Tag Archives: Virginia

Dinner and Driving to Gettysburg

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This Blue Jay was also preparing for our trip to Gettysburg... Well, maybe not.

May 26, 2011

Louisa picked up some food from Smyrna.   This time we tried the dolmades with tzatziki (delicious as usual), red lentil/bulgar patty with sumac on top (just okay when eaten on its own; much better on top of pita as a veggie burger), the gyros platter (delicious gyros, great bulgar pilaf), and the red pepper dip with some extra pita (spicy and fabulous).  We also happened to have some dark chocolate made with a hint of espresso on hand, so we finished that off and then hit the road.  The traffic at 6:15 pm wasn’t too bad, and we made good time to Gettysburg, PA.

Greek Festival

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May 22, 2011

Greek food is delicious.  So when we saw signs that a local Greek church, Nativity of Theotokos, was having a food festival we definitely wanted to go.  As predicted, the food was great – we feasted on gyros with grilled pita, tiropita (cheese in phyllo dough), pork skewer with oregano and a bit of lemon, dolmades, walnut cookies dusted with powdered sugar (think: Mexican wedding cakes / Russian tea cakes), and a slightly sweet custard inside phyllo pastry.  Everything was delicious, particularly the gyros and desserts!

After lunch we drove and walked through the Chancellorsville battlefield.  It was a beautiful, sunny day.  Highlights included seeing the Jackson monument marking the site where he was wounded, a nearby grave of an unknown Union soldier, the location of the Chancellorsville Inn, canons sitting in now-peaceful grasslands, Confederate trenches in dense forest, and views across rolling fields bordered by heavy woods.

Birthday Strawberry Picking at Miller Farms Market

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Hanging out at Miller Farms.

Middle of May 2011

It’s my birthday!  (Well, it was when all these activities took place; the posting isn’t quite keeping up with things since I’ve been working some crazy fun hours the past few weeks).  Anyway, we decided we wanted to do a birthday activity… so we shifted our work schedules to be able to head over to Miller Farms Market before they closed.  We’ve never gone strawberry picking, and new the berries were in season.  Despite some heavy rain showers before/after berry picking, we had a perfect 30 minute window of time.  All we had to do was take off our sandals and wade through a bit of cool, muddy water. ;-)   The berries themselves were beautiful, and we had plenty of time to pick (and eat!) before the storms rolled back through.  We also snagged some fresh cream from a dairy in PA.

The candles were very creative. :)

After berry picking we enjoyed dinner and drinks (Guinness and Bass drafts) at Otter House; the black bean burger and mac ‘n cheese combo might be even better than the bleu veggie burger and mac ‘n cheese.  Post dinner was admiring birthday plants (thanks T!) as well as cake and candles.  The cake was chocolate-coffee, with coconut cream cheese and marshmallow filling, and ganache on top.

Strawberries and cream are a new May favorite for us.

The ganache was made with fresh cream from Miller’s farm market.  The cream also whipped up beautifully with a bit of vanilla and sugar, and made a perfect accompaniment to the fresh berries.

DC Air and Space Museum – Udvar-Hazy Center

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The SR-71 Blackbird (with the Enterprise in the background) makes a great introduction to the museum.

May 14, 2011

The Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum’s Udvar-Hazy Center is located quite a few miles from downtown DC and requires a parking fee of $15.  However, if you enjoy seeing planes up close and personal, like motors, or want to see a cool IMAX movie, this is the museum for you.  Even with the drizzly weather the crowds weren’t too bad (perhaps the more remote location and parking fee contributed?) and we were able to get tickets to see a 45 minute IMAX show about fighter pilots.  This was one of our favorite movies and had good cinematography, interesting story and decent narration.

Viewing the engine displays was like walking through a timeline.

Highlights from the museum included seeing the engine displays (including some interesting configurations). The space section is very cool, with the Enterprise shuttle being the main attraction.  There are also a variety of satellites, other communications equipment, and legacy computer systems (by “legacy” I mean over-sized monitors with tiny screens that were used through the early 1990s).

The Concorde was expensive to operate, but impressive nonetheless.

A Concorde jet was also on display.  While we would have enjoyed traveling across the Pond in luxury (and in approximately half the time other aircraft required), we’re not sure about being in such a tiny smoking-allowed space, something about asthma. ;-)  The space also includes stunt planes, mini helicopters, WWII and WWI era fighter aircraft, and various items chronicling the history of flight in the US.