Eating Out - Food Trucks

Good thing I didn't order that side of potato salad.

Sauca (International/Food Truck)

I've tried my best to document a number of DC culinary trends, including the gourmet burger, cupcakes, and wood fire pizzas. One arena of DC food trends I didn't get around to trying until today is the food truck. Food trucks are huge all over the country right now, and DC is jumping on the bandwagon. Here's my first (of hopefully many) food truck lunches. I signed up for Twitter this week just so I could find out who would be slinging lunch near my workplace.

Observations

• Sauca uses the tagline "Eat the World." I generally find that eateries that offer a lot of different cuisines fall flat, but Sauca may have pulled it off. At least my lunch was really good. I can't speak for the other menu offerings.
• I had the pork banh mi sauca. It was essentially a large pita stuffed with soy and chili stewed pork with rice, pickled veggies, and a mix of Thai peanut and coconut curry sauces.
• I usually don't like to have a meal with just one item (I love sides), but this one item lunch was more than enough.
• I also had a bottle of the refreshing limunad (that's how they spell it, I just said lemonade). The lemon flavor was dominated by the "mint and orange blossom." I thought it tasted like rose. I'll probably get it again, but I doubt it's for everybody.
• It was kind of nice to eat lunch in the heat listening to the traffic and homeless people begging for money. You know, the true DC experience.

Getting Out - Fort Reno

The Evens

When we decided to move to DC, I didn't know much about the city. I knew that the summers were notoriously humid, and I knew the town was the birthplace of hardcore punk, one of my favorite musical genres. Monday night we went to see a DC punk rock legend, Ian MacKaye, at Fort Reno with his current band, The Evens (a duo with his wife).

The thing I love about Fort Reno is that the lineup is usually made up of different rock bands. The crowd is surprisingly similar to what you would find at the usual "on the grass" summer events like jazz (which nobody really likes), symphonies (ditto), and Shakespeare (ditto, unless you teach drama). It's still a lawn full of picnics, sleepy dogs on leashes, little kids playing in the grass, and an ice cream truck. Just no alcohol. No drugs. DC hardcore style.

Kathryn enjoying an assortment of tofus and salads from the nearby Whole Foods.

Ian MacKaye's good buddy Henry Rollins was there to catch the show and help carry equipment. It's weird that these two dudes have been doing this together for 35 years.

D.C. Sports - Washington Nationals

Fortunately, none of the Phillies fans turned around to give our camera the finger.

I grew up a Cardinals fan which means I will always be a Cardinals fan. Kathryn, on the other hand, finds Cardinals fans annoying which means she didn't follow baseball the only time she lived in a major MLB market. Although somehow Kathryn has a growing interest in the Washington Nationals. She started following when the Nationals were in the chase for the NL East (read: April). This weekend we made our first trip to the ball park to celebrate the amazing weekend weather.

• Everyone says you should never buy Nats tickets in advance. There are always plenty of cheap seats available at the box office. This is not true however when the Phillies come to town. We actually had to scalp tickets to get into the sold out game.
• Nats Park is a great facility, but the food selection was terrible. (I wish they too sold Willie McGee's cookies.)
• Ratio of Phillies fans to Nats fan: 4 - 1.
• After growing up in the Midwest, I have been evaluating all of my long held stereotypes about people "out East." I can confirm all of the stereotypes about Philly sports fans. Those people are savages.
• Kathryn had to work the next morning, so we were forced to leave early. We didn't miss too much. Just a walk off homer to win the game.

I think the ballpark is mostly marketed to tourists and interns. There is a lot of "check out how Washington this is" type stuff, like this Honest Abe giant bobble head.

Or how about this George Washington mascot thing? I think they should have gone with the Ex-Presidents from Point Break - way cooler.

Eating Out - Burgers

The only reason to visit.

Rogue States (Burgers)

The newest competitor in DC's premium burger war, Rogue States, just opened not far from where we live and work, so we stepped in to try a burger one afternoon when a Chop't salad just didn't seem hearty enough.

Observations

• We both played it safe with the classic bacon cheeseburger. The "exotic" burgers didn't really sound that great or interesting.
• They try to pack too much flavor into the patty (the wall literally uses the phrase "flavor flav" to describe the burgers). It's a lot like how the steaks at Outback all taste like that "Australian" spice rub. Except they don't have bloomin onions, so Outback at least has that going for them.
• The only - I repeat only - thing that would get me to go back to Rogue States is a cup of their perfectly cooked sweet potato fries.
• Much like Good Stuff, the fries are kicked up a notch by the assortment of flavored mayos. The old bay seasoned mayonnaise is damn good, but the wasabi mayo is unreal.
• Save your money, go to Five Guys.

Vacation - Mexico (Nuptials)

It's official!

The main event of our trip to Mexico was our friends Phil and Chantal's wedding. It was a beautiful ceremony at a gazebo next to the beach. After the nuptials we celebrated with dinner and a live mariachi band.

I had the distinct honor of serving as best man.

I put this up for only one reason. I look a lot like my dad.

The wedding party on the beach.

Vacation - Mexico (Chichen Itza)

I'm resisting the urge to use the caption "Sweatin' to the Oldies"

While on vacation in Mexico we took a long day trip to Chichen Itza. I wasn't originally sold on the idea, but it turned out to be a lot of fun. It also helped that, for maybe the first time in my life, I was able to sleep on a bus. We got the chance to swim in a giant sinkhole on the way back to the resort. Sadly, no pictures.

Kathryn playing it smart and wearing a giant floppy hat.

Thornberrys standing in front of the temple.

Kathryn outside of the ball court with a giant snake sculpture.

(Editor's note: I some how forgot to mention that our tour guide told us Sir Elton John recently played a concert at Chichen Itza. We spent a large portion of the trip discussing how this was even possible and who would actually come to said concert.)

Vacation - Mexico (Resort Pictures)

The lovely beach at Playa Mujeres.

Two of our great friends Phil and Chantal got married in Mexico, and it was the perfect excuse for a week of vacation. We stayed at the Excellence Playa Mujeres. Here's some of the fun at the resort:

Kathryn figured out how to use the auto timer on our camera. Hotel suite shot.

Here's me and the entire Thornberry clan at the lazy river. We spent virtually our entire vacation there.

sugary drinks = sleep in the lazy river