Caribou Coffee, 1 North Charles Street, Baltimore, Maryland.

I didn’t have time to stand in the long line, so all I’ve got is this picture of him. Astoundingly, I’ve lived in Baltimore for five years and this is the first time I’ve seen him in person.

(at the Broadway Diner in Baltimore, MD)

If you’ve got a weakness for burgers and tater tots and creative icy drinks, and you live in the Baltimore area, you’ve probably heard that Sonic Drive-In is about to open the first of many new locations in this area, this one at 8212 Liberty Road (about one mile outside the Baltimore Beltway).  The grand opening of this new location is this Friday morning at 10:00 a.m., and as soon as the news broke, I resolved to camp out overnight in anticipation of the big moment, along with anyone else who couldn’t wait for this local fast food milestone. (Since I’m between jobs at the moment, I’ve got the time for fun stuff like this, so why not?)

It just happens that Sonic saw the excitement I expressed on Twitter, and they extended me an invitation to a private “Friends & Family” event they’re having on Wednesday.  I’ll get a sneak peak at the new digs, and I’ll be one of the first people in the region to taste a SuperSONIC Breakfast Burrito, a Footlong Quarter Pound Coney, an order of tots, or a Cherry Limeade Chiller. (And by golly, they have corn dogs!) To top it off, they’re giving me $25 to spend as I wish, with any out-of-pocket spending going to benefit the Ray Lewis Foundation to help disadvantaged kids in our area.

I’ll be live-tweeting and live-blogging my experience, both Wednesday at the private “Friends & Family” event, as well as the camp-out leading up to the public opening of the store. If you’re free Thursday night or Friday morning, come join me for the fun!

If you’d like to keep up with Sonic of Baltimore, follow their Facebook page.

SIDE NOTE: Many of you may have heard about my earlier plans to camp out for the new Chick-fil-A store opening in Hunt Valley this Thursday, earning myself free Chick-fil-A meals every week for an entire year. Doing so would require a 24-hour commitment, which would conflict with the Sonic “Friends & Family” event. It was tough to choose between the two, but in the end, I decided that the Sonic event is the can’t-miss one; there will surely be other Chick-fil-A openings in the future, but only one “first” Sonic event.

Remnants of a Baltimore tornado?

Originally uploaded by spam991

Earlier this evening, the National Weather Service issued a tornado warning for the city of Baltimore and much of the surrounding area. (A tornado warning means that a funnel cloud has been spotted or that local radar has picked up some sort of rotation in the atmosphere.) The warning expired without major incident at 5:30 pm.

A few minutes later, at 5:53 pm, I was on Pulaski Highway in the Rossville area of Baltimore, and spotted this curious-looking cloud to the southwest. It looked to me like a broken-off celery stalk.

Could this have been the remnants of a tornado that didn’t touch down?  Probably not, but it’s still a crazy-lookin’ cloud on a crazy weather day.

I decided to get a little adventurous (and some might say carnivorous) for breakfast, and had this sandwich at Which Wich? At Buffalo Niagara International Airport.

It wasn’t exactly a delight of Hawaiian proportions, but it wasn’t bad. Thanks to the bacon, egg, and cheese, the power of the SPAM® was properly reigned in.

Spotted this at the Walmart in Bowie, Maryland.