Weekend of Fun

  This is going to be a long post, but I had a really fun weekend with some good friends.  I lucked out and ended up having the weekend off so I was free for fun activities.  I drove down to Baltimore and met my friend Tristan who is doing a rotation at University of Maryland. Our other friend Courtney drove up and joined us.  (Courtney also wanted to see the children's hospital in Delaware.) 

Dinner in Baltimore was quite the experience.  Tristan claimed that he had been in Maryland for 3 weeks and hadn't yet had a crab cake.  We walked to Fell's Point, to a place called Duda's tavern.  You really could have walked right past this restaurant without noticing it.  It was packed, and a definite hole in-the-wall.  Our dinner was not only delicious, but reasonable priced.  Tristan got crab cakes, I got fried cod and fries, and Courtney got a steak with brie and almonds.

  The beer above was the choice beer for the evening.  Courtney was determined to find some pumpkin beer and lo and behold there was pumpkin beer on draft.  Enter Dogfish Head Punkin' Ale....if you are a pumpkin beer lover, I order you to get in your car right now and buy some.  You will not be disappointed. 
  We went out dancing for the rest of the evening and had a great time...maybe even a little too great.  So, we also met Michael Phelps at the bar.  He is a jerk.  Not even the least bit friendly.
  Courtney and I drove back up to Delaware Saturday morning and knew we needed a great lunch spot.  We both wanted fresh salads or something.  We stumbled across a restaurant called "Fresh Thymes", a local vegan/vegetarian/carnivore friendly establishment specializing in local, organic, and fresh foods.  WOW!  This place ranks as one of the best places I've ever eaten.  Courtney and I started with a cup of fresh tomato soup.  This was basically a bowl of pureed tomatoes full of various savory herbs.

I ended up ordering the grilled cheese:  artisan white bread with garlic and chive cheddar, and tomatoes.  The salad on the side was mixed greens, red onion, apple, and a fresh lemon balsamic dressing.

How cute is this restaurant?

  Courtney's meal was a wrap made of lox, guacamole, blue cheese, onions, tomatoes, and field greens.  Also delicious.  And that's me in the background dipping my grilled cheese into the tomato soup.

  Obviously food has been the theme of this trip.  We ended our festivities at Limoncello, a local West Chester Italian restaurant.

The meal starts out with bruschetta and rosemary garlic focaccia bread.

I ended up going with the spinach stuffed manicotti.

 Courtney had the chicken sorrento.  Chicken over capellini served with artichokes, roasted red pepper, and olives.  Hers was by far the best dish of the night.

  Leah went with the Limoncello chicken; chicken breast over pasta with crab meat and asparagus.

  Hope everyone has a great day.  We're off to the restaurant festival!