Fruit Picking!

This weekend we had a fun outing where we went fruit picking at a farm near us called Larriland.

It was the perfect day to go since it was finally under 90 degrees. Still humid as heck, but at least it wasn't too hot. 

Larriland has a lot of different crops you can pick, but we chose peaches, blueberries, and blackberries. Zahara went here last year with her camp, but for the rest of us, this was our first time picking these particular crops. We usually pick apples in the fall, and we've picked raspberries from our garden in England. I was expecting the peaches to be like apple picking and the berries to be like the raspberry experience. But they were different. 

The peaches were on short trees that were full of ripe fruit. But unlike apple picking, the ripe peaches don't just fall off when you twist them. You still have to give a slight yank to get them off. The way you tell if a peach is ripe is if it is uniformly pink/red, versus yellow. The side with the dimple, or cheek, will get red first, but you need to check the other side for ripeness.

I'm not usually a huge fan of blackberries. I find them a bit tart. Zahara really wanted to pick blackberries, but Asher and I wanted to pick blueberries, so we decided to split up. Dan and Z went to one field, and Ash and I went to the other. It was actually really nice to get a little alone time with Asher. He's so funny and interesting at this age. He never stops talking, which can sometimes be a lot, but I'm grateful he wants to share his thoughts with me.

Blueberry picking was not nearly as thorny as raspberry picking. I was surprised that the berry bushes were at eye level, so I didn't need to bend over to pick, but berries were low enough that Asher could easily reach as well. The berries come off very easily, and you're looking for berries that are uniformly blue. These are so sweet! I can't wait to snack on these all week.

Zahara and Dan had fun with the blackberry patch too. Dan said he was surprised that they weren't very thorny either. And these fruit are enormous! They are much sweeter than I've had before, so they must be perfectly ripe.

We'll be turning the peaches into ice cream and eating the other fruits as is. I'll let you know how it turns out!

St. Michaels, Maryland

Lately, we've been trying to explore some of the towns around us. We've been living in the area since 2004 (with a brief stint in England, of course), but we've rarely ventured outside Washington, DC, Baltimore, or Annapolis. There are tons of hidden gems within an hour's drive. So now we're making up for lost time!

A couple of weekends ago we went to an adorable little town called St. Michaels. It's on the Eastern Shore in Maryland on the Chesapeake Bay. It's been voted the best small town in Maryland and it's easy to see why. This town that's been around since the 1600s is chock-full of charm. Every house and street and alcove is full of history.

The Episcopal church that still stands in the town center was founded in 1677. Walking through the cemetery you can find tombstones dating back to at least the 1800s. 

We grabbed some food to go and ate our lunch at the waterfront. The walk to the water displayed some of the best examples of colonial houses. This bed and breakfast, the Tarr House, was built in 1667!

The town was full of gorgeous old homes and beautiful views of the water.

Of course we grabbed some ice cream from a local store, JoJo's Cupcakes and Cream. Dan's butter pecan was a big hit, but my black cherry was pretty great too.

Though the world is completely upside-down right now, sometimes its nice to carve out a little sense of normalcy with the family. I find ice cream usually does the trick.

Side Trips from Outer Banks

As I mentioned the other day, we went on a family vacation to Nags Head, North Carolina this summer. With two little ones in tow, we decided to split the drive over two days. On the way there we stopped in Yorktown, and on the way back we stopped in Williamsburg. That kept our drive to around 4 hours each day. We didn't do any exploring in Yorktown, but our hotel (and Asher's first!) was lovely. It's always nice to have an indoor pool, and the second room and kitchen were definitely a bonus.

At the end of our trip we stopped in Williamsburg to explore the colonial town. Zahara is a little young to fully appreciate everything colonial Williamsburg has to offer, so I was really pleased to find out you can enjoy a lot of the town for free. Walking down the street and striking up conversations with the characters in 18th century dress doesn't cost a cent. There were even a couple of activities we could participate in. Zahara's favorite was an archaeological dig site where she met with a real archaeologist.

This picture cracks me up because it looks like Z has freakishly big and hairy legs for a girl her size.

Even Asher enjoyed Williamsburg.

In addition to our overnight stops, we also had a great pit stop  to feed Asher and stretch our legs--the Morris Farm Market. Tons of fresh produce, samples galore, and live music. Everything was great, but the frozen peach cider was especially delicious.

Although a lot of people drive from DC to OBX in a day, I'm glad we split the drive up. It was much less stressful and we got to see a couple of bonus sites.

Read more about our trip to Outer Banks:

Family Trip to Outer Banks

Atlantic City: Our Last Hoorah

A couple of weeks ago we went for a short vacation to Atlantic City to celebrate Dan's birthday and to have one last vacation as a family of three. Atlantic City is only a few hours from us, but surprisingly I've never been. We found an awesome deal for a weekday stay at the Tropicana, which turned out to be the perfect hotel for us.

Zahara did great in the car, and we were in AC by lunch. We packed a picnic lunch for ourselves so we headed straight to the beach. Though it was a bit windy and chilly, our little beach baby could not contain her excitement. Don't you wish you got that excited about anything these days? Oh, to be young.

It was too cold to go in the water, but we changed Z into a bathing suit anyway so that she could run and jump in puddles and make sand castles. This beach was absolutely perfect for us since it had a giant sandbar right at the shoreline. I haven't seen a beach like this before, but essentially there was sand, then a very shallow bit of water (maybe a few inches deep), then around 50 feet of more sand, then the ocean. This meant that Zahara could have practically free reign to play by herself with us watching from a bit further away. She loved the freedom, and I loved being able to sit down. Ha!

She completely wore herself out, so after a bit of snuggling we went to check in to our hotel.

The Tropicana was perfect for us. It is enormous and full of fun things for Z to look at: flashing lights, fake sky, tons of people, lots of restaurants and shops. The indoor pool was a lifesaver the next day, when it rained all day long. We ate dinner at Carmine's, which is a family-style Italian place. The portions are ridiculously large, but luckily we had a mini-fridge in our room and could eat the leftovers the next day for lunch. The eggplant parmesean was delicious, and was even better the next day.

The next day was rainy and gross, but Zahara didn't mind. She spent four hours in the indoor pool!

Since we were on vacation, we indulged a bit and had ice cream. Ok, full-disclosure, we had ice cream every day. I regret nothing.

We spent some time exploring AC, but to be honest, there isn't much to see. The town is a shadow of how it must have been during its heyday, but we still enjoyed walking down the boardwalk. After dinner we headed back to our room and read some books before bedtime. We made a makeshift barrier for the really tall bed by placing the bolster under the sheets. After lights out, we spent an hour listening to Zahara sing show tunes--yes, really!--while I desperately tried not to laugh.

We grabbed a few more hours of beach time on our last day before heading home.

I can't believe that's our last vacation as a family of three! Can't wait until our first vacation later this summer as a family of four!

Final Days Down South

All good things must come to an end. After a week in southern England, it was almost time to return home. First though, we toured the Eden Project and Torquay. The Eden Project is absolutely fascinating. It is huge complex with two massive biomes containing thousands of plants. The project started with a reclaimed clay pit and set out to prove that it is possible to turn an industrial wasteland into a thriving, lush ecosystem. Today you'll find all sorts of fruits and vegetables growing, including coffee and banana in the Tropical biome; and olives and grapes in the Mediterranean biome. Outdoors, corn, hops, sunflowers and lots more grows beautifully.

Admission is a little pricey, but it was definitely worth the money. I imagine that in the summer or spring this place would be even more spectacular surrounded by blooming flowers.

We spent our last night in Torquay. I really loved the picturesque boardwalk and its ferris wheel. We didn't explore the town too much, but it seemed cute. The sunset was absolutely spectacular! And I would definitely recommend the B&B we stayed in. It is called the Exton House, and owners Julie and John were just lovely. Definitely good value for the money.

It was a terrific way to end an epic trip. I really had no idea that England had white sandy beaches, turquoise waters and wild ponies. Cornwall and the rest of south England was such a pleasant surprise!

Read about our other stops in south England:
Cotswolds
Exmoor
Waterfalls and Castles
Cruising Around Cornwall

Cruising Around Cornwall

Our next day in Cornwall was spent exploring some of the beach towns and the Minack Theatre. Situated 15 minutes from an adorable little town called Mousehole (pronounced Mowzel) and overlooking the stunning Porthcurno Bay, Minack Theatre is Cornwall's most famous open-air theater.

Mousehole

Porthcurno Bay

The theater has a really cool history. It was built and financed by one woman, Rowena Cade. She literally built the theater with her own two hands. Click here to read the whole story.

Minack Theater

The theater is impressive, but what is most impressive is the view. My favorite part of the visit was sipping a hot chocolate while looking at this:

I didn't know water in England could be that turquoise. I absolutely love it! After a quick visit to the beach--Zoey's first sandy beach!--we made our way to Land's End.

Land's End was a total disappointment. I was excited to see the "end of the world," but it has turned into a total tourist trap. You have to pay to get in and then pay to get your picture taken with the famous sign. All around are touristy shops selling the usual garbage. And the view was not any better than what we saw at the theater. I would definitely not recommend taking a special trip to see it.

Far less disappointing was St. Ives. Though it is a little commercial, I liked the feel of this beach town a lot. We had a fun meal at Portmeor Cafe and a delicious cream tea at The Tea Room. The cafe had a great view overlooking the water. The tapas were pretty small, but my "roasted beetroot, green beans, feta, toasted seeds, and soft herb salad" was very filling. And the tea at the Tea Room was one of the best cups I've had in a while. Almost as good as Betty's. :) Zoey even had a nice nap while Dan and I relaxed.

Another successful day in Cornwall!

Read about our other stops in south England:
Cotswolds
Exmoor
Waterfalls and Castles
Final Days Down South