What is "Bertha's" you may ask? Let's let our own Sandra Cadell (Cherry) tell of her first hand experiance with Bertha's.
Fell's Point, the home of the illustrious Bertha's Mussles.
After picking up two of Tim's friends who were to join us (and if you think *I* podel, WAIT until you meet Rhonda
The building is old, dark and quaint. As we walk in I'm flashing pictures right and left! I think I earned tourist points on this one! The shirts are not very fun (just a green t-shirt with "Eat Bertha's Mussles" in white on the upper corner), but they have bumper stickers! Lots of them (well, now you all know what you're gettin for Christmas...darn!) Dan was our waiter and a very patient person. When Rhonda asked about the infamous mussles, he brought us a free plate to try....ah, nirvanna!
We settled down to individual plates of mussles with garlic caper sauce and the boys in their own sweet fashion had ...hamburgers -yeeesh! After we ate, we went to the Bar and met Laura.
The Truth...
For a couple of years the pub went nameless as they were renovating. Part of the renovation was the addition of some stained glass windows. One of them must have come from a church. It looked like a "posthumous memorial for a Bertha Bartholomew" was brought in to adorn the wall by the back stairway. This is the Bertha that "Bertha's" is named for. There, now you have it!
The mussles were good, the place is wonderful and everyone was very friendly (and trusting, they let both Gaffer and I back behind THE BAR for the photos). It seems there are a lot of groups that have sung the song and she gets tapes all the time. So wadda you say, howsabout a trip to Bertha's for a "Bertha-palooza?" We could get a whole bunch of people in their "Vics" and go sing at the shrine!
I've been to the mountain and back......
I awoke in the morning of my only day off and threw back the covers! "I'm going to Bertha's!" I shouted as I bounded out of bed..."I'm going to Bertha's!" I shouted as I put on my shoes and socks..."I'm going to Bertha's!" I shouted as I ran out the door. (Tim caught me at the elevator and brought me back in so I could put on some clothes!)
Bertha's is not a Victorian Mussle House, it's not even owned (or ever owned) by anyone named Bertha. It was a dockside pub, a local hangout for sailors and prostitutes (a good start!). In the 70's Laura bought it with the thought of doing live music. The zoning laws changed so they couldn't do the music as planned so they thought they'd serve food....that's when the magic happened! In the late 70's a friend was driving down the 95 and started writing a song called "Eat Bertha's Mussles", and when they started playing around with it, they realized it would work with a Victorian drinking song they knew of. The rest is history! Laura told us the secret of Bertha's and where it got its name...
Sandra
