Rehoboth, DE

Two weekends ago we packed ourselves up and headed across the bay to Rehoboth Beach, Deleware.  Two friends of mine from college were getting married (wedding #2 of the month) right downtown in Lewes, DE.  The funniest part about that statement was that I was friends with the Groom more in college than the Bride, but she and I have become great friends over the last couple of years.

We took the trip to Deleware as an opportunity to stop at the Dogfish Head Brewery.


Husband has wanted to go for a while, so we headed out of town early enough to get there for the 12:30pm tour.  They have 2 free tours a day and they sell out quick - and they're huge tours!  35 people each!  That place is cranking people through.  The tour guide was very knowledgeable about all of the cases and numbers that they produce - so much so that by the end, all of the figures started to blur together.  And this was before the tasting!

Deleware law states that they are able to give each person 12 oz of free beer a day.  So they take that 12oz and divide it into 4 - so you get to taste 4 beers at 3oz each.  Pretty clever!

After the tour, we checked into the hotel and got ready for the wedding.  The ceremony was at a beautiful old church in downtown Lewes, DE.  It was really a lovely ceremony - very personal.  I'm not very used to Episcopal services, so the whole married thing first, communion and church second thing was a little different.  After the priest pronounces the bride and groom husband and wife, you want to go celebrate! 

After the ceremony we headed out to Baywood Greens Golf Course for the reception.  The grounds of the club were lovely, and the view from the reception room overlooking the course was very pretty. 

We got a little chuckle out of the fact that she put us at the table in the back corner, with the other 'rowdier' college friends.  It was just 5 of us at the table, but it was great fun to see the other 3 boys who I haven't seen in years.  We had lots of fun catching up, and talking about the other weddings guests ;)


 They had a cocktail time with a cheese, veggie and fruit display, plus some delicious passed items such as mini hamburgers and grilled cheese with a little sip of tomato soup, while everyone waited for the wedding party to arrive.  Then when they did, they did their first dance to True Companion, one of my favorite songs.  The toasts by the Father of the Bride, Matron of Honor and Groomsman followed.  They were all very sweet and had great personal stories.  Dinner was wonderful - everyone at our table raved about the food!

A top contender for the best wedding cake I've ever had!

 

It was a beautiful evening celebrating 2 close friends of ours!  Congratulations Jen and Pat!

Sunday morning we had another Dogfish stop to make...the original brewpub right down on the beach in Rehoboth.  It was similar yet different to the ones that we have around our area.  We had this thing called Dogpile.  Oh yes.  It was these amazing baked pita chips covered in spinach and artichoke dip and cheese with chopped tomatoes and green onions on top.  De. Licious.  So filling.  We were both so full from that (and the sandwiches we unknowlingly ordered and attempted to eat) that we didn't need dinner!  We tried to walk some of the food and calories off on the Boardwalk, but we needed to walk home to make any dent.  The houses around town are beautiful - very different from the beach houses that we're used to in the Outer Banks.  They were just lovely, one after another!  After walking a few blocks, we decided it was time to hit the road and get back home before it got too late.  2 down, 2 to go!

Parents visit!

This weekend, my parents came up from Richmond to visit. It's always fun when they come to town with their adorable dog Pearl.  My mom's birthday is this week, so it was a great excuse to have them to town.  We had a pretty quiet weekend but took them to some of our favorite places.

They came up Friday afternoon.  Mom and I ducked out and went to Home Goods and World Market, looking for nothing but finding a few fun things like pretty cocktail napkins, cute wrapping paper for my upcoming bridal and baby showers, and a little plastic basket to put under my sink for my sponges.  I know it sounds trivial but sometimes it's the small things that make the biggest difference!  A couple of those little sticky things and voila! no more yucky sponges on the counter.  Friday evening was fairly low key, which was perfect.  We went just down the road to Falls Church and Mad Fox Brewing.  We were able to watch the Carolina and VCU basketball games, have some good beer and food.  Dad loved the mussels and spinach salad.  Mom and I got pizzas - she had the fig and balsamic blue cheese and I got the cabonara with prosciutto, caramelized onions, mozzarella with a cracked egg.  Both were wonderful, and made for great leftovers!  Husband had the frickles (fried pickles) and the frickle burger, the special for the day.  It was a great evening!

Saturday was a lazy day.  Husband went for a run while we all sat around and caught up Giada and other shows.  After Wegmans subs and a little yard work, we broke and the boys went one way and Mom and I went the other.  We rode out to Aldie to the beautiful Bella Villa store.  Last time I visited this store it was in a different, much smaller location.  It's an adorable store with lots of beautiful things.  I found this great 2 tiered iron planter that I had to have.  I'm really looking to spice up our boring back deck this summer, and this is going to be perfect.  I can't wait to put plants in it!

Saturday night we went downtown to celebrate Mom's birthday.  We took her to one of our favorite restaurants, Siroc.  While there weren't any celebrity sitings, the food was fantastic.  We had the best table in the restaurant, in a back little corner. 

photo from Siroc's website



Mom and I started with the arugula salad with gorgonzola, golden beets, and pine nuts - yum.  Husband and dad shared appetizers.  One was the beef rolls with portabella mushrooms, polenta and gorgonzola cream.  The other was rabbit sausage with cabbage, potatoes and black truffle sauce.  

For dinner, 3 of us had pastas and dad had fish.  One of my favorite things about this restaurant is that you can do 2 half pasta orders.  It's the best when you can't make up your mind!  Husband and I had the saffron fettuccine with bolognese of beef tenderloin and pancetta - it was fantastic.  Husband and mom both had the butternut squash cappelacci with sage butter and raved about it.  Mom and I both also had the raviolini with gorgonzola and pistachio cream.  Oh man.  Dad had the branzino, which is a light white fish and said it was really good.  The wine also was great - we got a good recommendation from the waitress.  The food, wine, and service was all fantastic!  We got a couple of deserts too - and while they were good, they weren't as good as the rest of the meal. 

Sunday was another quiet day.  We did some travel planning for our fall trip to Barcelona.  My parents are going to join us for the week in Spain before we head to southern France for a week.  We got their flights booked and our apartment in the city for the week.  For lunch we went to Dogfish Ale House in Fairfax, one of our staple weekend locations.  The food is always good, staff is friendly and of course beer is good!  Then at halftime of the VCU game, they packed it up and headed south back to Richmond.  The rest of the day was full of some spring cleaning, watching husband try to install the new big black box thing (receiver) and Apple TV, basketball, and getting ready for the week.

I love having my parents come to visit!  It's great having them here, and Pearly Sue too!