A Memorable Memorial Day

Well, this Memorial Day was memorable for a number of reasons, so we'd better start at the beginning. A few weeks ago we decided to spend Memorial weekend up in DC, and made arrangements with my brother Devin and his wife Sarah (who live in Richmond) to babysit our kids for 2 nights/3 days so we could enjoy the city kid-free. Pretty sweet, right? Well, as luck would have it all that week I'd been dealing with a pretty bad migraine, which when you're preggo there aren't many good pain management options and so they last for days...and days...and days. I was able to take some Tylenol 3 I'd been prescribed, but unless I took a LOT of it, it wasn't really doing much but taking the edge off. By Thursday morning I had completely run out, and we were set to leave for Richmond right after Lucy's preschool concert that evening. I figured I'd tough it out like I did with Lucy's pregnancy (I had migraines for weeks but was too afraid to take any painkillers) and try and make the best of our kid-free weekend. But by Friday morning I literally couldn't stand for longer than a minute without feeling like I was going to pass out because my head was THROBBING, and I couldn't see out of my left eye (the side the migraine was on). I was starting to freak out because I just knew the weekend was going to be ruined if I couldn't get my poor head some help, so I luckily narrowly avoided having to sit in the ER when Sarah suggested I see a PA friend of hers who could see me that morning. She prescribed me some Percocet and within a few hours Jon and I kissed the kiddos good bye and were finally on our way (only a few hours behind schedule)!

I really don't remember much about the drive up to DC because I spent most of it in a drug induced stupor, but I DO remember arriving at the Cafe Rio in Manassas. Hello! That woke me up. I have been craving that pork salad constantly the last 4 months!

After one of my all-time favorite lunches we headed just a mile up the road to the Manassas battlefield. I've always been fascinated by the Civil War, so any time we can squeeze in a visit to one of the historical sights, we do. This one is just a few miles outside of DC and was where it all began at the first Battle of Bull Run. Such history!

The setting today looks much like it did back then, and it was easy to picture the picnickers from DC coming to see the first run-in between North and South and thinking it would be the first (and last) battle of the war. Little did they know it would last 4 long years and consume thousands of lives.

By that time with all the heat and walking around my head was pounding again, so we decided to drive up to our hotel in the DC suburb of Silver Springs. After another round of Percocet (hope no one thinks I'm an addict!) we hopped on the Metro and headed downtown to a restaurant featured on Foodnetwork's "Kid in a Candy Store," called Co Co Sala.

EVERYTHING is chocolate, or features chocolate somehow. We weren't too hungry for dinner (although they feature things like mac and cheese with chocolate covered bacon on top), so we opted to try a couple of desserts. First a chocolate mousse cake with passion fruit ice cream, and second a chocolate toffee cake with ginger ice cream. Both were AMAZING, and for the price I would definitely go back.

With my head finally feeling oodles better we decided to walk around downtown and see some of the monuments lit at night. This is Jon in front of the FBI building, which we felt was appropriate since he was wearing a Batman shirt (that elicited many comments from drunk guys).

After a good night's rest, and some more Percocet (ahhh, sweet, sweet opiates!), we were ready to attack day 2. First we got breakfast at Whole Foods right around the corner from out hotel. Yum!

We hopped on the Metro and found Ford's Theater where I'd reserved some tickets for us to do a tour. We've been to DC several times but never visited Ford's theater, but I just recently read a biography about Mary Todd Lincoln and knew I couldn't pass up another chance to see it in person.

There's the presidential box (decorated as it would have been that night) where Lincoln was shot in the back of the head just a few days after the end of the Civil War. It was SO sobering to picture the scene unfold as news of the president's assassination spread across DC.

Approximately where the the park ranger is standing is where John Wilkes Booth leapt from Lincoln's box (and consequently broke his leg), and yelled "Sic semper tyrannus" ("Thus always to tyrants").

We then headed across the street to the boarding house where President Lincoln was taken. It was amazing to me that at such close range Lincoln wasn't immediately killed, but instead remained in a coma for 9 more hours.

This is the parlor where Mary Todd was required to sit and wait-- she wasn't allowed in to see her husband because she was so hysterical with grief. I can't even imagine being just a room away and not being allowed to see my dying husband!

This is obviously the room where Lincoln was taken after he was shot, and because of his abnormal height for the time period, was lain sideways on the bed so he could fit. The doctors knew the wound was fatal, so all they could do was sit and wait for him to die. I was so glad I'd recently read that biography because not only did it make me appreciate his wife more, but it also made me appreciate even more what an extraordinary husband, father, and president he truly was and the sacrifices he made for this country.

Underneath the boarding house they've made a really nice museum detailing the assassination and subsequent manhunt for John Wilkes Booth. I thought it was interesting that although he felt the South would immortalize him and hold him as a hero, they didn't even like him after what he'd done.

We then headed over to Capitol Hill to check out Spike Mendelsohn's restaurant the "Good Stuff Eatery" which features all farm fresh ingredients. Many of you know my guilty pleasure for years has been watching Bravo's Top Chef competition, and Spike (from season 4) has a couple DC restaurants that have gotten rave reviews.

The place was PACKED but the line moved fast so Jon got the "Obama Burger" which had BBQ sauce, cheddar cheese, and applewood smoked bacon. I got the "Michelle Melt" which was a turkey burger with carmelized onions and swiss cheese. YUMMY!! We also tried the hand cut "Village Fries" with fresh rosemary and sea salt which were to die for! Best part of the meal.

We also got the Toasted Marshmallow Shake for dessert, and it was sooooo good. They roast a bunch of marshmallows and then blend them with homemade vanilla ice cream, so there's this crazy toasty flavor throughout the whole milkshake. The drugged look I'm sporting could be from the awesome food...or the Percocet. Not sure...

His prices were totally cheap for it being downtown DC ($6-$7 for the huge burgers, $5 for the shake), so I would DEFINITELY recommend it. Nice one, Spike!

To finish our time downtown we checked out the International Spy Museum, which has the largest collection of spy and espionage gadgets in the world. Picture lipstick tube pistols, disguise kits, and shoe bombs. You weren't allowed to take pictures inside the museum since most of the gadgets are real CIA artifacts, but it was pretty cool. And since DC apparently has more spies than any other city in the world, definitely a museum worth checking off the list.

Sunday was our last day in the city, so we decided to attend church at the stake center next to the Washington DC temple. It brought back lots of memories of trying to babysit kids while moms and dads squeezed in sessions at the temple back during our Philly days when that was our temple. And predictably, I had to squeeze one more visit to Cafe Rio for lunch, since during the first one I was so sick I couldn't really enjoy it.:) Hopefully I got enough of a fix that I won't need it for another couple of months!

And then a quick drive back to the kiddos, who apparently (according to Devin and Sarah who could just be nice) did great. SO grateful to them for watching our kids so we could get some much appreciated alone time!! It was a great, great, trip up to DC and ended much better than it began.:)

Monday morning we got packed up and then headed to Peter Chang's for lunch. Peter Chang is an award winning Szechwan chef with several restaurants in DC and around the South. He just recently opened a new restaurant in Richmond which has been the talk of the town. Devin and Sarah said we had to try the Dry Fried Eggplant which was SUPER spicy and had these crazy tongue-numbing peppercorns and floral spices. I'm not a huge fan of Chinese food, but this was a very different culinary experience! After lunch we headed down South back home to North Carolina. We had a BLAST this weekend and can't wait to go back soon!