Day Trip to Annapolis

Our wonderful summer interns and I took a trip to Annapolis to show the gals a few interesting spots right outside of the city (since they don't have cars). I took the gals on a fun day and one of my guy co-workers took the guys for a dude's day in the DC (our trip was clearly better!!)

We started our adventure in Alexandria--harking on a few local highlights (like the spite house on Queen street). We had breakfast reservations at Jackson 20, a fairly new restaurant located in the recently renovated Hotel Monaco. Dan and I had dinner there first in February and though the meal was pricey we had a great experience; if they have pork belly as a special ORDER IT!

We spent a good hour and a half enjoying a leisurely breakfast, just chatting and lounging--starting with coffee and a fruit course--KG has an addiction to fruit and the rest of us were happy to oblige.

KG & I had their eggs Benedict w/ hash browns (above)--YUM. KK had a B.E.L.T (bacon, egg, lettuce, fried green tomato) sandwich, which looked fabulous, I'll have to order that next time.

We arrived in Annapolis around 11am and after parking we headed over to the Naval Academy. At noon when the boys are on campus they do a formal gathering outside the mess hall and it is fun to see the guys in formation. It is really a beautiful campus--well worth the stop.

After touring the Academy, we headed to the dock for a quick snack before boarding the 74ft wooden Schooner Woodwind at 1:30pm for an afternoon sail. If you have seen the movie "Wedding Crashers" then you have seen Christopher Walken sail this boat.

We had a two hour sail (with some rather rowdy deck mates who were in town for a corporate team building event). It was the PERFECT day for sailing; one of the crew members said that the wind was more on the levels of what you would see in fall, not late summer. It was wonderful to have them open the sails and truly tack.

KG's family had a sailboat when she was a kid so she felt right at home at the wheel. I'm thinking of submitting this pic to Ralph Lauren to save them some trouble for their next ad--KG would be perfect!

I loved the details of the sailboat--the wood and white--I took far too many "odd" architectural shots to not include at least one on this site!

After the sail we were rather ravenous so we stopped for ice cream at a local shop on main street. I don't know if this is a "normal" sized scoop or if the teenage boys working the counter were just wooed by the three pretty girls (I think the latter because these were truly massive scoops!)

The downtown area in Annapolis is stuffed with cute mom and pop shops. Many have useless tchotkes but some are rather quaint and carry some pretty interesting nautical paraphernalia.

Our next stop was the Maryland State House, which is the oldest Capitol in continuous legislative use. I was standing on the spot that General George Washington resigned his commission as commmander-in-chief. There is a great painting of this occurance in the Capitol Rotunda in DC.

They are doing a historic analysis of the chamber so there was some construction while we toured, but it is still beautiful and a must see.

Our last stop in downtown was St. Anne's Parish (not pictured above) where we attending evening prayer...by accident. We walked in right when prayer was starting, but we were all so glad we had because it was the perfect closing to a great day. On our way home we stopped at Mike's Crab House for some grub before making our way back to DC.

Dupont Circle Farmers Market

In my last post I discussed my new found love of the Farmer's market so I figured I should show you guys just why I feel this way. The DuPont Circle Farmer's Market in DC is by far the best I have found around the DC Metropolitan Area--they are a FRESHFARM Farmer's Market so every vendor is from the Chesapeake Bay region with an emphasis on "promoting local food with a face".

My first stop is coffee (those who know me well are fully aware of my "slight" obsession with coffee and the perfect cup of Joe.) I like Bread & Brew when near DuPont--especially on a Sunday because Maryanna works on Sundays and she is the best Barista!




Don't get me wrong, the Old Towne Alexandria Market is decent--they have some cool crafts, a great guy who makes ice cream, but on the whole their produce and food related items are limited--it's also not a FRESHFARM Market which means that the goods do not necessarily need to be local so it's a mixed bag.

You can pretty much find what you need for the week, eggs, milk, bread, produce and even stuff like soap or cedar chips for your closet.

The stand above always has a great selection--often times they have things I've heard are fabulous in the paper/magazines but I'm not confident enough in my skills to purchase them. Example: squash blossoms (shown above) or earlier in the year...ramps. Knowing me, they will hang out in my fridge for a week and go bad while I figure out what to do with them.

There is one dairy Clear Spring Creamery, which has cream line milk--pretty tasty--my favorite is still Trickling Springs Creamery which you can buy from Bread & Brew or La Fromagerie in Alexandria or a My Organic Market Shop. (Many of the best area coffee shops: Peregrine, Baked & Wired, and Bread & Brew all use Trickling Springs milk).

I am sucked in by all of the gorgeous seasonal flowers--poppies have been out in full force the last few weeks--I am a sucker for their vibrant colors and textures.

The fruit I cannot resist--I have left the market with at least one quart of berries each week and this past week cherries hit the stands so I got a 1/2 quart of Queen Anne and a 1/2 quart of Bing.

I made my first purchase from Endless Summer Harvest , the Purcellville, MD Lettuce & Herb Folk, and I must say that the basil I have is FANTASTIC--fragrant and robust, and most importantly, still alive in a glass jar on my counter :)

Most of the produce is organic or at least pesticide free (some of the smaller farms are not registered organic but they use sustainable farming practices), so you can feel good about supporting local farmers and putting good stuff in your families bellies!

The bright colors and the life of the market make it one of the highlights of my weekend. I have quite the ritual of grabbing a cup of joe and meandering through the aisles; it is my escape from my M-F reality.

This shot is definitely overexposed but I think it shows the bright "happy" feeling I get from being at the market (and we all know I love Peonies...thanks to Court!)

New York New York

For our anniversary Dan took me to NYC for the weekend to do some sightseeing and take in a show. Above is actually the view of the city from Jersey--from our stint in Hoboken. This post is just about a few of our stops (mostly dealing with food...naturally!)

Our first stop in the morning was to Murray's bagels. The city is full of great bagel shops but I had heard this was the best and had never been before so we gave it a whirl. I am picky about my bagels and have always wished that I lived somewhere with a bagel shop on the corner. Anyhow, Murray's has GREAT bagels--soft on the inside, chewy crust, smooth cream cheese. Dan had his the traditional way with lox...I had an everything with plain shmeer.

We were a bit lazy and had our bagels and then started walking around. We were determined to walk as much as possible; we walked the whole day (we're thinking 12 miles total) but we took cabs when it started to get late and we were tired!

For lunch we went to Katz--a former co-worker of mine made me promise to go here at some point during our trip--I love pastrami, so I figured why not. Above are the Half and Fully Pickled Cucumbers from the deli--the "full" pickles were a bit much for me--if you dig straight up vinegar kind of twang these are for you. The Half variety (bright green above) had a little tartness combined with some sweetness along with a fabulous crunch.

I ordered a Pastrami Reuben on rye...the thing was enormous...next time Dan and I will share, but it was by far the best Pastrami Reuben that I have ever tasted; the Katz family know how to do meat right.

We passed the cathedral at a time of day where the spire was reflecting on the building adjacent--I thought that the contrast was intriguing.

I was trying to get a pic of Dan in front of Rockefeller Plaza...can you tell that he was thrilled about posing for me?!?!?! caught!

Dan being a huge hockey fan and general lover of ice skating and hockey rinks, we spent some time just watching folks skate--it was quite amusing and fun. We didn't skate because I didn't have the proper attire (I know...what was I thinking...I had to stop and buy a jacket at one point because it became quite chilly in the evening.)

They had some weird lampposts; I'm not sure if it comes through here but the one above looks like a spider. I was standing in the middle of the sidewalk trying to get this shot...Dan was next to me apologizing to folks passing by for my standing in the way...whoops.

Last stop, Grand Central Market (which is in the train station) for McClure's Pickles...I am a pickle fan and had to grab some while we were in town...yum! I could spend hours in a market; the rows of beauiful produce, meats and cheeses, I'm like a kid in a candy store.