Fall colors

I took a stroll through Arlington Cemetery yesterday to check out the fall colors. Most of the trees were rather lackluster, and some had lost all their leaves already, but there were a few that stood out with their bold colors.

October Baseball

This month has been a roller coaster for Washington fans. I'll start with the good: after seven miserable seasons, the Nats finished with the best record in baseball and the NL East title. For the first time since 1933, there would be postseason baseball in DC. I was thrilled to be a part of it.

I was lucky enough to snag tickets to Game 4 of the National League Division Series. And as luck would have it, it turned out to be the most exciting game of the series, if not of the entire season or maybe even the lifespan of the Nats.

Washington Senators legend Frank Howard threw out the first pitch.

There was a constant excitement in the air.

The late afternoon sun created some interesting shadows (and photo ops).

The Nats were down 2-1 in the series and needed a win to stay alive. So in the bottom of the 9th, Jayson Werth hits a walk-off home run to win the game. I guess it's not the posteason without a little drama, huh?

The celebration...

And the post-game interviews.

The euphoria lasted for the next 24 hours....well into Game 5, which the Nats were winning handily. Until that awful, dreadful, horrible 9th inning. And then, the gut punch. Now I know what old baseball guys mean when they talk about a team breaking your heart. But, as in all things in life, I guess you have to experience heartache to appreciate the good times. And to quote one of my favorite literary figures, Scarlett O'Hara, "tomorrow is another day."

Only 121 days until spring training starts....

President Lincoln's Cottage

A few months ago I visited President Lincoln's Cottage and I'm just now getting around to posting some photos. Lincoln's Cottage is located in Upper Northwest DC on the grounds of the Old Soldier's Home, a convalescent home for veterans. To be honest, I wasn't all that impressed by the tour - there wasn't any furniture in the house so there wasn't much to see - but I did learn some interesting facts. Back in the 1860s, the property was outside of city limits, so Lincoln used the cottage as sort of a country getaway. This is where it's believed that Lincoln wrote the Emancipation Proclamation. I also learned that freed slaves would set up camps just outside of city limits, which is how areas like U Street became large black communities. The More You Know!™

Wine country

One of the great things about living in Virginia is the fact that it's an up-and-coming wine region. (And if you know me at all, you know that I love my wine.) There are a ton of wineries about an hour's drive away; unfortunately I don't take advantage of that often enough. But yesterday, Audra and I drove out to Chrysalis Vineyards for a wine and bluegrass festival. It was a nice, relaxing day, despite the fact that the wind picked up and it got a little chilly. We had some good wine, some BBQ, and we got to take a hayride through the vineyard.

They let us sample some grapes off the vine. These are Norton grapes - the only wine grape that is indigenous to North America. They were incredibly juicy, so much so that they stained our teeth and lips purple.

And then on the way home we passed this store called The British Pantry out in the middle of nowhere. Of course I had to stop.

I bought some Sticky Toffee Pudding in a can (made by Heinz, of all people). I'm really curious to see how that is.