Life Lately

We've been enjoying some free time these days and it has been a welcome change from the normal busy-ness of life.  Tax time is over and we're currently taking a *ahem* break from home repairs, painting, and any non-routine house work in general.  We've been enjoying a lot of little things.  I've been listening to a lot of Avett Brothers and Alex has been applying to a lot of jobs.  Things have been going well as they are.

This weekend we finally made it out to Sugarloaf Mountain for a few hours of hiking.  It was one of my first times hiking so I have no comparisons for the trip, but it was a lot of fun.  Tough.  We only did a three mile hike but ended up taking a few of the steeper inclined paths.  It was quite a leg workout for me.  Today, two days later, my legs are still killing me but Alex is completely fine.  Story of my life.

Where's Waldo? I stayed safely at the bottom.  Falling rocks!  We made it to the top after a quick, steep scramble for some beautiful views of the farms and and hills below.

We (I) have already planned our next hiking trip on the Billy Goat Trail in Great Falls.  We're definitely going all the way and doing trail A!  I just have to get a little more confident in my rock climbing skills.

After the hike, we had a quiet lunch at the Comus Inn located near the bottom of the mountain.  I've come back to this place a few times even though it's about an hour drive from our house.  The food is good, but the hospitality, views of the mountain, and location among farms keep me coming back.  On our way to the restaurant, we had to stop and wait for a chicken to cross the road.  Love it!

We made one last stop for a tasting at Sugarloaf Winery and bought a few more bottles.  I wouldn't say their wines are at the very top of my list, but they're decent if you stay away from the sweeter end of the spectrum.  And it's nice to support local businesses.  They are so inviting and encourage you find a table outside and stay for a while.  I like to see friendly places being successful.

The next day we awoke bright and early with a long list of to-dos.  We washed our yellowish green cars and discovered that yes, at one point they had actually been silver.  Sadly they are once again covered in a yellow film.  Oh well.  I never really cared about the cleanliness of the exterior of my car.  I just care that all that yellow stuff has also found it's way up my nose and I haven't stopped sneezing for weeks.

Summer Ale makes the work go by faster!  Never mind that it was barely 10am.  I spent a lot of the afternoon getting the backyard together and putting in my herb garden.  I still have to get a few more plants but those are soon to come.  Our neighbor recently replaced his fence and gave us a few extra inches of yard, so I'm taking advantage of it!

We closed the weekend out by making another round of flatbreads.  We still had more of the same leftovers so why not?  Don't judge my lack of variety!  They are tasty!

This is how I now feel after such a busy weekend.  And isn't this picture of my little buddy adorable?

Grape Stomp!

A few weekends ago, I planned a day out in the farmland of Montgomery County and I really wanted to include a wine tasting at Sugarloaf Mountain Vineyards.  Alex had never been to a real wine tasting before because he was medically not allowed to drink every time we went to vineyards over the past two years.  I was a little disappointed to find out that the vineyard was hosting their annual Grape Stomp event that weekend.   I prefer more intimate and in depth tastings where they don't have to rush you because of the line of people waiting.  However, we decided to go anyways.  I wanted to try the wine!

We had lunch beforehand at the Comus Inn restaurant right around the corner from Sugarloaf Mountain.  The lunch menu at the Inn is very small and I LOVE that.  Everything is done well.  You don't need a lot of choices because you won't go wrong.  A simple soup and grilled cheese combo was just what I was looking for, although I ended up taking half the sandwich with me.  Don't get me wrong, it might just be grilled cheese and butternut squash soup, but it's special.  You know they put more than just a little thought into it.  I've been to the Inn a few times and I'm pretty sure I've ordered the same meal every time.

From there we headed to the vineyard and were surprised by a booth that engraved your wineglass!  I've never seen that before and I thought it was pretty cool.  I thought long and hard, and came up with something really creative to write on mine.

Yeah baby, that was all me.  Except the grapes... that was the engraver's idea.

We did a few tastings of the red wines and I was more impressed by their offerings than I was by the Virginia wines I tasted at the Vintage Virginia Wine fest earlier this year.  Maybe I chose the wrong wines at that time, but I felt like they all had too much residual sugar.  If a red wine is sweet enough to chill, there is a problem.  I don't enjoy sweet wine which is why I don't really drink white wine.  The majority of the wines I tasted at Sugarloaf were not sweet so I was happy!  We spent the rest of our tasting tickets on a glass of Evo, their premier (most expensive) red wine.

I ended up buying two bottles to take with me.  The Comus, a Bordeaux mix, and the Cabernet Sauvignon.  I'm definitely a cab sav person, the more flavorful the better.  I think I've been a little spoiled by cabs from Napa Valley but this one is pretty drinkable at a decent price.  Besides, you can't go to a vineyard without buying some bottles, right?  

We finished up the afternoon with a hayride tour of the vineyard.  I missed harvest season again (grr!) but there were still a few grapes left on some vines that out tour guide let us taste.  I would love to do a wine tasting where they also let you taste the grape that the wine was made from.  I should probably actually find out when those kinds of tastings are offered so I don't miss them next year.  Do they even do them in this area?

If you look closely at that last picture, you'll see that there are some grapes on that vine!

Now we're all geared up for our trip to California in a few weeks.  You can bet that we'll be visiting Napa again.  Alex hasn't been there yet and it's always a must-do.  If you're ever in the area, you really should do a tasting at Duckhorn up in St. Helena if you want a really long and personalized tasting.  It's a bit out of the way but it's the best tasting I've ever been to.  You get your own table, snacks, and perhaps a 20% discount on any purchased bottles (if your umm... wine tasting person... happens to be from Maryland as well.)  They don't skimp on filling your glass and my tasting there was easily 7-8 glasses.  Keep them in mind!

Now, back to what I was originally talking about.  As we left the vineyard, we had to grab a cupcake!  We chose the red velvet one that was dipped in the vineyard's own STOMP red wine (it's a sweet one.)  It was delicious!

All Good Oktoberfests End With Polka Dancing

Last weekend, Alex and I celebrated Oktoberfest with some friends, some beers, and some polka dancing! We met up with everyone at a nearby German restaurant and had an (unexpectedly) good time!  It turns out, the reality of Oktoberfest doesn't really match the pictures.

We started off with a German feast of sausages and more sausages!  There was a buffet available but we passed it by in favor of more meat and less cabbage of various preparations.  Ordering off the menu was a bit tricky though, since most of the crossed out items were actually available, including the ones that said "no," but some were actually not available still.  What?

There was a dancer floor, ohhh boy was there a dance floor, and an awesome polka band that got the "young" crowd up and on the floor!

The band had not yet named themselves and included a naming contest as part of the night.  We put a lot of thought into our ideas and provided them with some killer names.  I really hope they appreciate all our hard work.  We're still waiting for the announcement that one of our names was selected as the winner!

Personally, my votes goes to Chris' "Polka 'n my pants."  The band was selling copies of their most recent hits CD and... a... Christmas version!  Clearly this needed to be purchased.  Thankfully, Pammy was up for the challenge (and I'm pretty jealous that their car was able to rock out to that all the way home.)

Now on to the worst (best?!) part of the night.  The dancing!  The polka dancers were a tad older than expected but they still had the moves.

AND THEN! Ashley, Pammy and I were swept off our feet by the most amazing dancer.  Sure, he had a few years on us, but it was the best 3 minutes of my life.  I am wearing the gray and white striped sweater in the pictures below.

Oh, what a dance.  And what a night!  Thanks guys!

Rehoboh Beach in September

Yesterday Alex and I spent the day in Rehoboth Beach.  We were in the area because we had plans to run a 5k in Milton early the next morning.  It was strange being at the beach without the option to lay in the sand and listen to the surf.  The day was warm enough and there were still plenty of people down on the sand, but we just got some lunch and walked the boardwalk in our winter shoes.

We stopped for lunch at an old childhood favorite... Grotto Pizza!  We enjoyed our pizza, but afterwards I felt like such a... tourist? because there is a Grotto Pizza on every street corner! At least we didn't get any Thrashers fries.  I did try to get some Fischer's popcorn and Candy Kitchen but Alex was opposed :(

Now, I really need to tell you about what happened next.  We found the BEST ice cream place ever! Right around the corner from Grotto, just off the boardwalk, is the Ice Cream Store and they have hundreds of flavors of ice cream!  Some are homemade, and many are very odd and interesting flavors.  I wanted Alex to get the bacon ice cream (come on, right?!) but he settled on something a bit more simple - mint moose tracks.  I was very happy that they had my favorite flavor of ice cream ever, key lime pie.  The only other time I've seen key lime pie ice cream was about 5 years ago when it was a special summer flavor at Baskin Robbins.  I've been waiting for it to come back since then, but it never did.

We had to go on a little walk after that to get rid of some of those unnecessary calories and quite possibly walked to the next beach town.  On the way, I found a row of beach houses I love and singled out the house that will be mine someday.  Time to start working towards that goal!

Ahh, dreams.