The Mapless Traveler

I'VE MOVED!

2010-02-17T22:12:00.004-05:00

Great news! I have moved my blog to WordPress, which is so much easier to navigate - for me AND my readers! All of my old entries have been moved there as well.

Please change your bookmarks to maplesstraveler.wordpress.com. See you there!

The Mapless Traveler

H Mart (Gaithersburg, MD)

2010-02-17T18:18:00.007-05:00

No trip to Cat and Rob's place is complete without a visit to H Mart, a Korean American grocery store and marketplace chain. H Mart carries tons of imported East Asian goods and food, including live eels, crabs, turtles, and fish (for consumption), and also has a nice selection of Latin American items. Here's some of the things you can find there.

Some of the ladies hawking chocolates in the store had me sample these, explaining "Japanese chocolate sweeter than American chocolate, but no sugar!" It definitely tastes less sugary. If you like pocky, you will love these - biscuit sticks dipped in huge blobs of chocolate to look like mushrooms.

This stuffed Flying Goomba caught my eye in the imported goods shop at H Mart. Now he angrily waits for us to get back to Super Mario, already!

These are packages of veggie and sweet red bean buns, respectively. You keep them in the freezer, microwave them for about 50 seconds, and you have a delicious, steaming hot mini-meal. The buns are larger than they appear, and you get three per package.

Cafe Bustelo espresso is unbelievably yummy, and it will wake your sleepy behind right up. I like mixing mine with soy milk and a little bit of sugar. Eric's family drank this when he was growing up. Unlike most of the other items shown here, you can probably also find this one in your local supermarket. (We buy our cans at Giant, in the ethnic foods section.)

Another drink from Eric's childhood that we enjoy is called Malta Goya, which is probably best described as a super-malty, dark soda. (I've found most people do not enjoy the taste of it.) We typically purchase it from the local grocer as well, but at H Mart we found this six pack of "Pony Malta" which is supposed to be the super energizing version. Eric doesn't like the taste nearly as much, and I think it's just okay.

I love tea! I picked up a big box of oolong, a "Special Relaxing" herbal infusion with valerian, scullcap, catnip, and chamomile, and a brown rice green tea.

Meltyblend chocolate cubes, which literally melt away in your mouth and are ridiculously yummy. Mmmmmmmmm.

I've always loved wasabi peas! This particular brand is very crunchy, but not quite as spicy as I prefer.

Nestle Milo is a chocolate drink mix powder with added vitamins that was originally Australian and is very popular in some Caribbean countries, and probably others. I saw it standing next to some of my favorite European Ovaltine and couldn't resist giving it a try. It's more chocolately than European Ovaltine, but not as sweet as American Ovaltine. It is very hard to mix with cold soy milk, but like Ovaltine, there are many different ways to drink it. Maybe I'll make some hot Milo in a minute. :)

This is a cat.

Glowelle

2010-02-17T15:18:00.001-05:00

One product I've been very interested in lately is Glowelle. I was excited to try a 3-stick sampler pack of their product recently, but disappointed when only one stick was included in the little Glowelle carrying case. And the flavor they sent, pomegranate lychee, tasted like chalk mixed with fruit flavoring, and was just as gritty. I'd really like to try their 30-day pack, but it costs almost 90 bucks. Having had problems with my skin for the past couple of years, I took a look at the ingredients after reading how well other people fared with this product. It seems I can find most of these in basic vitamins or, you know, fruits and vegetables, and of course drinking lots of water every day is always great for your skin. So what's so different about Glowelle? Nothing that I can tell, other than making it easier (but way more expensive) for me to get some of my vitamins and minerals. My skin is doing much better ever since I all but eliminated dairy from my diet, but some part of me would still like to try the product again.

The Book Thing of Baltimore

2010-02-16T17:27:00.009-05:00

Anyone who knows me knows that I am a ridiculous bookworm. I will try to read just about anything, and I have a stupidly huge collection of books that takes up way too much room. Some people collect coins or stamps. I collect books (and lip gloss). It's easy to see that this hobby is inherited from my parents (especially my dad), that my sister also inherited it, and that my brother-in-law shares our "problem." (My aunt is probably only safe from this syndrome because she has a Kindle.) Now, my sweet boyfriend is way too patient for his own good and did not even roll his eyes when I excitedly informed him that we would be visiting The Book Thing with Cat and Rob as part of a litany of Valentine's Day weekend events. He deserves much credit since he has tripped over, stubbed toes on, cleaned, moved, and glared at literally thousands and thousands of tomes. He even smiled at me when I told him I would be painstakingly giving away 30 books that I have never read and probably never would (because they look pretty bad) away to The Book Thing.

Uh, so what is the big deal if we go to a book store? Well, The Book Thing happens not to charge anything for any of its books. They are mostly used, but many are in fine condition, and you can take as many as you like. Uh oh! This particular visit, we wound up with 45. (Six of those were Eric's.)

Well, enough babbling. Let's take a look at a few of the funkier things we got this time. And please visit The Book Thing's website at http://bookthing.org/index.html.

I was really excited to see this book. Unfortunately, it's mostly just lists of things people believe, not explanations of why they believe. It's still fun, so I took it! (Snopes.com does the dirty work of debunking many of these for you anyway!)
I have always had a thing for old textbooks (okay, math, not so much). This is a fourth- or fifth- grade level reading text. There was a huge box of them next to the kids' books bins, where a man ran up and frantically threw books up in the air as he plowed through all 10 bins. Hmmm!

This is an independently published collection of essays about society's view of women's beauty, and how companies push their beauty products on women, among other things. There were about 50 of these in a box. It was published by the Center for the Study of Responsive Law and has a 1986 forward from Ralph Nader.

This book is part of the Opposing Viewpoints series, which presents exactly what it sounds like. This edition focuses on the hotbed topic of abortion and the many and varied opinions of the subject. One of my favorite parts of the newspaper has always been the letters from people who feel differently about various topics than I do, so I was drawn to this like the proverbial moth to the flame.

In my youth, I had a hard time knowing how to tell someone something negative. Working in certain difficult environments and going to college certainly changed that, but I could always use help with less-than-pleasant situations. But some of the suggestions sound rather ... well, scripted. This book is guaranteed to at least be entertaining!

I had heard of this book, but never bothered to check it out. I certainly could've used it at a certain point in my life. It's based on the idea that people go through a quarter-life crisis along with a "mid-life" crisis. People in their early- to mid- 20s face uncertainty about what to do with their lives, and how to "figure it all out." I still face this at 28, as do many people I know who are far older than me, so I don't think it's restricted to any one age range. There's a corresponding website: http://www.quarterlifecrisis.com/.

I LOVE old pulp fiction art! Yes, this is a collection of tawdry paperback covers from yesteryear! And, they are all magnetic postcards! I can't get any to stick to my fridge though. Despite the cover's appearance, nothing in here is really dirty, just funny!

I loved Anna Quindlen's newspaper/newsmagazine writing, although I've never read any of her novels. This ought to be a cool read.

We also got various other books on science, animals, philosophy, psychology, physics, health, travel, crime, and mythology, as well as several novels. It's like Christmas! ;)

Traveling to the Land of Nod: Dream Water

2010-02-15T22:29:00.007-05:00

As an a devoted lover of the Land of Nod who sometimes has trouble getting there, I am always eager to try new products that promise a safe trip there. Dream Water is an interesting twist on the concept: flavored water with a few extra ingredients to help you sleep well. With flavor names like Snoozeberry, Lullaby Lemon, and I Dream of Kiwi, I would hope no one would grab one of these thinking it's a good thing to chug before working out ... or driving. I had the chance to sample a 2.5 oz. "shot" of Snoozeberry (blueberries and pomegranate flavor) Dream Water (also available in 8 oz. beverages for a slower route to relaxation) and enjoyed its sweet, slightly tartish flavor. I wasn't sure if it would do what it said it would, so I just forgot all about it ... until approximately 30 to 40 minutes later, when I was about to pass out cold. I couldn't even keep my eyes open, I was so sleepy. I conked out and slept for a good 9 hours straight, and had pleasant dreams about kittens. This stuff does what it says it will.

The lowdown: Dream Water has zero calories. The label states it will take about 30 minutes to work, but times may vary. Since I wasn't paying attention to time, I have no idea how long it took for me to get sleepy, but I think 30 minutes sounds about right. Its ingredients are filtered water, L 5-Hydroxytryptophan, Gamma Amino Butyric Acid, Natural Flavors, Sodium Acid Sulfate, Sodium Citrate, Citric Acid, Melatonin, Sucralose (the same thing as Splenda), FD&C Red #40, and FD#C Blue #1, in that order. It's available in Duane Reade drugstores all over New York, so if you live where I do, you will have to order it off the company's web site, www.drinkdreamwater.com, for now. You can also try a "shot" of Lullaby Lemon for $2.95 shipping and handling. And, while none of these ingredients are particularly strange or out of the ordinary, Dream Water asks that you please check with your doctor before you try it if you are taking any other medicines or supplements, or are pregnant, nursing, or ill. And for the love of all that's holy -- DO NOT take this before you do anything but go lay down. It will knock you out, sucka.

A Few Things

2010-02-11T14:29:00.002-05:00

Thank you for your comments about Blogger. I have to agree it's not really working out for me or my readers. I'm currently researching Wordpress.com (thanks Evan) and it looks like an easy option. I really just need to take the time to play with it a little, and I also want to see how hard it would be to switch all of my old entries over to the new server; I hate to leave them behind. I'll let you know when I make the switch and post the new address here.

Second, the snow is melting away. As much as I love it, I'm secretly glad so I can get out and do some stuff this weekend -- like getting my oil changed, and seeing my sister. I also hope my textbook will get here today or early tomorrow -- uggghhh.

Third, check this out! Eric spent a lot of our snowed-in time working on new artwork. Here is his interpretation of the 2010 Monster Blizzard, which he's also placed on overpriced mugs and T-shirts at Zazzle: http://ericdanerd.deviantart.com/art/Monster-Blizzard-2010-153663962

(Blogger hates my HTML tags and is somehow blending them with the middle of the blog, but I swear I'm doing it right. I'm too annoyed to screw with it right now, and I have to get back to work anyway!)

Blizzardous

2010-02-10T11:47:00.004-05:00

It's a full-on blizzard out there, AGAIN, with wind blowing up huge snowdrifts in our parking lot. I'm still not complaining, although the dreams of a biscuits and gravy breakfast at the local diner that I had last night were totally out of the question when I woke up this morning (although still tempting...). I am permitted to telework today, which is awesome because there are some things I really needed to get done.

The cats are snug and warm and have no idea how lucky they are. Occasionally they will park themselves by a window or the balcony door and stare at the sheets of white outside, but even that has started to bore them. Domino is presently chowing down at the food station and Sumo is curled up in my fake-suede jacket, which he adores more than I do.

These are Eric's version of snowshoes for trekking around outdoors. They hold up pretty well and keep his feet dry. The first day he went out like this we got lots of stares, but now we're running into tons of other people who had the same idea.

Time to go take some medicine and get back to work.

Séamus, 2006-2010

2010-02-09T16:37:00.009-05:00

Roughly two weeks ago, I came home from a dinner out with Eric (at Jaleo, which was absolutely delicious), to find my pet Betta dying. I was devastated. He had been acting a bit stranger in his old age, but now it was clear he was on his way out. I was relieved when he was still alive the next day, but he died by lunchtime. As the owner of more than 50 fish over the past five and a half years, I'm well aware that the little guys don't always last so long. Bettas are hardier than most when properly taken care of, but even their time is pretty short -- a typical normal life span is about two years. Yet Seamus's loss hit me hard.

It would probably be pretty difficult for anyone who has never loved and lost a little animal like a fish to understand what is so special about a pet this tiny. After all, fish have no memories, no personality, and can't even feel pain, right? Wrong. Studies have proven all of these statements are not true. You can even train some fish to swim through hoops! And Seamus knew who I was. At times, he would swim into my hand for me to flip him out of his bowl during his water changes. Other times, he'd get mad and go sulk behind one of his favorite bamboo leaves, and only come out when he saw the net in the water. He learned that the sound of the food container shaking meant little pellets were about to drop. He would even come out from a nap curled up in the bamboo plant's roots just to watch me when I came in the kitchen to wash dishes, sometimes bobbing his head out of the water as if to say, "Well, where's my lunch?" I loved his cantankerous, spirited personality. Even as he was dying, he still made it up to the surface to peer at me when I checked on him.

Granted, as a bleeding-heart animal lover, I am probably more sensitive than most. When I worked as a bookstore cashier, a big beetle flew onto my register. Afraid that one of the people in line would see it, freak out and smash it, I quietly herded the beetle into my drawer, then carried him outside on a break. It's probably that softie nature of mine that caused me to get Seamus in the first place when I saw him at the Christiansburg Wal-Mart in summer 2006. I am not a Wal-Mart fan anyway, but it broke my heart to go in there with my friends and see all the sick, dying fish. I even sent them an angry email once about the way their stores treated the fish. (A litany of similar complaints caused them to abandon the practice not long after I bought Seamus.) When I saw Seamus, he was the lone healthy Betta for sale. I couldn't stand the thought of this gorgeous creature meeting the same fate as the others, and I took him home. Yes, I knew I was just supporting the practice with my dollars, but his zippy personality begged for a better environment, and that's what I gave him. Now, there are many theories regarding the proper care of Bettas, but I personally believe it to be a complete falsehood that they live best in tiny, shallow puddles or cramped containers. Sure, a Betta COULD live that way for a while, if he had to -- but you see those long fins? Those aren't meant to be confined. Seamus lived far longer than Bettas who have almost no room to move about, which gives them fin rot anyway. He was stunningly beautiful, and he brought me much joy.

Seamus lived a good life. Rest in peace, buddy.

Photo by Evan Valentine

Cabin Fever ... literally!

2010-02-09T15:40:00.004-05:00

The snow stopped days ago, but my parking lot is a complete and total mess. We got the car shoveled the rest of the way out yesterday, but after seeing the number of vehicles getting stuck -- including a large pick-up truck and the garbage truck -- I said, "Forget it." We walked down Columbia Pike to the pharmacy and then to CVS for some overpriced groceries for the NEXT storm, which should hit sometime today and continue through Wednesday. When we came back, we looked for the guy to whom Eric had lent our sole good snow shovel, and of course he was gone and the shovel wasn't in the back of his truck the way it was supposed to be. So much for being a good Samaritan. I'm not surprised someone took it though -- whether it was the original dude or somebody else who saw it in the truck, who knows? (Our landlord also purchased 12 shovels to loan to residents who were too silly to go buy one ahead of time, but I'll give you one guess how many of these residents actually returned their borrowed shovel! That's right, zero!) Realizing that there weren't any shovels within easy traveling distance of us to purchase, and that with another 5 to 15 inches headed our way (depending on which weatherman is talking) we'd be hosed, we decided to try to get the car out to store in Suzi's building garage. We were certain my car would get stuck in the huge snowbanks and icy ruts all over the lot, but to our shock, Frankie prevailed where the others had failed miserably. A simple tap of the gas and he pulled right out of the space, past numerous other stuck cars and six foot high snowpiles, and out on to the road he went. (Yes, my car's name is Frankie and yes, I refer to him as a "he".) Go Sonata Go! He doesn't even have 4-wheel drive! Is it possible to be proud of an object? Hahaha.

Where others complain of cabin fever, I have a bad sinus infection instead. The headache it gave me was one of the worst I've had in my life! Bleeaugh! Thankfully, my doctor lives right downstairs and so I just marched down there and was seen right away. He is awesome.

The weather has caused a lot of people to make snarky comments about global warming. Well, this weather actually is a sign of our changing climate, which causes cooler air to wash over the Gulf Stream. It's not part of a "liberal agenda", it is science. For some reason many people seem to despise science.

I'm not eating much today because antibiotics make me feel sick. Suzi had cooked a delicious-smelling casserole at her place, but I really couldn't eat anything at the moment. I just ate some Total cereal with soy milk and a sprinkling of sweet Stevia in the Raw (made by the folks behind Sugar in the Raw), which was very delicious. Total was never one of my favorite cereals, but we always seemed to have it around when I was a kid. They do have some tasty fruit versions out now. Maybe I'll fire up some Dinty Moore beef stew later on, or walk over to Bob and Edith's. Some of their biscuits and gravy would be good for dinner. I do admit that being inside so much is finally starting to get to me, so I try to get out and get some fresh air when I can. Eric and I have been playing cards, video games, watching documentaries, and making JiffyPop on the stove, and of course I'm always curled up with a book the rest of the time. The roads looked awful this morning - many roads are reduced to one lane and you can find pedestrians walking right in the middle of the street - and I'd prefer to be off of them as much as possible.

What do you do to combat cabin fever? New poll on the right :)

Cabin Fever ... yeah, not really

2010-02-06T14:07:00.010-05:00

I love snow! We've got something like 30 inches over here now ... and counting. I just got back from Bob and Edith's with Eric and, as with the last blizzard, there were people out and about all down Columbia Pike. Unfortunately there were also people who insisted on driving, and we saw numerous cars and, yes, 4WD vehicles getting stuck in giant snowbanks and cussing furiously as though they were shocked this was happening. Even as I type, someone is outside furiously jamming on the gas and trying to pull out of their parking space. (The picture at right shows the view of the parking lot from my balcony a few hours ago -- you can see where two people have cleared their cars. One was a fella from the Coast Guard.) For all I know, they really did have somewhere important to go, but I'm guessing there will be even more accidents tomorrow when people insist on getting out to go to Super Bowl parties. As for me, I'm perfectly happy curled up on the couch at home. When I felt a little cabin fever setting in, E. and I just dressed up and went outside for a while. My knee-high boots did a good job of keeping the snow away from my legs -- good since it went up past my knees at points -- and Eric's do-it-yourself plastic bag shoe protectors kept him dry. We tromped across the street to Bob and Edith's, where unfortunately my half-smoke was cold, and then around the neighborhood searching vainly for a copy of the latest Washington City Paper. The view of the surrounding neighborhoods was too gorgeous for words. I think Eric got some pictures. I lost my balance and fell in the snow at one point, but I didn't mind. The roof garden is closed -- too bad!

Our balcony is covered in huge snow drifts. The decorative lights Eric brought home from his work two months ago are almost entirely covered up, and they almost reach my hips! We could easily build a snowman out there -- thinking about it :)

At times, I almost feel guilty being so happy about a snowstorm when so many other people are affected negatively. At Bob and Edith's, the servers were dismayed when the news reported that the buses had stopped running. But I truly love a good snowstorm. And, since I work at home, I have a different perspective on these storms coming during the weekends. I would have to work anyway -- so it's nice to be able to enjoy the snow on a day when I don't have to do anything else (other than my laundry -- ran three loads last night and still have two hampers stuffed full of dirty clothes. Gross!).

In sadder news, my beta fish, Seamus, passed away a while back. It's always tough to raise a little creature for several years only to lose him. He was definitely a tenacious little fella. I'll have a tribute post up for him soon.

I'm kind of sick of Blogger already. Stupid things like posting pictures and getting spacing to show up the way I entered it are way more difficult than they should be. I've never been great at formatting and whatnot anyway, so maybe I should switch to another blog site. We'll see!

Mariani HoneyBars/10 Days Is Better Than None!

2010-01-17T20:24:00.003-05:00

I'm still in the process of organizing all those travel photos, but I just wanted to plug a delicious product real quick -- and go off a little on something that has bothered me for a while. Let's start with the good stuff -- Mariani HoneyBars! I had the opportunity to sample a Trail Mix HoneyBar not long ago and I was blown away by the taste. The Trail Mix bar consists of nuts, seeds, and raisins held together by just a touch of honey -- and that's it. The sweet honey flavor dances on your tongue and complements the slightly salty -- but all natural -- tang of the other ingredients perfectly. I can't wait to try more varieties of these. Some places you can purchase include Giant, Wegmans, Safeway, Shoppers, Kroger, and Ukrops. You can read more about Mariani and their varieties of snack bars (and delicious fruit snacks) here: http://www.worldpantry.com/cgi-bin/ncommerce3/CategoryDisplay?cgmenbr=1279011&cgrfnbr=1647230.

Now for the less-than-good stuff. One thing that bugs me about travel (other than not having enough leave to travel as much as I would like) is the "travel snob." I am finding out more and more about this phenomenon the more I travel and the more I talk about my travels with other people. People ask me all about where I've been and what I saw, but then they start to wrinkle their noses when I answer their questions. They hear that I was only in Paris for three days (because it was in the middle of another trip) and they act like that is insane. Never mind that I went there in the middle of a larger trip and found it a fun opportunity to explore a different city. They say, "Oh -- well, that's too bad" when they ask how long I was in Ireland and I say, "Oh, about a week." They act like my fabulous, but brief, road trip through Brussels, Luxembourg, and Koln (Cologne) that I took from a friend's Netherlands home was ridiculous and that I couldn't have possibly seen anything worth mentioning. (Guess again!) They go on and on about all of the good stuff I SHOULD have seen and done in Las Vegas and imply that I didn't "do it right." Gee, thanks! My response to this is usually, "Oh, how long were you there?" and their response is, with two exceptions so far, "Oh, I haven't gone there." No, not at all? 10 days in Amsterdam is much better than no days in Amsterdam! Thanks for letting me know how inferior you feel my trip was! Talk to me when you get there yourself, for what I presume will be a full month since you apparently have endless amounts of leave and cash! But seriously -- does anyone else ever encounter this? I'm curious. I've just never been inclined to inform someone their vacation wasn't long enough while they're telling me about all the great things they have seen -- I'd rather shush and listen to what I can learn!

ICE! and Christmas on the Potomac at National Harbor (tons of photos)

2009-12-16T11:16:00.014-05:00

Happy Holiday Season! The Sunday after Thanksgiving, Eric and I decided to stop by National Harbor to see two exhibits there: ICE!, a collection of ice sculptures ($25 per adult), and Christmas on the Potomac (free, inside the Gaylord Resort atrium).

Having been to National Harbor only once before, I was excited to return and get to know more of it. It's about a fifteen minute drive in good traffic from my building in Arlington. We arrived to find the grounds full of Christmas trees, like the big one above.

When I was a child, this giant statue called The Awakening was "buried" in the ground at Hains Point in D.C. and my sister and I would go play on it fairly often. The statue was recently purchased and moved to National Harbor. Here's its arm ...

I was happy to see that there are still plenty of kids playing on The Awakening! Unfortunately, the water from the Potomac in this area is somewhat stinky, but that's life.

Time for ICE! ICE is a collection of ice sculptures inside a tent near the back end of the National Harbor grounds (across from some parking garages).

BRRR! It was pretty chilly. You will be offered one of these big blue parkas for your walk through the exhibit. I highly recommend you take one, not just for the cold, but for another reason which I'll be showing you later on ...

Polar bears frolicking on an ice "pond." There's lots of Christmas music playing in here.

I guess he's tap dancing.

This polar bear looked remarkably like my friend Brad who lived down the hall from me my freshman year of college at Ambler-Johnston Hall! Brad had a knack for refusing to get up to go to class with me and my roommate Jaime. We'd find him dozing on top of his bunk just like this when we'd drop by his room to try to make him get up. His nickname has been Polar Bear ever since.

Deer and ducks by/on the pond. These views are all from a bridge over the pond which was also made entirely out of ice.
Here's the bridge, and a polar bear ice fishing :)

Around the corner there were some sculptures of a Christmas morning scene in an ice "living room", of which we neglected to take any pictures. There was also an ice sleigh that you could sit in to pose for a picture. There were people everywhere so it was a bit difficult. I was impatient like usual and didn't want to wait to get pictures of that stuff. Instead we ran further ahead to these funky dancing penguins!

There was an igloo behind the dancers with more penguins. I was definitely glad to beat the crowds to this scene. These penguins remind me of something out of Willy Wonka (if he had penguins)!

An ethereal fiber-optic lighted tunnel leads ahead to the ice castle.

...And here it is, the fantastic ice castle. At either side are two foot tall ice slides!

The view from the top of the ice slides

Woo hoo! This is one more reason to take that parka they offer! To go really fast down the slide, lean way back and lift your feet up a little.

Wheeeee!
Following the ice castle and slides were more sculptures. This adorable stuffed tiger was randomly tucked in with some other, chillier wildlife.

This teddy bear wuvs me. (I couldn't resist)

After all of the secular-themed sculptures, more spiritual icons began to appear representing the Christmas story. Here's the angel, although you can't really see the wings too well.

Random ice column that glowed blue on and off

Ice nativity scene. This was HUGE and took up a whole room. It was pretty spectacular.

I wanted to climb up on it, but I was afraid the security guard who conveniently appeared around the corner just as I got the idea would yell at me and make a big spectacle

Stable animals keeping watch over the Baby Jesus.

The exhibit wishes you a Merry Christmas as you leave with some ice poinsettias. And that's the end of it. You turn in your parkas and then you can browse a gift shop. (Eric bought me a pretty snowflake bracelet.) You also have the opportunity to take a computer survey regarding your experience. I wrote that I had a great time but I would have appreciated taller ice slides and more sculptures for the money.

Once we left ICE!, we headed back down toward the water. Eric was just a little excited about eating some lunch.

These miniature Christmas trees line the walkway.

I can never resist an opportunity to play in a fountain!

Eric's hunger didn't distract him from a need to practice his kung fu skills.

We decided to eat at Ketchup before the Christmas on the Potomac mini-shows started that evening. Unfortunately we had to wait a long time for our food. You can read all about that in my previous blog post!

By the time we got our meals, I was so hungry I decimated my crab wrap before I realized that most of the ingredients had been left out. These are the remains of Hurricane Hungry Girl

Ketchup's main gimmick is its variety of odd ketchups. You get this sampler of six to dip your truffle fries in. The ketchups were the best part of our entire experience.

Christmas on the Potomac is a big display inside the atrium of the Gaylord Resort. Hanging in the front window is this large tree made out of "candy glass". (I don't believe you can eat it :)

One of the things we waited to see was this fountain show. While no match for the Bellagio in Las Vegas, it was fun and splashed significant numbers of surprised people, much to my amusement. ;) At some points, the fountains shot 60 feet in the air in time with the music! Each fountain show lasts about three minutes.

One of the draws of Christmas on the Potomac is a contest in which you have to find giant stuffed Peeps that are hidden around the atrium. Some of them are in really odd out of the way places, but Eric and I found most of them. Now, you don't think I'm going to give the answers away, do you? :) But here's one fella hiding in the bushes!

Looking for all those Peeps was a good way to waste time while waiting for the next "show" which was the nightly lighting of the glass Christmas tree. The show consists of several minutes of lights flashing around inside the tree while music plays. "Northern lights" also shimmer across the banners hanging around the tree.

A few minutes after the Christmas tree lighting show is over, a snowfall begins. We waited around for a while waiting for it to start before we realized it's in a very small area by the coffee shop in the middle of the atrium. You can't see it here, but the "snow" is really like foamy dish-soap bubbles wafting down. It does get stuck in your hair though :)

There were some other shows involving the fountains and singing choirs, but by this time I was tired and ready to go home and eat some dinner that didn't involve slowpoke waiters. Here's the tree down by the river all lit up at night. There's a stage right next to it where different bands play periodically. When they're not playing, parents let their kids scamper all over the stage right in front of a huge sign telling you to keep off of it. Hahaha

I had a fun time and thought it was a good way to spend a Sunday afternoon. Maybe they'll have bigger and better things next year. If you live in the area, try to go on a Sunday or even a weekday if you can to avoid the crowds. Make sure you drive in or take a water taxi over from Old Towne in Alexandria. Just be aware that some of the special shows may not be available on the weekdays.

ICE! and Christmas on the Potomac run through January 10th. You can find more information and purchase tickets here: http://www.gaylordhotels.com/gaylord-national/special-events/washington-dc-events/christmas-on-the-potomac/index.html?intcmp=gn-tsr-cotpevents.

Restaurant Review: Ketchup, National Harbor (Prince George's County, Maryland)

2009-11-29T21:21:00.004-05:00

My boyfriend Eric took me on a date to National Harbor today to see two wonderful holiday exhibits there. (Those were Christmas on the Potomac and ICE -- more on those in a later post.) After viewing ICE, we decided to eat lunch and settled on Ketchup, owned by celebrity-backed Dolce Restaurant Group. We knew little about it at the time - I've referenced their website and menu at http://www.dolcegroup.com/ketchup/ for this review - but we were enticed by the name and the Andy Warhol-like decor we could see through the windows. We could also see a family sitting and eating through the window on our way up the hill to ICE at 2:25 and they appeared to be close to done with their meal ... and then we saw them again as we came back down a little past 3 p.m. and they were still there! It was an omen I chose to ignore for the moment. Silly me.

We went inside and were confused as to where we were supposed to go to be seated. We passed a large bar on our left and saw a couple standing by what appeared to be a hostess station at the far end. I was surprised the station wasn't closer to the main entrance. The hostess appeared and told us it would be a moment. We were finally placed at the back of the restaurant; I was in a little red booth and Eric was across from me in a chair. Our table was unusually close to the table next to it, where a large family was seated.

Our waitress took a few minutes to appear. When we finally ordered, we placed our drink and meal orders at the same time. Our Diet Cokes took several minutes to come out and then the waitress had to wait at the bar for a while after that to get the Raspberry Mojito I'd already ordered with my soda. (I could see her standing there waiting on them to finish making it.) The Mojito was tasty enough, but not really worth the $12. We then began the wait for our food ... a long, long, long wait. It was abysmally slow, but I could see that several other tables around us (seated before us) were also waiting. I don't blame our waitress for this ridiculous slowness. She appeared to be the only one handling the entire (large) section and she was pleasant despite this. I suspect the restaurant didn't plan well for this Thanksgiving weekend and probably had only one cook back there making the food.

A tall man dressed like a manager finally brought us our food with an apologetic tone, and then a third person (a lady) who was either a manager or a member of the waitstaff brought us ketchup. By this point, I think we'd been at the restaurant for at least 45 minutes.

I had ordered the Crab Salad Wrap ($13), which came in an "old bay" wrap and was supposed to have Maryland lump crabmeat (check), spinach leaves (check), hearts of palm (nope), tomatoes (nope -- but who cares, I didn't want them anyway and forgot to ask them to leave them off), and lemon herb vinaigrette (nope). I caught a taste of Old Bay seasoning here and there on the crab. By this point I was so hungry that I demolished almost the entire wrap without noticing. It wasn't until we were waiting on the check that it suddenly occurred to me that the wrap was supposed to have more than just spinach and crab! (Now WHY exactly did THAT take so long? Put the spinach in the wrap! Put the crab in the wrap! Roll that mess up and serve!) Eric ordered the Grilled Chicken Sandwich ($13) which had banana peppers, herb mayo, spinach, and tomato, and he devoured the entire thing before I had even finished one half of my wrap. He says he thinks his sandwich had all of the ingredients. The wrap and the sandwich both came with "truffle fries" sprinkled with Parmesan cheese. The fries were good enough, but the real joy was trying the ketchup. You see, what that third person brought us was a sampler of six different flavored ketchups: chipotle, raspberry, maple syrup, ranch, regular, and I forget what the sixth one was (barbecue?). It was fun to try them all and they were definitely all extremely delicious and unique -- except the regular, of course.

By the time I realized my wrap was not up to par and the check arrived, we were so close to the starting time of the next attraction that we had to haul out of there and I decided not to bother complaining about the wrap. (I'd eaten most of the food, anyway!) I'd almost like to come back here sometime and try some more of the menu, but I'm really not sure it's worth it, especially not with so many other fine restaurants right in the same development. Besides, I can probably make that crab wrap -- the way it was meant to be made -- right here at home.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-27T00:05:00.001-05:00

Wishing all my blog readers a wonderful Thanksgiving. I've certainly had a great one and was very lucky to spend it with my fantastic family. Of course, it's now the day after Thanksgiving over here, so perhaps I should be wishing you a Happy Black Friday instead. Are you all now getting ready to stake out the stores for all those hot deals? I've never been able to do it, myself ... I desperately love my nightly visit to the Land of Nod. Interestingly enough, however, ever since I got back from my trip to Europe a couple of weeks ago, I have been waking earlier and earlier each morning ... so maybe next year you'll find me in line too :)

Beverage Review: MetroMint Water ... It's Really That Good

2009-11-21T15:26:00.001-05:00

Let it be known before I begin this review that I am not a fan of bottled water. Most of it tastes like plastic, like bathwater, or - hey! - like unfiltered tap water, which is what I preferred in the good old days when I lived in the country! However, the tap water in the Metropolitan DC area tastes like a mouthful of silt, so bottled water it is for me. I usually throw a flavor packet or two in there first, though. Occasionally, I'll grab a "flavored water beverage", but even those are just ehhhh.

Enter the only bottled water that literally makes me dance with excitement when I see it in the store aisle: Metromint water!

What is Metromint?

It's only the best bottled water on the face of Planet Earth! I've been crowing about it for about two years, and every time a new flavor comes out, I practically do a dorky cartwheel of joy in the middle of the street. (Um, well, I would, if I knew how to do a cartwheel.)

If you ever want to get me a present, and you aren't sure what to get, I'll take a carton or two of this joy-inducing elixir, thanks! Actually, maybe it's not fair to call it an "elixir" because the ingredients in a bottle of spearmint-flavored Metromint are the following:

Purified water, mint.

And that's it. (Other flavors, with the exception of Peppermint, all contain "essence" as well -- e.g., cherry essence, cocoa essence.) But that's what makes it so GOOD!!! It's cool, smooth, and refreshing. You can drink it at room temperature and it still feels like a rush of slightly cold air traveling down your throat into your tummy! (Metromint rates each flavor with a "cool factor" number that tells you just how cooling that rush is.) There are days when I grab a bottle of this stuff rather than a caffeinated beverage because it actually makes me feel better AND keep my eyes open. But I take a bottle of it to bed with me, too, because it's not like it makes my heart race.

So what kinds of flavors does this nectar of the gods come in?

There's...

Peppermint - The original. It's crisp and packs a bit more of a powerful punch than the others, so if you want a ton of mint taste, go for this one.
Spearmint - Very sweet and refreshing. Still lots of mint flavor, but it's not as "bold" as the peppermint, and it goes down so easy.
Lemonmint - Tangy and very slightly tart. Very nice lemon flavor with smooth mint finish. Interestingly enough, the mint and the lemon flavors taste equally strong to me. I thought one might kick the other's butt.
Orangemint - Nice and citrusy. The orange tastes absolutely delicious and to me, it appeared to mellow out the mint flavor quite a bit.
Chocolatemint - Just the slightest hint of delightful cocoa flavor. It kind of kisses your taste buds, then vanishes, while the mint flavor dances around it. This is a very mellow mint. It's wonderful.
Cherrymint - Surprisingly, this might be my favorite Metromint of the moment (and it's also the newest addition). I've found many cherry-flavored beverages to be cloyingly sweet, which is gross to me. (I'm looking at you, 7-Up Plus Cherry.) Cherrymint defies them to win my heart! The mint and the fruit flavor really complement each other quite nicely and are lip-smacking!

I'll sing the praises of this stuff for as long as Metromint keeps churning it out. You get amazing flavor that refreshes you (and your breath!) without leaving a nasty aftertaste of fake sugar, and there isn't a single ingredient that's bad for your body. And, I can't wait to see what the next flavor will be. (How about grapemint?)

If you're looking for it, Whole Foods grocery is your best bet on the East Coast (they usually stock all six flavors), but you could also check out Harris Teeter or Safeway (any Safeway, anywhere). Other chains that carry Metromint include Cost Plus, World Market, and Bel Air and Raley's (for those of you on the West Coast).

Still can't find it? Order it online at http://www.metromint.com/.

The CONS of Working from Home: A Practical Guide

2009-11-20T15:14:00.000-05:00

Since September 2008, I have enjoyed the incomparable luxury of working from home. I probably don’t have to make a list of the pros for you. If you are currently thinking about working from home, all of the perks you can imagine are there: a five-second commute (roll out of bed, walk to computer); doing work in pajamas; stretching out luxuriously in the La-Z-Boy with a laptop as cold winds blow outside. Needing to toss in a load of laundry or make a lunchtime run to the post office is no longer a big deal. Me personally, I buy gas maybe twice a month tops, and I have plenty of time to work on my master’s degree or attend evening exercise classes or seminars. For my teleworking colleagues with children, that extra time is especially invaluable.

So, uh, what is the negative side? IS there a negative side? The answer to that, my friends, is YES. There aren’t a ton of cons, but they are there, and they’re much different from what you encounter at a desk job.

With teleworking becoming more and more popular as the population swells, transportation woes worsen, and the H1N1 virus rears its ugly head, I thought this would be a timely thing for me to address. Let me tell you about the brand new set of negatives you’re likely to face – and how to come out on top of them.

Your friends think you don’t work a “real” job.

This is a minor problem that can quickly become a major one, especially if you’ve got lots of friends with flexible work schedules of their own who love to hang out with you (and that’s awesome, when you yourself aren’t busy). You may suddenly hear a lot of requests for two-hour-long lunches, rides to places 45 minutes away, or extensively long chats on the phone. While you can probably spare a run to Subway for lunch or a ride to the Metro station around the corner, things that really take away from your job or distract you should be nipped in the bud immediately. Don’t ever give the impression that you sit at home doing nothing all day (ahem … even if you do). Talk about your job as though it’s a real job. If someone thinks you can accompany them on a shopping spree or talk for an hour in the middle of the day, just respond as you would if you were working away from home: “Sorry, dude, I gotta work. Want to go later?” Good friends will understand. For those that don’t – don’t pick up the phone, and call them back after you’re done for the day.

You have a tendency to be distracted very easily.

Ask yourself: How do you work best? I personally cannot work at my best anymore when I a) do not have enough light, b) have too MUCH light blaring right in my face, c) feel overheated, d) have to listen to loud noises such as construction right outside or loudmouthed people shouting back and forth in the hall, e) have to sit in complete dead quiet, f) feel like I’ve been cooped up indoors too long, g) have something talking at me, to me, or around me, and h) do not have proper seating either curled up in my recliner with the laptop adjusted just-so, OR at the dining room table with the chair just right and the laptop right at eye level.

Yep.

Um, so how DO I manage? Well, I took the first day or so to figure out how to set myself up. Where did I want my personal office? How much light or heat was there? Was there too much noise in the building? How would I handle it if my phone or Internet suddenly went out? Figure out the answers to these questions early on and nix distractions before they ruin your drive!

You just don’t know HOW to work at home.

Hear me now, believe me later: you need to address this prior to working from home full-time. Remember, above all, that deadlines are still deadlines, and you will still be held accountable for what you do or don’t get done in your designated 8-hour time frame each day. Regardless, there are some people out there who simply cannot focus without a structured office environment and peers to keep them from spending all day on Facebook. If you think this might be you, you should do a few “test runs” before you attempt to begin teleworking full time. Ask to try working at home a couple of days on your own first; if your employer has already suggested you work at home or is at least open to the idea, then they will probably happily oblige and will be pleased with your honesty.

If, on the other hand, you are considering a brand new job that is specifically work-at-home position – you need to know your capability to do the job before you apply for it. Be honest with yourself: Could you really do your job completely unsupervised, when you’re literally surrounded by things you’d rather be doing, and no one to tell you that you can’t? (Are you REALLY going to avoid watching TV or surfing the ‘net all day?) Are you disciplined enough to get a job done on your own with zero direction or supervision – especially a job you may not particularly like? What usually happens when you have to do a chore for someone else – say, when your spouse asks you to mow the lawn, or you need to spend an afternoon putting together a new bookcase? If the answers to these questions don’t sound good, look for another job. Most employers who hire for work-at-home positions do so for a good reason – usually, lack of office space – and they are not going to be very pleased with you if you suddenly tell them you just can’t do the work unless you’re in the office. In this economy, that isn’t something to fool with.

You still have to come in the office sometimes – and you’re no longer used to it.

Working at home will spoil you. You will eventually forget what it's like to get up super early, put on a suit, and then battle traffic each morning. But if you think you won't ever have to do these things again, you're wrong. Unless the office happens to be on the other side of the country, you can expect to be asked to drive in each week for status meetings. (You may be allowed to dial in.) You might be expected to drop everything to head out to a seminar or session that's almost an hour away. You may be asked to come in for a meeting that winds up being even shorter than your commute!

The key is to never be unprepared. Feel free to do your work in your pajamas, but make sure you always have a spotless suit hanging in your closet, with accoutrements close by. Don’t put off taking a shower, figuring you can just wash your hair later. Keep your briefcase or laptop bag ready so that all you have to do is stuff your computer in there and go. Make sure your important items like keys, badge, cash, etc. are in a spot where it’s easy to just grab them on your way out. (Try the Doorganizer, $18, at www.fredflare.com.) Never put off doing important work – you don’t want to suddenly find that you now have no time to do it because you have to go give an important presentation instead. And most of all – don’t whine about having to come in or develop a bad attitude. At best, it guarantees a bad day at the office. At worst, your boss will notice and start to think of you differently.

You don’t feel like a true part of the team. You feel left out when you do come to work or hang out with the team.

Assuming you aren’t working from Oregon for an office in Virginia, this is easy to handle. Make a point to attend after-work happy hours and get to know everyone in the room. Don’t shy away from friending coworkers on Facebook. Find a club of interest that is sponsored by your workplace. (Try Toastmasters!) Don’t be afraid to email your colleagues for help or advice with a professional issue. If you have regular weekly or monthly meetings, make sure you show up and chat up your coworkers beforehand. Call in to every meeting that you can’t attend personally. Even consider (yikes) coming in to the office on days you don’t have to just to be seen. Facetime counts more than you think it does.

Even better: Spearhead an initiative that will really help your office and bring people together. Check out a great charity or other cause that you can all do volunteer work with. Set up a trip to a local baseball or football game, karaoke bar, or silly outing on a slow weeknight. Offer to edit and publish a newsletter for the team and solicit contributions from everyone.

Overall, don’t get nervous if you feel like you aren’t instantly “one of the gang.” You’re really there to get a job done, but being on pleasant, easygoing terms with everyone is invaluable.

You find it hard to get ahead. You’re the last one assigned important or “stand-out” tasks.

Kill two birds with one stone using the above tips to make yourself more visible. But just as you want your coworkers to see more of you, you also want them to see what you are capable of. If you find yourself with downtime, use it to explore new creative avenues related to your job. For example, one time I was asked to edit a demo script draft that someone else had written. As I was doing the editing, I realized there were several other scripts our team could create that might be useful. I called my boss to tell her the editing was done and then suggested the new scripts. She was intrigued by the idea and we discussed it for some time. While I don’t know when we might actually go forth with the idea – more pressing matters have taken precedence – it showed her I was using my head! When you send work back to your own superior or other office-mates, take the time to suggest additional avenues or new ideas that you have. If you have a particular area of expertise, ask if you can present to your coworkers on the topic.

Back Home!

2009-11-16T09:22:00.001-05:00

I'm back home from my most recent vacation, what I fondly call EuroTrip 2009! Of course, this means I now have two vacations (and a host of other things) to blog about. I haven't forgotten! Since I'm at work right now, I don't have time to make a thorough update, but here is a list of upcoming articles:

*Hilton Head Island

*The Netherlands (adding elements from 2006 and 2009)

*Other recent Europe jaunts/visits: Dublin, Brussels, Luxembourg, Cologne

*The CONS of working from home: a practical guide

*More reviews

*Surviving a fear of house centipedes

...And more!

Stay tuned! I have been working on some of these offline and should be posting something early this week.

The Black Jack Taco = Huge Frown Face

2009-10-19T23:47:00.000-04:00

So I just ran out of the apartment with Eric for the sole purpose of driving 15 minutes up the road ... to go to Taco Bell. Yes, I just left the house to go get faux-Mexican fast food. Why? Because I saw a commercial a couple of hours ago for the new Black Jack taco, and I couldn't stand the thought of knowing about a cool new Taco Bell item and not eating it! Pepper jack sauce on a beef taco ... in a black taco shell? Ohhh, yeah.

It's a total letdown. I could just get a regular beef taco and throw a mild hot sauce packet on it and probably have more spice. Come ON! The pepper jack sauce tastes more like mayo with a tiny bit of pepper tossed in. FAIL.

Get rid of this, and bring back the Cheesy Gordita Crunch. Or the Encheritos with the green sauce!

Tasty Dogs at Arlington's Weenie Beenie

2009-10-09T17:48:00.001-04:00

Weenie Beenie is the type of place in Arlington that many folks might consciously avoid. Located in a more blue collar stretch of Shirlington, in an area just beginning to show signs of gentrification -- rows of freshly built brick townhomes sit on the hill nearby -- Weenie Beenie is right across the street from a station for day laborers to wait for work, who used to swarm the cars as they pulled up in the parking lot (or so I've been told). But those who choose to speed right by on Shirlington Road have no idea what they are missing. Weenie Beenie's orange-roofed building has a dignity all its own -- the server behind the counter was kind and friendly, and a sign posted on the wall showed the Ten Commandments (in English and Spanish). Our half-smokes were the kind of food that made me thankful to live right around the corner -- the small-looking sausages had a juicy bite with a pleasant 'snap' that warmed my tummy AND my heart. That's right -- this stuff is so good that I've been reduced to waxing corny about it. Mmm, mmm, good.

If you happen to be in the area, swing on by.

I apologize for the lack of updates lately. I have no less than five articles being prepared just for you :)

Restaurant Review: Vapiano (Ballston, Virginia)

2009-08-31T23:01:00.000-04:00

Vapiano is a chain that originated in Germany, and only recently came to the United States. Its first U.S. location is this one on Wilson Boulevard in Arlington's Ballston neighborhood. There are a few others in the Tri-State area, so I'm guessing it became pretty popular, pretty quickly.

We arrived for our meal a little after 6 p.m. The restaurant was fairly empty, but a light crowd started to pick up around 7. The gimmick of this place is pretty cool -- you walk in, get a plastic card, and carry it with you to the bar for dessert and drinks or over to the meal line for pasta, salad, soup, and/or pizza. After you order each item, the chef or bartender just has you scan your card, then hits a few buttons to load the price onto your "account." On the way out, you hand the card to the person standing at the exit, who scans it and gives you your total for the entire evening. The idea is that you can just wander all around and get whatever you want, whenever you want without having to pay for it separately each time, keep a tab, or go through a cafeteria line with a tray. I have to say it worked pretty well for me -- but make sure you don't lose that card, because each one is worth $50 (even with nothing on it)!

I went straight to the salad line because I saw a Greek salad on the menu and was in the mood for some olives. My friend Annette (a grad school classmate; visiting from Germany) and boyfriend Eric got pasta and a kind of pizza with asiago cheese, respectfully. We watched our meals made in front of us (except for the pizza, which takes too long) and went to sit at one of the high elevated tables with bar stools. We choose an area in a corner next to a wall full of herbs growing in flower pots. The atmosphere was casual yet classy, and not too terribly noisy, even when a larger dinner crowd started pouring in. It was nice to be able to hear my dining companions talk, although I don't know what it would be like when the joint is full.

The Greek salad was really disappointing. It was a large portion, so I just got that and a Coke Zero, but I ate very little of it. There were maybe six or seven olives thrown in, far more capers (which are yum), and not enough feta cheese. These are the things that make a Greek salad, Greek salad, so why skimp on them! The chef does make the salad right in front of you, so I would at least recommend paying closer attention to how much of each thing he is throwing in. But other parts are out of the diner's control. The dressing tasted like ranch out of a bottle. The lettuce leaves were mostly iceberg with a bit of romaine here and there, but it was all watery and tasteless. I wound up picking through the bowl for "the good parts" and eating all the crust off Eric's pizza. Then Eric placed an order for a margherita pizza for me. It takes a long while to cook, so I just planned to eat a couple of slices at home to make up for the lack of in-restaurant meal.

Annette and I headed over to the bar to pass the time, which is also where you pick up the desserts, and I grabbed a mosaic bande. This is basically a chocolate mousse cake with a white chocolate topping, which has little geometric chocolate shapes sprinkled across the top -- hence the "mosaic" in the name. I also picked up a vodka cranberry to wash it down with. The bartender made the drink very strong, which is fine by me, but just an FYI for anyone else who prefers more cranberry than vodka. The cake was okay, but not chocolately enough to suit my tastebuds. That's my own fault -- I saw a slice of nice chocolate mousse or cheesecake or something there, but the "mosaic" on the "bande" won me over.

When the pizza was finally ready, we took it home and I had a couple of slices for my "real" dinner. I had asked for black olives and was again disappointed to find they didn't even put enough olives on the pizza to have one for each slice. BUT -- the pizza itself was DELICIOUS. The sauce was tangy, the cheese nice and chewy, and the crusts had a lightly oven-baked flavor. While I didn't try any of the pasta, Annette seemed pleased with it.

Based on my own experience, I would not recommend this place for the salad. (Although if I'm being honest, who goes to a restaurant just for the salad?) Go there and get a big tasty pizza -- but make sure you ask for extra toppings, especially olives. For some reason, I feel like they're deliberately skimping on those. And, enjoy the atmosphere.

Restaurant Review: Cafe Promenade, Washington, D.C.

2009-08-31T14:47:00.000-04:00

My friend Suzi and I have headed out for Restaurant Week in our neighboring Washington, D.C. the past two Augusts. In case you haven't heard of Restaurant Week, it's a weeklong event in which the priciest restaurants offer a special menu for just 40 bucks. This year, I chose Cafe Promenade in the historic Renaissance Mayflower Hotel on Connecticut Avenue.

I was excited to see the inside of the hotel, as it's been around for over 80 years and looks decidely noble and beautiful on the outside. The inside is no different. Everything is decorated in mirrors, golden facades, red carpets, or gleaming crystal chandeliers. This includes the cafe, whose silverware appeared to be real silver and whose atmosphere was decidely comfortable and relaxing.

From the Restaurant Week special menu, I made the difficult selection of the roasted beets with goat cheese and watercress as an appetizer. It was difficult because pan-seared crab cakes were also present on the menu, and crabcake is my absolute favorite food. This decision was made easier when Suzi ordered the crab cakes and agreed that I could have a bite.

Our waiter was attentive and kind, and the appetizers did not take long to come out. My beets just tasted like regular old beets out of a can with crumbles of feta cheese on top, but it was a tasty and (for me) unusual combination. Suzi's crab cakes were small, which seemed appropriate for an appetizer. (She still let me have a bite, and I thought they were yummy, although she noted that they weren't the best she had ever tasted and I must agree.)

Our entrees took a while to appear. I ordered the Atlantic cod with chile and mango sauce and herb risotto. It was tasty, but did not quite have as much flavor as I was expecting. Suzi ordered a chicken entree with summer squash slices underneath and found it bland. I ate a big bite of her squash and thought that, at least, was tasty.

Lastly, we had our desserts. I had the fruit tart which was delicious and had a lemon filling. It seemed like something I could easily make at home, however. Suzi's peach cobbler seemed odd to me, as it was not a typical peach cobbler but similar to a big square of bread pudding.

Our check took a very long time to arrive; in fact, we didn't receive it until we placed our credit cards directly on the table in a none-too-subtle gesture.

All in all, I found the atmosphere very enjoyable and the food less so. It was very good, but I didn't think it was all that special and definitely not worth the prices we would have typically paid. I would return if staying at the Mayflower or visiting a guest there, but would not go out of my way.

Summer Travel and the Joy of Traffic Jams

2009-08-31T14:40:00.000-04:00

Well, I said I would have pictures up while on my trip ... I lied! This wasn't intentional; we just forgot to bring the SmartCard to upload the pics. Whoops. Rest assured I'll have an entry up soon covering the drop-dead gorgeous Hilton Head.

But while we wait, let's talk about the inevitable joy of many long summer road trips ... Traffic Jams! As the drive to Hilton Head from D.C. is well over 400 miles of I-95, a few snafus here and there are to be expected. Unfortunately, as I rode with my aunt and boyfriend, we came across two nasty accidents. One snarled traffic so badly that we went 2 miles ... in 1.5 hours! This happened near Lumberton, North Carolina. I'd like to thank my sister and brother-in-law for waiting patiently for an hour at The Cracker Barrel for us, then turning around and going back there when they learned we were free of the misery and on our way for lunch! They played checkers and repeatedly changed our reservation as we lumbered along in Lumberton ... hehehe, I couldn't resist that bad pun.

Thankfully, traffic was much lighter after my aunt treated us to our wonderful hearty meal, and we only stopped again two more times, once to get gas in the refreshingly-named town Summerton, South Carolina, where a couple sold peaches at a fruit stand in the parking lot. The second time, we pulled into a Stuckey's farther along for Dairy Queen and a look at some trashy souvenirs. We also met a mother cat and her kittens, all gray and brown tabbies, who are apparently cared for and loved by the Stuckey's owner.

And ... 13.5 hours later, we made it! I think it's worth mentioning that the trip BACK to Northern VA took only 9 hours. What are your worst traffic jam tales? And what do you like to do to pass the time in a jam? (My aunt had fun watching rock videos on her new phone :) but I saw other people getting out of the cars and just walking a few miles for some much needed exercise!)

Hello from Hilton Head

2009-08-23T00:13:00.000-04:00

Greetings faithful readers! :) I'm writing from Hilton Head Island, where my family has rented a drop-dead gorgeous beach house.

We arrived at something like 7 PM today after an exhausting drive replete with strange happenings ... which, rest assured, you will hear all about later.

For now, I'm still somehow covered in chlorine, sand, and salt water despite a signature hour-long hot shower. Maybe that stuff just never really comes off when you're at the beach. Maybe this isn't a bad thing.

More tomorrow! Will post night beach pictures! (Stars at night over the total black of the ocean ... there is no comparison)

Journeys: Lake Martin, Alabama, August 2008

2009-08-17T16:49:00.000-04:00

When I took a trip out to Lake Martin with my family to visit my Uncle Cliff and Aunt Barbara at their beautiful lake house, I was expecting just a lazy summer vacation. I was definitely not expecting the fascinating history and sights that make up this 44 acre reservoir. Spanning three counties in the southeastern area of Alabama, the lake was created in the late 1920s by opening up a dam and washing over several small towns. It's today home to multiple small islands, many with distinctive histories and names.

Despite this, Lake Martin may perhaps be most famous for its recreational appeal. Pontoon boats go out into the water and dock (anywhere), with eager swimmers leaping overboard into the surprisingly warm, bathlike water. Uncle Cliff would drive his boat out a couple of times a day: once to find a good place to float around for a few hours with beers, rafts, and the family dog, and a second time to watch the sun go down behind the trees.

A typical August afternoon at Lake Martin

It was very peaceful in the surprisingly clear water (visibility about 10 feet down), except when my sister tried to grab my foot under the water or send a mini-tidal wave my way. (Sisters lose all sense of adulthood when they are together.) But our swims were often accompanied by a trip out to see some of the islands that are scattered in handfuls across the lake. With Uncle Cliff as our tour guide, we learned a good deal.

This is Chimney Rock Island, home of two popular jumping points: Chimney Rock and Acapulco Rock. The more popular rock is Acapulco (because it's higher), but it's often confused for Chimney Rock.

Sadly, many people have died or been injured by jumping off the rocks, including a teenaged boy who is now memorialized by a plaque on Acapulco Rock. My dad was apparently one of the (thankfully unharmed) jumpers back in 2006, but this time we wouldn't let him near it!

The rocks do have a friendlier history. Every 4th of July, hundreds of boats line up around Chimney Rock Island for partyin' and carryin' on.

Just in case you think your eyes are deceiving you, let me reassure you that yes, those are goats hanging out by the water! This colony of six goats lives on Goat Island, uninhabited by humans. Someone drops off hay for the critters, but they love seeing visitors, whom they openly solicit for carrots or, well, anything. We got close enough that they ran down to greet us, then made loud goat noises.

This is The Ridge Bridge, better known as the Bridge to Nowhere. Constructed to link two islands at the lake, and then seemingly abandoned, it just sits there ... no visible roads on either side, just plenty of trees! Supposedly, one day, homes will be built on one of the islands, and those residents will use this bridge. For now, it's just ... going nowhere.

Another island that we docked at often was Sand Island, a long stretch of sandy beach with a bit of sparse woods. Partygoers often dock here, leaving behind fire pits and various and sundry other items. The water surrounding the island is full of micah, so that it glitters gold in the sun.

One island we didn't get to see is Graveyard Island, so named because it's mostly a tiny graveyard left over from before the days of Lake Martin. It seemed to be too far for us to go out there and get back to the house in time to watch Michael Phelps collect more gold medals in the Olympic Games. I guess I'll have to make a trip back to check that out!

The little communities around Lake Martin are interesting themselves. They are full of "meat and twos" or "meat and threes." These are so named because you get a meat and two or three vegetables for one great low price. We ate at the Kountry Kitchen (or Kountry Kafe, depending on which sign you're looking at) and found the meal hearty and yummy, although my green beans were a bit too stringy, and an old farmer made a weird pass or two at me and my sister!

We also ate at Sinclair's, a nice restaurant with a deck overlooking the lake, which really shines when you watch the sun set on it. That kind of view combined with a beer or two is incredibly relaxing.

I'm looking forward to visiting my relatives at Lake Martin again some future summer. Having done my fair share of traveling in the United States, I can honestly say there are few places that provide this type of tranquility, combined with a strange sort of intrigue and curiosity.

Photo credits: Bridge to Nowhere photo by Martha V. Lynch; all others by Jim Lynch.

Adventures with Restaurants: Clyde's Willow Creek Farm

2009-08-17T16:12:00.000-04:00

Clyde's is well known for owning a series of fantastic restaurants in the DC Metro area. But I had never heard of this beautiful little place out in the Broadlands community of Ashburn, Virginia (part of Loudon County). According to Clyde's web site (www.Clydes.com), the idea came about when Clyde's owners decided to reassemble some dismantled antique wooden buildings on this spot near Dulles International Airport. I'm so glad they did. Comfy and cozy, the restaurant has the excellent service of fine dining and the romance of a family homestead.

A large group of old friends and myself assembled in a rented private room upstairs for a buddy's surprise party, organized by his wife. I felt supremely sorry for the waiter as he carried huge tray after huge tray up the stairs to us, but if he felt fatigued or irritated, he didn't show it for one second. I ordered the Jumbo Lump crabcake, which came with an assortment of fries, corn, and tomatoes. Since most crabcakes I get are usually huge, I decided on just the single rather than the double. I was surprised when the crabcake turned out to be rather small, although delighted it came without breading -- just big lumps of delicious crab. Next time I'll make sure to get a double order. The fries were so-so, but a liberal dousing of vinegar improved them greatly.

All in all, I was impressed with Willow Creek Farm. I'm eagerly awaiting a chance to get back and eat two crabcakes. (A friend challenged me to a crabcake eating contest, so we may have to get more than that ;) And yes, our buddy was pleasantly surprised by the party. Unfortunately, the evening ended with my having to go through two tolls (Dulles Greenway and Dulles Toll Road), when I was just expecting one! Not having enough change for the second, we had to just drive through with the sound of the violation bell screaming in our ears. (It's LOUD!) I called today to make the rest of the payment, and yes, they had recorded the violation! Maybe should I make myself more familiar with the Ashburn area (or get a better GPS). I suppose another trip out to Willow Creek would be the perfect way to do that!

Strange Delights: Mo's Bacon Bar by Vosges

2009-08-05T15:11:00.000-04:00

Bacon and chocolate. Bacon and chocolate?! I bet you never mixed some of that up at the breakfast table, did you? Not to worry, because Vosges fine chocolates are here to correct any previous misconceptions on your part that this wouldn't be a good idea. This incredibly smooth, thin, dark chocolate bar (also available in milk chocolate) is interspersed with delightful little pings of real, honest-to-goodness bacon throughout. No Bacon Bits here -- this is the real deal. I was surprised and delighted by how well the two tastes go together, and thankful I thought to pick up two bars (although one was supposed to be for Eric...oops). The chocolate melts right in your mouth, and the hint of bacon flavor is neither overpowering nor weak.

If you live here in Arlington, VA, you can find Vosges products at The Curious Grape in Shirlington. Or, order right from the maker at http://www.vosgeschocolate.com/. Check out their other yummy, unique flavors while you are there -- and their giant bacon-chocolate gift set, including a corresponding pancake mix I am dying to try!

Thanks for keeping life interesting, Vosges (and Mo)!

How Did I Forget...

2009-07-24T12:14:00.001-04:00

....to mention Bob and Edith's, that little hub of anytime good old fashioned eating?

Located in the 2000 block of Columbia Pike, the little square building, mounted on a concrete block, sits between gas stations and serves up everything from scrapple 'n' eggs to whole pies. Arlington has a nice set of tasty all-night diners, but stepping inside this one makes me feel like I've just been transported to a little sea port town, or a tiny, one-stop-sign area in the middle of Georgia. The food is served piping hot and super fast, but there's no innate sense of the hustle and bustle that defines the metropolitan Washington area. Open since 1969, the place embraces modernity - a flat-screen TV is mounted on one wall - while holding onto the past with its bright jukebox and faded pictures of celebrities and school kids hung crookedly on the wall. On a recent night there, my dining partner (Eric) and I devoured a Couples' Waffle Sundae in a booth next to a familiar man -- familiar because I swear he's been there every evening, eating his dinner at the counter, for the two years I've been in Arlington. Further down the aisle from us, a man moved over in his booth seat so his female companion could scoot next to him to watch Law & Order: SVU. It was a typical weeknight at the diner, but I knew that when the weekend came up, the joint would be packed full of loud young partygoers enjoying an early breakfast before heading home to sleep it off.

So come on in, and pore over the bright yellow laminated menu before making your selection. Whether you're coming here to relax at the end of a hard work day or crowded into the booths with six friends after a night out at the bars -- Bob and Edith's is happy to serve you.

Note for my fellow former Blacksburgians: If you're looking for Arlington's answer to Joe's Diner, here it is!

Food That Isn't Good For Your Heart, But Definitely Good for Your Taste Buds ...

2009-07-07T22:18:00.001-04:00

Food, glorious food! If you want something tasty this summer (and can stand to stop countin' calories for a day), just venture to the D.C. area for some classic eats! My recommendations for a ...

Nice, juicy burger: You won't find any better than Ray's Hell Burger at 1713 Wilson Boulevard in Arlington (Rosslyn neighborhood). I've only been here twice now (on the other side of town) but I'll gladly venture back again and again. I got the au poivre burger, a peppercorn-encrusted behemoth that dripped with tastiness all over my plate. Good thing Ray's provides plenty of paper towels! I got my burger with pepperjack cheese and some guacamole on the side, and a big tasty bottle of Moxie soda (which is pretty rare around here). You can pile your own burger with a wide variety of toppings or take one of Ray's suggestions on the flipside of the menu. Oh, and they have root beer on tap! Final verdict: Best burger I've ever had, bar none. (Now to try Ray's other restaurants: Ray's: The Steaks and Ray's: The Classics.)

Hot dog: Want it with chili? Head over to Ben's Chili Bowl on U Street - an area rich with African American history. This home of the famous half smoke has been in the business since 1958. It survived riots following the asassination of Martin Luther King, Jr. and sits on what was once known as "Black Broadway." (See http://www.benschilibowl.com/ for the full story and lots of great photos!) Now a landmark, we happened to visit on a day an independent documentary was being filmed. Our group was struggling to find a place to sit in the popular restaurant when a nice lady said, "Oh, honey, you can sit back here!" and showed us to a back room, which was reserved for the film crew that day (who took pictures of us eating)! My half smoke was smothered in generous amounts of delicious chili and I almost died and went to heaven devouring it.

The back room's walls were decorated with a beautiful painting of prominent African American figures, multiple photos of famous people who have visited the place (Bill Cosby was an avid Bowl-goer), and an amazing portrait that Eric said was made entirely out of wire. (I couldn't see that well across the room.) Visit this place for the yummy, perfectly cooked food ... and the bustling, friendly neighborhood atmosphere!

Pizza and beer: The Lost Dog Cafe serves up meals for a cause: The owners are directly involved in the rescue of hundreds of dogs and cats, and restaurant proceeds help out The Lost Dog and Cat Foundation (http://www.lostdogrescue.com/). I visited the brand new location on Columbia Pike and found a HUGE menu with 52 different speciality sandwiches (and plenty of "build-your-own" options), and at least 31 gourmet pizza options, not to mention a wide variety of appetizers, soups, salads, pasta, and desserts. The Crabmeat pizza comes with slabs of yummy crustacean across the top, while the Burro Pie equals homemade pico de gallo and black been dip with cheeses right on the crust. Speaking of crust, it's so good you might want to munch on that alone for a snack -- soft and doughy. And then there's the beer menu ... it's a brew-lover's dream with scores and scores of imported and domestic (including many IPA) beers, plus several wines and non-alcoholic options. Try the Clemson Tiger Tea to wash down your food -- it's a mixture of lemonade and iced tea.

The restaurant itself is clean and well-lit, with a friendly, down-home feel, a wall of beer bottles behind the bar, and a slew of framed rescued (or waiting-to-be-adopted) doggie pics. If you live closer to Washington Boulevard, there's another location there. Also on Washington Boulevard: sister eatery and animal helper The Stray Cat Cafe, which features many Meditteranean options as well as another giant menu full of sandwiches, burgers and platters galore. (Haven't been there yet, but rest assured I will soon :) For more information, visit http://www.lostdogcafe.com/ or http://www.thestraycatcafe.com/.

Bolivian, anyone?: Have you ever had a saltena? If not, get thee to My Bakery & Cafe. My coworkers introduced me to the joy of Bolivian food here, and I have been back several times. With a few locations in Alexandria, Falls Church, and Manassas, you can find one somewhere near you in the Washington D.C. outskirts.

So, what is a saltena? It's a round pastry with beef, chicken, and veggie stew inside. Warm and hearty, even just one is great for a satisfying meal, especially on a chilly, rainy day. You will get a side of green spicy sauce to dole onto your saltena. It's delicious, but beware -- it will also set your mouth on fire!

Aside from that, there are many other delicious options, many of which come with yuca (like french fries, only thicker and chewier), fried plantains, and egg. It's all quite yummy, but the food is heavy and the portions are generous, so be prepared to bring some home for dinner! (Please don't waste this good food!) My Bakery also has a wide variety of yummy-sounding cakes for all kinds of occasions, including Tres Leches (Three Milks) in a cup!

A gathering in your own backyard: My advice is this: Get a bushel of crabs, sprinkle liberally with Old Bay seasoning, and pass around the Honey Moon (Blue Moon's summer seasonal brew!). Ahhhhh...now that's heaven!

Horrible Hotels!

2009-06-27T13:47:00.000-04:00

My latest poll is now closed, and it seems the overwhelming "worst part of travel" is gross hotel rooms! Thankfully, I've rarely come across a truly horrible hotel, but I do have all kinds of quirky lodging stories - some nastier than others. I'll avoid naming names since some of these are just minor, onetime complaints!

Not What It's Cracked Up to Be ...

There was the nice, rustic-looking Radford (Virginia) lodge, in a bucolic setting, that turned out to be poorly lit and somewhat dirty on the inside. The real killer for me was the low showerhead, which forced me to do all kinds of uncomfortable stooping and bending. When the water suddenly went freezing cold out of nowhere, I thought it was time to demand a refund! (My father, who laughed uproariously as I angrily rinsed shampoo out of my hair in the sink, apparently thought differently - he booked another stay there later!)

Then there was the high-rise Manhattan hotel (is there any other kind?) that promised a luxurious two-bedroom suite at a bargain price. We should have understood that "bargain" is a bad word in NYC. After walking through the dingy, darkly lit hallways to find our "suite," we entered two cramped bedrooms joined by a tiny, slimy, slightly hairy bathroom. My bedroom doubled as the living room, with a twin bed covered in rough sheets and pillowcases. My parents' double bed took up most of the space in their room and was jammed against the door to the outside. They also had the privilege of having the sink in their room, since there definitely wasn't enough room for it in the bathroom.

What about when it's not the room that is a problem? Staying at a large resort and casino in Atlantic City, my friends and I went in search of a good pool to swim in. The rooftop pool we'd heard so much about was drained and closed off. The courtyard pool had dirt and feathers floating in it, and the pavement under one chaise lounge displayed a pile of orange vomit. My best friend and I hopped in anyway, joking about catching a disease. We stopped laughing when a HAZ-MAT team showed up and began spraying down the deck. We wound up going to the luxurious rooftop pool and hot tub complex at the resort next door!

When It's Good for a Laugh ...

The Embassy Suites (a chain I always highly recommend, although it's rather pricey!) in Raleigh gave my coworker, Donald, and I a good laugh when we stayed there last June. After flying in from New Orleans, we were exhausted and went straight to our neighboring suites to unpack, then dashed downstairs to enjoy the free dinner and happy hour. Heading upstairs, we were both ready to sleep off the jet lag (or, in my case, ready to do work all night on my laptop). Not too seconds after I'd shut my suite door, Donald banged on it. "Come over here," he hollered from the hall. I ran out and he pointed into his open suite. "Can you tell me what's wrong with this picture?" he asked. I peered in and saw the TV, which he'd just channel-surfed on not 45 minutes before, was missing! He called the front desk to report it -- it turned out maintenance had taken it and was getting ready to come back with a new one, but they'd failed to leave a note. We had a great laugh about that one!

The One That Takes the Cake ...

But, by far, the worst hotel story I have is about the Holiday Inn Express in Hillsborough, North Carolina. I'm going to go ahead and put a name to this one because it was that bad. We wound up complaining to both the HIE president and to AAA.

We stayed there on the way back from Lake Martin, Alabama, where we enjoyed a one week vacation with my aunt and uncle at their summer home. We had three rooms, and as soon as we walked in we noticed the walls were banged up and dented, and that the corners were all dirty. My sister and brother-in-law's room stank of mildew and had ladybugs, my father's room wouldn't lock properly, and the bathroom door in my room (shared with my aunt) wouldn't shut at all unless we shoved a trashcan in front of it. We were both a little irritated also that the notepads in the room had been used, with coffee cup rings on them, and that only one of our rooms had a microwave when it was specifically stated that all rooms did. But, no matter, we figured we'd go off to the pool and get a swim and forget about it ... except the pool was worse. Our first clues were the large ant colony living amid old pieces of food, and the cracked, dirty pool furniture. Our second clues were the pieces of dirt, debris, and feathers floating on the water, and the paint peeling off the bottom! My sister and I, seasoned swimmers who have entered all kinds of water (remember the gross Atlantic City pool?), hopped in, but had to leave when night approached since the lights around the pool were all burned out. Unfortunately, we found the pool's towel supply was also completely depleted and we had no way to dry off.

Dripping wet, we dropped by the exercise room so my dad could get a good look. We found a small room with three machines wedged in -- and a paper requiring guests to sign over all responsibility for the machines' condition. I've never seen this anywhere. What if the machine breaks through no fault of your own? Are you then responsible for paying to replace a crappy treadmill? We went back upstairs to enjoy watching TV and lounging around -- and to wrestle with two of the toilets. My dad's didn't really flush at all, but when he complained, he was told it couldn't be fixed! My brother-in-law's got clogged. When he complained, he was handed a plunger and told to go fix it himself and then leave the dirty plunger out in the hall!

All of this was bad, but the real killer came at 3 AM. The phone rang loudly in our room, and my aunt picked it up to find a wake-up call that we of course didn't request. Two hours later, it went off again -- with yet another wake-up call! My aunt stormed downstairs and was told someone had failed to de-program previous guests' wake-up call requests. It appears someone also failed to remove previous' guests dirt and hire appropriate maintenance!

The Bottom Line ...

The best you can hope for is to do your research -- and hope what you find is correct. Trip Advisor (tripadvisor.com) is always a good place to read "real people" ratings and reviews. The AAA guidebook is generally trustworthy, but not always -- we chose the Hillsborough hotel because they had given it three diamonds!

What are some of your "Worst Stay Ever!" stories? Please share so we can all feel revolted :)

Upcoming Adventures

2009-06-12T13:18:00.000-04:00

Here are the upcoming adventures I have planned. If you have any information about any of these, please be sure to leave a comment and let me know your tips, ideas, and suggestions!

Week of August 22nd - A week at Hilton Head with my fantastic family! In 1997, I saw the area very briefly during an overnight stay with a host family there, while on a musical tour, but did not really do anything there other than walk around some restaurants/boardwalkish harbor area, and get ice cream.

November 5-13, 2009 - Eric (the boyfriend) and I are flying to Amsterdam to visit our old friend (and my old roommate of 2 years) Leigh, who lives nearby with her fiance! We'll meet all their great Dutch friends and hopefully travel by train or car to Belgium and/or Germany for some chocolate, waffles, sausages and beer! We also hope to see Crystal and her new husband there for a couple of days as well, as our trips will overlap slightly. (I could not book the exact same dates they did because of the Washington DC Heartwalk, which I'm participating in the day after I get back!) Holland is a beautiful, peaceful place from what I remember, and I am excited to see more of it.

(I previously went to Amsterdam for several days with Leigh, Crystal, and our friends Beth and Kasey in March 2006, with a 3-day trip to Paris in the middle. It was wonderful and was the first overseas trip I'd ever taken with friends.)

December 2009 - Perhaps a brief visit to Corpus Christi, Texas, to visit Eric's family around Christmastime. This really depends on how much leave I have at the time.

June 2010 - A weekend visit to Bellevue, Nebraska (a suburb of Omaha) to walk in the graduation ceremony at Bellevue University, from which I'll receive my Master of Science in Management. I hear the hotels there are few and far between, but fill up quickly as it's a schoolwide ceremony, so I really need to book soon! Any suggestions on where to book in the area? I've never been to Nebraska in my life, so this is a new state for me!

Late Summer/Early Fall 2010 (tentative) - This will be my first official vacation with Eric, even though we've been together for 8 years! We are very excited. Livingstone Island/Victoria Falls in Zambia, and Chobe Park in Botswana. I say "tentative" because it's a bit expensive. We have been conversing with the staff at the Waterberry Lodge regarding excursions in the area, and I've asked them about rates, so we'll see what they say. A cheaper option might be to stay at the Sun City resort in Johannesburg, South Africa, and then fly into Livingstone Island -- but the resort is your typical giant family type that you can get anywhere. I'd rather wait another year or two to get the "real deal" if I have to than go the cheaper route and not get everything out of it.

Sometime in 2010 - Puerto Rico with Eric.

2011 - Would like to visit Cairo, Egypt on a Nile Cruise with E.

Scenes from the Homelands!

2009-05-19T14:41:00.001-04:00

From late May ... (I'm a bit behind on the updating)!

I am back! I am nearly over a bout of suspected influenza A H1N1 (okay, SWINE FLU!), the countenance of which I'd compare to an uninvited houseguest who shows up out of nowhere and proceeds to essentially wreck your whole state-of-being, while taking its sweet time to just get back out the door, already. And I am still tired and trying to learn to eat again, but I am ready to write!

It looks like our poll results favor last August's Lake Martin, Alabama, trip, which is still quite

fresh in my mind :) After that, I'll head to the next popular result (unless I take a trip in the meantime). To tide you over until my next chronicle, here are some photographs from my last topic -- lovely King George County, Virginia!

What you'll see as you drive down Route 3 to get to King George ... green, green, and more green. And, I really need to turn off that annoying datestamp on my camera.

We met this green garden snake on the Dahlgren Railroad Heritage Trail, which is a nearly 16 mile trail following the path of the original Dahlgren Branch railroad line.

He was not particularly agreeable to being a model and took off in this bush to sun himself.

Of course, that didn't stop my sister and me from petting him anyway. We're COUNTRY, y'all! Ha ha ha. My sister is probably going to kill me for making such an assertion about her :) But I didn't realize how country we really were until I moved to the city. Where else can you get a gorgeous view, like this one?

Walk just a little farther, and you can complete the picture with a farmhouse in the distance. I wish I could just run straight through the fields and up the hill, a la Laura Ingalls in On the Banks of Plum Creek.

My sister and brother-in-law walking up the trail ahead of me.

Back Home in the Country

2009-05-11T13:11:00.001-04:00

They say, Write what you know ... Ah, the all-knowing "they." For 18 years, what I knew was a bucolic county known as King George, just across the Potomac River from Charles County, Maryland. Have you heard of it? No? Well, neither has most anyone I've met out here. I usually just describe it as "30 minutes away from the heart of Fredericksburg." To my college friends at Virginia Tech, I always said, "Northern Virginia" to avoid any confusion, knowing full well that this town does not qualify as part of that sprawling suburban mecca.

I lived in the same house my entire life ... a four-bedroom, two-story dwelling on five acres of mostly wooded land. Our yard's soil was much too acidic to grow anything but weeds and moss, but my mother's wondrous green thumb easily coaxed a fairyland of plants and flowers out of the mulch and grass seed that my father would put down for her. My older sister and I spent hours running around in that fairyland, following the stream that wound through the back of our property into new territories (meaning other people's backyards!). We loved exploring, whether it was our hometown or the numerous places we visited on our family vacations, which we took a few times a year.

A little less than a mile back from the main road we lived off of, we slept at night with almost complete silence and near total darkness. Peering from the windows of my bedroom, I could see the little garden lights glowing eerily way out in the darkness, occasionally shadowed by a herd of deer prowling through my mother's gardens. In the summer, the sound of locusts, bullfrogs, and owls was almost deafening, but it lulled me to sleep somehow.

Needless to say, my current town of Arlington, Virginia is not this bucolic piece of paradise. The smallest self-governing county in the United States, Arlington is noise and light. Arlington is fun and food and friends, but it's also people crossing the street outside of the crosswalk, right in front of my car. It's inching up a two lane road, taking 20 minutes to make a 5 minute drive to the office. I live right next to a main county thoroughfare, and the sound of car alarms, lumbering garbage trucks, and announcements from the military base next door pierce my slumber. Even with the blinds down in my bedroom, light falls across my face. I often can't sleep without a sleep mask on. But when I glance off my balcony, I see a rose garden, tennis courts, a giant swimming pool, and families out walking from my window to one side, and the towering monuments of Washington, D.C., on the other. There is something that relaxes me about those sights, even as sirens blare on the street behind me. It's wonderful, but a different kind of wonderful that doesn't always agree with my Circadian rhythms.

My Circadian rhythms love returning to my parents' house. Heading down Route 3 from Fredericksburg toward King George, I see now how all the sprawling farmland and open, empty skies looks like true country to a real Northern Virginian. It's beautiful. At night, fog rolls across the grassy plains like it's trying to follow your car home. My mother's plant and wildlife friends (and showers of falling dogwood petals) still greet me when I pull up our very steep driveway into the front yard. High school friends used to refuse to pull all the way up the drive when dropping me off after nights out, for fear they'd go into a ditch upon backing out.

My room at home is like a portal to pasts I left behind long ago. Step in one direction and you'll see my high school diploma, swimming ribbons and plaques, and a pom-pom on the wall. Turn the other way and boxes stuffed full of useless dorm room leftovers wait to be thrown in the garbage. (What was I doing bringing an old mildewed sponge home, anyway?) Stacks of magazines read and tossed aside from years before tell stories about bands that are now broken up. The top of my chest of drawers displays a few obituaries for young acquaintances who passed before their time. In one of my closets hangs a succession of homecoming, prom, college formal, and bridesmaids dresses. A bookcase displays stuffed animals from old boyfriends - and, quite funnily, picture frames of same boyfriends, turned facedown!

How can I describe King George to a person who hasn't lived here, in a way that makes them actually want to visit? Surely depictions of my coming-of-age memoriabilia isn't going to entice someone to stay in the one decent hotel in town. Well, as you can already tell, it's not a place to go on vacation or even tour for the heck of it. It's true that there isn't much to do. It's a place to go if you want to sit in complete, dead silence and actually hear yourself think, if you want to go into a local store and strike up a friendly conversation with the person behind the counter. It's a place with a one-screen movie theater on the neighboring naval base, which rarely shows first-run movies, but does have a rousing opening reel of the national anthem as sung by Whitney Houston circa 1987. It's a place that is trying to develop McMansions as fast as it can over some of the farmland I used to ride through after dinner with my family. Yes, it's still a place where families take after-dinner rides - or walks. It's a place where I know I'll run into someone (if not several someones) I know every time I step into one of the Food Lions. It's a place where people rejoiced when we finally got a Sheetz and literally took rides out there just to watch it being built. It's a place where the Edgehill Exxon used to pump your gas for you and check your oil while you sat in your car. They knew your name, and they greeted you like family every time you pulled up. It's a place where you can stop in Dutch's Mart and enjoy some casual banter with the cashier for a few minutes as you lazily pay for your gas and pick up some snacks. It's the home of Caledon Natural Area, where trails wind through the woods and to the river beach, and you can sit and watch bald eagles fly right over your head, if you're lucky. No one seems in a hurry here. There's no reason to be in a hurry. Time almost feels like it will wait for you.

It's the opposite of loud and fast and exciting. It spelled almost stifling boredom to me, at times, as a teenager and later as a young adult returning home from college. Why, we had to drive 30 minutes just to do any real shopping. The drive itself never bothered us so much; we enjoyed the ride "into town" with summer breezes whipping through the window. It was just the "What do you wanna do?" "I don't know; what do you wanna do?" "Let's drive to town." And it's my King George upbringing that made Blacksburg, Virginia (another small town that would be nothing were it not for Virginia Tech) look huge to me as a college freshman. It also looked like some kind of promised land, letting me grow into a different person and find the real me, outside of cow pastures and long stretches of empty nothing (although Blacksburg has those too!). I was glad to leave King George behind.

But when I stand in my old bedroom at home now and look out over those gardens, and into those woods, I realize I never left King George behind. It's true not just in the sense that KG people have a tendency to stick together and track each other down, stay in touch, find out what we're all up to -- who's getting married, having a baby, trying a new job, going back to school, living overseas. When I go home, people still recognize me as my parents' younger daughter in the middle of the store aisle. But King George is part of me now as much as it was for 18 years. An appreciation for long drives and big sky and empty stretches of grass, and daydreaming and wandering and exploring, unafraid of a snake or a lizard or a bug, trying to find what's really at the end of the stream -- that is me. I am King George wandering through the pseudo-cityscape of Arlington and all the little pieces of the world that I can reach. And I feel something strange when I think about it that way. It is gratitude.

Who Am I? And Where Is My Map?

2009-04-12T14:22:00.001-04:00

Hello, and welcome to my fledgling little blog!

I'm 27 years old, and I live right next to Washington, D.C., where I'm pursuing a career in defense contracting. Some might say that makes me your typical 20-something yuppie, and to tell you the truth, I'm a little afraid that I might become one. I'm passionate about what I do for a living, and I think I do a great job, but I'm neither traveling nor writing as much as I used to. I wonder what I have lost through this neglect of two of my true loves.

Two years ago, everything was entirely different. I was unemployed, fresh out of college at Virginia Tech (after lingering there for far too long), and slowly draining away my savings as I applied for random job after random job. I was living with my much-too-patient boyfriend, Eric, a Puerto Rican born and raised in The Bronx, who is quite possibly the most gentle and understanding soul you will ever meet. I was 25, but I felt like a child. While my loads of friends had moved on to nice jobs, or marriages, or just some set straight path, I was languishing, doing nothing but trying to find some kind of purpose. I'd always wanted to be a travel writer, but I also felt that I needed to try to make a real life for myself.

In short, I wanted to be a responsible young adult.

The word "responsible" had been alien to me. Although quite studious as a child, spending long hours reading books at home, I have a mischievous streak a mile long. Daydreamy and a bit of a space cadet, but with a long-term memory like an elephant, it's easier for me to remember things I did at just a few months old (and in great detail) than it is to get a bill paid on time! And there's a big part of me that's restless, dissatisfied, immensely devoid of patience. I'm not happy staying in one place for too long. Oh, I'm not talking about moving -- I'm talking about traveling, learning, seeing, doing -- not just staying the same old and seeing the same old for so long.

So it's no surprise that one of my greatest loves (besides Eric) is travel. When I'm in an airplane, no one on the Earth can reach me. When I'm someplace where nobody knows me, I can explore and be someone different, learn from people who see the world entirely differently, eat foods that can't be found where I live. Until August 2007, I had lived in small towns my entire life, and I was used to the friendliness and ease of living (relatively speaking) that comes with that. But when I finally landed a job in the big city, this little girl finally grew up -- all the way up. I have the jobs I've held to thank for that, but I also have travel to thank. I have been many places since I was a little baby, and while I can't travel as much these days, I am thankful for every wonderful new experience, place, person, or idea that I come across.

I'm a pretty strong individual. I have learned to navigate hairpin turns with relatively clear, fast, and smart thinking. I am not afraid of what is coming next, but I like to tell myself it is good. If I live in fear, I can't really go anywhere or do anything meaningful. And I realized the other day that I love the person I have become! I am that responsible young woman -- but I've never lost my sense of fun and adventure, my desire to push it a little harder to see what happens, my refusal to give up even when things seem as bleak as they can get -- because they never are!

So, where is my map? Well, I am always traveling -- every day is a new journey and a new adventure. You see plaques with sayings like that on the wall all the time -- but it's true. I am not going anywhere in particular -- even when I'm on a plane across the ocean -- but I am always traveling, even without a map telling me what's ahead.

This blog will talk about past and current travel experiences I have had, and those I hope to have. It will serve as the travel writing I should have been doing for many years, what I have always wanted to do. It will be a journey that I hope you will enjoy taking with me! I welcome your comments, suggestions, and questions.