One Fine Weekend

As the mercury continues to rise here on the East coast, usually our only goal for three straight days of 90+ degree heat would be survival.  But thanks to our friends and family, they pushed us to get out of the house and enjoy the DC area between the hours of 6:00 -10:00 am and 6:00-10:00 pm.  The result was a really nice weekend that included 25 miles of biking, two floatation devices, a 338 year old house, 100 different kinds of beer (surprisingly unrelated to the flotation devices) and online Mario Kart.  It’s like Lance Armstrong and George Washington went out for drinks and found themselves in the public pool after dark.  Only better, see below.

The weekend started on Friday morning.  I already had my hours in for the week, but still needed to go in to wrap up a few things.  Jenn had the great idea that I should go on a bike ride to Mount Vernon since I didn’t need to be into work too early.  It’s 12.5 miles, roughly an hour (less if you’re in shape) and it was fantastic.  Eighty percent of the ride is along the Mount Vernon trail, which follows the Potomac River.  I love finally having bikes because this was such a great ride that I’m already looking forward to the next one. 

That night, two awesomely concurrent events took place.  First, Steph and Peter came up from Charlottesville Friday evening to hang out and go to Mount Vernon in the morning.  Second, I was invited to the Savor beer and food expo also going on that night.  Before you say, “Geez Phil you’re a jerk for ditching your sister and brother-in-law to go drink beer,” 1) I was invited before Steph and Peter made plans and, 2) I am a jerk and probably would have done it anyways. 

The beer festival was fantastic (http://www.savorcraftbeer.com/).  Hosted in the National Building Museum, it featured 48 different breweries and 96 different types of beer (two per brewery).  By 7:10 when I got there, the line was around the block and for good reason.  Jim Cook was there from Sam Adams and Sam Calagione -- the founder of Dogfish Brewing Company -- showed up.  The guys I went with were great to hang out with and three and a half hours went by all too quickly.  We made nerdy satellite jokes, talked about kids (and the single guys’ fear of them) and drank a ridiculous amount of two ounce beers.  The only thing I will warn future attendees about:  they go light on the food.  My buddies ate beforehand so I looked pretty desperate for food as I pushed aside women and old people to get a slice of bread or petite cream puff.  All in all, great company + great beer = a great night.  Meanwhile, Steph, Peter and Jenn were sharing a sampler pack after putting the kids to bed.  Those four beers make it 100 beers available to us combined that night.  The fact that I account for 96% of that is slightly embarrassing.

The next morning, the kids didn’t receive the memo that I got home at 1:30 and promptly woke up at 5:30.  Feeling guilty about the fact that I went out with friends, I woke up with the kids and played as quietly as possible until everyone else started stirring.  This was Mount Vernon day and the best thing about Mount Vernon for parents is that it opens at 8:00.  So at 8:01, the six of us were strolling the grounds where George Washington made decisions that led to the amazing country that brings us 100 beers in a single evening.  Steph and Peter are two of my favorite people on planet Earth and hanging out with them all morning in one of my favorite places makes for a pretty damn good morning.  

We grab lunch from a local deli and when Peter suggests Lays potato chips, my heart seizes up with excitement and cholesterol.  Jenn and Steph do some shopping with a bunch of Ann Taylor gift/savings cards and Peter and I play Mario Kart online then chase it with a little Armageddon on TV.  The 90s didn’t seem so far away, but man that movie is awesomely old.

Steph and Peter had to head back that afternoon and after Brynn demands multiple hugs, we head to the pool, which is exactly a two minute walk from our house.  Brynn has a life vest and Jonah has a sort of a high-tech innertube and we attempt to safely navigate the public pool environment littered with leathery grandmothers, angsty teenagers and bored lifeguards.  Thankfully, the kids are mainly interested in sitting in the chairs by the pool while pouring water on other kids and making them cry.  We left early.

The weekend was polished off with a free upgrade on our rental car, a delicious dinner after the kids went to bed, some Arrested Development and me getting to catch up on my blog posting.  One weekend I won’t soon forget….except for a small portion at the beer festival.