Quebec City (or an old city with a young one)

(Click on any photo for a larger version)

Activities

Aside from looking up a couple articles on "Quebec with kids" months prior to leaving on the trip, we did no planning for our week-long stay except for booking a hotel on the Rue St. Anne. So our daily schedule was pretty much as follows:

  1. Get up and have breakfast (either in a cafe, or the banana bread I brought)
  2. Walk to see something new we hadn't seen yet
  3. Get lunch
  4. Head back to the hotel for downtime (naps, reading, watching French cartoons on Telemagino)
  5. Go out to dinner
  6. Wander some more, maybe watch Cirque performers 
  7. Head back to the hotel

This rhythm worked out really well for all of us. Little Miss Cleaver enjoyed the cartoons ( despite not knowing a lick of French), I read an entire book, and we never felt rushed or overtired.  

Best Activities for Young Kids

Little Miss Cleaver is 4 1/2 and these were the biggest hits on the trip for her.

Free Stuff

  • The splash pad/fountain outside Quebec City Town Hall and across from the Hotel Clarendon - it's huge, the water goes super high and the pattern is so long you can't guess where it's coming from next and it lights up at night. It's a kids dream.
  • Playground at the parc de l'Esplanade. We stopped here at least once a day. There's some standard playground equipment and a smaller splash pad. It's a great free spot to let kids run off steam and maybe make some new international friends for an hour. This is also were the horse carriages line up, so you can see horses and try your hand at scaling the very steep hills that make up the old city's fortifications
  • The Plains of Abraham - basically Quebec City's central park. There's no playgrounds here (as far as I could see), but LMC loved following the painted footsteps that lead to the Museum and engaging in some sidewalk chalk art with the provided chalk. For me, I loved the Joan d'Arc gardens. 
  • Cirque Perfomers - every night at 7ish and sometimes during the day, you can catch circus performers doing their act in front of the Chateau Frontenac or in the square behind city hall. It's usually solo or duo performers and can be pretty fun! 
  • Cannons. There are cannons everywhere and I think she climbed unto every one. If they can balance on their own, grownups can take the time to read a few of the historical signs. 
  • Just wandering around - there's tons of cool fountains and statues to see, pretty gardens everywhere and truly foreign things like active payphones. 

Paid activities

The free stuff was mostly her favorites (because of course!), but these were big hits too:

  • The Funicular - we took it going down in the morning when it was less crowded. Young kids ride free if they fit under the turnstile.
  • La Musee de la civilsation - As a lifelong Tintin fan, I count it amazing luck that they happened to have a special exhibit on Herge when we were there, but for kids, get the pass (it's free with admission) to Il était une fois. Down on the bottom floor, it has amazingly high-quality costumes for both kids and grownups to wear and fun fairy-tale themed play areas that include a witch's house where you can mix a brew in a bubbling cauldron, and a jousting area where you can slay a dragon. There's also some good interactive exhibits on the 2nd floor. Lunch at the outdoor cafe on the main floor was good too! 
  • Getting a balloon from a street vendor. She's still talking about how much she loves that mermaid. 
  • Mary's Popcorn - they have two locations in Old Quebec and the smell is irresistible. You can buy a small bag for cheap, don't bother resisting. 
  • The Aquarium of Quebec - this is the one thing we drove to, stopping on our way out of town. It's a smaller aquarium, but it's got biggies like a polar bear, a touch tank with really friendly manta rays, and a cool jellyfish exhibit. The grounds are also lovely and, yep, there's a playground here too. 

 

Food

The food on our trip was so good, I'm still dreaming about/trying to figure out if I can recreate it at home. There are a staggering amount of restaurants within walking distance of the old city - a lot of them pub-style. I never had a bad meal in the city, but here are a few of my can't miss picks.

  • Chez Jules  - a reservation is highly suggested, but completely worth it. The dinner we had here was the best of our trip. The service was divine (the waiters were the most kind with my elementary French), the atmosphere makes you feel like you're in France and the food is amazing. I had le boeuf a la Bourguignonne, which was the most tender beef I've ever had and a delicious crepe Suzette. Mr. Cleaver has the sole and chocolate mousse, which he also recommends. LMC had noodles. 
  • Cochon Dingue - the breakfast here was amazing! We got there early and the place started filling up fast right as we were leaving, so if you're a late riser, I'd say reservations here as well. I'd recommend any of the sweet breakfast options (we tried French toast, waffles, and crepes) and go for the chocolat chaud a l'ancienne, which (like coffee and tea) is a free option with any breakfast. They were also the most kid-friendly place we visited with coloring books for kids.
  • La Maison Smith - - primarily a coffee shop/bakery, this is a great place to grab a quick croissant or lunch. The croque monsieur I had there was worthy of a sit-down restaurant.
  • Boreale  -Available in pretty much any restaurant you go to, Boreale is brewed outside of Montreal and only available in Quebec. I particularly liked the cuivree. Do yourself a favor and go for the full pint. 
  • La Piazetta - a little off the main stretches of restaurants, this was a nice break from the near ubiquitous pub-food with excellent salads, pasta and pizza.
  • La Cidrerie et Vergers Pedneault - this small shop in the lower city offers tastings of its many hard cider varieties, a must for a cider nut like myself. 

Yesterday, as I drove LMC to her pre-K class she asked if we could go back to Quebec soon. A ringing endorsement if I ever heard one. 

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Our Happiest Thanksgiving on Earth

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According to my big brother, I haven't posted anything since November 8th, and I'd be the first to admit that ever since this pregnancy began, I'm lost my blogging rhythm, which I suppose can only be expected. But worry not - things have been carrying on here at the Cleaver household, in perhaps a more chaotic fashion than usual.

Work has been keeping me very busy, we're having new insulation put in the house, I'm trying to finish up a number of deadline projects, and I've been building up a cache of knit and sewn baby things I hope to share with you soon. In the midst of all of this, we took off Thanksgiving week to visit my extended family in Southern California.

With three other shutterbugs snapping photos of all the family gatherings, I neglected to pull out the camera for any of the family events, but I did take my camera with us on our Tuesday trip to the Happiest Place on Earth, Disneyland, thanks to the generosity of my aunt and uncle. Because everyone else was still working that day, it was just Mr. Cleaver and I, but I was pleased to accompany the Mr. on his first trip to Disney.

We gamely avoided any of the non-pregnancy-friendly rides, but still found more than plenty to fill our day. Mr. Cleaver declared Pirates of the Caribbean to be the best ride, while my favorite of the day was the new-to-me Finding Nemo Submarine Voyage. Between all the standing in queues and walking, I think it took my legs 3 days to recover!

But it was a fabulous fun day and a great transition into the holiday season!

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Rhinebeck Roundup

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Sot it's been several weeks since Rhinebeck but I've finally got my act together to put pen to paper (as it were). The trip as a whole was a bit of mixed bag because of some hotel troubles, but the Festival itself, along with the excellent company, made it an overall win in my book.

We headed out early Friday morning to take a detour to Northampton and WEBS, and everyone managed to pick up copious amounts of yarn - even me! I got enough yarn to make myself a Wispy Cardigan, a Porom Hat, and a bag of worsted weight tweed for a Mr. Cleaver sweater. At Rhinebeck itself, I limited myself to two skeins of FoxFire Cormo/Alpaca which will likely end up as these. When I will have time to knit all these things I don't know, but a girl can dream right?

In our hotel room we entertained ourselves by reading the "naughty bits" of romance novels out loud and chowing down on snacks.

On the first day of the festival, we all got a good laugh when Bristol got recognized as the Winnowing designer about five seconds after we got into the long line at the front gate. After that there was more shopping (I got a Jennie the Potter bowl and a sheepskin), some apple cider doughnuts, and chatting with friends and fellow designers we saw along the way. After we tuckered out at the Festival, we headed to Poughkeepsie and saw the Walkway over the Hudson.  While just three of us walked the whole length and back (which admittedly was probably more walking than I should have done after walking all day), the views were definitely worth.

On the second day of the Festival I took a "drafting methods" spinning class, along with Maggie and Bristol from Beth Smith, It was my first spinning class and I found it highly enjoyable and educational and would recommend Beth as a teacher. After our class, the whole gang got together to photograph our matching sheep heids, before hitting up a few more booths and heading home, suitcases full of yarn.

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Ms Cleaver goes to Washington 2012

If you follow me on twitter (@ms_cleaver) you'll know I spent the majority of last week at a work conference in Washington D.C. While I didn't have as much free time as I did on my last D.C. visit, I did manage to find a few times to sneak out and see some sights.

I was traveling light, so here's the trip in iphone/Instagram shots:

DC 2012 Mosaic

The photos above include:

And don't worry, I got plenty of work/networking done too!

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Midwinter Break in Boston

IMGP4916.JPG It is Mr. Cleaver and I's longstanding tradition to get outta dodge at least once in midwinter - usually late January/early February. It's been overnight trips to Boothbay and Lake Geneva, or as simple as a day trip to FunSpot. This year we returned to a place we've played hooky in a few times before: Boston.

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This year's excursion was specifically inspired by the current special exhibit running at the Museum of Science, A Day in Pompeii (still around until Feb 12th - if you're interested).

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I'm a bit of an ancient history geek, having minored in Classical Studies in college, and while my Latin is sadly a bit rusty these days my love of classical art and history hasn't diminished.

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The Pompeii exhibit was very well done and if I were to describe it in a single word, it would be "striking."

The preserved artifacts are incredibly well preserved and cover a wide range of items from the sophisticated plumbing pipes and fixtures to intricate statues to wonderfully bright colored frescoes.

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Of course the most striking of all are the body casts, which are really a punch to the gut that bring home the tragedy in an all too effective way. I was most shaken of all by the two chained figures - one a man and one a dog, that had no way of escaping the volcano.

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We spent a little over an hour in the Pompeii exhibit before enjoying the rest of museum, including a collection of Geckos and a fun exhibit on model-making, which included making your own fish and seeing how long they survive in the environment  (Mr. Cleaver's far out-survived mine.)

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The other museum highlight for me what a photo exhibit called "What I Eat: Around the World in 25 Diets." The exhibit featured a series of portraits of people from various countries and that day's food intake, along with a calorie count - which raised some interesting connections, such as the model, cod-fisherman, and refugee who all had similar calorie intakes, though wildly different food choices.

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It certainly made not want to think about the bacon and onion ring-covered burger I had for lunch (Yes, there's a burger under there, it's from the 21st Amendment and it was delicious, one the best burgers I'd ever had).

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All in all, it was a fun trip, well worth the pre-sunrise train ride down.

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Northern California Adventures: The Plates

IMGP4617.JPG Maybe it's because I have food on the brain, but I took a lot of photos of food on our California trip, and truthfully we did a lot of eating out while we were there, so I thought I'd share some highlights.

Oxbow Public Market

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For southern Mainers, the Oxbow Public Market is like a successful version of what the Portland Public Market tried to be. INside the market there are a dozen or so food-related booths ranging from cupcakes and ice cream, to spices and olive oils, to oysters. Even on a Wednesday the whole market was fairly popular.

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We grabbed some delicious Tacos at Casa and had the unseasonable pleasure of enjoying them outside on the patio seating. Casa's food is my favorite kind of Mexican - instead of the heayy refried bean and cheese fare at most Mexican chains, their food was fresh and light and featured some tasty but untraditional favor combos, like my blue cheese/onion/steak taco below.

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Buttercream Bakery:

My visits to Butercream are more about nostalgia than anything else. The food at the diner is simple diner fare, while the doughnuts come in regular and fancy varieties. We picked up a dozen of my old favorites, but I most enjoyed the red velvet doughnut I'd never tried before. So much for nostalgia!

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Genova Delicatessen
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A great deli in an unassuming location, this is the one spot my brother always makes sure to visit whenever he's in Napa.

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If you're Californian, or ever been in a California airport, you probably know See's Candies. I used to always try to get to the sprinkled one first - never realized they were mocha-flavored. If you visit one of the stand alone-stores, you get a free sample!

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What is there to say about In-N-Out that hasn't been already said. Of all of my food photos from the trip, this is one that made Mr. Cleaver the most hungry again.

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I was most excited to visit the Boon Fly Cafe.

One summer during college I worked at the under construction Carneros Inn (its parent/location) as a temp in the accounting department filing papers in a trailer full of soap and shampoo and one day my supervisor took me to lunch at the Boon Fly, which I remembered as delicious.

My memory served me well.

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The Boon Fly is my favorite kind of restaurant, simple food done incredibly well. The blackberry lemonade and flatbread pizzas were especially tasty. As a bonus the restaurant boasts a beautifully designed and relaxed atmosphere.

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Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop

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After all this food, there's still a place for desert. While in San Francisco we stopped at the Ghirardelli Ice Cream Shop, and let me tell you they do not mess around with chocolate there.

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Other notable stops (non-pictured):

Gillwood's Cafe - Napa locals' favorite brunch spot

Norman Rose Tavern - a new spot w/ great comfort food and an impressive tap list that includes several local beers and ciders in addition to the expected wines.

Northern California Adventures: The Places

IMGP4750.JPG Last week Mr. Cleaver and I headed out to Northern California to visit my family. The weather was beautiful and we ate enough food for the entire month of January - in fact most of my trip photos were of food, so I'm going to give the eats their own post.

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Today I wanted to focus on the last day of our trip when my big brother (hi Luke!) took us to Muir Woods and San Francisco before depositing us at the airport to catch our red eye back to Maine, where it promptly snowed 8 inches on our return.

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Luke had suggested we go to Muir Woods, and since Mr. Cleaver had never seen a giant redwood tree, I heartily agreed!

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If you're not familiar with redwoods, the coastal redwoods are the tallest living trees in the world and can grow up to 380 ft (115m) high. These amazing trees grow only in a small region of Northern California and the the Pacific Northwest and I visited them often growing up on camping trips with my family.

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Perhaps even more amazing is that these giant trees grow from the tiniest pinecones!

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Coming from Maine, it was fun to see how green everything was, even if the non-evergreens had lost their leaves.

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For a complete 180 from our woodland trekking, we ended the afternoon at Ghiradelli Square and Pier 39 in San Francisco- the epitome of touristy hustle and bustle.

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The  Bourdin Sourdough Bakery

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IMGP4812.JPGChecking out the Sea Lions at Pier 39

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Sunset over the Golden Gate Bridge.

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Ms. Cleaver Goes to Washington (Days 2&3: Nat'l Mall)

 

Brunch

Day Two in DC began with brunch at Afterwords Cafe, which is, I am told, an Institution. I was leaning toward sweet, so I got the French toast. Excepting blah scrambled eggs, the food was good and the service was quick and excellent. I also appreciated the complimentary orange juice.

Escalator at Dupont

Suitably fortified for the morning, I walked a block to the Dupont Circle Metro station, which has the longest escalator I'd ever seen  - seriously. I found the DC Metro to be very user-friendly and and efficient. The fares do change by destination and time of day, but $5 was more than sufficient to get me to the Mall and back again.

Washington Monument

I came out at the Smithsonian station to a large crowd of people participating in an Epilepsy Charity Walk. One of the things that becomes quickly apparent is that the National Mall is equally a gathering place for locals and tourists. Throughout the day I encountered as many local joggers, kite fliers, and Frisbee players as I did international tourists with cameras.

The Mall itself is a very beautiful and, at times, very emotional place to wander.

Washington Monument

I started my tour of the monuments at the impossible to miss Washington Monument. It's hard to grasp the scale of it without standing right next to it. I checked for tickets to enter the inside, but by the time I reached the ticket stand (around 9:45ish) they were sold out for the day. I didn't mind one way or the other, so I continued my way west toward the Lincoln Memorial.

Kites on the Nat'l Mall

Located between the Washington and Lincoln Monuments is the relatively new World War II Memorial, which was for me the most striking, and emotional, of all the monuments.

WWII Memorial

The monument is ringed with a series of bas-relief panels depicting various scenes, a family listening at the radio, soldiers in the pacific forests, nurses tending to the wounded, etc. The sculptures did an amazing job showing emotion on all the faces. I'll admit as I went from panel to panel I began to cry.

WWII Memorial

The back center features the "price of freedom" wall, with one gold star for every 100 lives lost in the wall.  This combined with the panels puts a real human perspective on the war.

WWII Memorial

WWII Memorial

Next up was the Lincoln Memorial. With the Lincoln (and Vietnam) Memorial, my experience was akin to seeing American Gothic in a museum - it's cool, but the imagery is so familiar, its hard to see it as anything other than the image.  The one surprise was the pennies people left on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial in memoriam.

Lincoln Memorial

Vietnam Memorial

It was the memorials I was most unfamiliar with (WWII, Korea) that held the biggest impact. I think that impact was furthered by the fact that I knew people who had fought in those wars, whereas I didn't know anyone who had fought in Vietnam.  The life-sized sculptures at the Korea Monument in particular made it easy to image my father-in-law among them.

Korea Memorial

After the emotion of the war memorials, it was a nice change of pace to the beauty of the Tidal Basin and its 2,000 blooming cherry trees located mostly between the FDR and Jefferson Memorials.

Cherry Blossoms

Fala

Cherry Blossoms

Blazer: J. Crew Outlet

Sweater:Manu, made by me

Shawlette:Ishbel, made by me

Cherry Blossom Pin: FDR Memorial Gift Shop

Denim Skirt: Old

Boots: Naturalizers

Jefferson Memorial

Cherry Blossoms and Bridge

Jefferson Memorial

After I visited the Jefferson Memorial I worked my back to the Washington Monument, completing a five-mile loop of the major monuments. By this point my feet were killing me. I thought my boots were comfy, but not comfy enough for five miles. But the walking wasn't done yet - I only had one free day in DC, so I had to see more.

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After an encouraging phone call to Mr. Cleaver back at the home front, I pushed on Eastward to the Smithsonian Museum of American History. I enjoyed both the pop-culture-y bits like Julia Child's kitchen and the ruby slipper, as well more educationa exhibits like Science in American Life.

Sam & Friends

Julia's Kitchen

Ruby Slippers

Atomic

Exhibits on American reactions to Atomic Energy and the Labor movement seemed especially timely in light of recent political events.

The American Twins

I was excited to discover the gallery of First Lady inaugural ball gowns at the museum and thought of how striking it was to see Michelle Obama's dark-skinned mannequin after rows and rows of white mannequins just a few exhibits away from a sit-in lunch counter.

Michelle Obama

After several hours at the American History Museum, I went to the far end of the mall to satisfy my geek leanings at the Air and Space Museum - unfortunately I only had about 30 minutes to do a whirlwind tour do to some dinner plans, but it was well worth it.

Air & Space

Gemini IV

Air & Space

Air & Space

My last day in DC was mostly spent at my conference (I tried to look very work-y).

Looking Work-y

Dress: Notary Dress, made by me.

Scarf: Vintage, purchased at Ferdinand.

Fortunately, I had five hours between the end of the conference and my flight time, so I got so see the one thing I missed the day before - the Capitol.

Capitol

Unfortunately, my coworker and I were too late for the tour, but we went to our Senators' office in the Russell building and got passes to the Gallery, which was very cool. Even cooler, I got to witness a roll-call vote for the confirmation of a NY District Court Judge.

Senate Gallery Pass

All in all, it was a very satisfying first trip to Washington D.C. I'd love to go back and spent more time there with Mr. Cleaver, particularly at the other Smithsonian museums.

For a listing of all the places I visited, check out the Google Map of my Trip, with all the locations mentioned here and in yesterday's post.

Ms. Cleaver goes to Washington (Day 1)

White House South Lawn

As mentioned in the last post, I've just returned from a weekend in D.C. for a work conference. It was my first trip to the Nation's Capitol and I tried to cram in as much as I could in the day and a half of freetime I had. My edited photo batch from this trip contained 94 photos, so I'm going to break up covering the trip into two, maybe three posts.  Read on!!

Dupont Hotel

I landed in DC around 2pm on Saturday afternoon and headed to Dupont Circle to check into my hotel. I stayed at the Dupont Hotel, located just on the circle.

Dupont Hotel

My hotel was selected by one of my co-workers, a former DC resident. The hotel itself it was sleek and modern and the bed was super comfy. But I really appreciated his choice because of the neighborhood. Dupont Circle is a bustling area with lots of shops and restaurants. It was very walkable and since it is close to George Washington University, there were lots of 20-somethings milling around, both of which made me feel very safe (a huge plus when you're traveling alone).

Curry Gold Wrap at Sweetgrass

For a late lunch, I stopped into Sweetgreen for undoubtedly healthiest meal of my trip.

Sweetgreen focuses on salads, salads as wraps, and frozen yogurt. They're very eco-friendly (literally everything is compostable) and they use local ingredients. It's a quick eat, the service line is similar to a subway, and there are communal tables for eating.  I selected the Curry Gold salad and had it as a wrap and it hit the spot - the curry flavoring had a nice warmth to it and the cucumbers and beets gave it a nice cool crunch.

Since I was meeting my coworker for dinner later that evening, I decided to explore the neighborhood some. I continued up Connecticut Ave, poking my head in a shop or two when I came across a sign for a yarn shop. Bingo!!

Looped Yarn Works

Looped Yarn Works is an adorable, friendly, and well-stocked shop in a second floor former apartment. The store is well stock with a variety of yarn and covers most of the major brands, including Cascade, elsebeth lavold, Malabrigo and more.  While I was in the store, there was a learn to knit class happily cruising along, and a few ladies knitting on the sofas. It was such a happy shop - the kind of place I'd choose as my go-to shop if I lived in the area. Of course, I picked up a few skeins of "souvenir yarn." :)

There were signs for a textile museum nearby, but it was too nice of a day to be inside for long, so I skipped it.

Looped Yarn Works

As if yarn wasn't enough, after I went back to the circle and crossed to the other side of Connecticut Ave, I stopped into Hello Cupcake for a bite of dessert.

Hello Cupcake "Lucy"

I wanted to try about five different flavors, but I limited myself to one (probably a good choice considering how much I ate over the weekend). Something light and pink seemed appropriate for a lovely (if cool) spring day, so I opted for the "Lucy" cupcake, which is lemon with raspberry frosting. The cake portion was serviceable, but the raspberry frosting was divine and clearly used real raspberries in it. I definitely want to try my hand at recreating something similar.

White House

Continuing southward on Connecticut, I walked a little under a mile until I reached Layfayette Park and the backyard of the White House. It's kinda amazing how, from this direction, it just appears out of a fairly normal looking neighborhood. It even seemed a little smaller than I imagined, but that may have more do with the distance between the fence where I stood and the White House itself.

Crowd at White House

There were a fair number of tourist and security everywhere. I quickly learned that in the National Mall area of DC there are blockades and barriers everywhere - a physical tribute to the security changes instituted post 9-11, and the ongoing upgrades and construction underway. Both of which meant that there were no direct routes to anything.

Renwick Gallery

Just off to the West of Layfayette park is the small Renwick Gallery of American Craft, part of the Smithsonian Museums. Since all the Smithsonian Museums are free, I popped in.

Glass Dress

The collection at Renwick is small, you could go through the museum in about 15 -20 minutes, but there are a few cool piece - especially glasswork.

Magnolia Blossoms

After Renwick, I toured around to the front of the White House  trying to spot Mrs. Obama's veggie garden, which I never saw, before heading back around to the park and taking my daily outfit shot because Lent doesn't take a break, even for DC.

Me and the Magnolias

Blazer: J. Crew Outlet

Shawl Collar Sweatshirt: Banana Republic Outlet

Denim Skirt: Old

Magenta Tights: Target

Boots: Naturalizers

For dinner, I met up with my coworker and some of his friends for dinner at Acadiana, a upscale take on Lousiana-style food. I had the duck, which had a delicious glaze on it. We ate and laughed and made friends with the Birthday party at the next table and I made it back to my hotel at about 11:45 - tired and full.

I'll cover the other two days of my trip later, but if you're interested, I've made a Google Map of my Trip, with all the locations mentioned here and *spoiler alert* on the other two days of my stay.

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Return to FunSpot (Lent Day #14)

Lent 2011 Day #14 Whenever I log into Wordpress to update this blog, it shows me a list of the most frequent/recent search terms people used to find my blog. The list usually looks something like this: ms cleaver chronicles, ms cleaver, chocolate chip cookie ingredients, abercrombie and stitch, chicken satay, s'more pie, smore pie, ms cleavers chronicles. (You'd think I post way more about cooking than I actually do - though if you're interested in that see the Recipes page.)

One time the list included the following: "knitters who love pinball"

I have no idea who searched that, but I wish they'd left a comment, because I'd love to know who they are, and why they were searching it (presumably they are also a knitter who loves pinball).

In any case, I'm an accurate return for that search query and proven by this post on a trip to FunSpot last year.

Since Mr. Cleaver's currently on spring break we took a return trip yesterday.

The drive out to New Hampshire was lovely, as all the trees were heavy with the previous evening's snow.

Hwy 25

Though the initial "wow" from the previous trip had worn off, FunSpot is still a lot of, well fun. Even if both Mr. Cleaver's and I favorite machines were out of order.

PinballI got in a variety of pinball action.

TetrisMr. Cleaver played a lot of Tetris.

George's Diner

Mid-day we took a break and ate lunch at George's Diner down the road in Meredith. My burger was okay, but the onion rings were delicious and the fries tasted exactly like In-N-Out fries. I got a few "you're not from around here" looks entering the diner, presumably because the folks in Meredith don't typically sport magenta nylons.

Lent Day #14

But if you're not going to wear magenta nylons to spend a day playing at an arcade, when are you?

Praying Mantis Tee: local artist, purchased at Ferdinand in 2005.

Purple Tank: Gap outlet

Skirt: Ann Taylor Loft, gift

Tights: Target

Boots: Naturalizers, Macys.

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