Take Me Out To The Ball Game

So on Sunday we decided to attend a Nationals game. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and we still had the rental vehicle. So we figured, why not?

We had fantastic seats! I've never sat this close before. We really had to keep a heads up for any foul balls. And there were quite a few.

Jim had the camera and took the pictures that I've posted. I had to do a few from our seats. Plus the one that the Nationals photographer took.

The Nationals won by a single home run in the tenth inning.

Food Quest: Sandfiddler Cafe

So today I went to Sandfiddler Cafe with my buddy Greta and her little boy. She had taken me there before, but I hadn't blogged about it. It's a small restaurant, but the food is good and the service is quite nice.

Last time we had the turkey sandwiches. It had turkey, apple slices, provolone and apple butter. All served on a chewy bagel. It was fantastic! We both had potato chips. And I don't mean the crispy kind. They were slices of potatoes, fried. Yum! Her son had pancakes.

This time she had the harvest salad with balsamic dressing. It had walnuts, chicken and strawberries on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. It looked fantastic. I had the fried chicken salad with honey mustard dressing on it. Her son had pancakes again. We shared an order of potato chips as well.

The good thing about this is it's kid friendly. They supply crayons and coloring sheets for kids. Which makes it nice so you can have a conversation without constant interruption, if you're lucky.

Pros:

Great food

Kid friendly

Nice atmosphere

Good service

Cons:

Location (it can be hard to find)

Space (it fills up quickly at lunch time)

Food Quest: Texas de Brazil

Or maybe a more appropriate title would be, A Carnivores Delight!

I actually got this idea from another blog, Navy Wife, Navy Life. Watch Me Sink Or Swim. and thought it was a really neat idea. So I'm jumping on this band wagon.

So yesterday we went to Texas de Brazil. It's a Brazilian steakhouse in Richmond, but there are others out there. So yeah, it's a chain. Sadly I didn't have the camera on me, so there are no photos.

We've been here before and truly enjoy it. They have lamb, chicken, pork and beef. The servers come around with skewers of meat, so all you have to do is say yes. Their salad bar is also very good! I had fillet mignon, bacon wrapped chicken, lamb chops, leg of lamb, garlic sirloin and bacon wrapped fillet mignon. My other half had the same, plus a few of the other sirloins that were going around. All was very tasty, but the red meat was the best by far.

We also had wine with dinner. We had a Goulart Reserva Malbec/Cabernet 2007 blend. Didn't realize it was a blend when we ordered. Or I would have gone with the other wine that was 100% Malbec. It's from the Mendoza-Argentina area. Malbec goes very well with red meat. Since we couldn't finish the bottle off they did package it so we could take it home.

For dessert we had coffee and pie. I had the pecan pie warmed up and my sweetie had a coconut chess pie warmed and served with ice cream. It must have been good, because he didn't even offer me a taste.

Pros:

Fantastic food!

Great atmosphere

Fabulous service

Wonderful Wine List

Attentive Staff

Did I mention fantastic food?

Cons:

Lighting

Location

I feel the need to explain my pros and cons. The atmosphere is wonderful. You'd feel fine going in jeans and a shirt, your Sunday best or formal wear. We saw some couples in there prom finery. And the staff is quite attentive, but NOT in a stalker sort of way. The only problems I have are as follows. The lights are very low, which I realize creates a mood, but I'd like to be able to read the wine menu. And I don't like the drive it took us to get there. Over an hour, but at the same time it was so worth it. And in the midst of a mall area, so the GPS doesn't take you exactly to it's location. Also I don't think this is a child friendly place. More geared to the adults.

A Stroll On The Beach

So over the weekend we decided to go for a walk on the beach. We had no idea that they were doing Monsters on the Beach. We had no idea that they were doing monster trucks. I was thinking more along the lines of sand sculptures. Who knew!

Thankfully my phone has a camera on it so we could snap a photo or two of Grave Digger, which is just down the road a piece. Yes I'm being quite vague here. Plus the Johnsonville Monster Grill and a monster fire truck.

I don't remember the name of the last one, but I know it was a biggie. There were a number of people there for a Sunday morning. Had I known this was going on I would have brought the camera. But like I said we were only going for a walk and had no idea. Thank goodness for the wonders of technology.