Boats, Apple Picking and Ice Cream

This weekend was bound to be a happy one because it was prime for our Friday night date night in the city. It was my turn to plan the date since the last one was our Potted Potter outing which Scott planned. I’d fretted over it all week and finally decided we’d go to the National Harbor in MD, just across the river from DC to have some fun. The website said they had paddle boats and that was the major attraction for me. It was also the beginning of Oktoberfest activities and we thought it would be funny to watch all the drunk people since we ourselves don’t drink.

When we arrived at the National Harbor our first task was finding the paddle boats. After about an hour of wandering the piers and the streets we learned paddle boat season ended earlier in the month. It was a tough blow but all that wandering had made us hungry so we then set our minds to finding an affordable dining spot. We settled on Thai Palace, a little ways off the beaten path but it did not disappoint. Great spring rolls and some of the best Pad Thai Scott has had in a while. I ate a dish called Pad Mee Chicken which was very good.

It was getting dark and late after dinner so we went home to finish the evening watching our BYU Cougars beat Middle Tennessee State in Football. Go Cougs!

Saturday morning we went back up to MD to participate in a training hike of 16 miles with some of Scott’s coworkers. They are planning and training for a 50K walk/hike on October 26. We started in the back of the pack but over the course of a few miles we were in the front. We also weren’t able to complete the whole walk since we had other plans for the day so we only put in 12 miles but our feet and legs hurt like it was more.

Next on the agenda was going to an orchard to pick apples! This is something I’ve always wanted to do but never have and now I have! We drove 2 hours away (from the C&O canal portion we walked) and literally hobbled around the orchard. Not only did we pick a peck of apples for $9 but we bought a jar of homemade apple butter from the local Lion’s Club and a half gallon of pure apple cider. As we packed the car we joked that if we got in an accident the car would smell delicious. We drove back without any incident.

yummy, yummy Ida Red apples

Our last stop before going home was the Moo Thru, a local dairy farm operated creamery. I got some of the most amazing pumpkin ice cream and I mixed that with some of the best dark chocolate ice cream I’d ever had. All in all it was a scrumptious mixture of flavors and I was in ice cream heaven. Scott got a really creative mix of lemon cookie ice cream (really tasty) and sweet cream ice cream. We were both very happy after eating it and left wanting more.

(photo curtesy of www.moothru.com)

Sports Weekend and a Birthday

This weekend we had the privilege of attending several different sporting events and also celebrating Scott's 26th birthday! All the sports were different and all were played on a different scale. One was national, another intercollegiate and the third was international. Let's start from the top.

Friday was a beautiful day here in DC. Low humidity and temperatures made it a perfect night to watch a ball game. We drove to National's Stadium near the Navy Yard in SE DC. We got there early for two reasons; one, dinner in the park and two, free T-shirt give away to the first 25,000 fans. The shirts are really nice and I'm glad we got there early for one. Dinner was a pretzel dog which is a hotdog wrapped in a pretzel for a bun. Tasty but not as salty as you'd guess. We had pretty good seats, behind the left outfielder behind the other team's bullpen. We got birthday cake flovored dippin' dots ice cream for Scott's birthday in the 7th inning. But by the end the Nats lost to the Mets. Not the best way to end a game at home but it was still a fun time.

Saturday we traveled down to Charlottesville, VA home of UVA and the Cavilers or Wahoos (weird nick name but no weirder than BYU Cougars being called Zoobies). UVA was set to play BYU in the first game of the football season and we had tickets! We (us, Scott's Dad, brother Brenton and friend Ben) made our way down early enough to participate in the tail gate prepared for BYU fans. It was really nice and fun to actually get to participate in a tail gate after years of doing marching band things hours before kickoff.

The weather couldn't have been more different than the night before. It was hot, muggy, humid and all around unpleasant but we were stoked to see our BYU Cougars in VA. Our seats we up above the BYU bench off to the side (corner) and the second to last row to the top. We were really high up but from that vantage point we could see EVERYTHING! Much different than right behind the end zone like at school. About 20 minutes into the first quarter, we had to the stadium do to lightning being sighted nearby and since the stadium is a giant metal frying pan, we needed to evacuate for safety. But since our car was about a mile away we just stayed outside hiding under the stairs and ramps. It eventually did rain (poured more like it) and the delay lasted 2 hours! But we toughed it out for our Cougs.

Back in the stadium, we watched our team battle the Hoos (yes, they shortened Wahoos to just Hoos) until a very short half time where there began to be another downpour. Ben, Brenton, Scott and myself refused to leave (along with many other stubborn BYU fans) and watched the third quarter huddled under a quilt we fashioned into a makeshift shelter. It only kept our fronts dry but it was enough. Long story short, the Cougars looked like we'd bagged a W but sadly the Hoos won in the end. Although we lost I'm proud to be a Cougar and there were way more BYU fans left at the end of the game than UVA fans. It was awesome to see so waves of Blue and White in a stadium dotted with Orange.

Sunday, Scott's birthday and the day of rest so no sports today. We celebrated in Primary by singing happy birthday to Brother Jackson and then we drove to Ashburn to celebrate with Scott's family. We ate spicy pork, a Jackson family legacy and then triple strawberry birthday cake for dessert. Happy 26th Birthday, Scott!!

Monday was Labor Day so no work meaning we could finally sleep in! We ate dinner with Scott's family downtown at a place called Founding Farmers, very tasty. The rest of the day was pretty chill.

Tuesday! Last day in our sports weekend. After work, we met up in DC and ate a really great burger place called Good Stuff Eatery. Then we drove to RFK Stadium to watch... THE US WOMEN'S NATIONAL SOCCER TEAM play Mexico. Can you tell I was excited? We were really close to the field, compared to the BYU game that is. We were still about 30 rows away but close enough to recognize faces of players. We saw Abby Wambach, Hope Solo, Alex Morgan, Ali Kreiger, Christine Rampone (team captain and mother of two! Amazing!) and many others from the 2011 World Cup team along with some new faces and some players from the 2012 Olympic Team. This was the game I was most looking forward to of the weekend and I had no fear that the women would win. It was a friendly match against Mexico so it didn't really matter the outcome. But, I was right! The women blew them away. Final score, 7-0, US wins.

So there's the run down of our spectacular sports filled weekend. Happy Birthday, Scott!