Happy Thanksgiving

After making multiple trips back to the Midwest for Labor Day and our wedding, we decided to pass on heading back for Thanksgiving.  While we would have liked to have been with family, with another trip for Christmas, driving halfway across the country four times in four months seemed a bit much.  

Despite not going home,  we decided to grab Thanksgiving by the horns. Wednesday afternoon we headed up to New York City.  We were a bit nervous about traveling from DC to NYC the day before Thanksgiving and decided to take a bus. Initially our anxiety was justified. It took 30 minutes to get out of DC and 2 1/2 hours to get to Baltimore, which is normally only 40 miles from DC. Once we were north of Baltimore, traffic thinned out and we arrived in NYC in 6 1/2 hours (it was scheduled to take 4 hours). We were dropped off at Penn station, and took off into the bustling metropolis. 

We stopped by Macy's to check out the preparations for the parade and all of the holiday decorations.

We continued on to Grand Central Station to track down a slice of Junior's cheesecake.

(There was barely time to get a picture before this cheesecake disappeared.)

We were so focused on getting dessert, we forget we needed to pick up some dinner. We  found a few slices of pizza around the corner from our hotel. We stayed at the Helmsley Hotel across the street from our favorite building in NYC, the Chrysler building.

(Live from New York, it is Wednesday night!)

We woke up and headed to the parade before 6am and quickly realized we were late for the 9am parade!

(Not too many people on the street at 6am)

The parade route was already getting pretty crowded, some areas filled with people 5 deep. We started at 50th street in Times Square and headed north toward the beginning of the route. Considering we had both spent almost 9 hours in Times Square on New Year's Eve in 2009-2010, we unanimously decided to get as far from there as possible. We walked to Columbus circle, our ideal location, and found large crowds on small sidewalks. Somewhat bummed, we decided to continue walking up the parade route on Central Park West. We saw an area that had a few people in it, but was mostly empty. We attempted several times to get to this area only to be redirected or told the area was closed. On our last attempt, the police officer that told us we needed to turn around, became distracted by a family asking questions, so we took the opportunity to continue towards our targeted viewing area outside the Trump Tower. Come to find out, this area was reserved for Macy's Parade guests that possibly required credentials to enter. Either way, we had a front row seat of the parade and enjoyed over 2 1/2 hrs of giant balloons, floats and celebrities of varying levels of fame, most of whom we had never heard of.

(Waiting for the parade to start left very little to do.)

(Once the parade started, people got pretty excited.)

(Some people got a little too excited. "Don't taze me bro!")

(There were a lot of people out marching to the beat of different drummers.)

(It is amazing some of these people are still on Sesame Street.) 

 (Figure skating star Johnny Weir had extra confetti to share.)

(Check out the confetti whirlwind.)

(This float was nuts.) 

After the parade we jumped on the Subway and headed to Katz's Deli for Thanksgiving dinner. Our corned beef and Reuben sandwiches hit the spot.

This is Kelly's favorite place to eat in NYC largely because of her passion for a good Reuben, but also because it was featured in her favorite movie "When Harry Met Sally".

We walked over to the Soho neighborhood to track down Ben's mom's old apartment from 1964.

Next up we headed to Zuccotti Park to show our support for the 99% and Occupy Wall Street.

It was quite the scene, full of hardcore protesters, holdouts from the Vietnam era protesters, casual supporters (like us) and a large amount of media.

 We made the rounds, and were very impressed with the turnout on Thanksgiving.

(Hopefully less than 1% think it is a good idea to wear a cape in public.)

 

(This dog may be part of the 1%) 

The park was full of people and that was a ton of donated food for people to have a Thanksgiving meal. Kelly enjoyed a piece of pecan pie before we headed to battery park.

From Zuccotti Park we headed over to check out the stock exchange building itself.  The market was closed for Thanksgiving, however, someone was still making money by renting out space on the front of the building to advertise for TJ Maxx.

We had toyed with taking a tour of the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island before we were deterred by the large lines. Instead we headed over to Stone St.

A friend had recommended the area because of its uniqueness and it being off the normal tourists radar. It is lined with old historic buildings with really narrow cobblestone streets. We stopped in Beckett's for a beverage and to rest for a few minutes.  Next, we headed to the Brooklyn Bridge. We took off on the pedestrian bridge, which is in the middle of the bridge, and power walked toward the middle in order to catch sunset.

It was a beautiful sunset over Manhattan and provided a great picture opportunity, which Ben took full advantage of.

We continued our walk over the bridge into Brooklyn. The bridge not only went over the East River, but about 1/2 mile into Brooklyn. In search of Grimaldi's pizza, we got extremely lost (of course this was when Kelly's phone died) only to find the restaurant was closed for Thanksgiving (despite what they had said on the phone - jerks). We walked down to the waterfront and enjoyed a stunning view of Manhattan.

We grabbed a cab back into the city near our bus station in Chinatown. Looking for a place to eat, we decided Chinatown was not going to provide many options for us, so we walked 5 blocks to Little Italy. We were pleasantly surprised to find several quaint streets decorated for Christmas. While we were looking for dinner, Kelly became memorized by an outside cannoli stand. If you remember from previous posts, Kelly is fan of the cannoli at Eastern Market in DC, so she was excited to get to try the real deal in Little Italy. We found a nice restaurant for dinner and enjoyed a extra large cannoli for dessert.

After dinner, it was time to head back to the Chinatown bus station to grab our bus back to DC. What happened next is hard to describe in words. Ben characterized as a "third world" experience.  Every time a bus would pull up, a large mass of people, primarily non-English speaking Asians would run towards the door and push their way through the door. We watched this happen several times before it was our turn. There was no way to know where the bus was headed so you just had to run towards it and try to get on and ask questions once you were on the bus. We also weren't sure why people were not just boarding in an orderly fashion since everybody had a ticket for the 7:30pm bus to DC.

Once again, we figured we would ask questions once we found a seat. After a few minutes of pushing and shoving and Ben throwing a few elbows, we snagged two of the last few seats left. Unfortunately, about twenty people were not so lucky. As it turned out, people that didn't get a seat had to wait for the next bus a couple of hours later with no guarantee of getting a seat on that bus either. We couldn't figure out what was going on, but decided that we didn't want to know. After finding a English speaking passenger, we were able confirm the bus was going to DC. While the quality of the bus was below even our standards, the driver decided to disregard the speed limits and other various traffic laws, to get us back in under 4 hours. After a quick cab ride, we were home.  And we were thankful for that.

Cowboys & Indians

The work week was pretty quiet this week.  We watched our normal TV shows and just caught up from a pretty big weekend.  We did a fair amount of laying around and just taking it easy.

(Mo made sure to take it extra easy this week)

(This is actually Dexter taking it easy)

Ben has been taking the bus both ways as he recovers from a flag football injury that makes running seem like a bad idea.  This has given him extra time to reflect on the shortcomings of the DC bus system.  It has also given him extra time to read, which is nice.

On Friday and Saturday, we kept up our theme of taking it easy for the week.  We also knocked out a variety of life chores and did some cooking.  With several hours of golf scheduled for the television, Ben decided to run to the store by himself.  While he was gone, Kelly made a couple loaves of bread and a delicious batch of pretzels.  A new addition to our kitchen experience was a Mac & Cheese casserole that was later coupled with left over chili for homemade chili mac.

(Move over Velveeta)

Well rested, we were ready to take Sunday by storm.  The Cowboys were in town, so we decided this historic rivalry would be a good time to see our first Redskins game.

(All of my culturally sensitive, but still rowdy friends are coming over tonight!)

Unfortunately, we are not season ticket holders and no one decided to give us tickets to the game. Fortunately, Ben enjoys haggling with ticket brokers (or scalpers, but we are not sure if Redskins fans are ok with that term).  Kelly enjoys reaping the benefits of this process, but has not fully developed the patience it sometimes takes.

(In DC Sunday is not the day to be PC)

Anyway, years of wondering around 3rd world markets has allowed Ben to eventually break the will of most ticket brokers.  Sometimes it doesn't work out (2011 NCAA Football National Championship/Opening Ceremony at the 2010 Winter Olympics), but most of the time it does (pretty much every other event we have been to).  The Redskins game was going to be a little tricky.  Making tickets harder to get was the fact that this is a rivalry game.  However, the Redskins are bad this year and Fed Ex Field has the largest capacity in the NFL - so we had that going for us.

After Ben and Kelly walked around the stadium to check out the general range of ticket prices, Ben began making outrageously low offers to a variety of people and often left them feeling insulted.  As game time drew closer, they began to be more willing to talk, but still somewhat determined to make some money.  At this point, Kelly came into the picture for a good cop/bad cop routine that conveyed 'she is really the one who controls the money' and 'that stills seems a little high.'  Eventually, after earning a somewhat questionable reputation, Ben got someone to cave.  We ended up with great seats for 35% of face value and under our budgeted goal.  With tickets in hand, we were off to see the game!

(Those are the smiles of victory in our pursuit of reasonably priced tickets)

Once we settled into our seats, we got to watch a great game.  The Cowboys jumped out to an early lead.

(We came for the football game, but stayed for the 'gun show' - Thank you Ed Hochuli)

But the Redskins played very well and came back.  We went through a few lead changes and ended up in overtime.

The Redskins won the coin toss for overtime and drove the ball down the field.  They had a chance for the win, but their kicker just missed the field goal wide right. 

The Cowboys took over and managed to get into field goal position and their kicker brought home the win.

 

After the game we and several thousand others made the trek to the Metro.  Back at home, we had dinner and called it a weekend.  We are looking forward to the short work week and lots of potential blog material from the Thanksgiving break.  Stay tuned and have a happy Thanksgiving!

What's on the menu?

It was a big week in the kitchen for Ben and even bigger week for Kelly at the kitchen table! Ben spent time early this week making homemade thick crust pizza dough. While he spent time in the kitchen, Kelly tended to the dogs, cleaning and the internet.

(Dexter has been baaad lately and needed some extra attention)

After an hour or so, Ben brought out a plate of homemade pretzels for a surprise evening snack.  Kelly's strong, sometimes overwhelming, passion for good soft pretzels inspired Ben to create his own version. They turned out fabulous and will be a staple on the Hovland menu. Minus the loads of butter, the pretzels tasted just like Auntie Anne's pretzels.

 (These pretzels made us thirsty)

The other creation, pizza dough, had to refrigerate overnight and Tuesday we enjoyed Chicago style deep dish bbq chicken pizza.

In other food news, we met for lunch on Thursday a Loeb's deli, which turned out to be a great recommendation.  We had been burned by advice from so-called 'friends,' so we were hapy this one panned out.  Kelly had the "wall street" which was pastrami and corned beef with a wonderful sauce and coleslaw on top of the sandwich. Ben had the "Walter special" which was pastrami on pumpernickel. They were mouthwatering  and delicious. Outside of Katz's Deli in NYC, it was two of the better sandwiches we have had. Any deli that uses coleslaw as a prominent topping on the sandwich goes right to the top of our list!

After work on Friday, we met up with coworkers for a happy hour at Banana Cafe and piano bar. Along with their strong margaritas, they had a fantastic piano player. He took requests and even played Harvest Moon (per Kelly's request), which for those of you who came to our wedding know, was our wedding song.

Kelly's parents flew in on Friday night and we picked them up at union station around 9pm and headed to the apartment. We chatted for a bit and then got to bed. On Saturday, we headed out early for breakfast at Ted's Bulletin, which had been on our list for quite a while.

One of their specialties is homemade pop tarts. Along with our breakfast, mom ordered a few pop tarts to try. Our favorite was the peanut butter with bacon pop tart! It sounded horrible, but ended up being the best part of our entire meal. In fact, mom wanted to go back on several occasions for more pop tarts.

(Honestly, when is adding bacon not a good idea?)

After breakfast, we venture out of DC to Mt. Vernon, George Washington's home, for a little sightseeing.

(After the Jeff City house sells, maybe we'll put an offer in on this.)

 It was a very impressive piece of land, perfectly placed on the Potomac river. 

Like many tourist attractions, it had been completely commercialized, including George Washington water bottles for purchase.  The mansion was very interesting, but it was the overall magnitude of the grounds that was the most impressive.

(I can not tell a lie... these cherries will be amazing in a pop tart with bacon)

From Mt. Vernon, we headed over to Old Town Alexandria to walk around historic King Street. It was amusing, but overall unremarkable.

(We thought Alexandria might be a decent place to get a beverage.)

Once we were back in the district, we drove past the "Occupy DC" protesters and swung by Kelly's future office building downtown. We decided to follow another recommendation and have lunch at Taylor Gourmet on H street before heading over to the MLK memorial.

After walking around the tidal basin, we headed home for the evening.  At the apartment, we watched the Oregon vs Stanford football game and had a cupcake taste test challenge. While we were out, we stopped by Sweet Lobby, a cupcake joint near Kelly's office.  Kelly's mom picked out 6 different cupcakes that we split up and each tasted and scored. The unanimous winner was the butterscotch, followed by the Boston cream, black forest, peanut butter, chocolate crunch, chocolate & vanilla and finally, the red velvet came in last. While all the cupcakes were fabulous, the butterscotch was by far the most impressive entry and had a filling in the middle that was out of this world. 

Sunday started off on the right foot. Ben made biscuits and gravy for breakfast. We headed over to Eastern Market to peruse the vendor booths and pick up some treats from the bakery. 

Next was our flag football game, which ended in heartbreak, but was still fun to have Kelly's parents there to watch. After the game, we stopped for a quick bite to eat and then headed home. Ben made another batch of homemade pretzels, which were a big hit, and we enjoyed a few more treats that Kelly's mom had picked up from the bakery. Kelly took her parents to their train at 3:30am and they were back in St. Louis by 7:45am.  It was a short visit, but fun.  It was great to have family in town, but made the weekend fly by.  On Monday, it was back to work.

A Vote For Mo! A Vote For MD!

Before you read farther, we ask that you go to this link and vote for Mosely in our neighborhood blog's pet costume contest.  Mo is number '028' Go Cards!  Also, feel free to send this link to everyone you know.  Mo could use the positive affirmation.

http://www.thehillishome.com/2011/11/vote-now-halloween-pet-photo-contest/

After a few long days at the office, we went for happy hour at The Old Dominion Bar.  A co-worker is a huge FSU fan and we joined for the alumni watch party. We had a good time watching the game, especially after each FSU touchdown the bar blared the school fight song over the loud speakers and followed that with several cheers, etc. We finished up the work week with a bang and then got ready for the weekend.

We headed out early on Saturday for Annapolis, MD. Our first stop was at the state capitol campus.

The building was built in 1772 and was used as the U.S. Capitol from 1773-1774. It was also the building where George Washington turned in his resignation as President of the United States. On display in the old house chamber (where he handed in his resignation)was his personal copy of his resignation letter.

(Sir, would you consider voting for Mo?)

The capitol complex was beautiful and looked similar to how it was in 1772. The capitol building was surrounded by old brick buildings and storefronts including Ben's favorite establishment, a barber shop.

We headed over to "Red, Hot and Blue" for some very satisfying BBQ. It was by far the best BBQ we have had since our move out East, but was still nothing like what you can find in the Midwest.

(If you think pigs will fly before Mo wins, then go ahead and check that off) 

With full stomachs, we headed to Sandy Point state park for a walk on the beach.

We took a lovely stroll up the bay and engaged on a hotly contested game of "skip the sea shell".

(For just $4 each way, you could drive over this bridge.)

(Move over Jersey shore, Maryland has some very scenic beaches.)

While skipping shells is normally a game that fits Ben's skill set, Kelly was victorious. After letting Ben pout after his loss, we headed over to the Naval Academy to look around.

We walked around campus and some of the beautiful buildings before headed over the to football game. In typical Kelly and Ben fashion, we had no tickets, but managed to find 2 tickets for $5 each.

It was a great stadium and even better tradition after touchdowns. All the cadets, who all stand in the first section behind the sidelines, run to the back of the endzone to do pushups.

(oh captain, my captain!)

After the game we grabbed some crabcakes at the Cantler's Inn before heading back to the district.

Overall, we had a wonderful experience in Annapolis and plan on making many return trips in the future.

 (If there was no other reason to go back to Annapolis - trying to track down this car would be enough.)

On our way back home we stopped by "Trusty's" to meet up with our friends Blake and Erika to watch the Arkansas football game. Trusty's is the Arkansas Alumni bar of choice, so the place was packed with Razorback fans. We watched from the upstairs of the bar which included an old school bus. We literally watched the game while sitting in school bus seats!

(Ok kids, we're going to need to see some ID)

Our flag football game ended in heartbreak after making a courageous comeback. We were super bummed and super sore after the lose and decided to make ketel corn to treat ourselves after lunch. We spent much of the early afternoon watching "Bad Teacher" with Cameron Diaz and Justin Timberlake. It was amusing, but very unrealistic and alot of jokes that were very over the top.

After that, it was an afternoon of chores to get ready for another work week.

Don't forget to vote for Mo!
http://www.thehillishome.com/2011/11/vote-now-halloween-pet-photo-contest/