Birthday Weekend

This past weekend we celebrated Kevin's birthday by heading out to the mountains.  We couldn't have felt farther away from the city, but in actuality, we were only an hour and a half away. 

We chose The Cascade Inn Historic Bed & Breakfast because it was near multiple parks and they allow dogs!  

Yes, even Oscar got to getaway to the mountains for the weekend.  Our first floor room was comfortable & beautiful.  

We were lucky enough to have the entire B&B to ourselves for the weekend.

Breakfast Saturday morning was delicious.  Ham/Green Onion/Monterey Jack quiche, Lemon poppy muffins, fresh fruit, coffee & OJ.  This hearty breakfast fueled us until late in the afternoon.

After breakfast, we had plans to go mountain biking in Gambrill State Park, but unfortunately, it was much colder than we expected.  Instead, we started the morning with a hike on the Appalachian Trail with Oscar.  

It was a bright morning and we decided to head towards Georgia in hopes that it would get warmer as we walked.  ;)

After Oscar was tired out, we dropped him off at the house and headed over to Cunningham Falls State Park.  

We decided to take the Cliff Trail and after we made it up the short climb, we stopped for the standard couple shot.  

We discovered the falls in no time and took some pictures before climbing up the rocks.

Kevin decided to scale the rock wall, which was funny to see.

I made one failed attempt to make it up the same route, before finding an easier way up.  After more exploring/hiking, we headed back to the inn for some relaxation before dinner.

Carriage House Inn is on our list of possible caterers, so it was a perfect opportunity to give them a try before our official tasting.

Cream of Crab Soup

Garden Salad w/ a homemade Tomato Vinaigrette

Warm, Crusty Bread

Scallops in a citrus tomato sauce w/ garlic mashed potatoes and julienned vegetables.

Our food was good, but in all honesty, nothing knocked our socks off.  And I kind of want my socks knocked off for the food at our wedding.  

The next morning, our breakfast included one of the Inn's specialties - Caramelized bacon.  (The recipe is listed on their website).  It had that awesome sweet & salty combo.

Served with a belgian waffle.  We were officially stuffed.


It was a quick drive back into Baltimore where we completed our P90x week with some KenpoX.  Definitely needed to work off the bacon & belgian waffle!

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Birthday Fun

This past weekend was packed. Thursday was my birthday and Friday we drove to Charlottesville, VA for my friend's wedding.


Backing up to the important stuff - my birthday - ha, j/k. Kevin came home from work and brought a delicious pizza from Dipasquales.He also brought me a sweet card and red roses. (check out the funny shadow on his forehead from the light above)
Did I mention that he also got me a print by my favorite local artist - Robert McClintock?Looks exactly like my favorite dog in the world and fits nicely on my "picture wall" that I have been working on filling up.
Now onto my birthday dinner at The Dogwood in Baltimore.
If you like red wine or are starting to - definitely try this Malbec. I am still a newbie with red wines, but I loved this one.
I started with the Carrot/Lemongrass Bisque that was topped with a drizzle of red chili oil. Extremely flavorful and a huge portion.
For my main meal, I ordered the Seared Halibut Fillet which came with potato gateau, roasted eggplant caviar, preserved tomato crema, and a panzanella crust. It was perfection on a plate.Some other great dishes at our table were the Roasted Mushroom Risotto with Local Asparagus which had black garlic, lemon zest, and parmigiano reggiano, topped with an organic pastured chicken egg.
Golden Baked Moussaka with Moroccan Spices which had roasted vegetables, plum tomato & chick peas, golden phyllo dough, lemony tabouleh with a rosemary-orange sauce.
Whew - now those are some creative dishes. I liked everything I tried. Everyone in my family likes to share and try bites of everything, so it is great.


We were stuffed with no room for dessert, but the waiter said that since it was my birthday - they wanted to give us a dessert on the house. How can we resist that?
We chose the Miniature Buttermilk Donuts which were served warm, dusted with sugar and Raz El Hanout, caramel ice cream, and apricot jam.The bite or two I had was delicious.
Had to get the standard couple shot. Kevin came from work, hence the tie. Dogwood doesn't require fancy attire - just nice casual. They were also great to create custom kids meals for my niece and nephew. The mac and cheese and grilled cheese they ordered were both incredible. Seriously - does this place have a bad dish?


Happy Hump Day!

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