Tanks for the walk!

I had to go into Maryland today, so I took the hounds along and we went for a stroll downtown Brunswick. Naturally, they found a new ride that they thought that I needed, one that may not be as fast as the cars loved by the likes of Keads and Tam, but one that could dish out and take a bit more of a beating.

This is an M5 Stuart. It can be found downtown Brunswick in the center of a nice veterans' memorial. The dogs apparently think that I need it as a daily driver for my commute down into DC.

"You need this, Boss!"

It's a beautiful tank, and it's been here since 1946. There was originally a howitzer here following World War One, but the city was asked to give it up for a scrap metal drive for World War Two. The Defense Department promised them a tank at the end of that war in return, and they came through with this one.

It looks good there, but I do feel somewhat sorry for it. If it could talk, I know that it'd want to run again and drive around. What a great shade-tree restoration this one could be...and it could still be a veterans' memorial in lots of local parades...and on my commute down into DC.

Ah well...at least it's taken care of there.

The dogs and I walked all around downtown, and I was a bit sad but not surprised to see one of my formerly-favorite restaurants has apparently gone bust.

El Sloppy Taco used to offer same fantastic South American BBQ dishes at decent prices, and it was good enough to motivate me to ride my bike down often from Harpers Ferry to get some, but unfortunately, the woman who ran it tended to look at customers as if we were some sort of an affliction, and I finally got tired of being treated like shit in return for walking in the door and spending money so I quit going there. Looks like a lot of other people made the same choice, because it's empty now. Tsk. The place could have been so much more.

I also found a dog-friendly antique store in Past and Present Antiques, and the owner graciously allowed Murphy and Belle in and even gave them biscuits. And Murphy and Belle were well-behaved enough not to knock any of the expensive breakables off of the shelves and tables as we waked the aisles, although I did keep a pretty tight rein on them. Here they are after enjoying their snacks.

Now we're home, and the dogs are napping. The peace and quiet..so nice. Time for a beer or three.