Sunday, August 22, 2010

Yesterday: Annapolis and Rippingtons


Sorry I disappeared yesterday. Things here have been a bit of blur. We weren’t home much yesterday and I didn’t have my laptop with me so I got a little behind schedule on the blog. Let me tell you what we were up to.   The pictures aren't some of my best because they were taken with my phone. Next time I will take my real camera with me since I have started sharing more than food on the blog.

Yesterday:

Yesterday evening we did something that we haven’t done in a long time we went to a concert. Prior to yesterday our last concert was about 10 years. We had gone to see Jimmy Buffet with a bunch of friends (he is very popular with the sailing crowd). We had lawn seats because it is easier to talk and carry on which is something sail boaters like to do. The problem was the lawn seats went meant there were “kids” behind us. We had a bunch of 15 -18 year olds behind us that evening and one of the little juvenile delinquents actually caught my hair on fire with a cigarette. Thankfully it smoldered more than anything else but you don’t forget a concert that results in your hair burning. You could say that soured me on concert going for quite a while. My hair is still long (longer than the middle of my back) and it is still intact today after this concert. :-)

Last night we went to the Ram’s Head in Annapolis to watch “The Rippingtons”. The name is odd I know but it isn’t what it sounds like. They are an instrumental jazz fusion band and give a fantastic concert with a lot of energy. I would say I think they are much better in concert than on CD.

For those of you that are in the area the Ram’s Head On Stage in Annapolis is nice cozy venue, maybe 400 seats. I don’t think there is a bad seat in the house. No seat was more than approximately 40 feet from the stage. It was a great concert and we both really enjoyed ourselves.




Before the concert we took a few minutes to walk around Annapolis (the state capital of Maryland). I took a few pictures of the Annapolis court house. Dan I were married there years ago. I am not a big church wedding sort of girl. We got married at the court house and took off for three weeks in Italy. Our initial plan was to get married in Italy but that meant we needed to get many documents translated into Italian and with both of us working long hours it just didn’t work out. We did the next best thing and left work one afternoon and got married instead. Some romantics we are, LOL. At least we took a good friend of ours with us to prove it happened. You see Dan and I were together for 10 years before we actually tied the knot. This is the second marriage for both of us so we wanted to be certain to get it right this time. ;-)


I love these cute little plaques to see on historic houses in Annapolis so I wanted to show you what they look like.


Here is one of the odd little pass throughs you see all over Annapolis.


This is the entrance to the Ram’s Head On Stage.


The original Ram’s Head Tavern is just next door.


This is the old church in the middle of Church Circle.


Here is the Sly Fox Tavern.

Annapolis is full of quaint charm and I hope my pictures give you some idea of what it is like. Dan and I had forgotten how much we liked it there and have decided to spend a Saturday there soon being tourists. Of course I will take pictures to share with all of you.

Food yesterday:


Breakfast this morning was a simple smoothie containing the following: 2/3 cup dry oats (ground into flour), 2 frozen bananas, 3 tablespoons reduced fat peanut butter, 2 cups loosely packed baby spinach, 4 shredded collard leaves, ½ teaspoon powdered ginger, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, water and ice (not measured) and stevia to taste. I had 2/5 of this and Dan had 3/5’s. We often make smoothies with fruit, nuts or seeds, and greens. It makes a fast yet filling breakfast. I always serve Dan approximately 50% more food than I give myself because I am short (5’2 ½ if I stand really tall) at that height I don’t need anywhere near as much food as he does at 5’10”.


Lunch was an enormous salad for both Dan and I. I used 2 heads of romaine, 1 avocado diced, 2 carrots shredded, 2 red bell pepper thinly sliced, 1 cup red cabbage finely sliced, 1 cup marinated mushrooms, 1 cucumber thinly sliced, a 1 cup salsa and a sprinkle of sun flower seeds.

At the concert we had a snack of roasted red pepper hummus with grilled pita, cucumber rounds and celery. We would have preferred more veggie and less pita but at least there was a veggie option so I am not complaining. No picture because it was dark and they asked us not to use a flash when taking pictures.


After the concert we realized if we drove fast we could make it back with plenty of time to see what Ian was cooking. We got the Szechuan tofu appetizer. So good, not good for us but really tasty.  Since we eat so clean most of the time I didn't even feel quilty for sharing this last night with Dan.


We also ordered a whole wheat pizza with basil and mixed wild mushrooms to share which was delicious! The pizza had a nice mix of wild mushrooms which included chanterelle as well as others I didn't write down.

Today:

I am going to cover today’s activities in a separate post last today. Sorry I got so far behind. You wouldn’t have thought one day without blogging when have been that much of problem.

There is a pot of curried veggie stew on the stove now that smells divine. I love my Indian food! ;-) Other than that I have no idea what else I am making today. This isn’t new I like to cook from the seat of my pants or as Dan would say I like to “run with scissors”.

I hope all of you are having a wonderful weekend. Talk to you again soon.

11 comments:

  1. How fun. Sounds like a great day to me. Love all the pictures of the city and knowing where you and Dan married and why. Hope you're having a great Sunday so far.

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  2. Heather,

    It was a fun day but very rushed.

    Glad you liked seeing Annapolis. It is quite old town founded in 1694 I think.

    I could not believe we had no pictures of the court house. Such romantics we are, LOL. *rolls eyes* Next time I need to take my proper camera so I can get some better shots of the town. You would love it there.

    Sunday is good so far just busy playing catch up most of the day yesterday. I hope you are having a great Sunday too. :-)

    Ali

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  3. That pizza looks delicious! Glad you had a fun night out!

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  4. WOW sorry about your hair!!!!
    I loved all the picturea of your weekend!
    Ian's tofu looked super and I loved your salad~~

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  5. Aimee,

    The pizza was delicious but I adore mushrooms so that may be why I thought so. ;-)

    It is always such a pleasant surprise when a band is better in person than on CD since that happens so rarely.

    Ali

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  6. Brandi,

    Only me right? I have never heard that happen to anyone else before, LOL.

    Glad you liked the pics of Annapolis. It is an lovely old town and very historic. We live so close we take it for granted. ;-)

    Ian's crispy tofu is the bomb. He does Asian food better than an Oriental restaurant around. Not what I would have every expected with his culinary background. We are convinced he could make anything taste great. Even our tofu phobic friends like Ian's crispy tofu. Now that is a compliment.

    I hope you are having a great weekend,
    Ali

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  7. tht pea dish looks SOO good!!! and this made me laugh

    "...(he is very popular with the sailing crowd)"

    i didnt know that you were married before also, and i didnt know that you guys were together for TEN years before you got married!! wow! i like to think that its MORE romantic to get married quietly, :) its way more personal

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  8. if somebody lit my hair on fire.....i would go ballistic.i cant believe that happened.

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  9. Michelle,

    See, there are still a few secrets, LOL. We were both married and divorced fairly early in life. But once you have messed up you want to make certain to get it right the second time around. This way we get multiple anniversaries to celebrate, the day we met (Friday Feb 13), the first kiss and the day we actually got married. More opportunities to celebrate is always a good thing. ;-)

    Every sailboater I know had at least one, if not more, Jimmy Buffet CD on board. He and Bob Marley were both popular and since Marley is dead we couldn't see him in concert so Buffet it was. LOL

    I was beyond annoyed about my hair. I remember giving the kid crap that she should have had the decency to at least throw a beer on my hair. She just stood there looking stupid. Since the whole group of us had stood in line all night long to get tickets (he sells out in 20 minutes when he is here) it made me even more angry. That was my last concert until last night and we used to go a few times every year before then. I may be over it now, it was 10 years ago, LOL. ;-) I was glad last night was indoor and no smoking.

    talk to you later,
    Ali

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  10. What a fun day out! Sounds wonderful.

    Sounds like a great concert too! Loved the context image of you and Dan rocking out to Jimmy Buffet 10 years ago! Great stuff.

    Annapolis does look quaint. It was fun to see the courthouse where you got married. John and I got married in Ireland, in the Registrar's Office, which was the only place you could get married in Ireland at that time outside of the Catholic Church...which neither one of us wanted to do. But it scarcely matters...the important stuff is what comes after!

    One last thing: that pizza is to-die-for! YUM.

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  11. Rose,

    The concert was great I thought you might know the band or Jeff Kashiwa. They gave such a high energy show. It isn't often someone is better live than on CD but they were.

    Dan and I have been to many a Jimmy Buffet concert, maybe 10. Only one ended in burnt hair, LOL.

    Glad to know we weren't the only ones that went the court house route. I always say we are just as married as someone that spent a lot of money for the event.

    The pizza was great, but all of Ian's food is. The mushrooms were so intense and you know I love mushrooms.

    Ali

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