Day Trip - North Beach, MD

Chesapeake Bay - my new favorite giant body of water.

I've been craving a day at the beach. Although the Atlantic isn't too far away, the thought of driving 4 hours in traffic to a crowded beach didn't seem worth it. I stumbled across a small article in a free paper here in town about North Beach, MD. It's only 30 miles from our house, and it has all of the offerings of a decent beach town: sand, boardwalk, ice cream stand, hot dog vendor, candy store, and seafood restaurant.

2011 will mark the summer I fell in love with the Chesapeake Bay.

The sand beach is divided in two by a nice size peer. I didn't get the chance to fish from the peer, but maybe Kathryn will let me try next time.

We went for a walk down the boardwalk to get a plate of mussels, crab chowder, and cold beers.

The beach had filled in by the end of the day, but it was far from overrun.

Getting Out - The Accidental Crabbers

Half a bushel of crabs.

A few weeks ago, my good buddy John and I went fishing at his friend's house. His friend's house sits on a river which feeds into the Chesapeake Bay. The fishing wasn't going so well, but in a weird turn of events, we found ourselves on a commercial crabbing boat. John's dreams came true as we got our chance to trot line crab.

Brief tutorial: A trot line is a 1,000 to 5,000 foot long rope that has buoys at either end. The line is dotted with chicken necks tied every two to three feet. The line is then laid across the river bottom or bay floor. You ride along in a boat pulling up the line as you go. Crabs latch on to the chicken necks, and you pull them off with a basket.

Here's a pretty hefty blue crab coming off the line.

You can see the chicken necks on the trot line. This was at the end of the day when the line was being pulled in.

At the very last run of the day, the crabber let John and I try our hand at scooping up the crabs.

Here I am getting instruction from our Captain.

Unfortunately, the line was a little bare at the end of the day.

We also had a few pots we set out earlier in the day.

Our crabbing boat Captain gave us a half a bushel of female crabs for what equated to a case of beer and a burger. Since it was 4th of July weekend, I assume that's what he bought anyway.

John and I steamed the crabs.

There were tons of leftovers, so Kathryn and I made crab cakes the next day.

The leftover crabs sitting on The Cuba Free Press.

Mixing up the crab, breadcrumbs, eggs, red bell pepper, old bay, and pepper.

Pan frying.

Crab cake sandwich with grilled asparagus and grilled corn.

Vacation - Niagara Falls

American Falls.

A few weeks ago, I went on a business trip to Niagara-on-the-Lake, Ontario for two days of meetings, but Kathryn was able to tag along for a short vacation. Also, we were able to check out Niagara Falls on the way.

At first, I was disappointed to learn that Niagara Falls are in a gorge. I always pictured them pouring down a mountain. It's the most I've ever been disappointed by something beautiful.

Kathryn at the top of American Falls.

The happy couple.

We, of course, took the Maiden of the Mist boat tour to the base of the falls.

Kathryn's picture of the American Falls from the boat.

It's hard to see in this picture, but I was getting pelted by the water/mist. Also, you might note that I'm starting to sunburn. I accidentally burnt the crap out of myself that day.

On the way up to Niagara-on-the-Lake, we stopped at a beautiful horticulture garden.

Lookout!

While I was sitting through presentations, Kathryn was out bicycling the countryside and checking out wineries.

Here she is at a vineyard.

Niagara-on-the-Lake is home to several wineries and known for ice wine. Kathryn made sure to take in a tour.

Enjoying a glass of wine and a few pages of one of the "The Girl with the Something or Other" books.

We did get to visit one winery together briefly.

Inniskillin is the oldest ice wine producer in the area.

Getting Out - Fletcher's Boathouse

Brought plenty of ice water for these hot days.

This summer, I have returned to fishing, or more precisely, I'm once again obsessed with fishing. In my quest for some decent fishing close to home, I came across Fletcher's Boathouse on the Potomac. It's less than two miles form downtown Georgetown, but once you're on the river, it feels farther from the city.

The boathouse rents kayaks, canoes, and rowboats. I opted for the solid wood row boat built in Maryland.

Small stream running into the Potomac.

The cove also offers some decent birding.

It wasn't the best day of fishing, but I pulled in this little guy.

Garden Update

Kathryn picks the first load of cherry tomatoes.

I bought this orange tree which will be an indoor tree in the winter. Here's hoping this thing works.

Kathryn planted a nice collection of herbs.

Weekend Projects - Vegetable Garden

Let's just hope this stuff lives.

This week we planted a small vegetable garden in our backyard. On my way home from work, I picked up a few plants from the local hardware store: tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, red bell peppers, chili peppers, jalapeno peppers, okra, cucumbers, and basil.

Wheeled home the garden supplies in our grocery cart.

Before: transplanted these to the front yard to replace some dead plants.

After: two red pepper and two tomato plants.

Also, I made a compost box out of an old plastic bin we were going to toss.

Ready for kitchen scraps and grass clippings.

Road Trip - Boston

Boston Common (the park, not the Anthony Clark TV show)

Monday was a national holiday, and we decided to double down and take Friday off, too. We took the train up to Boston for a four day weekend. It was the first time for both of us, and we spent our time checking out some history and eating lots of New England foods.

As soon as we dropped off our bags, we found a bowl of clam chowder and lobster roll. The soup was so good we went back for our last meal, too.

We spent most of the weekend walking around the Freedom Trail and checking out Revolutionary war sites.

We actually spent a large share of our weekend in cemeteries.

We were both captivated by the ghastly images carved into the headstones.

I think we need to bring this style back.

We saw these BMXers in Boston Common our first day, and Kathryn was obsessed with them the rest of the trip.

This was, without a doubt, Kathryn's favorite image of the weekend. She was pretty proud of how this picture turned out.

The town had a lot of tributes for Memorial Day, including this collection of flags for fallen Massachusetts soldiers in Boston Common.

We were fortunate enough to get together with one of my good friends from college and his wife - current Bostonians (and unfortunately, IU fans).

Cliche Mike's Pastry visit.

Some cliches happen for a reason, like outstanding cannolis.

I opted for the chocolate covered lobster tail because it sounds way more New England.

Kathryn and some reenactors at the Charlestown Navy Yard.

Old Ironsides

Kathryn on board.

One of the highlights of the trip for me - Real World: Boston house.

We spent the better part of the late afternoon lounging in the grass in Boston Common. This was our view.

On the wharf getting ready to go whale watching.

Beautiful view of the city as we pull away from the docks.

Enjoying a beautiful sunny day.

Wonderful views of the sun-drenched harbor islands.

Wait, what?

Trying to enjoy ourselves despite the fog, the cold, and the wind.

The only whale we were able to see was on this beer bottle, but it's OK because the beer was also warm and flat.

The wind nearly gave Kathryn dreadlocks.

Miraculously, it cleared up just as we were heading back to port.