You all know I love beer and that I often choose my restaurants based on the quality of their draft list. But in addition to that, Beer Geek and I love to visit different breweries and check out their setups (and often beers that you can only get there.) Right now, the beer scene in Virginia is exploding. So much so that I need to focus on just one small part of Virginia to stick to 5. (Don't worry, I'll work my way around the state.) Port City Brewing - This Alexandria brewery makes quite a number of good beers, but my favorite is their porter. You can stop by their facility and drink a pint or get a tour and some tastings. While not a restaurant, they do have Food Truck Sundays or you can join them on Monday nights for their … [Read more...]
Weekend Wrap Up
I'm pretty sure I need a weekend to recover from my weekend. I feel like I ran a marathon and I ran exactly 2.5 miles. Friday, Shoo and I got up super early and headed to his school. The buses were leaving for Jamestown at 6:45 am! It's about 2.5-3 hours each way, depending on traffic. Thankfully, the ride there went smoothly and the kids were all well behaved. We spent the next 5 hours touring Jamestown, which I either have never been to or was there as a child. After a long day at Jamestown and a surprisingly smooth bus ride home, I was ready for dinner out and a beer. Mostly the beer. Saturday morning we all got up early and headed to Richmond for a soccer tournament. We were lucky that Shoo didn't have to be there … [Read more...]
Planning for an Asheville Vacation
Last summer we did a huge vacation to Ireland. It was amazing to visit there and we had a fabulous time as a family (and I got to run my first international race!) … [Read more...]
5 Beers that will keep you warm this winter
It's Friday. Fr-Fr-Friday! I'm ready for Friday. It's been a super long week (how is it that a day that had a holiday in it can seem longer than a normal week?). Know what's awesome about Friday? Friday Five with Courtney, Cynthia and Mar AND a beer. I know today's topic is "Cold Weather Running Tips". I'm pretty sure I've covered that sufficiently now. (Don't believe me? Let's see... "How to run outside this winter" "How to stay active during the Holidays" "Tips for training through the winter" Yep, covered.) So, let's talk about another way to survive the winter. Beer. I always like to talk about beer. In fact, yesterday I went to Wegman's and was so overwhelmed by the whole place that the only thing I bought was, you … [Read more...]
DC Beer Scene + Spartan Winner
Beer Geek has a big round number birthday coming up. We don't usually do much around here to celebrate birthdays (or Christmas or Valentine's day or...), but when asked, he said the only thing he wanted was to be driven around to the three craft breweries that have opened up fairly recently in DC. This doesn't seem like that big of a request, right? Except I don't drive in DC. Ever. I did some research and decided that renting a limo made no sense. There are just too many other ways I can use that money. So, I put on my big girl panties and I drove my husband and four of his closest friends to DC Brau, Chocolate City, and 3 Stars. DC Brau DC Brau has been around since 2011 and is the only one of the three we visited … [Read more...]
A weekend in pictures
It's been a good weekend. I filled the freezer with a year's worth of grass-fed beef... I ran in place for a really long time... I drank back all of the calories at Mad Fox Brew Pub (and then later at Tallulah)... Today, I finished out my 50 mile week by running another 7.5 miles... And then I organized all of our beer... I'd like to say that I'm gonna kick back and watch the Super Bowl, but I'm much more likely to finish the laundry and organize my linen closet. I totally know how to party LOL. What fun things did you do this weekend? Are you watching the Super Bowl? … [Read more...]
Too much rest, not enough sleep
This has been kind of a crazy weekend. Friday I spent my day on a 1st grade field trip to a nature center. It was pretty wild being out in the woods, but hearing planes practically landing on top of our heads. We saw deer and box turtles and frogs, but we were literally right in the middle of an urban area. After the field trip, I volunteered for a bit at Shoo's school and then Shoo and I headed into the city to meet Beer Geek and Jones for dinner. Highlights of that trip? A guy dressed just like a pimp straight out of "I'm Gonna Get You, Sucka" and a drunk carrying an open bottle of red wine (+ a closed one) on the metro. Jones, of course, commented that "Mom, you aren't supposed to drink on the metro." (Because, yes, you can get … [Read more...]
Accidental speedwork and “Thirsty Thursday”
Yesterday I planned to run when I woke up, but I had a raging headache that was likely a result of dehydration. I ended up spending most of the morning working on my computer and drinking glass after glass of nuun. When I finally changed out of my pajamas (at a time later than I'm willing to confess), I changed into running clothes. Unfortunately, by that time, it was pretty darn warm out. I pretty much puttered the day away - some time working, some time doing an errand with the boys, a few random situps. I still planned to run, but the likelihood started to slip away. And then it happened. The boys decided they wanted their grandparents to take them out biking (my parents own 2 tandem bikes). Bam! I ran along (and behind and … [Read more...]
16 Breweries in 15 days!
That sounds kind of excessive, huh? Luckily, I'm a smart girl and I know how to do these things without hurting myself. In fact, I wrote a post over at Fitfluential about how to incorporate craft beer into a fit life. Go. Read it. Learn from it. Now I can tell you about our trip. When we go on family vacations, we don't normally eat out for every meal. We try very hard to rent accommodations that allow us to cook a lot of meals at home. And this vacation was no exception, except we did end up eating out about once every day, thanks to the Bend Visitors Center. (Thank you VRBO for some awesome rental houses over the last 6 years. I'm happy to talk more about this later if anyone is interested, but this post is about beer. … [Read more...]
