Memorial Day Weekend 2013

Long weekends are wonderful. They always pass a little too quickly, but they are a great way to get a break from work without using up lots of vacation days. The best long weekends are the ones that also have a federal holiday at the beginning or end. :)

For Memorial Day weekend, Dan and I started off with a date night at the new Alamo Drafthouse theater in One Loudoun. If you’ve never been to an Alamo theater, I highly recommend you check it out. They are a combination of a movie theater and a restaurant. You purchase tickets for specific seats (so you don’t have to show up really early for the good ones), and you can order all your food and drinks (including alcohol) directly from your seats, even during the movie!

Dan and I have been to the theater three times since it opened at the beginning of May. We love the food, the funny previews before the movie, and the friendly staff. This past Friday, we saw the newest Star Trek movie, and we had yet another great visit at the Alamo. Here’s a picture we got at the theater before the show:


On Saturday, we stopped at two different parties. The first was a very yummy crab feast at a friends’ house. The crabs were delicious, and Dan had fun scaring people with the crabs before throwing them into the cooking pot.

After the crab feast, we headed west to have dinner with my family in Martinsburg. It’s always fun getting together with my cousins. Only your cousins truly understand the kind of crazy family that you come from. LOL We seem to be getting crazier as we get older too. Heehee…

Sunday brought a beautiful sunny day, and Dan and I got to clean house and watch some episodes of Castle before heading out to a VA Wine Mafia meet up. The “godfather” of our group, Kurt, had most generously opened up his pantry and basement to share some wines before they got too old to drink. The other mafia members also brought wines and snacks to share with everyone. Dan and I brought a bottle of Fox Meadow Freezeland White to share. Mmm…




There were many favorites being passed around. Some of my favorites were a Breaux rose, Crushed Cellars Merlot and Meritage, and Berry Hill’s 2010 Petit Verdot. Kurt even broke out a few special bottles – Keswick’s 2009 Cab Sav, Clarksburg’s 2010 dessert red (from Cali), and Corcoran’s special white port.



VA Mafia meet ups are always a blast, and we enjoyed every minute spent with this fantastic group!


No weekend would be complete without spending time gardening, so Monday was spent working on our veggie garden at my dad’s house and the potted garden at our house. We started with a trip to Home Depot for mulch, insect repellant, and a couple flowers.

Our veggie garden was growing, but slowly, and the zuccinni, squash, and cucumbers were getting seriously attached by some nasty yellow striped bugs. At Bluemont nursery, a worker said he had seen the same kind of bugs that we had and gave us some repellant called Eight. It is a product that has been used for years, and part of the mix comes from the extract of crushed mums.

After weeding, applying the insect repellant, and putting down some garden mulch, our garden looked much better.



The last hours of sunlight were spent cleaning up our own backyard. We moved my little maple tree into a big half-barrel pot, put down a bunch of mulch, and did a general clean up. We even gave the puppies a bath, much to their disappointment.





Dan and I thoroughly enjoyed our Memorial Day weekend. It was a great mix of relaxing, fun, and outdoor activity. Cheers to wonderful long weekends!

The Garden is in!

With the weather starting to stay on the warmer side, Dan, my dad, and I decided to plant our garden. Taking into consideration how things grew last year, we decided to plant the following veggies:

• Sweet 100s cherry tomatoes
• Beef steak tomatoes
• Bell peppers
• Chili peppers
• Thai Dragon peppers
• Jalapeno peppers
• Sweet Banana peppers
• Summer Squash
• Zucchini
• Cucumber
• Green beans
• Basil
• Rosemary
• Chives

It’s going to be a BIG garden this year, and we are dying to see how everything grows!



To prevent our squash, zucchini, and cucumber from growing into the other plants, I suggested making some wooden fixtures for them to grow over. After looking around, I found a great idea on Pinterest that made a fixture out of old wood pallets. The pallet fixtures turned out great, and we are looking forward to seeing how the plants take to them.


We did have one last frost scare earlier this week, but we protected our plants by covering them with all our old tupperware and lego containers. :)

Hiking Old Rag Mountain

If you grew up in Northern Virginia and are at least a little bit of an outdoor person, you know about Old Rag Mountain. In some groups, it is almost a rite of passage to climb Old Rag.

Old Rag is one of the most popular hikes in the Mid-Atlantic region of Shenandoah National Park. It is long and strenuous, and I do not advise anyone to try it who is scared of heights. Most of the hike is spent zigzagging up the mountain on a steep path, but the last mile or so before you reach the summit is an exciting, scenic rock scramble. The rock scramble is, of course, my favorite part of the hike. I always wish I could ride up to the rock scramble and just spend the whole day hoping from rock to rock along the cliffs. :)

I was about eight when I made my first trip up the mountain. This may be young for some people, but having an arborist for a father, I started climbing things almost the moment I could walk. My next trip was with my youth group in high school. I think this was my best climb, because I was at peak physical condition and could almost run up the mountain. The third time I visited the mountain was just after my 25th birthday. The climb up was still easy, but my knees started giving me trouble on the way down.

Last weekend, I did my fourth hike at Old Rag and took my fiancé with me for his first visit. This was definitely the hardest trip of all for me, because my knees cannot handle strenuous activity like they used to. However, even with all the swearing and pain, I made it up and down the mountain in 5 hours, including a nice long break for lunch.

Fog over the easter hills

We've reached the top
As always, the best part of the hike for me was the rock scramble. As soon as we reached that stretch of the trail, I forgot all pain and started climbing on anything I could. My favorite memory was catching up with the group of 19-21 year old girls who had jogged up the mountain past us. While they were squeaking and squealing about climbing through crevices, I climbed up around them, hopped over a few boulders, and slid back down to the part of the trail ahead of them. :D It was great!

Yes, I am that strong

The rock was blocking the path, so Dan was moving it.
If you are thinking of hiking Old Rag, I would recommend that you pack lots of water, some energizing snacks, and light lunch. Make sure you are physically able to walk uphill for a long time, and be prepared to slip off your backpack a few times so you can squeeze through a crevice in the rocks. Also, because Old Rag is so popular, the paths can get rather crowded during peak season, and sometimes you have to wait for a while for a group to go by.

Waiting for another group
Other than that, I would recommend that everyone have a goal to hike Old Rag at least once in their life. It is a fantastic climb, and the views are quite spectacular (as you can see from some of Dan and I’s pictures). Also, there are plenty of good vineyards nearby that are a fantastic way to end your visit. :)

Dan and I looking out from the summit

St. Maarten – A Fort, a Sales Pitch, and a Random Dinner Party

Our third day on St. Maarten was one of our beach days. We had a nice leisurely breakfast on our balcony, watching a Disney cruise boat make its way to Great Bay. Then, before most people were awake, we walked the 100 feet from our room to the beach and claimed a couple beach chairs.

The Disney Cruise passing Little Bay
It felt so good to layout in the sun and relax! If we started to get too warm from the sun, the water was the perfect temperature to cool us down without feeling cold. Dan and I both brought Christopher Moore books with us to read, and I am sure some of the sunbathers near us were wondering why we kept laughing – clearly, they were missing out on the fantastic wit and humor of Christopher Moore. :)

After lunch, we cleaned up and made our way down to the sales office. Many of you have probably sat through a timeshare sales pitch before, but this was Dan and I’s first. Our consultant was a funny, older gentleman who was building a house in Jamaica and constantly berating the French salesmen for their incompetence. LOL It was really amusing!

Throughout our pitch, Dan and I asked lots of questions so we would be more knowledgeable about the in’s and out’s of timeshares. Then, when the time came, we put our game faces on and gave good hardy “no thank you” responses about purchasing a timeshare. Let me pause and say that we are not against timeshares, we just do not want to have one at this time. The consultant was understanding (though his boss was a bit pushy), and after a little bit of time, we walked out of the office with $90 to spend toward our sailboat dinner cruise later in the week. :) Huzzah!

In the hours before dinner, Dan and I hiked up the big hill on the peninsula that divides Great Bay from Little Bay (where the resort is). The top of the hill is a historic site for Fort Amsterdam, a small fort and adjacent buildings from the 1800s. The view was gorgeous, and we had fun taking pictures with the cannons and other landmarks.

Fort Amsterdam

The cliffs at the end of the peninsula
For dinner, we decided to walk the hill into Phillipsburg and find a local restaurant. The boardwalk was very pretty at dusk, and while reading a dinner menu, we spotted the couple we had met on Happy Harold’s tour. Dan instantly stopped reading the menu, walked up to the couple’s table, and sat down in an empty chair. The couple (Gary and Becky) laughed and eagerly asked us to join them. (which Dan already had) lol With a round of Caribs (a Caribbean beer) in hand, all four of us chose to order the best curry shrimp that I have ever had. Seriously, I am drooling just thinking about it.

As we enjoyed our delicious dinner, we saw two other couples from Happy Harold’s tour walking down the boardwalk. By the time our plates were empty, our party had doubled, and we were all sharing tips of the best spots to visit around the island. It was a lovely evening of good conversation, yummy food, and great people!

Read about the other Parts of our St. Maarten trip: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,Part 7

St. Maarten - Making Friends on Happy Harold's Island Tour

The first time you go on a real vacation with your significant other, you are able to learn a LOT about each other. Even if you have been living under the same roof, there are new details that you can only learn when you are on vacation together. For me, I learned just how friendly my fiancé is.

I have always known that Dan was friendly; however, I did not learn the extent of this until our trip to St. Maarten. Because of my wonderful, accepting fiancé, we made friends with at least 30 people during our stay (no, I am not exaggerating). It was fantastic. What’s even more fun is that we got to hang out with some of them on multiple occasions, and I still keep in touch with a few of them on Facebook. :)

Monday:
One place where we met some of these wonderful people was at Happy Harold’s island tour. Now, most hotels and resorts offer island tours, but an old co-worker told me that the best tour on St. Maarten is Happy Harold’s. And it’s true!

Happy Harold is a mid-to-late sixty year old St. Maarten native. He has worked countless jobs around the island and currently makes a living as a taxi driver and tour guide. His tours are the best because he takes you on the “country” tour that includes a rum stop and the best BBQ restaurant. If you are ever in St. Maarten on a Monday, you have to go on Happy Harold’s tour! :)

Dan and I with Happy Harold
Traveling around the island with us were 13 other people who were staying at the Sea Palace hotel, a cozy hotel located right on the boardwalk in Philipsburg. We drove to dozens of locations around the island, taking in the sites, learning history and economy tips from Harold, and snapping TONS of pictures. Because it would take a book for me to describe all the places we saw, I will give you a picture tour:

Guana Bay

Hotel at Guana Bay that was destroyed by a hurricane

The view from Busby's Bar at Oyster Bay

Oyster Bay

Iguana on the side of the road

Stopping at Lolo's BBQ restaurant in Grand Case

An wonderful couple we made friends with

More friends that we made on the tour

Jump!

Dan and I on a dock at Grand Case

Cool sunken ship sitting in a hidden bay
After the tour was finished, Dan and I caught a cab to the Grand Marche, the biggest local grocery store. It was well stocked with everything you could need, and we spent a half an hour picking up breakfast and lunch supplies. I also had a lot of fun looking at all the Dutch food products and pointing out the exorbitant prices ($7 for a bag of chips!).

Dinner ended up being a stove top meal of fresh cooked plantains and spicy sausage. Yum! We munched happily on our balcony and sipped glasses of Guavaberry rum (locally made), while watching the sun set.

Dinner! Yum!!

Why is rum gone? Because Dan drank it all!

Beautiful sunset
Read about the other Parts of our St. Maarten trip: Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6,Part 7