Barry and I, along with two friends of ours, got the heck out of Delaware a few weeks ago. After Beauty’s passing, it could not have come at a better time.
Gary and Maggie packed up their car with Leo, the Shepard, and I and Barry with Lily, the black Lab. We hit the road and after a couple hours on the road and few bathroom breaks in between, we arrived at a cute little cottage.
The night we got there, Maggie and I hit the grocery store, while the guys and the pups made themselves at home. Maggie and I whipped up dinner and we were all in bed by 10pm.
A brief background on Maggie and me. We have known each other since we were for, went through 9 years of school together, lost touch, and reconnected last year. True friendship is known when you don’t talk or see each other, but when you need them, they are there. Thats Maggie and me. Although we ha lost touch, when one of us needed the other, needed a place to go, or a shoulder to cry on, we were there.
As we were cooking dinner, we sipped on our glasses of wine. It was so amazing to think of how far we have come. Who would of thought that 18 years later we would be cooking dinner for our boyfriends and sharing a bottle of wine?
Its a good thing we slept so well, too, because Maggie took Barry and I to the slopes. I have never skiied before and its something I’ve been wanted to cross off the Bucket List. After breakfast and a nice hike with Leo, Maggie, Barry and I headed to White Grass to test our my balance on cross country skis. I didn’t fall!!!!
I’ll admit, that as much fun as it was, it was exhausting and rewarded myself with one of the fabulous house baked cookies from the lodge. Chai Sugar cookie sounded fantastic and I was not let down! I can’t wait to try to make these!
White Grass kind of reminded me a bit of Fresh Thymes in that all the products are locally sourced, organic, vegan, and oh so yummy!
After enjoying our post-ski snacks, we hit the small town for some site seeing. We drove through a small town called “Thomas.” I immediately text my dad and questioned why he never told me he owned so much real estate. That was my attempt at humor… Barry quite enjoyed our brief tour of a small firehouse.
One our way home, I required a serious pick me up. Maggie recommended a coffee shop called “Tip Top,” which reminded me of a smaller Bakeri. Ironically, they even sold chocolate from a shop headquartered around the corner from Bakeri. Barry ordered a Nutter Butter cookie sandwich, which was almost too rich. I said, “almost.”
The following and final night was rather similar. As much as we wanted to hit the town, we decided to stay home and… wait for it… and play sherades. It was then, that we looked at each other and said, “When did we get so old?” Maggie and I drove into town to Hellbender Burritos, a hippie burrito joint with massive servings, while the guys ran out to grab beer and start a fire.
No, those aren’t foil-wrapped foootballs. Those are our meals! I ordered the Gendarme with Seitan. How often do you see a burrito joint that offers seitan?! Oh yeah! I ate it open faced and loved the simplicity and marrying of flavors of the peppers, onions, and mushrooms. Barry ordered the pork Shovelhead, while Maggie and Garry both got the Hellbender with chicken. Needless to say, these burritos did not last long.
Whenever I travel anywhere, I always look for notable restaurants in the area. This trip was no different. Barry and I scoured numerous menus before deciding on The Boulevard Diner. Honestly, Barry had the final say. I was pretty surprised how quickly he demanded that this be our stop. After we watched a clip on youtube and Barry saw a quick glimpse of a sandwich piled high with meat, he shouted, “We’re going here!” While he was completely memorized with the sandwich, I was intrigued by the Sour Beef and Dumplings. Ginger Snaps in the sauce? MMMMMM! Since we had Lily in the car and had been delayed in traffic by a massive accident, I called and placed the order to go.
My conversation with the girl on the other line went like this:
“This sounds like a silly question, but we heard about you on Triple D and on the show there was this big sandwich piled with meat. Whats that called? I couldn’t find it on the menu posted on the website.”
“Not a problem. Thats the Big A… It stands for “The Big Ass.”
“Yeah, whats on that?”
“Yeah, so I’d like to place an order for pick up, please. I’ll take the Big A, the Baked Potato Imperial, and the Sour Beef and Dumplings.”
I knew if I told my mom about the baked potato, she’d kill me if I didn’t bring it home. She was tickled pink, we all were, after digging into a baked potato covered in crab meat. Not just any crab meat, lumps and chunks of crab meat!
The sour beef and dumplings caught my eye because the sauce was made with gingersnaps! I adored this dish! That big tray was the half size! I can’t imagine ordering the full size. It really was sweet and sour! It was fantastic!
Lastly, the Big A. On the show, it looks like a normal burger. Oh no! They handed us a cake box. I picked it up and it weighed a ton! I opened the box to find a 9in bun, piled with pit beef, corned beef, and shredded beef, all topped with tomato, lettuce, onion strings, and horseradish mayo! Oh! My! Goodness!
I wound up weighing it when we got home and the it was over 2 pounds!
Its safe to say that this splurge made for multiple meals and we went to be with overly stuffed stomachs!
We are already planning a second trip to take dad since its only about 55 minutes away.
It was a brief, but so necessary get away. Great weekend!
