Thursday, May 30, 2013

Snips and Snails and Puppy Dog Tails

I know it's Thursday (it is Thursday, right?) and a new weekend is just around the corner, but I still need to talk about last weekend because I missed the blog window on Monday. Then there was the Hodgepodge to deal with, so here it is Thursday and I'm talking about last Friday. If you think about it you'll see it all makes perfect sense.  

Hubs took the day off on Friday (whoohoo!), and we made our way down to Maryland to spend the weekend with his sister (sil), brother-in-law (bil), and their two boys. Hubs always enjoys a weekend with the boys-


Gotta love a fun uncle!

Anyway back to Friday...we stopped at Cabela's en route because there's not one in our tinytown, and holy moly was it ever busy in there! The store was absolutely mobbed and many of the shelves were wiped clean. In fact there were so many people shopping that if you were there to purchase a firearm you had to take a number, kinda like you do at the deli counter. 

A snapshot of America in 2013.  

I love Cabelas for the gear and for the people watching. They have a little bit of everything, and I told hubs we should consider this-


We do have more than a few varmints in these parts, but maybe what's out there in the dark of night needs to stay out there in the dark of night.  

We got to Maryland around dinner time, and my sil grilled chicken while we caught up on life. Hubs needed to refresh his trumpeting skills while we were in town, and my nephew critiqued the performance.  


Now, about the weather...it was cold. I mean actually cold.When we got out of the car at Cabelas we nearly blew away, and the thermometer read 44 degrees. Huh? Memorial Day weekend, right?  It remained chilly and a little breezy on Saturday, but we didn't let that stop us from getting out and about.  The boys wanted to take us to a nearby nature center where they volunteer so we did that Saturday morning.


Come to find out nature center is code for 'place where snakes live', which made hubs supremely happy.


Me, not so much.


I recovered though, mostly by swiftly handing off the slimy slithering creepy crawly to someone who actually enjoys handling snakes. A lot of anti bacterial soap, followed by lunch at Chipoltle made everything all right again.

Crawfish-

Now that's my kind of critter, especially seasoned, boiled, and ready for picking.  


My sil and bil had friends hosting a crawfish boil on Saturday night and we were invited to join the party. So delicious! Yes, I'm wearing jeans and a fleece. It was still cool and breezy, but lots of fun.

Sunday the sun shone and the wind died down and the air warmed up enough for this-


Pretty much how we spent the entire day.


Hubs took a break from sitting to play some keep away, and catch, and 'let's see who can throw the ball highest' kind of activity, but mostly we soaked up the sun and gabbed. It was a good day.


We went downtown Sunday evening and had a fun family dinner at a restaurant called Family Meal.  The restaurant is owned by Bryan Voltaggio, the runner up in Top Chef back in 2009. He came in second to his brother Michael, and wouldn't a holiday dinner at their house be fun?  Anyway, it's family meal kind of food, and really good. We had chicken pot pie fritters as a starter, and I need to figure out how to recreate that dish because they were scrumptious.

It seems like most of the time we spend with our extended family centers around an event or a holiday occasion, so it was really nice to have a weekend to sit in the backyard, catch up, and see the world through the eyes of boys.  


Boys who, by the way, are somehow not so little anymore.

14 comments:

  1. You are very BRAVE to hold that snake! Looks like you had a loverly time!
    I ate at Chipotle's last weekend too!

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  2. What a wonderful weekend you had! I'm with you on the snakes (ewwww) and crawfish (yum). ;-)

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  3. I'm making it a mission to eat in as many Top Chef chef restaurants as possible. They all have been delicious.

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  4. Sounds like fun all except the snake and I'm not sure I could eat crawfish.

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  5. Sounds like a really good weekend.
    I wouldn't go close to that snake. I see no need. ;)
    You LIKE Cabela's? Hubby and I always feel like we wear a banner saying "We have no idea what most of this stuff is for." We only go there to buy gifts for our son-in-law. (and he has to be very specific about what he wants.)

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  6. I've never been to Cabela's. I guess you went to the one in PA? I have passed it a few times. Looks like the perfect weekend. Now, enjoy the heat wave!!

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  7. So many things I want to do in this post - starting with dinner at that restaurant. Yum.

    Cabela's started here in Nebraska. My parents and aunt and uncle know the Cabelas and for years drove up to Vail every winter for their annual party featuring a large variety of exotic game. Have to say that my dad always enjoyed that more than my mom. :)

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  8. Sure looks like a fun visit! Now...as for that snake you held! You win the "Brave Woman of the Year Award"! No way would I have touched that thing!

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  9. That's a GREAT picture of you and the Hubs (eating the crawfish)!
    Looked like great fun. Well except for the snake and eating the crawfish. I'm not a crawfish fan. Or snakes for that matter. :)

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  10. I love seeing you in this post!!
    You are so brave to touch a snake! And hold it!! Argh! haha!
    Fun for your hubby that he got to hang out with some boys. ;)

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  11. sounds like a great weekend, Love the photos.

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  12. Great photos, sounds like the perfect weekend :-)

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  13. Sweet recap of our VERY WONDERFUL weekend. We had a great time with you guys and are making plans for a reciprocal visit to NJ!

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  14. I love Cabelas too but we don't have one nearby at all. We do have Bass Pro Shop close by and we just stopped in the Vegas one because you can get things there that you can't buy in California! Oh my you touched a snake....I don't think I could do that. What a fun weekend you had with family and some great eats too.

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