Monday, May 31, 2010

Memorial Day... Gorillas, Grills, and Gills

Sheesh... I'm pooped. 

Good weekends can really drain ya, right? I hope everyone had as good a time as I did! Memorial Day weekend was always, always about a soccer tournament growing up--and by growing up I mean as of two years ago, I never had a free Memorial Day. It was always filled with games, igloo coolers and orange slices. 

Times, they are a-changing. My weekend actually involved zero soccer. Not a ball in sight! So what did I do, you ask? Well, take a looksie!

Friday night, Alex drove into town to watch his little sister play in the NCAA semi-finals for women's lacrosse. Unfortunately, they lost to Northwestern, which was a huge downer. 

Saturday, we went to the zoo. Yep. The National zoo in Washington, D.C. is incredible because it's FREE! Look at all the animals!
This is me with an elephant, ain't she charming?
Tiger, rawr.
This is the face Alex made when I told him to look like an anteater?

Before we hit the zoo though, we ventured to Murphy's of D.C., an Irish pub right off Connecticut Avenue near the zoo. There were sooo many restaurants there, from Lebanese to Thai, Indian to Japanese, and of course, McDonald's. Murphy's was a quiet little pub, away from the family filled brunch place near by. We were served quickly and had a great lunch people watching. People watching in D.C. is absolutely... well, ridiculous. We actually saw a grown woman use the bathroom right on the side of the road...charming! But, alas, it didn't ruin our appetites.
Alex got a roast beef sandwich and I went for a more traditional Reuben, corned beef, sauerkraut, Swiss cheese and Thousand Island all pressed between two slices of Rye goodness. I love this sandwich, and this is one of the best I've ever stumbled across. It came with these huge slabs of fry, but I didn't really have any. Washed it down with a Hard Core Cider, which is a beer from a Boston Brewery. Really sweet, and not much like beer, but still good.

By the end of the day we were lucky to find my mom was making dinner. At least that's what she told me. What actually happened is I made burgers for everyone. Tomayto, tomahto.

Sunday was another outdoorsy day spent at Burke Lake Park in Fairfax. We waited an hour for a boat, and although I'm impatient, it was really humorous to watch people try to row. No coordination. Nope, not a bit.  

On the other hand, look at this stud! First step Burke Lake, next step Atlantic.
What did I do, you ask? Well... see for yourself. 
I promise I rowed a little.. see? (Or was this just a photo op? You'll never know!)
I just was no good. And it was a million degrees. And I probably got hungry... never a good combination. So, naturally, I start thinking about food...and how yummy barbecue chicken with grilled vegetables would be.
Remember kids, if you can dream it, you can achieve it!
The sauce was from a jar... no great recipes here. Grilled veggies are the best though. I just don't think they can be topped! We ended the night with s'more (ice cream). It's the yuppie way of the old campfire tradition! 

Finally, today. After a 3 mile walk in the excruciatingly hot sun, an iced coffee and a quick lunch, Alex was on his way home to Philly. Fortunately for me, I live with my parents, so the fun never ends! (Sarcasm?)

We went to Roosevelt Island right off the Potomac River, and sizzled a little longer. 
Look! Me in a swamp.
And berries for your cereal!
And flowers for your garden!
I've almost had enough nature for one weekend. Can we please go out to dinner so I can act like a Prima Donna? Thanks! So, for dinner, we went to this place nearby called Captain Pell's. It's a crab shack that I've barely ever heard mentioned in the 22 years of my life. Considering I've lived here for 10 years, I'm fairly surprised it's never been spoken of. However, my mom dropped it tonight, and seafood after a day full of hot sun sounded perfect. I cleaned up a little from our all-day outdooring, and we set off. 

Turns out, I would have looked more appropriate in my pinny and shorts! When I first got out of the car, I was a little turned off by the smell of really fishy seafood. Ughh... this is not going to be good. But then I walked in and saw the place was packed. Absolutely packed. And everyone was smacking down at their tables with wooden mallets, downing beer and iced tea. It felt like the beach... in Fairfax County! Awesome. The food was great, the ambiance welcoming.
Remember when I said last post that I didn't eat fried food much? Well, you're not going to believe me after you keep reading. We ordered two entrees and a side of hush puppies. I insisted on the hush puppies, God knows why.
We got a plate of snow crab with butter n' coleslaw n' all the fixins! Mmmm... the crab tasted so fresh! And it was fun to crack em open. What a challenege.
We also got the combination platter filled with --gulp-- fried everything. Fried shrimp. Fried oyesters. Fried scallops. French fries! Oye veigh. It's almost too much for me to handle but I took it like a champ and loved every second of it. 

**WARNING: AS AN ASPIRING WELLNESS MANAGER, I CANNOT ADVISE YOU TO EAT LIKE THIS ON A NORMAL BASIS... BUT WHAT THE HELL! IT'S A HOLIDAY!!***

Here are just some other pictures of the joint.
You could get all-you-can-eat crab if you dare.
But portioned worked for me...I'm still full.
Notice, no green on these plates. But potatoes are a vegetable right? Whoops! Hey, I never eat like this! It's not going to kill me. But, it is going to fill me with happiness and a memory of a great weekend. I hope you had a fabulous weekend, because like I said mine was great. Back to the grind tomorrow! Peace n Love!

PS: I just went upstairs to find this... matching tee-shirts in bed. Absurd.

9 comments:

Unknown said...

Wow - you sure did pack a lot into the weekend! Looks like it was a great time, though!! (And thanks for the tip about the National Zoo - I didn't know it was free... will have to keep that in mind for the next DC trip...)

Magic of Spice said...

What an amazingly fun post, still laughing...Love your adventures!

Biren said...

Looks like you had a fun weekend. We visited the DC zoo in 2007. It's an awesome zoo!

Alex said...

Give yourself some credit , you rowed that boat hard for about 500 yards. That's how she was able to eat all of that food.

Unknown said...

So its almost five a.m. where I am and I miss you so I wanted an update on your life and I found one here! Now of course I am craving crab and a trip to the zoo haha. Alex is wearing the shirt I designed!! And boat rowing is tough work Messica, I give you props, as in oars! (haha that didnt really make much sense). I'm not suprised with the picture of your parents hahaha. Tell them HI FROM THE NORTH POLE!! tootles lurve ya!

Rick said...

I want to go to that zoo! They have a panda!

Drick said...

and a fun time was had by all ... oh, that combination platter is my kind of eating, had one last week and as for the green thing, maybe a side of coleslaw..

Lawyer Loves Lunch said...

I am a fan of the fried platter of goodness ;)

Christina said...

hahaha the matching tshirts are cracking me up! AND THEY'RE PINK!!