Fourth of July on the Potomac

We spent most of the 4th of July out on the Northern Neck, at the annual party of friends who own a home on Lower Machodoc Creek, off of the Potomac River. The drive out there is about 90 minutes for us, but it’s a quiet, peaceful ride through an area we rarely otherwise see. We caught up with old friends, relaxed by the water’s edge, and enjoyed plenty of good food and drink.



Their house sits on a very narrow spit of land that juts into the water, with no more than about 50 feet of land on either side of the road.



Here are a few photos from the neighborhood:







We came across quite a few osprey nests:



Here's something that was new to me: potato guns. These boys were shooting potatoes across the water, aiming for the ramshackle boathouse across the way (no boats, people, wildlife, or ramshackle boathouses were harmed in the firing of the potato guns).



Here's the ridiculous Hummer limo we encountered at a gas station on the way. I have no idea how this thing actually manages to pull up to a pump:



We made it back into town to catch about half of the Bluemont concert, featuring Scott Ainslie, an excellent blues guitarist and musicologist whose concert is like a workshop in the history of the blues.



As always, we watched the fireworks from Old Mill Park (not realizing that this was apparently an unauthorized fireworks-viewing venue this year), and then stopped at Carl's on the way home, where we ran into some old friends that we hadn't seen in way too long, making it a perfect ending to the day.

Back to Topsail

I spent most of last week at my 4-day girlfriends’ getaway to North Topsail Beach, where the weather was hot and sunny, the water was especially warm, and the beach was uncrowded. Every year that we go, we get better and better at planning and packing so we can maximize beach time and minimize hassle. We bought fresh local seafood every day for dinner—this year, we had pesto shrimp, soft shell crabs, broiled scallops, and jalapeno crabcakes. Most of our time was spent at the beach or on the deck, chatting, reading, snacking, and enjoying an ever-expanding repertoire of beachy cocktails. With the occasional nap thrown in for good measure, and a chick flick for the one night we had some thunderstorms. Other than a couple of trips to pick up provisions, we were happy not to leave our little seaside neighborhood.

A quiet morning by the water's edge:


The view from the deck:


Jalapeno crabcake dinner:


Beach still life:

Wegman's Grand Opening

You know you live in a small town when a supermarket grand opening is a very big deal. Although I think Wegman’s is more than a supermarket...it seems like more of a culinary amusement park to me. Yes, there are the usual groceries, but the big attraction seems to be all of the prepared foods, gourmet specialties, extensive bakery, well-staffed cheese department, upscale meats & seafood, plus the eat-in options: the market cafe, seafood bar, Asian bar, pizza, subs, sushi, etc., etc., etc. We got there around noon on opening day, parked in one of the parking lots of an adjacent hotel, and then made our way through the hordes to see what we could see. It was elbow-to-elbow people, really too crowded to give it a fair assessment. I have to say, the deli, bakery, meats & seafood sections looked very impressive. The prices seemed reasonable, and the staff-to-customer ratio on opening day was high. The free samples were flowing, and we nabbed as many as we could find. Jim Canty & Friends were playing in the wine section (they are scheduled for the library steps tonight), where you could sample mimosas. We checked out all of the sections, bought some fresh breads and tasty cheeses (ah, yes, a cheese department where I could get recommendations and sample cheese before buying is the one thing I’ve been waiting for), picked up our free recyclable shopping bag, and headed home.

I definitely get what the buzz was all about. Wegman’s has everything I can imagine needing in a supermarket and then some. But on the other hand, I’m not sure this is where I will choose to do my weekly shopping. I think the good old Giant, five minutes from home, will still be my go-to store. Sure, sometimes the World’s Fair of Food is what you’re looking for, but sometimes, you just want your shopping trip to be a quick and easy in and out, and that probably won’t be Wegman’s for me...at least not until the novelty wears off and the crowds die down. And here’s something that really bugged me: they wouldn’t let me take photos. Honestly, when I went to take a photo of the guy working the seafood bar, he got quite irate and told me photos were forbidden in the store (corroborated by other employees I asked), despite the fact I told him it was just for my blog. Were they afraid I was a corporate spy? Or do they just want to be able to control precisely how their store is viewed, to keep anyone from showing any imperfections?

I still need to give the Wegman’s shopping experience a thorough try-out, and that just wasn’t possible on opening day. But it sure does look nice.

This is the bread and cheese we bought for a Father's Day treat:

The New Adventures of Old Eileen's

Eileen’s has been open for business in their new location since May, and I’ve been a couple of times. They’ve made some updates to the circa 1833 church building since the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship vacated this past winter, but nothing very drastic. They’ve put in a new floor, painted the walls, updated the air conditioning, changed out light fixtures, and rearranged the layout of the area behind the sanctuary. But when I go there, it still feels like my old church home, which is very comforting. I went to Sunday services at that building for almost 20 years, and now there’s nothing better than meeting a UU friend there for lunch and marveling at how great the old place looks.



When I stopped for lunch last Thursday at noon, the place was doing a brisk business. After we finished eating, my friend and I moved to the comfy couch section (right about where the minister used to stand) where we lingered just long enough to avoid parking tickets. I suspect Eileen’s will continue to be one of my favorite gathering places for a long time. I wish them all the best in their new-to-them, old-to-me location.

The Beaux' Stratagem

Last night, we set up our ever-present folding chairs on the lawn at Kenmore to enjoy the Fredericksburg Players’ performance of The Beaux’ Stratagem, a Restoration comedy from the early 1700’s. The evening was a sort of play within a play. For the price of admission ($10), you’re invited into Kenmore, where colonial Fredericksburgers of the day prepare to attend the performance, and engage in banter about the play and tell stories about local characters. Then the costumed interpreters join you on the lawn as the play begins.

Between the conversations of the colonials, and director Fred Franklin’s funny and informative introduction, I learned about the troupes of actors who would travel from town to town to entertain the locals, as well as about mores of the day. The play itself was a silly romp, risque for its time, I’m sure, with a few modern touches just for laughs. We saw this group of actors recently in Macbeth, and I highly recommend any of their productions. They do an excellent job, and we enjoyed the light-hearted evening.

The play continues tonight and next weekend on Saturday and Sunday, June 14, 20, & 21 at 7 p.m. Bring a lawn chair or blanket, and have a picnic supper on the lawn. Don’t forget to come early enough to tour the mansion before the show, from 5:30 to 6:15. The play is recommended for adults and older children.



This trio of well-bred ladies discuss the scandalous nature of divorce. I hadn't been inside Kenmore since the most recent renovations, so it was interesting to have a look at the rooms. There was no formal tour, so I'll have to go back sometime, most likely when I have visitors.



A group of colonials, including tavern owner Capt. George Weedon, discuss the upcoming play.



Throughout the tour, we encountered a number of "George Washington's Young Friends," a group of colonial interpreters, all under 18, who often appear at local historical events.



The company takes their final bow.

Hunting Run Park

We made our first visit to the park at Hunting Run Reservoir off of Ely’s Ford Road last week on a rare sunny day. I remember many years ago when some of the families who lived in that area were forced out of their homes to make way for the reservoir. It seems like it took a whole lot of years for the work to be completed. We visit Motts Run Reservoir pretty often, and have been to Ni River Reservoir a few times, too, so I was interested to see what this park had to offer. Right now, there is a fishing dock, a boat ramp and a few unshaded picnic tables. The lake is scenic and serene, perfect for fishing or canoeing or kayaking. I don’t own a canoe or kayak, and I’m not much for fishing. Here’s the thing about fishing: you need to be patient and quiet, and I’m neither. So I don’t imagine I’ll be spending much time at this park. But if you like fishing, the reservoir is 420 acres and is stocked with largemouth bass. Read more about it here.





Here's a view of the Hunting Run Dam from Spotswood Furnace Road. It's approximately 2,400 feet long and 90 feet high, in case you're interested in that sort of thing.

Virginia Renaissance Faire

Today we took our annual outing to the Ren Faire on the grounds of the Lake Anna Winery to enjoy (at long last!) a beautiful day in the sun. The Faire seemed bigger than ever this year, with a really good turnout this afternoon. As always, there were several stages with entertainment going on continuously throughout the day: musicians, singers, storytellers, actors, acrobats and magicians. There were demonstrations of practical arts of the period, games and activities for the kids, and vendors selling food and trinkets, plus jousting, archery, and greyhound races. There's plenty of audience participation, with the stage acts as well as with all of the costumed characters, from peasants and revelers to nobility and the Queen herself, who roam the fairgrounds and interact with the visitors. To really get into the experience, it helps to have a touch of the theatrical in you so that you can play along, as do many of the Faire’s regular visitors who come in costume.



The queen appreciates a respectful bow from faire-goers as she roams the grounds with her entourage.



The jousting arena was one of the most popular attractions, where knights on horseback tested their agility and accuracy with the lance.



Mad Maggie jumps through hoops to entertain the crowd.



Her Majesty's herald strikes a pose.



Our old friend Randy Stubbs told us about his life sailing around the world with Sir Francis Drake, and gave us some souvenir treasures from the sea.



And of course, my favorite spot, the tavern, where we hoisted a brew or two (several fine beers on tap) and enjoyed some rousing songs and stories.

The Faire is open next Saturday and Sunday from 10-5. Admission is $7.

Crazy Weather

I’ve heard of the proverbial golfball-sized hail, but I can’t remember ever seeing it up close until tonight. I always assumed it was a bit of an exaggeration. Turns out, not really. It’s been storming for two days now, and this evening, I grabbed a few of these hailstones from the yard, just for the record, and one of them is definitely golfball-sized. I’d call the others walnut-sized. Needless to say, my nearly-new-but-ungaraged car took some hits. My poor car has little indentations all over it, first from acorns in the fall, and now hail. They're not that noticeable unless I point them out, but still. As my mother says, “Too much nature.”

Tuesday in the Park with Lunch

Before today, I’d never been to the Lunchtime at Hurkamp Park concert series, since it is held from 11:30-1:30 on Tuesdays, right in the middle of the workday. But as of yesterday, I am officially retired. So now I get to discover all of the middle-of-the-weekday events that I’ve been missing (if you know of any others, let me know). I was expecting the crowd to be mainly retirees, but it turned out to be more the mommy crowd, with more strollers and toddlers than I’ve seen in one place in Fredericksburg in a long time. There were plenty of folding chairs set up, and some tables with umbrellas to add a little extra shade to the very sunny (and today, hot) park, but most people sat in the shade of the big trees scattered throughout the park.



Local musician Wil Gravatt was the performer today, with his steel guitarist Jimbo Byram. How have I lived in this town for so long without having heard Wil Gravatt? Heard of, yes...heard, no. We really enjoyed his traditional country and western sound, with a honky-tonk flavor. I’ll definitely be paying more attention the next time I see his name on the schedule somewhere.



There were food vendors, in case you wanted to buy your lunch, plus a few mostly kid-friendly booths, like face painting. Despite the heat, the kids seemed to be happy just running, playing and dancing.



The Lunchtime in the Park series runs during May, June and September. We're planning to go as often as we can.

And speaking of local concert series, Music on the Library Steps started last night with a favorite of mine, the Sensations, a 10-man group who do R&B, soul & Motown classics, with a solid horn section and a great vocalist. Up next Monday: the Dixie Power Trio.

Miller Farms Market

It’s strawberry season in Virginia, and I can’t get enough. My home-for-the-summer son suggested we pick our own, so I hunted on the web for pick-your-own farms in our area, and found Miller Farms Market, a new one to me. The place had been a dairy farm for decades, and only started offering fresh produce a few years ago. This farm appealed to me because they are a small operation, convenient to home, and in a direction that doesn’t require me to drive through town. And they don't charge an admission fee, something you may find at bigger farms with lots of "attractions." So we went out on a weekday afternoon last week and quickly picked about 11 pounds of berries, despite having to pass up many ripe, but water-softened, berries. All this rain makes for a big berry, but it takes a lot of sunshine to make them really sweet, something that's been sorely lacking around here lately. Nonetheless, fresh picked local strawberries beat anything else you can find, and these were well worth the effort.

From Fredericksburg, go out Route 3 West and turn left on Route 621 (across from Wilderness Baptist Church). Go 5 miles to the farm on the right. It's just a few miles past Fawn Lake.



Besides strawberries, the farm offers freshly picked produce, seasonal plants, free range chickens and eggs, and a wide variety of other food items from the region.









In the little shop, you can get jams and jellies, peanuts, honey, maple syrup, coffee beans, and other food and gift items.



Don't forget the rabbit food.



A highlight was the strawberry "shake" we sampled, made from Miller's own milk and strawberries, that was more ice cream than shake (I dare you to suck that up through a straw).



For the most part, I prefer my berries just sliced and eaten, with a little sugar if necessary. I certainly don't advocate smushing freshly picked berries into drinks. But my son had a hankering to make his own strawberry lemonade, and I do support any and all efforts of my children to make me delicious treats, especially if they buy their own lemons, do their own squeezing, and clean up after themselves.

Memorial Day in NYC

On the way home from upstate NY, we stopped for a one-day stay in New York City, where we took in some of the sights with our daughter, who lives in Brooklyn. We started with a walk across the Brooklyn Bridge (above: the view from the bridge), and landed in Foley Square in lower Manhattan, where the StoryCorps booth is located. StoryCorps is an oral history project which records interviews with everyday people (excerpts of which can be heard on NPR, and here). My daughter is a facilitator for StoryCorps, so we took a little tour of the booth.



Next stop was Chinatown, where we stopped for a snack of steamed pork bun and dumplings.



From Chinatown (and following a stop at the awesome Economy Candy), we headed to Central Park, where we spent most of the afternoon. On this beautiful, sunny Memorial Day, Central Park was like an enchanted playground, with something going on around every corner. Our first stop was a rest on the rocks by this lake (one of several in the park) to watch the rowboats.



The park was buzzing with activity: picnickers and sunbathers, horsedrawn carriages and pedicabs, sand volleyball and cricket games, dancers and acrobats. Here's "The Jazz Collective" at play, just one of the many musical performances going on throughout the park.



A guy on some kind of crazy bike:



A bride and groom pose for photographs:



The Bethesda Fountain, topped by the Angel of the Waters, is one of the many statues in the park. This fountain appears in a number of movies, such as Angels in America.



On the plaza above the fountain...hula hoops!



The much-photographed entryway to the Strawberry Fields section of the park, in memory of John Lennon:



This was my favorite performer of the day. A lovely young woman, dressed as a fairy, standing perfectly still and holding a rose. If you put a donation in her box, she came to life, reached inside her rose for her fairy dust, and sprinkled sparkles into your outstretched hand (click for the close-up). I was utterly charmed.



For dinner, we headed back to Brooklyn, where we ate at the Fette Sau, a great barbecue place in Williamsburg. Wyatt Cenac of the Daily Show was eating there, too, but of course, no one acknowledged his presence, because New Yorkers are way too cool for that.



And finally, a couple of random Brooklyn shots. Don't ask me to explain.

Wedding Weekend

We took an extra long weekend to travel to upstate New York, together with our grown kids, for the wedding of a nephew. Between the rehearsal dinner and wedding reception, and the pre- and post-event gatherings, the weekend was a wonderful family reunion.

The wedding ceremony, on Saturday, May 23, was held outdoors at a beautiful park in Albany. Everyone was nervous about the weather, but it turned out to be a wonderful day.



On the day before the wedding, a group of us strolled around downtown Saratoga Springs:



We stopped at Congress Park to ride the carousel, as always, because we're all big kids at heart, and it's only 50 cents a ride:



The braver among us sampled some of the springs around town. The one below is the Hathorn Spring, which was discovered in 1866 and is supposed to have curative properties. It also has that delightful rotten egg smell. I didn’t try it, although I met a man at the fountain who said he had been drinking it nearly every day for 25 years, and he looked in pretty good shape, assuming he was in his 70’s. If he was in his 40’s, then it’s definitely not working.



Congress Spring, a less vile vintage:



We played around in front of Ben & Jerry's...



but passed up that ice cream (which you can get everywhere now, including Fredericksburg) for the gelato at Eugenio's Cafe Gelato, where I sampled the mocha cappucino and the bacio-chocolate hazelnut. Excellent!



Much of the weekend entertainment was provided by this little guy, the family's youngest member. I could watch him toddle around for hours:



We spent the day after the wedding relaxing in my mother's backyard, eating mass quantities of food. Our family tries hard not to go more than about an hour between meals. Here was our Sunday afternoon feast of antipasto, eggplant parmagiana, ravioli and meatballs: