Wild Ponies!

I've been wanting to make it over to Chincoteague forever to see the wild ponies, but we've just never had the chance. I was pleasantly surprised the day after our lovely foodie extravaganza in southwest Virginia when Troy told me we were close to a different park that has wild ponies.

Grayson Highlands State Park is gorgeous. First we took a hike to work off some of that food. We were rewarded with some cool temps and a spectacular view!

And then on the way to the pony-watching trail, we saw these two little cuties. No mama in sight though. :(

We weren't even sure we'd see the ponies but it didn't take long to spot a group of them right amongst a group of people. I guess they aren't really "wild." They've grown accustomed to humans. The foals were especially tame, letting little kids feed them grass and strawberries that they had picked. The kids were giggling as the ponies licked their fingers. It was pretty sweet. I was thinking of Ian and Elsa and my little niece Amelia, and how much they would have liked it.

Even though you aren't supposed to feed the ponies, people do. A random woman (who obviously thought she was being nice) shoved a handful of pretzels into Troy's hand before he could protest. When he tried to get rid a pretzel, two of the grown ponies started to get aggressive towards each other. We were only steps away so it was a little frightening. It seems important to remember that these are not domesticated animals!

We spotted a huge group later that was interspersed with what looked like a number of brand new foals. It was fun to watch them play and groom each other.

The very pregnant pony below was pretty sweet. She started staring at us and then came over after a while. Troy gave her the rest of those prized pretzels even though I was a bit afraid the other ponies would smell them and start a stampede.

Then she started following us around. She looked like she was about to give birth at any minute so it made me kind of nervous, but it was still pretty endearing.

Artful, Amazing Food

The birthday fun continued with a trip to Southwest Virginia. I am such a food geek that I'm always thrilled on Wednesdays to see the newest articles in the New York Times "Dining and Wine" section. A few weeks ago I saw this piece about a (soon-to-be) husband/wife culinary team that moved to essentially the middle of nowhere--Chilhowie,Virginia--in order to be able to work together and have more creative freedom in the kitchen.

I e-mailed the article to Troy on a whim and he immediately made us a reservation for the day after my birthday. I booked us a nice room at a restored, 1920's hotel in Marion.

It was a 3 1/2 hour drive to get to dinner, but Troy and I both agree, we had the most incredible dining experience of our lives at the Town House.

One thing that I especially enjoyed was the unpretentious nature of the staff, from our server (daughter-in-law of the owner and U.Va. alum) to the sommelier. We dressed up a bit but there were people wearing jeans too. We felt comfortable asking questions about the food (there were a number of things on the menu that we were unfamiliar with) and how it was prepared. I was encouraged to take pictures of the food (although it was tough with such a low-light situation).

We ordered off the four course menu, although there is also an a la carte menu and a nine course meal. In addition to the dishes we expected, we had surprise treats in between like savory cookies made with olives, a lemony jam and freshly shaved Parmesan and then what Troy deemed "the best bread I've ever eaten in my life!" a ciabatta with freshly cracked pepper and another ingredient that slips my mind. We were there for a total of 3 1/2 hours!

Savory cookies for starters.

"Pickled loup de mer & various seeds of summer" (mackerel, along with seeds from a tomato, raspberries, yellow squash, and more served with quinoa and a lovely vanilla sauce).

"Marinated oysters & spring peas" (served with passion fruit, dashi, radish, sorrel, and pineapple).

Happy eaters!

This was definitely one of my favorites, "Caramelized eggplant & cantaloupe" (with grilled mango, ginger pudding, peanut powder, tamarind “raisins,” and crispy puffs of basmati rice).

By the time we got to the final course, the lighting was terrible and the pictures didn't turn out very well. I had the lamb and Troy had the rabbit and we were both thrilled with our choices.

Dessert for me was very decadent. They brought out a little candle in honor of my birthday too.


"Cold smoked chocolate" (with carrot puree, Indian curry, coriander, coconut, and fenugreek).

Each course was obviously lovingly prepared and almost ridiculously complex in terms of flavors. In some dishes, you could taste a completely distinct flavor on each area of your plate but somehow they all melded together seamlessly. It was an incredible experience and I highly recommend it.

We look a bit dazed in this picture that our server took. By the time we finished, we were really just blissed out and happily exhausted! Thanks Troy for treating me!! It was absolutely fabulous.

Birthday Extravaganza

I've always been a fan of birthdays and Troy feels the same way. We have a rule in our house that birthdays last for a whole week. It's nice to get a week during the year where you get extra special treatment.

This year, I've had a birthday extravaganza. I worked on my actual birthday but my co-worker took me out to lunch and my boss bought me a beautiful bouquet of hydrangeas.

Steve and Aurie took me out to dinner that night at Asia Specialty, a place that I haven't tried before but was pleasantly surprised with. I had Chinese dumplings and pancakes and tofu with vegetables and a brown ginger sauce. It was delicious. Courtney came to town to help me celebrate too!

Later we met friends at the 12th Street Taphouse for drinks. Troy knows the bartender and chef because he often stops for a beer at the tap house to reward himself after a long, late night bike ride. They sent out free beer and appetizers for my birthday!

I did an impromptu EMMI photo shoot since the boys need a publicity shot. Difficult lighting but fun subjects to work with.

For the late night crowd, we had decadent chocolate bundt cake at our place. We didn't have candles but Troy put a little bowl of absinthe (thanks Dave!) in the cake and lit it on fire for me. We also had flaming shots of absinthe.

It was a really great time. I was amazed at how many people came out to help me celebrate on a Wednesday night. I will really miss Courtney and all of our Charlottesville friends next year!

Sunshine and Libations

Our friend Ben visited us last weekend, and we had a really good time with him.

We know Ben from Eugene, Oregon, where he and Troy both did the Master's program in composition. Ben and his wife Jessie were among our closest friends there and we have missed them a lot. Thankfully Ben has kept a nice schedule of visiting us about every two years in Charlottesville. One of the three times Jessie came too, but now they have a little one, Seamus, which makes traveling a little more difficult.

Troy loves an excuse to make new drinks and to sample different bourbons head to head. And Ben likes to drink, so they are a fun and sometimes dangerous pair. The first night they sampled bourbons.




Ben came at an opportune time, we need help clearing out our liquor cabinet before we move in another month! Some of the drinks they had: Sazerac, mint juleps, bloody Marys with Laura's special recipe, a melon/gin/vodka drink and finally a combination of Red Bull and rye, which was deemed "not terrible."

On Saturday we went tubing on the James River. We have a history of funny tubing incidents with Ben so it was an ideal activity. Our friend Steve came with us too. It was a perfect day, in the eighties and sunny but not too terribly hot. We consumed a ridiculous amount of beer. I stuck to my rule about no hard alcohol after a disastrous trip two years ago. This seemed to help keep the boys from getting too crazy. Although once we got near the end, Troy didn't want the fun to stop, so he stood up and held onto the tubes to prevent them from reaching the docking point for a while longer.

On Sunday we went to the Blue Ridge for a hike and to water Brad's tree. It was parched but still holding on okay.

We saw a bunny on the path.

And lots of pretty wildflowers.

And there were some great woodpecker noises that Troy captured with his recorder.


Finally, we ventured to the Blue Mountain Brewery for more beer and a delicious carmelized onion, brat, apple pizza.

Mmmm....hops!

It was really great to see Ben. I love it that old friends can just pick up where they left off, as if no time has passed. It's really pretty special.

Summertime Visitors

My aunt Barb, uncle Hank and 3 cousins (Valerie, Andy and Maddie) came all the way from Minnesota to visit Troy and me a couple of weeks ago. They stayed with us for almost a week, so we had lots of time for fun activities and for catching up.

On their second night here, we rented the Doyle's River PATC cabin in the Shenandoah National Park. It's a rustic, one-room cabin, and a bit of a hike to get in (especially when loaded down with gear) but it was well worth it. Here's the view from the cabin.


That night we roasted (Polyface) hot dogs and told funny jokes and stories by the fire. Everyone seemed to have a really good time.


The next morning, Hank and Troy were surprised on a trip back to the car by a black bear and her two cubs. Mama gave Hank and Troy a warning glare, so they waited for a number of minutes until the bears passed over the trail. They moved on after what seemed like a safe amount of time, and still the bears were just off the trail at an uncomfortable distance. The guys picked up their pace after realizing that. Luckily, the bears weren't interested in the bag of garbage Hank was carrying!

Later in the day, we took a hike to see the Doyles River Falls, which were gushing pretty good after all the rain we've had this spring. Hank, Troy and the kids had fun climbing up close to the falls while I played with different settings on my camera, trying to best capture the beauty of this place. I took a ridiculous number of pictures but it was a good learning experience. Cousin Maddie, who is also a photography buff too, had fun taking pictures as well. I showed her how to use the macro setting on her camera, which she seemed to like. More of my pics can be viewed on my Shutterfly site.



We stopped at our favorite overlook on the way back to town to take some pictures. It was a gorgeous day.


We were pretty wiped out after the hiking and fresh air but we made it out to enjoy a nice dinner on the downtown mall. And of course, no trip downtown is really complete without a stop at Spendora's for gelato. Yum!

The next day we went to Courtney and Kevin's to spend the night. I think the kids really enjoyed having access to satellite television (we only have very basic channels)! We all had a nice time the next day on the deck. It's such a pretty place, with a koi pond and lots of big, beautiful trees all around.


It was warm, so Courtney made peach daiquiris for us and brought out some water balloons for the kids. It was hilarious to watch the kids (and Hank and Troy) toss the balloons back and forth, with Paisley "Walk in the Park" Thompson (Courtney's pug) excitedly running back and forth and making her bizarre pug/alien noises.

Troy got pretty drenched, but he didn't seem to mind.


All in all it was a really great visit. Nice to be able to spend quality time with my family and to share some of our favorite places with them.