DC Trip

We're home from an absolutely fantastic five day trip to DC.  My wonderful parents took time off work to come and stay with the boys.  We're so lucky.  Not only that they do that for us but that they're also really good at it.  The boys were in good hands and had a blast.  A huge thank you to them for making it possible for me to go away and really rejuvenate.

DAY 1

We arrived at around 8:00 on Saturday evening.  After a horribly painful landing in DC (I didn't know that having full sinuses would cause so much pain.  I didn't know what was wrong and actually wondered if I'd end up in the ER.  Once I found the right pressure point I got some relief.) we checked into our hotel and walked in the rain to a restaurant recommended by Kristin's cousin, Birch & Barley. We had about an hour wait so we nervously walked around the area.  It always takes me a minute to get my "city legs" back....especially at night, in the rain, and surrounded by homeless people.  We ended up having tea at Caribou until it was time to eat as the rain had picked up. Once our table was ready - though it wasn't a table - it was at a bar directly in front of the ovens, watching the food being prepared.  Strange.  And really warm. - we had one of the best meals of our lives.  Brian had the pork loin and I had the beat risotto.  The two together were simply divine.  And the dessert?  There are no words.  Peanut butter cheesecake with grape sorbet.  My first thought was "strange combination" until Brian pointed out that it was peanut butter and jelly.  I don't think I'll ever have anything that good again. They also carried my favorite hard cider, Bold Rock.  Julie introduced me to it and you can't get it here.  They had it at several of the restaurants in DC and so did I. This restaurant has a great bar upstairs.  It was too crowded to get to the bar itself but Brian tried one of their 555 beers with dinner.  It was so nice he tried it twice.  "Dirty Bastard" was the name.  We had a very cool waiter.  I think he liked that even though we'd just gotten off the plane, we took the time to find a really good restaurant (Thanks to Caitlin/Kristin) and ordered what the waiter recommended.  They brought us several complimentary appetizers and by the time we finished dessert, we were SO. FULL.  We took a cab back to the hotel because it was still raining and it was quite late.

In front of the restaurant.

Tea at Caribou (with a homeless man next to us with a pink stuffed monkey around his neck.)

Dirty Bastard and his beer, Dirty Bastard

Beet Risotto

Bold Rock Hard Cider

Peanut Butter Cheesecake with grape sorbet