Offbeat Eats

Last month, Carol and I had a quick mini-vacation trip to the DC area (actually, it started as a business trip, but the business part got canceled and I decided to go anyways). Seeing that the fares from MHT to BWI are crazy-cheap ($118 RT at the moment), it was easy enough to fly through Baltimore, where we got picked up by my friend Betsy, and we met up with several other online friends at Paper Moon Diner. The first thing that really stands out about Paper Moon Diner is the decor. You know those kids that instead of just playing with their toys take them apart? I think they hired one of those kids to do the interior decorating. The main diner room is filled with all sorts of action figures (including some fairly recent ones, like Treebeard) and Pez dispensers. The front dining room is filled with random “stuff” (like a blender), and the back room, where we ended up getting seated, is filled with Barbies and partial mannequins. It’s definitely a trippy experience, especially late at night…

As I’ve mentioned here several times before, I have a soft spot for one of the DC area’s unique food items. Indeed, you can read my previous treatise on DC’s most notable item, the half-smoke. But, after reading that and some of the comments I received from both my readers here and on flickr, I realized I’ve been amiss in visiting the mother of all half-smoke joints: Ben’s Chili Bowl.