Trap Shooting
After a night of fun and a morning of recovery, it was time to head to Loch Raven Skeet & Trap Club. There was a competition there this weekend. Luckily it was only on Saturday. On Sunday, there was plenty of room for us. If you’ve never fired a shotgun before, I have to say, it’s a blast. Pun intended. The 12 gauge though left a nice bruise on my arm, but the 20 gauge was definitely easier to handle, especially for 25 rounds. Fortunately someone in our group brought shotguns and even more fortunate was that everyone fired them before in order to teach me how not to shoot my face off. Make sure you know what you’re doing! If you haven’t done skeet or trap, it goes like this. Skeet shoots clay pigeons from the side houses while trap shoots from the center ground. Both have various stations you cycle through, giving you different challenges. At each station you shoot 5 rounds before switching. And when there’s more people, there’s an etiquette you need to follow. I don’t want to list them here because I’m sure there are subtle differences at different places. But just make sure you talk to your fellow shooters before starting. And that’s key, talk before you get to the stations. The trap stations we were at were voice activated. As you can guess, clay pigeons launch at will when we chatted or cheered. Hey, we were beginners at this sport.
Later, my brother took me to his favorite place for pho, Pho Van. It’s your typical run of the mill type pho, but in a surprising location, out in Catonsville. If I’m in the area, I’ll make a stop here. Otherwise, I’ll stick to the places closer to home.
In the evening, I headed over to Northern Virginia to see some friends. Oddly enough, I had a craving for a place that went from hearty goodness to franchise expansion phenom, Moby Dicks Kabob. Oh how I love this place, even if it’s a shadow of its former self. The food was so consistently mediocre among all the stores in the suburbs that I’ve gotten used to it. I really need to make it back to the Georgetown location to see if I’m becoming senile. I swear, back when I fell in love with this stuff (pre 2000’s), the tastes were deeper and richer than what they are now. For real!
We choose the trap shooting station since none of us knew how this stuff works. A few stations into it, things started to get fun. Don’t worry if you don’t know what to do, the staff as well as patrons are glad to show you the ropes. After shooting at the right most station, you could see how skeet wasn’t the best to start off with. In any case, pretty reasonable prices if you bring your own gear. $7USD/round (25 shots)
Not too shabby for a place I’d never expect, a strip mall west of Baltimore. They put a lot of stuff in the bowl. Usually I always thought large bowls only meant more broth. Here, they put in more than enough. I still had noodles and brisket by the time I was done with the broth. $7.95USD
Lamb and Kubideh on rice. This was at one of the franchise chains. Not as good as the original places. A bit too clean and too refined if you know what I’m saying. It tastes like it came out of a factory, albeit a very clean and efficient one. But I do miss the Georgetown one. Things were a bit more greasy and a bit more hearty. And oh, the grilled tomatoes were better grilled. Still, I need my fix. So these chains out in the suburbs will have to do. $12.99USD
Oh when you have access to fresh seafood, why not buy a bunch and make it yourself. We did. Just make sure you go early to the market to get ones that are live and kicking.
The perfect compliment for blue crabs. Sure the Old Bay seasoning is the signature seasoning for Maryland blue crabs. But hey, if you don’t have any, this stuff goes a long way.