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One of the highlights of our adventure for me was a coffee house in Brunswick MD called Beans in the Belfry. It was documented as an internet hot spot. I have been handling my lack of connectivity with a variety of coping mechanisms, and this seemed like a good opportunity to have a veritable digital banquet. It is in an old church building, which has essentially not been renovated. Furnished with a wide variety of Salvation Army style tables and chairs, there may not have been two things alike. The themes and ambiance made It feel to me like the 60’s, including the music. Brunswick was an end/beginning point for Elaine, so I dropped her off at Point Of Rocks and went up to BITB to spend the day. I couldn’t help having the sense that this place was a scene right out of Alice’s Restaurant, with the church, food, 60’s stuff, and a waitress who could have been Alice herself. I half expected Woody to walk through the door. He didn’t show up, and there was nearly nobody in all day. I was getting to the point where I didn’t want to here one more Beatle’s piece when parents, grandparents and kids, etc., arrived for the 2pm entertainment. There was a place set up for occasional live performers. Today’s gig was the once-per-month kids sing and stamp along. I think the performance was done by someone a little down on his luck, and the parents paid him a nominal fee and, of course, purchased food from BITB, so it was a win-win. I’d have to say that my productivity fell off of what was already a less-than-banquet sized effort. I really like to observe human behavior, however, and this was a sociological repast of very satisfying proportions. The kids weren’t singing, but they were stomping furiously and banging things while the entertainer sung songs at the top of his lungs. I was glad that Elaine arrived just in time to see the tail end of the event. A couple of days later (on my birthday) I was able to arrange another session at BITB, which went much more quietly except for an incident that seemed very 60’s-like even though it could not have happened for a couple of decades. The fan in the proprietor’s laptop had given up the ghost, and it was very quickly overheating. She had to back up her files before sending it out for repairs but it would not stay on long enough, and she didn’t know how to back it up anyway. “Alice” got a table fan, and they were trying to use it to blow air on the BOTTOM of the laptop, but neither it nor the laptop were cooperating. I couldn’t stand it any longer, and suggested that they get a basin full of ice (of which they had plenty) and sit it on a plastic bag on top of the ice. That worked like a champ and all that was left was to actually figure out how to do the backup. What a fine setting in which to enjoy a triumph over the nasty machinations of the technological establishment!

Alas, I did not take any pictures of BITB. However, I took about 10 minutes worth of clandestine video of the dance along. I’ve downloaded about 45 seconds: one clip pans the space and gives an idea of its appearance, and the other clip shows a little more clearly the general chaos of the event. I was trying to be unobstrusive, and I’m not a great cameraman in the first place, so take it for what it’s worth. My apologies in advance to the gentleman who performed, whose name I did not record, and whose permission I did not obtain. I believe he was offering CD’s of his work, and I’m sure you could get his contact information if you contact Beans in the Belfry, Brunswick MD. Here’s the link (warning it’s BIG, 10Meg.): Beans in the Belfry Kids Sing and Dance Along

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