Tuesday, July 8, 2008

4th of July 3-Day Weekend Getaway

The Fourth of July weekend was a blast for Claire and I...starting with a great time at the ballpark on Thursday night.
Claire came over, ate a quick dinner, then we headed to the ballpark ferry...about 300 yards from my apartment is a ferry boat that takes you directly to a dock just off of the Right Field Corner...and it only costs a buck! What a deal.

Friday morning we took off for Washington D.C., stopping in Fredericksburg for a picnic by a creek, a 4th of July street fair, a quick golf lesson for both of us and the BEST COFFEE EVER. Sure, that detour was a little longer than expected, but we were having so much fun. We so love spending time in Fredericksburg!
As we got just south of DC, Claire's cousin Lynn called and asked us to come to the place they were staying...sure, why not?! So we quickly jumped off the freeway and headed to a sweet little community near Mt. Vernon...you know, where George Washington lived.
We ended up getting along so well with the people her cousin was staying with, we spent the rest of the day at their house, on their boat and at their yacht club, even exchanging phone numbers with a promise to meet up again soon.

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Quick break from the story to bring you a tasty little treat for the grill...take stew beef or venison (if you have it), lay a bite sized chunk on 1/2 a strip of bacon. Dab on a dollop of cream cheese and a couple diced jalapenos...wrap the bacon around the filling, skewer with a toothpick and grill (in a grill pan) for a couple of minutes. Wowee delicious.

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Saturday morning saw a breakfast of wonderfulness at La Madeleine French Bakery. The croissant was exquisite, the butter and jam on fresh bread divine, and even the help-yourself coffee was good. Then we headed over to the shopping mecca TYSONS CORNER. Claire had to walk around all of the shops. Not to buy anything necessarily (although that self control did not last long), but just to check out all the cool designer shops and stuff. I even scored new clothes that I look ever so crack-a-lack'n in.

Then we headed into Maryland and down the back way to the Eastern shore. We spent the next day and a half, cruising into and out of small towns...checking out ice cream shops, Nick-Nack stores run by crazy ladies, and out of the way family wineries. We found a general store that had been turned into a restaurant with some of the best wings and fries ever. We stayed on a NASA Rocket Deployment Facility (thanks to Claire's Navy enlistment) and even found time to walk along the beach and get yelled at for climbing on rocks. (The "Lifeguard" that yelled at us, at least took our picture before we had to get down...see:
We were even back in P-Towne on Sunday night early enough to eat some brie and hard meats (gotta check out poop-n-boogies post on salami...rated PG to PG-13 for those so inclined) and unwind with a little TV watching.

That weekend ranks right up there with some of the best Claire and I have spent together.
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Thought I would end this post with a recommendations of the highest degree. Do you like cupcakes? I know that is a silly question, but I have to ask...cause if you do, then we found the best cupcakes ever. We might have thrown down 1/2 a dozen morsels of goodness.
If you are ever in DC or even within an hour of Georgetown, you have to, have to, have to check out Georgetown Cupcake for a little taste of heaven. They are so much better than that crappy place we waited 45-mins to get into while we were in New York last year. The only reason that place has a line is because it was on some stupid TV show on HBO...you know the one that men hate and women fawn over...yea, that one. We waited in line there to try these crappy little cakes. If that stupid show would have been filmed in Georgetown, then Georgetown Cupcake would be the rightfully famous one...anyway, I digress.
We ate the following flavors and I would encourage you to try them all...

CHOCOLATE COCONUT - valrhona chocolate cupcake with a vanilla cream cheese frosting, topped with coconut
CHOCOLATE3 - valrhona chocolate cupcake with a creamy chocolate frosting topped with chocolate sprinkles
LEMON BERRY - lemon cupcake with a lemon raspberry frosting
MOCHA - valrhona chocolate cupcake with mocha frosting and a chocolate-covered espresso bean
LAVA FUDGE - valrhona chocolate cupcake with a fudge frosting
CHOCOLATE HAZELNUT - valrhona chocolate cupcake with ganache icing, topped with crunchy hazelnuts

12 comments:

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

Are you trying to kill me? CUPCAKE talk on day 2 of Atkins!!


Hallie :(

for a different kind of girl said...

Your weekend sounds like it was glorious. You two always seem to have nothing but fun all the time.

Also, I swear, I come here and gain five pounds. Thanks!

Unknown said...

what a great weekend you both had, YAY!!

Practically Joe said...

I love you two and your travels ... smart to not waste your time away.

You mentioned Fredricksburg and it brought back a memory ... When I was eighteen (back in 1969) I was there attending a month long training for a new job back in Boston. I met a local young lady and went on a date using another classmate's new corvette (He was very generous to offer and I was out to impress.) Anyway she suggested we drive around the Historical Battlefields ... Somewhere in there we ran out of gas. (how convenient)
No cell phones back then. It got very late then a police cruiser stopped by while patroling the area and radioed for help. Her dad was very understanding when he came to our rescue. (NOT!)

April said...

You had to go on and on about the cupcakes, didn't you? You're an evil little boy.

WILLIAM said...

Eating some hard meats....thats what she said.

Rahul said...

I have spent many a dollar at Tysons Corner.

It's not named after Mike.

Katelin said...

sounds like a fantastic weekend. love the pictures :)

Amy said...

You too make such a nice couple! I remember when we used to have weekends like this. Well now there just not like that - they're still good but in a different way (kids!!!) Enjoy your time together!!!

Mary Alice said...

Ohhhh....I am totally trying the venison idea. We still have some in the freezer. Genuine corn fed Iowa venison...with cream cheese and bacon? Oh baby. By the way you two are just so cute, if I was there I would pinch you both.

Wonderful World of Weiners said...

I am FAR TOO WEAK (my body is carb starved from Atkins) to do the Safety Dance but your comment cracked me up!!!

You're the best. Thanks for making me smile.

Hallie

Whit said...

That sounds like a great weekend. A getaway sounds mighty nice.