Vacation Food

As promised, more vacation details.

We stayed in Charlottesville, VA, the night of June 5th, at the Holiday Inn Fifth Street. I went out "foraging," as my wife puts it, and happened on Feast, at the Main Street Market in the historic downtown area. A great little deli; I got olives and cheese and salame and sandwices and fresh crostini and a great white bean/ citrus dip I'm planning on trying to replicate. Dessert was fabulous organic strawberries, dense and fudgy double-chocolate chip cookies, and an individual carrot cake (for me).

The next morning, breakfast was also in the historic downtown area, at Blue Grass Grill & Bakery. A terrific, tiny, funky, charming place, with a dozen or so tables and mismatched coffee mugs and silverware and plates. Outstanding coffee. We each had a breakfast biscuit sandwich. The biscuits, like all other baked goods, are made fresh. These were towering tawny beauties, with a mix of whole wheat and white flours, a real buttermilk sour punch, and perhaps a hint of molasses. The eggs, cheese, and breakfast meats inside each were perfectly balanced, perfectly cooked.

On to the beach. Our house was a Sat. check in, but we stayed on the beach at a motel that night. Lunch that day was at Goombay's, on the beach road in Kill Devil Hills. What a fun place; the ceiling is a soft sculpture of the sea, and surfers, and fish and such -- looking UP FROM BELOW! My wife and I had terrific softshell crab sandwiches with a horseradish dijon mustard. Ian had a tuna melt, medium rare, that was very good. We split a splendid chocolate cake for dessert.

Breakfast the next morning was the venerable Sam & Omie's , where Vickie had a bacon and eggs breakfast, Ian had a great Eggs Benedict (I've had their Crab Benedict in the past), and I had eggs, grits, biscuits and a fine fish cake made from Mahi Mahi -- Dolphin, as it's known thereabouts.

No eating out at the beach; I get fresh seafood every night and prepare it in our kitchen. I made tuna steaks baked with thyme and other seasonings, a shrimp boil (with the leftover shrimp and corn made into a salad the next day with black beans, green onions, and such, bound with a little Duke's Mayonnaise.

We did grab pizza at Lisa's Pizzeria near our beach house in Rodanthe. Lovely, really good. Fried chicken strips on a fine crust with garlic pesto, vegetables, and cheese.

I should also mention the Atlantic Coast Cafe in Waves, NC. We've never actually eaten a full meal there -- a quick breakfast or snack or light lunch or coffee and a muffin on our way out of town -- but everything we've had is terrific.

We headed to DC on Saturday, June 14. It is as always a nutty busy commute, but this year was worse than usual; it was good we guaranteed our hotel (Marriott Metro Center) for late arrival!

We ate dinner Saturday evening at Chinatown Express in (where else?) Chinatown. Outstanding noodles and dumplings, hot and sour soup, egg drop soup, and good company; we were seated at a large table with a couple that lives in DC. I highly recommend this place. Actually, I now fantasize about going to Chinatown and eating my way up one side of the street and down the other.

Dinner Sunday (Father's Day) was at Ella's. This wood-fired pizza place isn't cheap, but it sure is good. I had the pizza melanzane with red and yellow peppers, eggplant, tomatoes, red onion, and goat cheese. It was sensational.

As an extra, on our way home Monday, June 16 we stopped at Wright's Dairy Rite in Staunton. Everything is cooked to order, so there's a bit of a wait. It's worth it; we loved the terrific burgers. but the standout for me was the onion rings. Crisp, hot, and not at all oil-laden. You know when you have greasy onion rings and your fingers glisten? My fingers were quite dry. Simply the best onion rings I've ever had.

We came home to an empty fridge of course.

The Big Five-OH

Tuesday, I turned 50.

It's a nice round number, in a society that seems to love and need to commemorate nice round numbers. At the very least, it's forced me to admit I'm not forever young -- as if my greying hair and beard and the various new seams in my face would let me deny it for long. (There's a reason I don't wear my glasses when I look in the mirror after I shower.)

I had tried to get my wife and son to allow us to celebrate as in past years: Let me meet them after work at Coney Island Sunlite Pool for swimming, some Skyline Chili or LaRosa's pizza, and maybe a beer or two.

But no. They decided to surprise me. They made me get up and get dressed up and drove me around, ending up in downtown Cincinnati. I thought maybe they were killing time while a surprise party assembled at our house.

Imagine my surprise: Dinner at Jean Robert at Pigall's, the only four-star restaurant in a city that used to boast three five-star establishments. Indeed, the place inhabits the site of one of those fine dining places, the legendary Pigall's, where my mother dined with dates as a young woman.

It was heavenly. Formal, but not stuffy. Fresh, innovative, expertly prepared, presented, and served. Each menu item better than the last, accompanied by terrific wine and fine service.

But the best part was the company.

Growing old isn't so bad, said Mark Twain, if you consider the alternative. He was right. Growing older with my wonderful wife and our terrific son is the best gift of all.