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Concert Photos | NYE Photos

This years New Years Eve party happened again at the beach house in Rehoboth with a few additions and surprises.  First off Marvin flew in for the holidays again after having surgery last years.  We also convinced Matt to come along for the first time and join in the festivities.  A not-to-be-missed once-in-a-lifetime concert with Nancy and my Dad was to take place as well.  Last year while at the beach, late in the evening and after many drinks, a plan was hatched for the two of them to play a duet together on acoustic guitar.  This was going to be the best NYE ever!

Getting to the beach turned out to be more of a hassle than in years past, traffic was not the problem.  The post-Christmas crowds had already died down and not many people travel long distances for celebrations.  The timing of January 1 also worked in our favor as Friday was the observed holiday so we all left on Thursday night after work, again making traffic a breeze.  What we didn’t count on was the blizzard that hit the beach a few days before.  When Nancy, Pat, and Marvin arrived in the afternoon they where greeted with a five foot pile of snow blocking the drive way.  The snow was plowed directly into the driveway from a cross street.  They spent over an hour clearing the snow till Matt showed up and finished what remained.  My Dad and I had to work so we got a late start and completely missed shoveling snow, what great timing.

lots of great food

It was great having a long weekend at the beach house with plenty of time to prepare for the party and a long night of drinking.  Getting up on NYE at the house was a fantastic way to start the day.  We pretty much lounged around all day till the afternoon hours when we started getting dinner ready for our feast.  By now the first beers and wine has been opened for everyone to enjoy so we where off and running.  For dinner Matt hooked up some nice fat pork chops with side of pasta and homemade sauce.  Nancy and I contributed with a <INSERT DISH NAME> dish we got from a recent cook book her brother gave us for Christmas.  The food was fantastic as we all stuffed our faces in preparations for the long night ahead.

Around 6pm, before dinner was served, the concert took place in a grand spectacle in the living room.  As the official audio and photo archivist I had my gear setup and ready to roll come show time.  The two of them played for almost an hour with various songs ranging all types of genera.  I must say the recording came out alright, very low levels as it was an acoustic show.  I think were I really shined where in the photos I took that night.  I of course would love to have a better lens that bigger aperture to shot in low light, but I think they came out rather well.

the highlight was the concert

After dinner stuck around the dinner table talking for a long while just relaxing.  That is probably the thing I love most about the beach house is the rush to do nothing.  There are not schedules, no time lines, nothing has to be done so we just sit around and relax.  Eventually the discussion turned to what to do at the witching hour of midnight.  We decided on a little bar hoping and got an early start, we left just after 10.  We wanted to grab our first drink at Fins which from last year we knew would close early.  Even though we arrived just after 10pm, the bar already took last call so we immediately walked out and headed across the street to Finbar.  Here they were remodeling in the off season and we got a preview of the new layout.  The big change was to move the bar close to the entrance and expanded it greatly to accommodate three times as many people.

The service here was not to great so we quickly finished our round and headed down to our local haunt for New Years, Dos Locos.  Here the crowd was lively and the place packed.  We were fortunate to grab two tables just as another group got up to leave.  The table was not yet cleared but we snatched it regardless.  Here was spent almost an hour as we drank a few rounds and rang in the new year with champagne.  After the hooping and hollering died down we headed back to the house to continue the celebrations.  Some more drinks and dancing, all of a sudden it was about 3am as everyone started dropping out for some much needed rest.

dance party

January 1 was a quite and lazy day for everyone.  I didn’t feel so hot for much of the morning and early afternoon, I should not have had that last whiskey sour with Matt.  That drink did me in, but it certainly was worth it.  We watched a lot of football and I was able to finish the book I was reading, Deception Point by Dan Brown.  As a matter of fact I don’t know if anyone even left the house that day.

By the time Sunday rolled around everyone was feeling good and back to life as we all headed back home.  Another successful New Years celebration.  We even got Nancy and my Dad to commit to another concert next year with an expanded list of songs.  Both committed to getting together once a month practice for the never-to-be-repeated-again concert event of the year.

See you all next year at the beach, have a wonderful new year everyone!

it was a night for beer

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After nursing a hangover from the night before, Nancy and I got a late start on our trip to Baltimore. As a surprise Nancy got a hotel room in the Inner Harbor for the night.  We planned to spend the evening out eating and drinking, not having to worry about driving home. Getting a late start we did not arrive in the city till after three o’clock, plenty of time to check in and get settled in before heading out for the night.  We got an upgraded room, still the king bed but got moved to the 18th floor. The view was pretty bad, we looked directly into the court yard between two close buildings.  But then again we were in the city not for the room but to eat and drink. What we did get out of the upgraded room was a free happy hour and breakfast the next morning.

After parking the car we “relaxed” in the room for a few minutes and then headed down to the hotel bar for some drinks. While checking in the guy gave us a free drink ticket when he found out it was my birthday so the first round was on the house.  Plus we had some time to kill before the hotel happy hour so we enjoyed another round before heading up.

Once 7pm rolled around we packed it up and headed for the happy hour for some more drinks and hors d’oeuvres on the 17th floor.  Here the beer selection was down right horrible and there was no red wine.  But my mission of drinking all night was not going to be interrupted by this little fact and I plowed through two Amstel Lights.  The one saving grace was the hors d’oeuvres which were actually really good.  There was a fruit and cheese platter and these awesome mini burgers that Nancy and I both filled up on.  This actually helped solve one problem, what to eat for dinner.  Now we could focus on drinking!

James Joyce Irish Pub

Late in the evening we headed for the Inner Harbor to start bar hoping.  As many times as I have been there I didn’t have any places in mind on where to drink.  I like to wing it most of the time when it comes to finding food on trips.  We agreed that I would pick the first place and Nancy the next, going back and forth till we found our way back to the hotel.  Shortly after arriving to the Inner Harbor I saw a sign for Sullivan’s.  I didn’t know what it was before walking up, but the sign outside looked inviting and they offered a terrace so we could smoke.  When we walked in it was a swanky place, felt out of place being there.  We talked to the hostess and she said we could sit outside and a waitress would eventually come out to take our drink order.  We sat on the far side, right next to a three piece jazz band playing at the bar, I saw that and got excited!  Nancy smoked a cigarette and then I started harping on her to go inside, it wasn’t freezing out, I just wanted to hear the band.  We got a seat on the far side of the bar, ordered another round of drinks and a plate of oysters Rockefeller.  Nancy is not one for sea food, but she does love this dish.

After a quick drink it was time to head to the next bar.  I thanked Nancy for indulging my jazz music tastes and we headed deeper into the harbor.  We passed several promising places but nothing that sparked interest from Nancy.  Searching on her phone turned up an Irish pub, James Joyce, not to far in Little Italy.  Here we spent several hours drinking and talking.  This place was much more lively than Sullivan’s with a crowd that knew how to drink and a band playing traditional Irish music.  We bellied up to the bar and ordered a round of Guinness, this was my staple drink for the rest of the night.  Nancy even meet the lead singer from the band on one of her smoking breaks.  She leaned over after the set break and told me she just smoked a cigarette with the guy, real cool and down to earth.

National Aquarium

By now it was getting late and we both were getting hungry for some food and another round.  When making our way to James Joyce we noticed a place called Roy’s with the description of “Hawaiian Fusion”, this sounded interesting.  Unfortunately when we walked in after 11pm the kitchen had just closed down and they where only serving drinks.  We didn’t much fit in with the crowd and we got a cool reception from the bartender.  No need to stay where we are not wanted so we walked out, still looking for food.

One place that I love to stop by late at night in Baltimore is Sabatino’s, right in the heart of Little Italy.  The prices are reasonable and the food is pretty good.  Considering they are open till 3am on Fridays and Saturdays I hit it up regularly after shows.  Nancy and I settled in for another round of drinks and some late night pasta with tiramisu for dessert.  One thing bugged me while we were here, I noticed this guy in the opposite corner from our table and I just kept staring at him.  He looked familiar but I couldn’t place him.  It was about 30 minutes before it dawned on me, we saw Mickey open up for Joel McHale at the Warner Theatre a while back.  Mickey is from 98 Rock and he was having a late dinner with a couple of his friends.  I thought he was funny as shit when we saw him.

Unfortunately like all great things this too must come to an end.  We walked back to the hotel but we were certainly not done drinking.  The hotel bar was still open so we plopped down for another drink and shot the shit with the bartender who served us earlier in the night.  Finally it was time to head up to the room and catch a few zzz after a long night of drinking, in fact a long weekend of drinking.

frog from the National Aquarium

The next morning we woke up refreshed and headed to the free breakfast buffet on the 17th floor.  After checking out of the hotel we headed over to the National Aquarium to check out the fish.  I was planning on going here Saturday afternoon when we arrived, but the previous nights festivities delayed our arrival in the city so we had to postpone it till Sunday morning.  It had been years since either of us had been there, in fact it was probably 15+ years for me.  Some of the exhibits has been updated or rotated out, but basically just like I remember it from so long ago.  Another quick meal at Dick’s Last Resort were we got some decent food and a whole lot of bad attitude.

We arrived home late in the afternoon and both of us were exhausted from partying all weekend long.  We settled in for a movie but that was short lived.  I wanted nothing more than to fall asleep, which I did for a few minutes on the couch, but I had to get up and head out to Vienna with Jeremy to see Charlie Hunter perform.  The performance was forth getting out of the house for, but I certainly felt like crap till I got two cups of coffee in me.

I was surprised by the trip Nancy planned for my birthday.  We had a kick ass time bar hoping and taking in the sights of Baltimore for the night.  There is so much to do we could certainly go again, maybe next year for my birthday?

22 dead soldiers

Rob for a couple of weeks talked about getting some people together for a beer tasting at his house.  He would invite a few people and everyone was responsible for bring a six pack or two of something you have never tried.  Well Nancy and I were certainly in for that.  We managed to convince Matt to come along which added to the fun.  We were all at Sweet Water after Ellie’s birthday party at Wolf Trap discussing our engagement party and talked about the beer tasting.  Matt was in but only if we picked him up so he wouldn’t have to drive.  A small price to pay to get him to come along.

We arrived at Rob’s house a little late, but we certainly were not the latest to arrive.  We eventually gave up waiting for everyone else to arrive and started the tasting about 6 o’clock.  Rob printed out tasting forms from the Sam Adams web page which was really cool.  Because of the number of beers most of us just graded on a scale from 1-5 for each of the different categories.  Two hours later we finished sampling all 22 beers.  We tasted beers from Germany, Belgium, the left coast, East coast and one from Virginia.  The styles ranged from ales to pale ale, several stouts (chocolate was popular), weissbier, even a raspberry sparkling champagne beer that was pretty good.  A very sweet beer, not something I could drink a lot of, but definitely tasty.

We hung out for another hour and bounced around 9.  I had a small buzz from all the samplings and a few extra tastes of the really good ones.  I could have spent hours talking with the guys outside, but Matt and Nancy were ready to head out.  We brought three six packs and walked out with two, not a bad deal if you ask me.  Being early and still having plenty of beer we headed back to Matt’s house were my Dad and Pat were just cleaning up after a late dinner on the deck.  We processed to spend the next four hours with them drinking more and have a great time relaxing on the desk.  We burned through three of the four touches we were out there so long.  Eventually everyone called it quits around 2am, well past everyone’s bed time.  What a kick ass beer tasting, Rob is already talking about doing it again and we can’t wait till he hosts another one.

Beer Tasting

Paradise Springs Winery

It was Nancy’s birthday the other day and we had a busy day planned to celebrate it.  The party started at a brand new winery in Fairfax, the first in the county in fact.  Paradise Springs Winery had their grand opening the same day as her birthday and what a perfect way to kick off a full day of celebrations.  Nancy and I arrived just after noon with few people there.  Because the place was hard to find and in the middle of no where, I thought the crowds would be pretty small.  Parking was easy and getting a tasting took only a few minutes.  However as the day progressed, more and more people showed up, literally bus loads at times.  By this time reinforcements arrived with food, my Dad and Pat.

We spent hours around this wine barrel we commandeered for the afternoon.  It allowed us a place to put all the food my Dad brought with him.  Fortunately Nancy, Tracy, Rob and myself arrived early enough we were able to get a tasting in before the hordes came.  It was to late for them to get a tasting because of the lines.  They trusted our judgment and got a bottle of Chardonnay and a Norton we all agreed was drinkable.  To be honest none of us were to thrilled with the offerings.  The wine was simply, ok.  Nothing spectacular and certainly nothing that blew our minds.  A pretty decent view more than made up for the mediocre wine.

Alto Plaza Centreville, VA

Late in the afternoon after killing several soldiers we parted ways, Nancy and I continued our adventure in birthday fun and everyone else went home.  We headed back to her apartment with Doug who arrived supper late to the winery for about an hour before dinner at Alto Plaza.  This allowed us to change into appropriate attire for dinner, but more importantly, get some football in.  Doug and I couldn’t see the whole game, but we saw enough to know New Orleans was going to win against the Cardinals.

Around 6 we finally left for the short drive to Alto Plaza where we had reservations.  We arrived right on time, but like usually we where the first to arrive.  When we got to the third floor they had a large table setup for us right next to a large bay window looking towards the mountains.  If the sun was setting it would have been a great view.  Being the first to arrive we decided to belly up to the bar in the lounge for a quick drink and to relax before things got crazy.  By about 7pm everyone else arrived; Jeremy, Nichole and Jeffrey with Rob coming from the winery like we did.  Dinner was fantastic.  The food was great and the service was impeccable.  The only issue we had was when we tried to pay the bill.  I had $225 in gift cards that I wanted to use, this would cut the total bill in half for everyone else.  Unfortunately the waitress said the gift cards where for the old restaurant and they wouldn’t’ accept it.  I was pissed.  Thankfully, she went to bat for us and they used all the gift cards.  If they wanted to get our business again this was what they needed to do.

Lulu Cafe (karaoke) Centreville, VA

After a wonderful meal our group again parted ways with some of our dinner guest headed over to Lulu Cafe for some karaoke.  Here we meet backup with Tracy and Bobby, Matt showed up as well for a loooooong night of singing.  We got there just before 10pm and snagged a private room in the back.  The guy showed us how to use the equipment and it was on after that.  The machine was in constant use till well after 2am when we finally left.  Everyone, including Matt, sang songs for hours.  By about midnight I wanted nothing more than to go home and sleep.  In fact several times I almost passed out in the back corner which was amazing considering how loud the music was.

Close to 3am is when we finally got Nancy back to her house.  It felt so good to finally go to sleep in a comfortable bed.  The whole day was great and a lot of fun, even if it did go to the wee hours of the morning.  Not only did Nancy say she had a great time, I could also tell because all day Sunday she was hung over and didn’t want to leave the house.  I was grateful to everyone that made it out for all or part of the day, it really made Nancy feel special having so many people show up.  Next years is a milestone year for her, she has kicked around a few ideas on how to celebrate it already.  It certainly a good idea to start planning 12 months in advance for some of these.

sun dial from the Carlyle House

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So after years of trying to get Nancy to travel the short distance to Old Town Alexandria for a day of fun it finally happened.  But not because of my doing, a couple she knows was going to the Torpedo Factory, one of the reasons I have been trying to get her to go, and invited us along.  I couldn’t believe it when she agreed to travel to the “city”.  Finally!  We were headed to the Torpedo Factory for a day of culture and fun.

Saturday when we went couldn’t have been better to be outside in this historic district.  The sun was shining and them temperatures were very comfortable.  I decided to take Metro and just meet everyone there at 4 o’clock.  Since i wanted to walk around a take a bunch of pictures this afforded me ample time to get there early and enjoy the city.  While walking down from the Metro stop they had an Armenian festival at City Hall.  They had all sorts of craft vendors and when I was passing through a group of dancers were on stage doing traditional dance, you wont see this stuff on MTV.

I was able to spend a good hour walking around the city, mostly along the waterfront, and got some good shots.  Nancy and the troops were running a little late which allowed me the extra shooting time at the Carlyle House (picture).  A historic site with a fantastic garden in the back yard that is being restored.  Unfortunately their delay would limit our time at the Torpedo Factory.  It normally closes at 6 on Saturdays, but tonight they had a special engagement and were closing at 5.  So we only had about 30 minutes of time to walk around.  Every type of art medium you could think of is represented here, most of which was for sale.  I was really impressed with the place and would love to come back when I can spend a few hours walking around.  With three levels and all these little cubbyholes hiding different artists, many of who are happy to talk about their work, there is a lot to see.

Eventually when we got kicked out we walked around downtown and did a little shopping.  The first place we went to was Conrad’s Furniture Gallery because of their pitch.  When we walked by they offered us free drinks and hors d’oeuvres.  Who can refuse free alcohol and food?  The place was very trendy and offered a wide variety of things for sale.  Nancy walked away with a hand blown green glass blow from Turkey, or maybe Morocco.  I wanted to use it as a cereal bowl but that idea got shot down quickly.  Nancy doesn’t know yet what she will do with it, but she knows it will be the bases for furnishing her house.  I fail to see how you can base the whole decoration of a house, or even a room, on one single bowl, but if anyone can do it it would be Nancy.

row houses

We still needed to kill time as our dinner reservations at The Wharf, was not till 6:30.  The hors d’oeuvres wet our appetite so we tried to get seated early for our reservations.  When we arrived at the restaurant it was completely empty on Saturday night.  Once we got seated we checked out the menu and it was limited and expensive.  Plus Nancy doesn’t eat seafood and the selection of chicken/beef was only two items.  So we decided to dine and dash, well more just the dash.  We didn’t order anything, not even drinks.

Fortunately for us just down the block we found another restaurant that looked more appealing, the Fish Market.  It was still a seafood place, but the menu had more options of non-seafood items.  When we walked in the atmosphere was much more relaxed compared to the other place.  Even the drink selection was better, the crazy sizes and names made it a done deal.  I must saw that I was impressed with the food as well.  I had the Admiral’s platter, basically a little of everything.  With the exception of the crab imperial that tasted awful, everything was good.  And the hushpuppies, it had been so long since I tasted such good hushpuppies.

After dinner we decided on some bar hoping and this is how we ended our night in Old Town.  Our first stop was at the Tap Room which was right next to the car.  Definitely a locals bar, very quaint with cool architecture.  Next it was off to O’Connell’s, you might have quested it, an Irish pub.  Here we lucked out and got a table outside on the sidewalk.  On such a beautiful night we could not have asked for a better location.  Plus I love to people watch and it was great to see the diverse crowd of people walking around that evening.  It was so good we had two rounds of drinks before we did a little shopping at Le Tache.  I won’t go into what this place is, but I saved the night when I found it only one block up from O’Connell’s bar.  A very interesting place, very upscale with a helpful staff, I can’t wait to go back.

For a night cap it was Bugsy’s and their sports bar located atop their pizza parlor.  I was amazed by the amount of crap, I mean memorabilia, on the walls.  In the middle of looking around we noticed it was almost midnight and that the garage would be closing soon.  We were not ready to finish our evening, but we were forced to leave.  After getting back to the car I hitched a ride to Metro and that ended a great day in Old Town Alexandria.  We are all hoping to get back soon and do an official bar crawl.