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This little piggy went to market in Maryland
A trip for your taste buds
Date published: 2/23/2008 BY EDIE GROSS BALTIMORE--My fiance's earliest memories of visits to Faidley's seafood in Baltimore aren't especially fond. Strapped into a stroller at knee level, he couldn't see the trays full of crab cakes and oysters changing hands overhead. He didn't understand what the big deal was. As an adult, his appreciation for the place has grown considerably. At Faidley's, life begins when you're tall enough to see over the counter. My fiance, Kirk, is a fourth-generation diner at the seafood mecca and the surrounding Lexington Market, a sprawling collection of delis, bakeries, meat and produce stands covering a two-block stretch in what we've dubbed Baltimore's "Wig Packing District," owing to the record number of wig shops nearby. If it's edible, it's generally available at Lexington Market, a gastronomical marvel since 1782. In those days, farmers would come by wagon to trade and sell grain, hay, butter, eggs and livestock on pastureland donated by Revolutionary War Gen. John Eager Howard. Nowadays, we usually make the 90-mile trip in our Honda, and the environs--about a mile from Baltimore's Inner Harbor--are decidedly more urban. TO MARKET, TO MARKET The market, like Baltimore itself, doesn't lack for character. A stage in the first-floor arcade area hosts everything from live R&B bands to fashion shows. Hunger-inducing aromas permeate the place. In one corner it's grilled meat. In another, it's fried dough. The clientele is eclectic: government workers with ID badges around their necks, sucking down oysters on their lunch breaks; families grocery shopping, negotiating the market's crowded aisles with strollers and toddlers in tow; neighborhood regulars who seem to know everyone in the joint; high school boys in baggy pants and elderly women with plastic rain bonnets wrap-ped round their heads. Since reaching adulthood, Kirk has made regular pilgrimages to Lexington Market, along with his siblings and parents. In the early days, the purpose was to enjoy a few plates of fresh, raw oysters and a beer at the well-worn counter of Faidley's. Every now and then, they'd venture over to another booth and try something different: some fried chicken, a Polish sausage, a plate of Korean barbecue. Exceptionally tasty items would be awarded a spot on The List, which meant no family trip to Lexington Market would be complete without a sample.
Read more stories about Fredericksburg Date published: 2/23/2008
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