Beer, Bourbon, BBQ

Mr. Smith made a whirlwind trip to Houston yesterday to surprise one of his best friends for his 30th birthday. He also stopped by both of our parent's house to drop off Father's Day gifts in person- you can imagine their surprise! We gave my dad a polo from the US Open on Friday, and his dad got a new boat cover. He had a great time, successfully snuck in town without (almost) anyone knowing, and is now curled up on the couch recovering ;)

Since Mr. Smith was gone, Mrs. Smith treated herself to a fun little girl's day. My friend Corie was in town to visit two of her best friends from high school that recently got engaged, one lives in DC and one in NYC. They let me tag along for some wedding dress shopping in Old Town Alexandria and got a little nostalgic. I haven't been able to go with my besties as they pick their dresses, so it was fun to get to play again.   

After dress shopping, we headed down to the National Harbor for the Beer, Bourbon, and BBQ festival. There were 60 beers, 40 bourbons, and tent after tent of delicious BBQ and fixins' for us to sample. I felt like I was back in Texas!

Our $35 ticket bought us a 4 oz tasting glass that housed our multiple samples of the good stuff. 4 oz is a dangerous size for a tasting glass though, it was essentially a large shot glass. It didn't discourage us from drinking as much... it actually made me feel pressure to finish my samples in 2-3 sips so I could try the next one.

The lines weren't near as long as I expected, we only waited 2-3 minutes max for samples.

Of course I forgot the name of my favorite beer, it was an IPA from a local brewer. My 2nd favorite was Woodpecker Cider.

 My favorite bourbon was (ri), pronounced "rye".

Very smooth, didn't give me the "I just drank a shot of bourbon" face

My LEAST favorite was Shiner Ruby Redbird. To me, it tasted like I took a huge bite of ginger root and washed it down with a glass of grape fruit juice, then swished my mouth out with Shiner Bock beer. Fail.

After a few samples, we decided it would probably be wise to eat, so we decided to give The Little Red Pig a try.

This pig was not little.
Or red.

But he was delicious!

With full bellies and a pretty solid buzz, we headed over to the main stage where the band was playing everything from Barenaked Ladies to Pearl Jam. We spent the next hour enjoying some fabulous people watching, dodging pick up lines from sweaty bourbon drunk frat boys, and enjoying the music.

Non-stop interpretive dance couple

Corie telling the drunk creeper that wouldn't leave us alone "Look- we are all married. Please leave us alone and go find another group of girls to harass"

Fighting over the beach ball.
Girl in the top left corner was the "dance sexy by myself and stare at the bass player" person

6:00 rolled around, and the festival ended :( We stocked up on kettle corn and beef jerky, then headed back to Clarendon for round two.

 My friend Mattie actually crossed the Potomac and left DC to come meet us in Clarendon. We did a mini bar-crawl and went to Whitlow's, 11th Street, Liberty Tavern, and Spider Kelly's.

We ended the night with a grub session at Bob and Edith's- my favorite 24 hr diner down the street. Milkshakes, steak & eggs, home fries, and onion rings. Perfect ending to a perfect day!

I picked Mr. Smith up at noon from his 24 hour Houston trip and have been nursing him back to health all day. Nothing that a Papa John's pizza and some sprite can't fix :) He literally left the party and went straight to the airport for his 5am flight. Trooper.

Speaking of special occasions, HAPPY BIRTHDAY to my wonderful mom, and HAPPY FATHER'S DAY to my dad! I'm so sad I can't be there today. Mama J, Papa J and and my brother are coming up to visit us in August. Can't wait :)

If you're fortunate enough to spend father's day with your dad, know that you're lucky.

Hope everyone had a great weekend :)