(Mr. Kim’s contributions are italicized)
We usually go to the Outer Banks for our anniversary each
March. But this year we decided to try
something new. We ended up in
Fredericksburg on a weekend drive back in February and had dinner at one of our
favorite restaurants, The Bavarian Chef.
The drive home was so easy that it occurred to us that a weekend trip
less than an hour from home might be a really nice way to spend our anniversary
– no exhausting drive home!
Friday, March 20th:
We checked into our
lovely room at the Courtyard on Caroline Street:
Perfect location – right in the Historic District and within
walking distance of almost everything we wanted to see. First things first. Carl’s Frozen Custard:
It was still midday, so there was no one in line but this
lone gentleman who told us that he HAD to stop.
We understood completely:
Frozen custard is my favorite form of frozen dessert. I grew up going to the Frozen Dairy Bar on
Route 50 in Falls Church VA:
(Internet photo)
This place opened in 1950, so I knew it my entire life. Carl’s tastes like my childhood.
We wandered around town and ended up at The Bavarian Chef
for dinner. The Madison location has
been one of our favorite places since we lived in Charlottesville when Mr. Kim
was in grad school. Everything is
delicious, the people are incredibly welcoming and the atmosphere is cozy. You always worry when a restaurant opens
additional locations – will it dilute the quality? This is NOT the case in the Fredericksburg
restaurant at all. It is everything we
want it to be. And my favorite dish
there (one of my top 10 favorite meals in the world) is exactly the same:
This is what they call “Snails in Beer Batter Provencal”. In other words, escargot fritters!!! Drenched in garlic butter!!!! Escargot has been one of my favorites since I
was a little kid, believe it or not, but this version is the best I’ve ever
had. We had a lovely evening – being treated
royally, as always. You can see how
happy we are:
Luckily we were close to the hotel, because we were so full
that there was a real danger of falling asleep on our feet!
Saturday, March 21st:
We had passed this place going to Carl’s the day before and
thought it looked like our kind of place for breakfast:
Instincts proved not at all faulty! Very cool and friendly place, owned by Greeks
and with a great breakfast menu.
Mr. Kim had a Greek omelet:
And I had this crazy plate of eggs, potatoes, sausage, and creamed
chipped beef on toast:
I can’t even find it on the menu, so I obviously ordered a
SIDE ORDER of the creamed chipped beef.
I don’t thing I even finished half of this. Everything was fantastic. Mr. Kim’s omelet was so good that the next
morning (yes, we ate there TWICE), he talked the man sitting next to him at the
counter into ordering it, too!
We took one of our aimless drives – following interesting
signs and country roads - and ended up in a cute little town on the Potomac
called Fairview Beach (pop. 391). Really
not much more than some houses, a marina, a general store and this restaurant:
We had a drink (which the bartender comped as a way of
saying welcome), wandered the dock and gazed at the water. Lovely.
We also drove around collecting ‘For Sale’ signs and dreaming of a
retirement beside the river. We came
back to earth when we found that even the shacks were well over $2K! Back in Fredericksburg we puttered around
antique stores:
And had lunch at Goolrick’s Pharmacy, an old fashioned place
with a lunch counter:
(Internet Photo)
We have our good friend, Julie, to thank for recommending
both Goolrick’s and the Gari Melcher house & Studio to us (more later about
that). Mr. Kim had a chocolate malt and
I had an ice cream soda. BLTs and a tuna
salad completed our lunch. Their menu is
truly old fashioned, with sandwiches like chicken salad, egg salad, liverwurst,
etc. And the soda fountain choices are
perfect. Like being a kid in the 1960’s
and eating out with your mom after a doctor’s appointment at Drug Fair! And because we are 12, this old sign gave us
a giggle:
We puttered some more and went back to our room. We had great plans for dinner, but ended up
falling asleep, being the old farts we are.
I woke up after 9pm starving. I
knew it was too late to go to any of the places that we’d been thinking of and
had the idea that, being a college town, Fredericksburg MUST have a good sub
place. Then a little idea trickled into
my head. We were only about an hour away
from Arlington. I actually KNEW a place
that had subs and was open until 3am.
Plenty of time to get there. I
woke Mr. Kim up, detailed my plan and he was ready to go in about 3
minutes. Approximately an hour later we
arrived:
(Internet Photo)
I’m sure I’ve posted about Mario’s before. It opened in 1957 – which means that I ate
Mario’s before I was born. It was one of
Momma’s pregnancy cravings. They have
the best subs I’ve ever tasted in my life.
We’ve even taken Philly folks there who have become addicted. The thing to get is a ham, steak and cheese:
I love this sub, as you can see:
One of my 'last meal' items.
As I said, I was eating this stuff before I was born, which is the only
explanation for the fact that I love their pizza, too:
I don’t think anyone who hasn’t grown up with Mario’s pizza
would love it. I am a total pizza snob
and won’t eat the evil three (Domino’s, Pizza Hut or Papa John’s) and yet, I
love Mario’s. It is a perplexity. We made our way back to Fredericksburg,
replete and sleepy.
Sunday, March 22nd:
Our last day. After
breakfast back at the 2400 Diner, we went a little farther afield for the day. We wandered around the Fredericksburg City
Cemetery and Confederate Cemetery:
It is a lovely setting.
Old enough (established in 1844) to be peaceful instead of creepy.
Even some beads ala New Orleans:
There was a plaque in the Confederate
cemetery dedicated to the memory of several named soldiers whose remains had
been buried elsewhere in town but had been dug up and booted out to make room
for Union veterans several years later. But instead of relocating the
Confederate remains here, they were simply discarded. People carrying the
symbols of that war in their hearts are nothing new to this current century.
March Madness always is a part of our anniversary
weekend. Luckily, we both love college
basketball and UVA was playing, so we stopped at a bar and had a snack and
watched:
Note the score. This was the last time Mr. Kim was happy during the game. We lost to Michigan State 60-54. Mr. Kim is not happy:
We cheered ourselves up with our last Fredericksburg
excursion of the weekend. As I said
before, Julie had suggested that we go to the Gari Melcher House & Art
Studio. I confess, I’d never heard of
Gari Melcher or the home. Neither had
Mr. Kim. Thank you to Julie for
correcting that. We were charmed by the
home and overwhelmed by the talent of the artist.
The house:
The studio and gallery:
Some of his work:
(Internet Photos)
The tour of the house is guided, but you can wander the
garden and the studio/gallery freely. We
will most definitely go back. We were
the last tour of the day, so we didn’t get to spend much time in the shop. I want to choose a print – this art is
something that I need in my home! The
website give lots of good information about Melchers and his home and art: http://garimelchers.umw.edu/
Cheered up considerably, as you can see,:
we made our way back to Richmond with yet another wonderful
trip and another wonderful year of being together under our belts (and perhaps
a couple more pounds). I am uniquely
blessed to have the husband that I have.
We share and enjoy one another so much.
I know how lucky I am. Most
days. Sometimes I take it for granted,
but I try not to.
