...Two If By Sea is the name of the restaurant we ate at Friday night. It was
the most romantic place I have ever eaten by far. There were red roses on every small, intimate table and a single candle lit, setting a soft glow on your loved one...I swear it was so romantic that the whole place kind of seemed hazy like you were looking through a lens that had fogged over. It was very nice but not pretentious. We didn't feel uncomfortable or out of place though I did have a small moment of panic when I first sat down and saw 3 different sized forks lined up next to one another by my plate. I felt a little bit like Goldilocks with so many choices and thinking, 'that middle fork looks
juuust right!'. Don't worry, I know you just use the silverware from the outside in. Anyway, there was live piano music playing love songs softly and we had a corner table right next to a window that looked out on this little area where there were vines and flowers covering the walls of the building next door. The building itself, The Carriage House at 17 Barrow Street, has history enough for a book. A few of the highlights? In the 1700's this original carriage house is where George Washington housed his horse for a time. Then it was purchased by Aaron Burr (who killed Alexander Hamilton in a duel), it has a tunnel underneath it that helped slaves escaping via the underground railway. Later it was turned into a house of 'ill-repute' among other things before becoming a restaurant. The name of the restaurant is 'One if by Land, Two if by Sea' referring to Paul Revere's Ride, if you remember Longfellow's poem:
He said to his friend, "If the British march
By land or sea from the town to-night
Hang a lantern aloft in the belfry arch
Of the North Church tower as a signal light,
One if by land, and two if by sea;
And I on the opposite shore will be,
Ready to ride and spread the alarm
Through every Middlesex village and farm,
For the country folk to be up and to arm...
What a clever and classy name I thought! Anyway, the food was unbelievable. Probably some of the best I have ever had. The kind where you take a bite and there are layers of flavors...so unlike my tuna noodle casserole...it was all amazing. Though the company was by far the best part. It was such a treat to have Nathan all to myself! We had conversations without interruption which is unprecedented at this phase of our lives, and we enjoyed reminiscing over the past 7 years together. One of my top dates with Nathan to be sure...Picture 1-dinner. Picture 2- Our hotel lobby.
For the first time Nathan and I have a little climber baby. We have had other friends who have had such children and always wondered what that must be like- and lucky us, now we get to know! She climbed into the lawn chair all by herself and was quite pleased with herself. She climbs up out of her high chair and we have turned around to find her (all mothers brace yourselves) standing on the tray! Thereafter she has been buckled in but she must have apprenticed Houdini in another life because just yesterday I buckled her in and a few minutes later found her standing in her chair, with the straps still buckled laying impotently at her feet. The other quirky thing is that she loves this little purse my mom sent my b-day present in. Whenever she finds it she will hold on to it and even crawl with it in her hands. I find it interesting because this is the first girly thing she has really ever paid attention to, preferring Kohen's cars and trains. Like our other children she has come of age and discovered the kitchen trash. Kennedy and Kohen would haphazardly grab at the lid and shove it off onto the floor in their eagerness to get to the goods but also alerting Nathan and I to what they were up to. Alyssa however, gently lifts the lid and using her mad crouching/standing/balancing skills, gently and quietly sets the lid on the ground. She is then free to dumpster dive (albeit on a smaller scale) until I happen upon her. I'm not gonna lie, it is a little tough on the self-esteem to be outsmarted so regularly by a 1yr old!
What do Smeagol and Alyssa have in common in the top pics other than their respective loin cloths? Their hair. When parents refuse to cut their babies hair, even when it grows in all unevenly and you start having really long pieces, Nathan and I call those long hairs "Smeagols". Now, Aly may not have much hair but as you can see in the first picture she was starting to get some stragglers and as much as I love her sweet baby hair I cannot support the growth of 'smeagols'. So we sat Aly down for her first haircut and trimmed the back (where she was well on her way to a baby mullet) and the top just a bit to even it out. All things considered she sat fairly still and was a good sport about it. And I think the end result turned out quite nice. Hmm...do you think it would be misleading if I add 'Smeagol Slayer' to my resume?
After our BBQ we loaded up our children and headed downtown to see fireworks in the Nation's Capitol. It was supposed to storm, there was a tornado watch (huh?), supposed to be hordes of people etc., so we felt like we were really rolling the dice on this excursion. Against all odds we were able to find a good parking place after only a few minutes of searching. As soon as we parked the skies opened up and the storm began. Undeterred we put on a video for the kids (a rare treat), Nathan took a nap and I read a book in the van. 45 min later the storm had passed and we headed down to the National Mall with about a million other people. It was still hot out even though it had rained and it felt exactly like we were in a giant outdoor sauna. I thought of my brother and cousin who are both serving in Asia and deal with this regularly...ugh. Anyway, the second pic is of all of the people, look closely around the base of the Washington Monument, those are all people- can you believe it?! We were right next to the Reflecting Pool and the Lincoln Memorial and by the end of the evening there were crushes of people all around us too. We had a fun time though; ate pb&j for dinner and hung out together. I love the picture of Aly playing with my phone, she looks like she is texting or something. A real baby of the 21st century lol! As usual it was surreal to be in D.C. for the 4th of July watching fireworks explode above the Washington Memorial and Capitol Building. You can't help but feel patriotic and extremely grateful when surrounded by all of these memorials designed specifically to help us remember our countries past. It was not only a good reminder of the past but also to be grateful for the present. Happy Independence Day!
