Pancakes, Hector and the Search for Happiness & 13.8 km Afternoon Bike Ride

Given that we had enough ingredients and that Alastair really likes them, and that he will be away in Mexico for a week - I decided to make Swedish style pancakes for brunch.

I spent the early afternoon watching: Hector and the search for happiness whilst waiting for the weather to get better.
The movie is about a psychiatrist searches the globe to find the secret of happiness - and below are some of his notes from the trip:

It had a slow start, but as it sounded promising so I decided to give it some slack until Hector started travelling. It was well worth it and an interesting film after all. Recommended for a rainy afternoon.

My Friend David Malcolm had set me a challenge to cycle at least 10k. So Alastair and I cycled along the old railway line to Bethesda for a beer at the Tap House and a late afternoon lunch at Cafe DeLuxe.

3.4 km Afternoon walk & 2x 2.3 km Evening bike ride

Needed to go to Giant and buy cheese, but had about an hour free - so made a walk of it.

In the evening we were invited to Eliana and Carlos. Debating how to get there we finally settled on Metro + Bicycle. So we took the Metro to Grosvenor and cycled from there.

My friend David Malcolm commented that this was not much exercise, but then that was not the point - it clearly states "Bike ride Transport". However = he has now challenged me to do 10 km tomorrow. Perhaps I take Alastair out for lunch somewhere 5 km away - let's see.

The evening was very nice with great grilled meet and interesting"Swedish" wine, bought on their road-trip down through New York State.

It was great to catch up with Eliana and as both Carlos and Alastair are in Mexico next week, we might meet up one day.

North Beach, MD

A beautiful sunny day, time for lunch by Chesapeake Bay. After going over menus at a large selection of places we finally settles for Mango's Bar & Grill on North Beach, VA.
They were very busy and had no staff (guess they had called in sick to be able to go out in the sunshine or something). We had to wait a long time for a table, although there were tables available. The explanation was that even though the table itself was free, they had no server available. After close to 1 hour (originally was said to be 10 minutes) we asked for the check at the bar so that we could leave and drive off somewhere else. Just at that point we were offered a table, finally.
Then the next disappointment, the full menu was only available from 2 PM, which included some of the items I had in mind. But at that point we were too hungry to argue and just settled for something.

I had large shrimps marinated in pineapple-juice and coated in coconut flakes, served with Raspberry coulis. That was slightly odd, but actually quite nice.

We finished off with a walk along the pier and a view over the beach, which unfortunately was private and belonged to a resort.

North beach was not as nice as deal, the service was worse but the food itself was slightly nicer. Will try to make that myself sometime.

Deale, MD

With hot weather expected for the next 4 months or so I though it was time we explore more of the shore around Chesapeake Bay. It is nice to be on the water when it is hot and there will be less mosquitoes. We have previously been to Annapolis and a few towns on the Eastern shore (Oxford, Cambridge & St Michael's), although nice - it is a long drive. This time I proposed Deale, MD, the closest place to DC just under an hour away. I did not know anything about it, just picked a spot on the map.
It was an easy drive and Deale turned out to be a very nice little small-town on the Bay, just as expected. We found a small seafood restaurant called: Skipper's Pier Restaurant.

 We had crab cakes which were great and are looking forward to returning. On the platform in the picture above, they were setting up for a live band playing and it was lovely to sit there and eat, overlooking the marina.

 After lunch we drove around the rest of Deale before heading through small very small coastal town down to Chesapeake Beach. Chesapeake Beach was much more commercial and a much larger town. There were hotels along the seafront and a distinct lack of parking, so very difficult go go out for a walk and a look around. Sometimes I wonder if these beach town actually want visitors? We will continue exploring the nearby Western Shore and are thinking of renting a sailing boat together with friends in the near future. To be continued.

Happy New 2014 - no pizza today!

In Sweden New Year's Day is the main pizza-eating day. I guess it is the easy option when you have been up celebrating all night and in need of something with fat, sugar and salt. So, decided it was a good idea to for for a walk.
We live on 38th St NW which abruptly ends at the end of our road. Found out that 38th St NW continues south on a squiggly bit of road through McLean Gardens that was worth investigating.

The walk took us around some well kept apartment buildings, around the new building site "Cathedral Commons", which will be really nice when it is completed later this year. Lots of places to go out and a new supermarket.

The goal of the walk was "2 Amys Pizzeria", but unfortunately it was closed. So we headed home again.

With no pizza I decided to have some of the non-eaten cheese and baguette bought for the previous night. Unfortunately 24h old baguette, new bread-knife and my left index finger did not get along well, so the remainder of the evening was spent patching up badly bleeding Sissi

Hiking in DC

Long Walk : 4 miles (6 km) from Home to Georgetown trough the park.

Woke up to a lovely day! Cold, but I have learnt that around lunch-time it will warm up if the sun is out (and it definitely was). So after a morning of admin work, updating Resumes and sorting out a few more books, I decided to take a hike through the mysterious park I walked around a few weeks ago. I have found out where the entrance is now. It's funny there are no signposts whatsoever and evidently a park in the city is intersected by roads here and there. But after you come out of the park, and cross the road, you have no idea how to proceed or in which direction. This happened at least 3 times during the walk and I just had to guess which was the right direction towards Georgetown and the river (where I had a feeling the park would finally end).

It really was not a park as such, but a bit of wild forest with a path through it. Occasionally you came to a clearing with a meadow, and the you were back in the wild again.
After a few miles, not sure how far, I finally made the river and then followed that into Georgetown, where I had a nice meal and a glass of wine.

All the photos can be viewed here:

A Walk not to - no in - but around the park

I was told there was a nice park a couple of blocks from the house so decided after daily chores (work, apply for jobs and prepare for the arrival of all the Sweden stuff), I go over there. However, I could not find the entrance so ended up with a walk around the park instead. Then I got lost but thought I knew roughly how to get back. Unfortunately all the streets are intersected by avenues that goes diagonally across the numbered roads (and alphabet streets downtown). I had borrowed Alastair's GPS so I could keep a track of where I had been and if I learn how to use it properly I can add where I started so that I find my way back. This is where I went: