Nationals Baseball

I guess I will start at the end of the story for this post: THEY WON!! The game we went to, at least... which, lets face it, is just about all I care about when it comes to baseball.  I'm very invested that way.

In all honesty, though, I really do love Nationals baseball. I have never been one to enjoy baseball on TV, but I get immense enjoyment out of going to a real live game! Because going to a game means that you have to enjoy all aspects: the junk food, the beer, and the entertainment.

This was the scoreboard after the game... Jayson Werth (who most of the time looks more akin to a mountain man/homeless person than a MLB player) made his 1,000th hit, which just happened to be a home run. It made it even more fun to be there! Side note- the woman interviewing him there is about to get the residuals of a Gatorade/ice bath that Werth received from his teammates. Poor thing... she looked like she was ready to spruce up her resume after that...

Our view from section 222... not the best, but we could see the entire field as well as the massive jumbo-tron for all of the cool replays and instructions about when to display 'natitude' (I take this very seriously). Also, we were near section 136, which is where all of the gluten-free food for the stadium is kept.  Since going to this game was part of my father-in-law's birthday celebration, this was important!

Overall, what made this game the best was that my parents...

My mother-in-law (and me)...

My husband and his dad...

and I think you know who these people are...

all were able to spend time together! It was fabulous :) Go NATS!!!

Lunchbox Laboratory

Going to dinner at Lunchbox Laboratory was one of the last things we did in Seattle. This majorly retro burger place was fabulous! Not only was the food spectacular and creative, but Lunchbox Lab was gluten-free and vegetarian friendly. Why do I care, you ask? Although I am neither gluten-free or vegetarian, my father-in-law has Celiac Disease and I am a lover of veggie burgers (a leftover habit from when I really was a vegetarian for 7 years), so I am always on the lookout for both!

Now let me tell you why this veggie burger was the best I've EVER had... and I consider myself to be somewhat of a connoisseur! 

Most veggie burgers are veggie burger flavored- meaning that the usual suspects accompany said burger: lettuce or sprouts, tomato, onion, some sort of spread, various cheeses, and the occasional avocado slices. What made this veggie burger so remarkable is that I was able to have it with the accouterments of "The Tear Jerker" aka the spiciest burger on their menu. I LOVE mega spicy food, so a burger with some jalapenos, a little habanero mayo and "Satan's tears ketchup" was right up my ally. 

It actually hurt my mouth a bit to eat this magnificent veggie burger (it was that spicy!!!), but that is how I like things.  I'm a little wild sometimes...

My husband stuck with the traditional beef "Burger of the Gods," and I think he was nearly equally pleased with his selection.  

This is my main man with the yummy shake we shared for dessert!  Speaking of which, the shakes are why we ended up at Lunchbox in the first place. We came across this article and decided it sounded good enough to check out in person.

We ended up (at the suggestion of our wonderful waitress) getting the Boston Creme Pie shake with a shot of vanilla vodka... they call this 'boozy'! The small size was more than share-able for the two of us, but then again, I had just eaten the best veggie burger of my life. The shake was a great cool off for my mouth fire, not to mention extremely delicious.

To sum it up, this quirky (did I mention that most of their cocktails involve Tang? They take hipster/retro to a whole other level!) burger place exceeded my expectations.  Even the atmosphere- we sat outside in a sweet patio garden, across the street from a cute Lutheran church- was perfection. 

I wish Lunchbox Laboratory was on the East Coast!!!

Pike Place Market

On our very last day in the Pacific Northwest, we were able to actually spend some time in Seattle! 

We hung out at Pike Place Market and went to all of the quintessential places... I even tricked my husband into checking out the gum wall in Post Alley. In case you've never seen it, the gum wall is more disgusting than you'd expect.  My favorite memory from viewing this spectacle was a mom lecturing her child who was posing in front of the wall: "Stand away from the wall... NO! Don't touch it! Just stand still near the wall.... Don't lean on it!!" This seemed like a traumatic photo-op, so we just kept walking without documenting our disgust.

Obviously, watching the fish mongers throw around HUGE halibut and salmon was a must. What made it even better is that we had a pint of fresh raspberries from one of the farmer's market vendors to munch on while we took in the show. Yummy!

Those lobster tails were as big as my arm!!

I loved walking through all of the flower vendors. The dahlias, sunflowers and peonys were my favorites.

As we walked, we munched on a delicious amandine (the best almond croissant ever) from Le Painier. 

Holy cow... I could eat those every day and still marvel at how perfect they are.

Our view from a rooftop bar.

We also went to Beecher's for some of their "world's best" macaroni and cheese.  We took it to-go and ate outside in a park. We also shared a dungeness crab grilled cheese sandwich. Everything was superb! I only wish that we'd had room in our suitcases to take some of their homemade cheese with us.  Our favorite was the Raw Flagship cheese.

When we needed a break from walking around in the blazing summer heat (just kidding, it was in the 70s), we ducked into the Frontier Room for some local beer. We both had an IPA from Diamond Knot.

I guess we really ate and drank our way through Seattle!

One thing we did that didn't involve eating (or drinking) was our visit to Seattle Glassblowing Studio.  I imagine that I forgot to take a picture in the gallery because I was too busy trying to take it all in.  The vases, figurines, bowls, and sculptures were spectacular.  We bought a little evergreen tree to remember our foray in the Pacific Northwest :)

Last, but not least, we saw the first Starbucks shop. It was swarmed with people, of course, so we didn't stop in, but it was fun to see where the coffee magnate originated.

Washington Things: Part 2

As far as I can tell, the Northwest takes beer pretty seriously.  For example, this was just part of the beer section at Whole Foods:

Holy cow, right??

Now, we've had the discussion (read- I talked, y'all listened) before about my thoughts on beer versus wine. We've also chatted (see above) about my husband's desire to explore local beers.  Given the fact that my husband would never see the sun shine except through hospital windows in the Pacific Northwest if it weren't for these freakishly long days (sun up at 5 am and down at 10 pm), I have made it one of my goals to find cool local beers for him.  I bring them back to our little abode, and he takes a few sips before passing out from exhaustion.  Sounds fun, right?! As fun as fun can be during inpatient internal medicine!

The Mens Room is a beer made by Elysian Brewing in Seattle, WA.  I bought it for two reasons: I generally like red beers (oh yeah, my husband does too :) and a portion of the sales from this particular beer is donated to the Fisher House on Fort Lewis (where we are located).

We both thought it was a pretty great beer.  Not too heavy (my criteria) and still really flavorful (his criteria). Sorry I don't have very much to say in the way of beer evaluation... I am far more versed in wine tasting adjectives! As we try more brews from WA, I'll try to hone my palate a bit more.

Lazy Magnolia

Alrighty, y'all... last throwback post, I promise.  At least for awhile. Or until tomorrow when I get a stray hair and decide to post about Salem Academy or something. You never know what I might get into!

Anyhow, when my husband and I were in Biloxi, Mississippi, a couple months ago, we randomly (again, you never know!) ended up driving 30 minutes away to Lazy Magnolia Brewing Company one Friday afternoon to take a tour.

We'd seen their beer at a couple of restaurants in the area, so we made our way to Kiln (known as "the Kill" to locals, apparently) to check it out.

We each got a pint glass as part of the tour. They are both filled with "Southern Pecan", which is their signature brew.

When we pulled up to the brewery, we were slightly skeptical of a few things:

1) They shared/split a warehouse with the Coast Guard?

2) The parking lot was not paved, and it was very muddy due to recent rains.

3) We did not see another living soul.

However, we had come this far, so we made our way through the mud, through the production area of the open-air brewery, and into the office to check in for the tour (we gathered these directions from a rain-streaked handwritten poster at the 'entrance).  I am very glad that we persevered. Neither of us had ever been on a brewery tour before, and our tour guide, Ginger, was as sweet as honey from start to finish.

We sampled and asked questions and walked around for about an hour before leaving the down home brewery, which was breaking ground on a massive expansion the following week.  I wholeheartedly recommend stopping by the brewery if you're ever in the vicinity, and keep a lookout for their beers that are distributed throughout the southeast!

The Shed

We went to a BBQ place called The Shed when we were down in Biloxi, Mississippi, about a month and a half ago.  We knew we were in for a treat when we saw this parked right outside.

For a little perspective, I'm about as tall as one of those tires.

The entire restaurant, which is surprisingly sprawling and next to a large creek that connects to the Back Bay of Biloxi, is constructed out of scraps: spare windows, sheet metal, plywood, and random doors are attached together precariously.  The 'floor' inside and out is gravel, and, of course, there are no temperature controls aside from a few fans scattered across the 'ceiling' in places.  The seating is wooden picnic benches, and the napkins come in the form of a roll of paper towels on each table.  I'm terribly sorry I did't take a picture of this scene, but I think the BBQ that I consumed took all of my attention.

The first time we went (yes, we went more than once during our four week stint in Biloxi), we tasted a little bit of everything: brisket, pulled pork, ribs, chicken, and sausage.  The chicken was the hands down favorite, with the BBQ smoked sausage coming in second. The mac salad and sweet potato fries were also things I would go back for... just not in the summer. I think I would cook right along with the BBQ if I sat in that un-air conditioned building in July!

County Line Barbecue

Last night we ventured over to Austin. It's just over an hour away from Fort Hood, so we (me, Michael, Jill and David) went for dinner and a little bar-hopping downtown.

At the recommendation of my Aunt Jodi and Uncle Darren, we went to The County Line for dinner. It was on top of a hill just outside of Austin, with a beautiful view of the sunset. We were lucky that the 60 degree weather allowed us to sit out on the back porch and really enjoy the vista.

Jill and I each enjoyed a coronarita... A jumbo margarita with a corona upside down in the glass. They are pretty easy to find in Texas, and absolutely delicious.

The food was equally incredible. Their homemade bread is apparently as famous as their barbecue, so we made sure to start off the meal with some. It was sweet and still warm from the oven. Holy cow... Better than any crock-pot meal, that's for sure!!

Per the suggestion of the waiter, I sampled the beef ribs and some brisket. They were both lean and tender and flavorful and.... SO GOOD! I also had some mashed potatoes and corn on the cob on the side. They were both yummy, but not as special as the barbecue... Although it was a treat to have mashed potatoes that didn't come from a shelf stable package :)

After we finished up at The County Line, we headed to downtown Austin's 6th Street. We went to several bars, and it was really nice to relax and hang out with Michael, Jill and David.  We had a really fun time and are planning to have a Fort Hood Pediatrics reunion when we are all back in Bethesda in April :)

Super Bowl Sunday

Michael's clerkship site director was so kind and invited us to her home for a little Superbowl get-together.  It was really nice to spend time in a real live home, complete with a couch, carpet that wasn't mysteriously musty, a legitimate kitchen, and two cute kitty cats. Absolutely heavenly.  Oh, and she and her husband crafted together a make-your-own nachos bar. Quite delish!

Our contribution was two-fold.  First, we picked up some craft brews at Spec's the day before.

Anchor Steam Beer is made in San Francisco, so we thought it would be appropriate (even though we weren't cheering on the 49ers).  Michael and I both really enjoyed it.

The second thing was some cupcakes from The Sweet Factory, a Killeen bakery and candy shop.

We have been completely cupcake-spoiled over the past few years by Georgetown Cupcake (you can read about it here), so I was skeptical to endorse another cupcake.  We purchased a variety of flavors (chocolate cherry, vanilla, triple chocolate, pina colada, chocolate peanut butter, and German chocolate), and all received rave reviews.  

Oh, and in the midst of all of this eating and drinking, there was a Beyonce concert, erm, I mean the Super Bowl :)

Wine in the Hood

Fort Hood, that is.

As a side note, my husband and I just finished watching a documentary last night about the beer industry: Beer Wars.  We like to watch lighthearted documentaries over dinner every now and again, and this one was pretty interesting.  It made us want to continue drinking beer from independent breweries, that's for sure (Shiner, Dogfish Head or Point beers, anyone?)! This isn't a post about beer, though.  The documentary just reminded me about the issue at hand.

I don't drink much beer.  I like it on occasion, but one is usually my limit.  If I have more than two, I start to feel like a whale, and I don't like feeling whale-y.  One of my loftier goals in life is to feel like a whale very infrequently.

Therefore, I am a wine girl.  I realize that I have posted about liquor, liqueur, and beer, prior to this, my first post about wine, so you will just have to trust me with this fact.  Above anything else offered, nine times out of ten, I will choose a nice glass of wine. Some of my favorites are: 14 Hands Cab, Wente Merlot, and Pine Ridge Chenin Blanc. All of these are around $10 a bottle, and I've never had much difficulty finding them in the past.

This is a HUGE problem in Texas.  Specifically Killeen and Fort Hood, Texas.

1) We are in beer country. Obvious for the following reasons:

• There are over 170,000 military personnel stationed at Fort Hood.  A large number of these are young (18-23 years old) male enlisted soldiers.
•  Barbecue is the local fare.  Even I would rather have a beer than wine with barbecue.
• We are in the middle of nowhere.

This is one of two beer aisles at out local H-E-B (a Texas chain of grocery stores).

2) The wine selection that does exist is an anomaly to me:

• I do not recognize most of the brands.
• The brands that I do recognize are the big bottle brands: Barefoot, Sutter Home, etc.  Nothing wrong with that, just not what I'm looking for.
• Most of the wines (red and white) carry the descriptor 'sweet' on the label.

The wine aisle at H-E-B.  Two things I have never seen before: 

a bottle of wine for $2.98 and the brand "La Di Da"

3) We came here from Bethesda, Maryland.

• The wine selection in the DC area is impeccable, although overpriced.
• I am in culture shock!

Good things came from my adventure to H-E-B, though!

After scouring the shelves, I found these two for me, and now I know where to find them!

I also found a six-pack of Shiner Seasonal for my husband.

Because I found some decent wine, I was able to finally use my Riedel "O-to-Go" wine glass :) I have a thing for pretty glassware, and it makes me happy to have a pretty glass among our paper plates and plastic forks!