Hello Everyone. It’s wonderful to be writing to you all today. The weather is warming up here in Washington, and I’m getting everything ready for my departure which is rapidly approaching and now just under two weeks away. This will be the last of my updates from home as by next week I hope to be writing about the journey ahead, for which I am very excited. I’ve talked to some of my Michigan friends and gotten some great recommendations (and some from you guys as well), and can’t wait for a summer full of hiking, photography, small towns, state parks and the beautiful lighthouses that run up and down the coasts of the Great Lakes. It sounds divine right about now and as temperatures creep up to 90 here in DC, it’s about time for me to head for a cooler climate anyway. It’s certainly been a busy few weeks here at home, but a good couple of weeks as well.
We celebrated Eastern Orthodox Easter on May 2nd according to the old calendar. We had a wonderful surprise with a last-minute visit from my brother who took the train down from New Hampshire to be with us. We watched the midnight church service online as we did last year and had a wonderful meal together as well. Although we missed having my niece and nephew here, it was nice to have my brother join us.
That weekend we also went to Revolutionary War Days at Mount Vernon in Virginia. It was a very busy, but also very well done Revolutionary War reenactment on the fields near George Washington’s home. In addition to all the marching and shooting, there was food and music and stunning views out over the Potomac River and we had a really good time.
Later that week, my folks celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary. I cooked them up a nice meal featuring fresh trout and scallops and my stepfather got a delicious cake from a bakery down in Virginia and we had champagne and a nice evening. The next day we celebrated Cinco de Mayo with Mexican food, music and a fun game of Mexican Train (dominoes). The following Sunday was Mother’s Day and I cooked us up a delightful Sunday brunch for the occasion. It was definitely a week full of cooking for me, but I really enjoyed it and we had some delicious meals for sure.
For Mother’s Day I got my mom a night out of the city which we all enjoyed last week. We packed up the car and headed out to Lost River State Park in West Virginia where I got us a really nice old log cabin for the night. On the way there we stopped at the Hunter’s Head Tavern out in Upperville, Virginia, a delightful farm-to-table English-style country pub. When we got to the park we checked out Lighthorse Harry Lee’s old cabin near the old spring, and then settled in for a few beers around an afternoon campfire
