of the floor. Offensively, she finished the first quarter with 10 points. Last year’s Defensive Player of the Year showed why she might take home that honor for the second consecutive season, as she added three steals and three blocks in the opening frame.
A'ja Wilson “on another planet” as Aces sweep Sky
The Aces will make their fifth consecutive semifinals appearance thanks in no small part to Wilson. She set a playoff record for the franchise with 38 points in Sunday’s 92-70 win, breaking head coach Becky Hammon’s record. Wilson also had 16 rebounds, three steals and four blocks, making her the first player in any WNBA game – regular or postseason – with a 35/15/3/3 stat line.
She’s also just the second player in WNBA playoff history to have 35+ points without a 3-point attempt, joining Lisa Leslie. To top it all off? Wilson played just 30 minutes. It was an MVP-level performance from the reigning league MVP.
The series-clinching win marked her third playoff game with at least 30 points and 10 rebounds, which is the most in WNBA history. Candace Parker, who is on the Aces’ bench with an injury, is the only other WNBA player to have done it at least twice.
A’ja Wilson’s 53-Point Game Ties the WNBA Record
Fifty-point games in the NBA can almost be ho-hum: There were 25 last season alone, and they are increasing in frequency. But in the WNBA, they are nearly unheard-of. A’ja Wilson of the Las Vegas Aces didn’t just score 50 on Tuesday night in Atlanta; she made four free throws in the last minute to reach 53, tying the league record.
Wilson’s is just the third 50-point game in WNBA history, following a 53-point game by Liz Cambage of the Dallas Wings in 2018 and a 51-point game by Riquna Williams of the Tulsa Shock in 2013. There have been only 33 games in which a player has scored 40 points or more in the league’s history, which dates to 1997. But as in the NBA, the trend line is upward. A third of those games have come this season.
From Wikipedia: A'ja Riyadh Wilson (born August 8, 1996 in Columbia, South Caroline) is an American professional basketball player for the Las Vegas Aces of the Women's National Basketball Association (WNBA). Wilson played for the South Carolina Gamecocks in college and helped lead the Gamecocks to their first NCAA Women's Basketball Championship in 2017 and won the NCAA basketball tournament Most Outstanding Player award. In 2018, she won a record third straight SEC Player of the Year award, leading South Carolina to a record fourth straight SEC Tournament Championship, becoming the all-time leading scorer in South Carolina women's basketball history, and was a consensus first-team All-American for the third consecutive season. Wilson swept all National Player of the Year awards (Wade, AP, Honda, USBWA, Wooden, and Naismith) as the best player in Women's College basketball for 2018. In the 2018 WNBA draft, she was drafted first overall by the Aces.
Wilson won her first WNBA MVP in 2020, as well as her first Olympic Gold medal in the 2020 Summer Olympics. In 2022, Wilson helped lead the Aces to their first title in franchise history.
53 Points Ties record for most in a game in WNBA history
Picture Pun
Roger didn’t want to wake Sommer, fearing she would be crabby.
