Ok, so "Vince-Fest," rescheduled from last month, finally occurred this weekend with one major adjustment. Vince bailed. Yes, you read that right. Vince - the friend that this entire weekend was planned around, months in advance, based on his schedule, BAILED! Ugh. Ok, I'm done complaining about it, we had a good time without him. We did however have to rename the event to be "Vince-less Fest" instead. Thanks to Tom's friend Loren for coming up with the brilliant name!
Theresa, Diego and I loaded the bikes in their car and headed north to Springtown on Friday night. We arrived just after 11pm, thanks to DC rush hour traffic that was still going strong at 8pm. Tom, being Polish, which he tells me means that he greets guests with food before even saying hello, did his heritage proud and had shrimp, chips, guacamole, salsa, and bottle of wine waiting for us. The shrimp was a huge hit, and the leftovers reappeared to much acclaim with eggs, spinach, and mushrooms on Sunday morning.
Saturday we kicked off Vince-less Fest with pancakes and eggs before heading out for a great bike ride that took us to an airfield, a coffee shop (I was in desperate need of a mocha), and a field trip to a local maple syrup maker. Yes, you read that right! A few miles before the end of the ride, we came upon a maple syrup maker. A guy was collecting sap from the trees near the road and asked us if we'd like to come inside to see how its made. Absolutely!
We entered the 103 degree building to see them boiling the sap to make syrup. Apparently it takes about 50 gallons of sap to make 1 gallon of syrup and the season only lasts for about 6 weeks each February/March. Good thing, I suppose, as I sure wouldn't want to be inside that building on a hot summer day! Theresa and I each bought a bottle of syrup and carried them in our bike jersey pockets for the remainder of the ride.
After a short nap to recover from the ride, the Vince-less Fest celebration evening feast began. We kicked off the cooking by drinking a bottle of Dom Perignon that Tom had been given as a gift. I don't even like champagne, but that was some good stuff! Seriously - I had a couple glasses and I normally don't take more than a sip of champagne. Tom had lobsters shipped in from Portland, ME and FedEx managed to deliver them this time. Theresa and I stepped outside while Tom and Diego put them into the boiling water. If I had to kill my own food I'd be a vegetarian.
They were delicious! To top it off, Tom had ordered this gourmet chocolate cake from a local chocolate shop for dessert. It was gluten free and it was to die for! I think it was the best chocolate cake I have ever had, and I've had a lot of chocolate cake in my life!
We ended the evening by teaching Tom how to play the basket game. As usual, the game did not disappoint, lots of laughs were had by all. Whereas in the past, we have always played men against women (and the women have always lost...) this time it was Diego and I versus Tom and Theresa, and for the first time ever, I was on the winning basket game team! Woo hoo! You rock, Diego.
Sunday, Tom helped Theresa get her marathon training run in, and then Tom and Theresa had to make breakfast for us (their consolation prize for losing the basket game). They did an outstanding job. Theresa is now a veteran gluten free pancake maker.
.JPG)
Ok, so when you think of hiking in Delaware, what do you picture? Well, chances are, that's about what you get! But it's not the location nearly as much as it is the company! Tom and I hiked around Lums Pond, near Newark, DE. It was a 7 mile flat, mostly wooded loop around the pond. It was similar to Burke Lake or Lake Accotink in VA. Given that it is March, there wasn't much greenery, but it was still nice to be outside getting some fresh air and exercise. We followed up the hike with a much needed dinner at a local restaurant, where we were clearly the oldest people there (Newark is home to the University of Delaware), and coffee at Starbucks to fuel the drive home. It was a good day.
