Apparently I’ve used this title before… I don’t think I knew what “a lot” of walking was when I wrote that post; Adam and I (who love love love to walk) wore ourselves out this vacation! I’m glad we’ve gotten in the incidental exercise though, we need the walking piece to make up for our eating. It’s definitely been a vacation week!
After breakfast on Tuesday Adam and I dropped my laptop back at the apartment and headed into the city.
Our main destination for the day was the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History.
We saw all sorts of amazing things but my favorite exhibit by far was “Written in Bone: Forensic Files of 17th Century Chesapeake.” They recently discovered the burial site for the first settlers of Jamestown and using modern forensics were able to piece together a picture of how those settlers lived and died. The exhibit was half American history and half forensic anthropology; I loved it! If you are in DC in the near future I highly recommend you check it out.
We expanded our minds all morning, but unfortunately our stomachs stayed empty. Failing to plan is planning to fail, particularly when you are visiting expensive museum food courts. I did delight in seeing all sorts of these though –
and Adam and I split the Luna protein bar I had in my purse.
Even without breakfast or lunch, our next stop was obvious.
FroZenYo! If my memory is correct, I served myself red velvet, cookies and cream, cheesecake, and tart yogurt topped with kiwi, strawberries, candied nuts, pb, hot fudge, and sprinkles.
It was ridiculous good. Frozen yogurt was the high point of my day, but Adam was most excited for dinner.
First though we met my best friend for a drink (pink lemonade and Stoli),
and then an iced coffee for our long metro ride.
Finally we arrived at Adam’s heaven our destination.
Chrisfield Seafood has been an institution in DC (technically Maryland) since the 40’s, and it was a big part of my family vacations as a child. I didn’t actually eat any seafood as a child so Chrisfield’s magic was lost on me, but this time I was ready!
Portions note – I ate about 1/3 of everything shown here; it was a rich meal but I kept it fairly healthy by not stuffing myself silly. If you do go to Chrisfields (and you should!) and plan on going crazy, I still recommend that you not fill up on bread because your dinner will be worth the wait.
Adam and Nikki ordered a pitcher of Red Hook Ale ($8!), apparently it turns you into a creeper,
but I still enjoyed a small glass.
When we sat down we were served bread,
and a plate of the necessary accoutrements.
Then we sat, and waited, and drooled and plates went by us. Finally it was our turn to dig in.
When I called my father for menu advice (I wanted to maximize the opportunity now that I finally like seafood) he told me to order either the crab-stuffed flounder or crab-stuffed shrimp. But when I got to the restaurant the lobster tail was calling me. Thankfully I found my perfect meal, The Broiled Combo – lobster tail,
stuffed shrimp,
stuffed flounder.
My meal came with cole slaw and french fries as well.
O.M.G. I think if I’d actually tasted the food as a child I would have been a seafood convert a lot earlier! My favorite was actually the stuffed flounder, but the husband was more than happy to take over eating my lobster tail.
Stuffed to the gills (ha!) we slept very well that night.
Wednesday morning was spent walking around Georgetown. Wandering down M Street is my favorite thing to do in DC! Adam and I actually ended up at an old New York favorite for brunch, Serendipity 3.
I went with a favorite order too, The Summer Bries.
An open-faced turkey sandwich with apples, cranberry mayo, and brie cheese.
My bread was sort of burnt but I ate 2/3 before passing it off to the husband.
I’m glad I saved room, because we discovered a brand new favorite for dessert – Mr. Yogato!
I couldn’t serve myself, but the shop was so cute that it was worth the change. I ended up with a small original tart yogurt with banana, coconut, and sprinkles.
Did you think I was kidding when I said we’d get froyo every day? 🙂
Guys, the walk back to pick up our stuff was brutal. It was in the high 90’s and I was carrying my backpack with the laptop and it was just crazy. Adam actually got so overheated he started to get light-headed! Thankfully he felt faint right in front of a Walgreens and we could run in for provisions. I drank 2 liters of water in under an hour!
Once we were back to our car it was time to head to our final destination: Baltimore. We probably should have eaten lunch first though because as we sat in rush hour traffic we got pretty cranky. I ended up digging into my packed stash and eating a serving’s worth of honey mustard chip crumbles,
and tons of (craisin, peanut, chocolate chip) trail mix.
When we finally got here my aunt and cousin had a great healthy spread for us to dig into. Tortilla chips with homemade guacamole,
hummus with fresh veggies from the farmer’s market,
and this huge bowl of cherries that I basically dominated.
Plus a small pour (x 1.5) of sauvignon blanc.
For the protein portion of the meal my aunt grilled up some delicious Indian spiced chicken with yogurt and mint sauces.
It was so tasty I went back for a second piece (that’s a side plate).
Finally, dessert.
My aunt is quite the hostess. There was dulce de leche Ben and Jerry’s and salted caramel gelato,
plus No Pudge Fudge Brownies and berry crumb bars (the blueberry crumb bar recipe from Bon Appetit made with raspberries and blackberries).
I was so stuffed I ended up leaving one bite of each piece on my plate!
And bringing this super long post full circle, I woke up at 6:30 this morning to go on a walk with my aunt. She walks a 40 minute loop around her neighborhood most mornings so I happily joined her. Even after our miles of city walking yesterday it felt good to get up and get my legs moving.
And now it’s time for breakfast!
