Fall has Fallen

Pumpkin Patch at Butler's Orchard

It is beginning to look a lot like fall.  You can hear the screams at the football on TV, smell the leaves a changing (well, not really in the city, but we can pretend), and feel the cool, recently cold, breeze flowing through the air.  This is my favorite time of the year.  Time to get outside, and enjoy the October festivities.

Recently I joined Kareem, G and Spud for a trip up to Maryland, and out into the country.  We knew we wanted apples, and maybe pumpkins, so Butler’s Orchard was the perfect choice.  The website said they had an October Festival.  And I mean, what could be cooler!?  Well, turns out a lot.  The ‘festival’ was definitely not for the 20 somthings crowd, and honestly, didn’t look like the kids were even having much fun…

So we ended up bypassing the festival and headed straight to the orchards.  Since apple season is pretty much over, it took some real hunting to find the good apples.  But we did, as well as the raspberry patch, and of course some pumpkins.  I purchased a huge 17 pounder.

Next step, crave the round thing!  Should I go evil or goofy?

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

The Marathon

Running the Baltimore Marathon

Seeing the first marathon blanket somewhere around mile 25 was the first time I knew for sure that I would finish the race. It had been a long, painful journey up to that point. Walking to the start Saturday morning, I couldn’t help but think back on all the work it took to get this far. All of the sacrifices I made and hours spent on the road, came down to that day, that morning. As I joined the thousands at the line, the excitement, anxiety, and nerves filled the air.

The gun went off, the crowd began to yell, and it all began.  The first few miles blew by.  I kept thinking to myself, “I sure hope the whole thing is this easy!”  Then, somewhere around mile 4, when everyone started feeling out their rhythms, Cheer Team Hay (CTH – comprised of Sister, Mother, Spud and Fam + a few others…that’s right, I had the biggest cheering section in the marathon) made their first appearance. They were loud, with 8, yes 8 cowbells, and signs to boot. The racers fed off their enthusiasm, and I quickly realized I might be the luckiest runner out there.

Things went pretty smoothly for the first half marathon. I quickly found my rhythm and cruised along without trouble. I crossed the half way point a few minutes under 2:00 feeling great. When I passed CTH around mile 14 I remember Sister saying, “you look great!” and I replied “I feel great!” Because I did…for about another 3 miles.

Miles 16-20 were uphill. I don’t know who the hell designed this course, but they clearly never ran it. The hills caused me to lose stride, slowing me way down. By the time I reached the top of the climb, I had hit the wall, with little left to recover. Mile 20-21 might have been the longest. It circled a lake, so I could see the other end. With every step, the end grew increasingly far way.

By this time the half marathoners had thinned out the marathoners, making it feel more and more lonely. As they zoomed by with fresh legs, the only thing that kept me going was the knowledge that they may cross the finish line first, but I will have run twice as far.

A buddy from college told me the other day, “Remember, the last 6 is what you trained for.” He was totally right. The first 20 was tough, but NOTHING compared to the end. The fun was over, the excitement gone, and for miles 20-25, every stride was a challenge.

Then finally, the first sighting. That sighting of the first marathon blanket was more brilliant than any view of the inner harbor. It brought hope, energy, and drive back into my step. I could finally taste the finish, and it tasted sweet.

The last mile grew louder, as the spectators grew in numbers. Running through the gates of Camden Yards, it felt like I was flying, with the clank of the cowbells from CTH carrying me the last few tenths of a mile.

As I crossed the line, emotion took the best of me. The pain, exhaustion, excitement, accomplishment, and relief came pouring out in the form of dry tears. A feeling I never want to forget.

I’m proud to report, I accomplished both my goals for the weekend!

Here goes nothing!

Well, tomorrow is the big day!  20 weeks of work comes to a climax starting around 8:00 am. I think I’m as ready as I can be.  My head is right, my body is right, as long as my knee stays strong, my legs will be right.

I have two major goals for the day.

1) Finish.  Preferably around 4:00, but I’ll take any finish.

2) Not get on YouTube for a finish like this:

Wish me luck!
Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

10 Days.

2009 Baltimore Marathon Course

131 Days, over 500 miles, and a pair of shoes have led me to this point.  I’m finally just 10 days away from running the Baltimore Marathon.  Just 19 weeks ago, I had no idea what I was getting myself into.

This has been one of the most painful, challenging, and time consuming journeys I’ve ever been on.  I have given up soda, avoided junk food, and in these last weeks even put down the bottle.  Icing has become a regular part of my evening, and blisters no longer seem to gross me out.   But it has been so worth it.

A few days ago I was talking to an old college buddy who ran a marathon last year.  He told me, “Congratulations.  You have done it!”  And I think he is right.  10 days from now I’ll run the race.  God willing, I’ll finish without any worse than usual issues, and it will be awesome.  But that will be just about 4 hours of this trip.  The countless hours, the self motivation, early mornings, painful knees, and maybe even a few tears, is really what this was all about.  I set out to do something.  A kind of commitment I have rarely had in my life, and now I’ve completed the worst of it.  It might not be over until I cross the finish line, but the works is done.

Last night I went out for a quick 6 miler.  I was thinking about how many times I’ve run down that hill, and past those apartment buildings.  All of a sudden a biker on the sidewalk comes flying by.  I mumble my usual response to bikers, “It’s called ‘Share the Road’, not ‘Share the sidewalk,’” he turns to look, and we both keep going.  That got me thinking, “wow, I can’t believe nothing serious has happened to me.  I really hope I don’t get hurt by something dumb in the last few days of training.”  Seriously, not 15 seconds after that thought passes, I find myself laying face first right smack dab in the middle of 11th and U st.  I look up to see people jumping from their seats  in the outside seating area of Solly’s and a man running from the sidewalk to help me.

I got up with nothing more than a few scratches, my “10 days” bubble burst, and a red face, but left thinking that it could have been a lot worse and at least 20 or so people had something to laugh about!

10 days until race day.  The work is over, but the stories have just begun.

Weather looks perfect

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

The Quest for the Perfect Pig: Dixie Bones – by Kareem

Fresh from the smoker

Quest for the Perfect Pig is a series on the HaySayers quest to find the best regional BBQ. Be sure to check out reviews of Rib Pit, Rocklands,  Mr. B’s and Urban BBQ.

After spending what seemed like 4 hrs in a car trying to get down 395, we made it to Woodbridge, VA home of Dixie Bones Bbq. From the moment you pull into the parking lot you can smell the aroma of slowly smoking meat in the air; a scent that will never get old to yours truly!  At the point of arrival, I was using every bit of Christianity I could muster to stay somewhat upbeat and not go crazy from not having eaten anything for the previous 19hrs.  My greatest fear was that the place was going to be crowed and another long wait would happen, but to my surprise, there was available seating even though there was quite a crowd who decided to feast on slow cooked meat on a rainy Saturday afternoon.

After being seated we were handed a simple menu with one side listing food options and the other describing what this place is about.  The one point that stuck with me was the fact that while their sauce was vinegar based this was not NC style bbq…the owners are from Alabama and their food is better (according to the menu that is).  With that being said, I flipped the menu to find some food.  There was all the standard food you would expect from a bbq place so it was a matter of pairing in a way that would bring maximum pleasure to my mouth.  I opted for a BBQ pork plate that came with collard green, macaroni and cheese and a piece of cornbread.  Surprisingly the food came out faster than I could spell Mississippi mudslide forward and backwards.

My goodness, this food was very very good, the meat was incredibly moist and you could certainly tell that it was smoked using hickory (my wood of choice). I used their home made sauce on the pork and it certainly went well on the pork. The sauce was of course vinegar based and I can’t complain about it since I was starving at this point.  However, I will say that I am certainly a bigger fan of tomato base sauces.  The greens were really good, reminded me of something my father would make, this was yet another dish that used vinegar to flavor the food. While everyone in my family will put vinegar on their greens, I do not like it much. It isn’t horrible, but I prefer to let the flavor of meat broth do the talking, not some acidic liquid.  This however, was a small thing once I had the pleasure of tasting the mac and cheese, I don’t know what more I can say about it other than it was the best restaurant mac and cheese I’ve had in recent memory, very good.

I can’t help but to think that I will be going to this place again, there were many more things that need trying such as the brisket, sausage, ribs, and catfish…which means I’ll be spending a lot of time in traffic on 395…I’m sure it will be worth it. Dixie Bones is a fine, fine institution of eating.

Flavorfuly Yours,

Kareem

[googlemaps
View Larger Map]

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

Columbia Heights Plaza

New Columbia Heights Fountain up and flowing.

Walking home from work this evening, I saw the new Columbia Heights Plaza fountain running, with plenty people out enjoying it.  It was a little cool and windy out, but very enjoyable nonetheless.  I think it looks great!

PoP had an incredible post today with pictures of Columbia Heights now, and 7 years ago.  Definitely something everyone should check out if they haven’t already!

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

Because I’m Not Too Cool: Beatles Rockband

I hesitate to post the Beatles Rockband in the “Because I’m Not Too Cool” series, because darn it, it is just so cool!  I’ve never been much of a video game guy.  I’ve never owned a system (well, I did have a hand-me-down original Nintendo for awhile), and never really got into any games.  That is, however, until my friend “JH” got rockband.  Holy crap did we rock the hell out of that game.  JH, Spud, MS, Kareem and I, aka “The Bikini Monkeys”, have rocked our way through Rockband 1 and 2, as well as all of the track packs to date.   So it came as no surprise when I got a text from JH the day the Beatles Rockband was released.  “Just got Beatles Rockband, must Bikini Monkey soon.”

Opening day of our next “world tour,” I could hardly sit still.  Beatles bumped through the earbuds all day at work and on the trip to JH’s rock castle.  When the plastic guitar’s started strumming, and the drum sticks started pounded, I quickly realized this new game was everything I wanted, and more.  Nearly all of the major hits were on the playlist, and the background images really set the mood.  As you play through the songs, the game plays through the life of the band.  Starting with the oldest songs and animated video of the young band, and continuing on through the more psychedelic tunes and some very gnarly footage.

No question this is a blast for any Bealtes enthusiast, and a good time for those who are not.  While it may not have the wide range of hits as the other games, it clearly has jams that anyone would know.  We played our way through the entire disk the first night.  Not real sure what that says about the Bikini Monkeys…

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

Does Southeast Texas even have public transport?

Tea Bag Protesters at the 9/12 DC rally

I wasn’t going to go there. I wasn’t going to bring back up the Tea Party crew, or their recent march on the Mall, but post protest news has just been too weird to pass up.  I mean, you can ignore socialist/Muslim/Hitler claims, brushing them off as crazy talk, but then came recent news from one of our very own U.S. Representatives.

It turns out that Texas Rep. Kevin Brady (R) made The Wall Street Journal today after he released a formal compliant to the Washington Metro.  He claims that the system didn’t prepare properly for the number of protesters.

“These individuals came all the way from Southeast Texas to protest the excessive spending and growing government intrusion by the 111th Congress and the new Obama administration.  These participants, whose tax dollars were used to create and maintain this public transit system, were frustrated and disappointed that our nation’s capital did not make a great effort to simply provide a basic level of transit for them.”

Rep. Brady, hundreds of thousands of people use the metro to get to work, play, home, and school every week here in the district.  We miss trains, deal with delays and overcrowding nearly every day.  So please tell me, why didn’t you stand up for the District when you voted against additional funding for the Metro system when we really needed it?  Probably because you assumed our representatives would take care of that.  Oh. Wait. We don’t have any.  You and your colleagues voted against THAT as well.

Do you want less government involvement or not?  You can’t have both.

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

Maryland Seafood Festival

Maryland Seafood Festival

Last weekend I had a friend from school come into town, who we’ll call ‘J’.  Trying to avoid downtown on Saturday, I thought we would head a little north to the Maryland Seafood Festival outside of Annapolis.  The two of us, plus friends Kareem and ‘G’ loaded into the car and hit the road around 1:00.  I had no idea what to expect, but I thought we’d at least have a beer and a delicious Maryland crab cake or two.

After seeing the schedule of events, one thing stood out above the rest.  The Crab Cake Eating Competition.  When we heard that it was just two hours away, all of the boys looked at each other, then looked at Kareem.  Oh man did I want Kareem to dominate that competition.

He, on the other hand, didn’t seem as excited.  It was clear that if anyone was going to participate, we all needed to participate.  So we signed up.

Maybe not the smartest thing we did that day, but about an hour before the competition, the four of us grabbed some sort of seafood plate.  Knowing that I would soon be stuffing my face with crab cakes, I decided to go for shrimp.  They were delicious, satisfying my hunger, and making me ever anxious about the race.

After taking a few laps around the grounds and sipping on a black and tan, it was time to head over to the main stage.  Here were the rules:  you were given 6 crab cakes, and had 3 minutes to finish as much as you could.  After the announcer said go, it only took about 45 seconds for J, Kareem and I to have totally different strategies.  Announcer yells, “wow, this woman is really taking off!”  We look up, and she has already had 2 crab cakes to our one each.  This was when Kareem said, “no way am I going to win.”  He slowed down and enjoyed Maryland’s finest.  J and I continue on for about another minute.  I begin to catch up, following her nearly bite for bite.  Unfortunately, J has started to slow down.  He looks at me and says, “you’re alone on this one, go for it.”  I take a deep breath and dive in.  4 cakes, 5 cakes, and with about 25 seconds to go, I began my 6th cake.  At this point I’m really starting to sweat, knowing not much more was going in that mouth.  The announcer yells “5 seconds” and all I hear is Kareem, J, and G all yelling “GO! GO!”  I shove as much as I can in my mouth and close it tight.

Kareem (left) looking at my scared, J (middle) nervously laughing, Me (right) doing everything I can to hold it in

All I have to do is swallow.  Sounds easy, right?  Well…wrong.  I can feel the blood rushing to my face, sweat is rolling down my cheeks, and tears forming below my eyes.  I look up and see J scoot his seat as far away from me as he can.  Kareem just keeps yelling, “oh my God, oh my God, oh my God…” and I look back down to the bucket.  As a camera is being shoved in my face, I hear someone from the crowd yell, “I think he is going to blow!”

I don’t know if it was luck, skill, or some divine force, but I didn’t end up wear those crab cakes after all.  I swallowed it down and looked over at the woman that had been leading.

I kid you not, she took the win with no more than one bite more than myself.

All in all the festival was wonderful.  After about 30 minutes of post-cometition digestion, I was pretty much over the loss (both physically and mentally).  The four of us had a great time sampling some more food and tasting what a few local vineyards had to offer.  I’ll definitely be back next year, but I believe my competitive eating career may already be over.

Like what you see? Follow the RSS feed here or Twitter here.

Waaaaaaatch Nancy

On this week’s segment of “Watch Nancy” we take a clip from last night’s address on Health Care Reform by President Barack Obama.  The facial expressions of Nancy Pelosi when Rep. Joe Wilson yells out, “You Lie!” to the president in the middle of his address are priceless.  She looks like she’s about to cut somebody.

So, are you ready?  Waaaaaaatch  NANCY!

**Side note:  As I’m sure you could guess, I believe that Rep. Wilson was completely out of line.  I know that he has given his apology to the President, but this is a perfect example of how out of control partisanship has gotten.  When the far right no longer respects the office of the President of the United States enough to let him speak freely, be it to school children or Congress, things have gone too far.  Question, protest, debate, but do it all respectfully.