Real Estate market spiking. Photo by Colin Stevens

Having trouble selling your home?  Click here to find out how to make your home more appealing.

Though the economy isn’t helping stores like these stay in business, they are finding ways to stay afloat while providing top quality meals for their customers.

The Real Thing, a sub shop on York Road, serves up monstrous subs all day long, and has received an award as Baltimore’s Best Cheesesteak.

“[The subs are] very big and filling,” Towson senior Matt Hoyle said.  “I always get the ones that have everything on ‘em.  Peppers, onions, mushrooms, and cheese.”

If you are looking for a more relaxed meal, Fresh Fresh Seafood is your place.  But don’t be in a rush, because everything they serve is prepared when you order it, ensuring the best meal possible.

Looking for something a little quicker?  You can find breakfast served fast with a smile at Towson Hot Bagels, who find ways to give back to others at the end of the day.

“They’ve got a good selection of bagels which is nice,” Hoyle said.  “Then their sandwiches are supposed to be really good.”

Towson’s night life is especially prosperous, with several businesses catering specifically to the needs of late night bar goers.  If you’re looking for something quick and cheap, Towson’s hot dog man might be the stop for you.  Not into hot dogs?  Just find the bus parked on the street, and see if they have something better suited for your tastes.

No matter what you’re looking for, there are several different tastes for the adventurous eater.

Towson Hot Bagels, Photo by Colin Stevens

Looking for a quick breakfast?  Want great service while getting it?  Click here to learn more about a place for you.

Towson Hot Dog Man. Photo by Colin Stevens

Looking for a late night snack?  Click here to find out about a fast, hot and inexpensive option.

The show used lots of the techniques we used during class.  At one point, host Katie Couric was talking while video of Agassi and his wife, fellow retired tennis superstar Stephanie Graff, played tennis.  The shots, however, weren’t just of them playing.

The shots cut several times, showing them go into serves, then cutting to the person returning the ball, cutting in closer on the tennis racket, then cutting to wider shots of them talking and joking around.

During another segment, Agassi and Couric were discussing the work Agassi does at a school he founded, but while they are talking the show shows video of Agassi in the school with the students, and tours the facilities he helped build.

It was definitely a very well thought out story.

Sushi Hana is one of the more popular Sushi restaurants in Towson, serving up fresh rolls to their customers from their location on Pennsylvanis Avenue.

I think this is newsworthy because it is a very popular restaurant for Towson students, but many people don’t know much about the owners.  It’s interesting how they set up their menu and their restaurant, which is very welcoming to it’s customers.

The restaurant also provides plenty of lively visuals which should help keep the slideshow part entertaining.

Rick Parker and his daughter Cynthia at Fresh Fresh Seafood. Photo by: Colin Stevens

Looking for the freshest seafood available?  Well Fresh Fresh Seafood is probably the place for you.  Listen to this story to hear why.

I haven’t talked to the owners yet, but it sounded like an cool place that maybe not too many people know about.  I wonder why their store isn’t more noticeable.  I’ve walked up and down York Road many times and I don’t ever recall seeing it.

I’m thinking I can get some natural sounds in the kitchen with cooking or something like that.  I’m going to head by there sometime this week and talk to them.

Anna and Jeremiah Luce in Big Bear's Bus Café, a bus they redesigned themselves in to their own fully functioning restaurant. Photo by Colin Stevens

Jeremiah Luce drives his school bus up and down York Road Thursday night, trying to find a spot to squeeze in on the side of the road.

Listening to the smooth sounds of Dave Matthews Band, he and his wife, Anna, finally spot enough room for the bus in front of the Towson Public Library, and pounce on the spot.  It’s time to get ready for the long night ahead of them working in their restaurant, serving food to late night travelers ready for a quick meal.

Jeremiah puts the bus in park, and he and his wife proceed to the back of his bus, which is conveniently their kitchen, to starts preparing for the rest of the night.

Jeremiah and Anna are trying to separate themselves from their competition in the food business, building their own mobile restaurant, Big Bear’s Bus Café, inside their school bus.

Jeremiah said that he lived on a bus for about two years at one point in his life [a long time ago] traveling across America.  About two years ago, Jeremiah started thinking of putting a café on a bus that he traveled to different places with, but with a steady job in construction, there was no reason to go ahead with the idea.

With the country in tough economic times, however, no job is guaranteed, which Jeremiah found out after twelve years in the construction business.  He was laid off, and had to find another means of income.  That’s when he and Anna decided to go ahead with his idea, and last October, they bought a bus and started building it.

“We bought the bus in October,” said Jeremiah.  “I just gutted it, and then we had the put the electrical systems in it.  We had to transfer the motor to run off veggie oil.  We had to do all the plumbing, and we had to put the dining room and the bathroom and all that stuff.  So, it took a long time to do because everything was custom, and there’s no manual on building a bus café.”

While building their bus, an experience Anna described as “stressful”, she and Jeremiah wanted to make the vehicle as self efficient as possible.  They installed solar panels on their roof, which help to power the speaker system, TV, and lights, amongst other things on the bus.  Their engine also runs on veggie oil, saving them some cash on gas.  Not to mention, it helps give different aromas to their bus.  Their favorite is “Japanese Restaurant.”

As two o’clock in the morning approaches, Jeremiah and Anna get ready for their biggest business of the night as starving students leave their favorite drinking holes to return to their homes.  As they walk past the bus, people cannot help but stop and check out the café on wheels.

“It was really cool,” Francesco Mazziotti, a senior at Towson University, said.  “They had a concert playing on the TV, and the food is pretty good too.”

Mazziotti, like many of the café’s customers, stumbled across the Big Bus Bear Café on his walk home from late night venues in Towson.  Attracted by the giant bear painted on the bus, he and his friends had to investigate the traveling restaurant, and came away pleased with what they found.

While enjoying their late night entertainment, Anna and Jeremiah serve customers a variety of foods ranging from foods as simple as quesadillas, to a choice of 7 different Panini sandwiches, including the their most famous item, the Bikini Panini, decked out with roasted chicken, mango chutney, curry, red pepper, grilled onions, and mozzarella cheese.

And while every item they sell helps them, they are happy to say they are helping other with their sales as well.

“For every meal we’ve sold since the day we’ve opened, we donate 27 cents to the World Food Program,” said Jeremiah.  “If we can succeed and be good for the environment, and help fellow humans, then that’s the route we want to take.”