The night was still young once we finished our dinner on Friday, so we opted to find a bar to hang out in. I've been dying to try the cocktails at The Tasting Room but their bar is really small so we have yet to be able to get in. One day! Our other favorite spot is Brewer's Alley for craft beer but they too were super crowded so we ended up at The Wine Kitchen. I had been wanting to go back to try one of their wine flights and chose the dry whites. My favorite was the Sauvignon Blanc.
Also while wandering around Frederick we made a stop in Zoe's Chocolate Company. Owned by a local Greek family, Zoe's has many options to choose from and we got a nine piece box of chocolates. Flavors are exotic such as Mediterranean Citrus and their seasonal Drunken Pumpkin. My favorites were probably the Fleur de Sel caramels.
Saturday we hit the road by 9am and made our way up to Lover's Leap, a gorgeous cliff face on the side of Wills Mountain, just outside of downtown Cumberland. Legend says that a Native American prince and princess from enemy tribes fell in love but weren't allowed to marry so they jumped off the cliff to be together. Morbid right?
Justin chose this spot because it conveniently looks over the Western Maryland Railway tracks, an old steam engine that goes out for excursions. It also overlooked the CSX line. Justin being the train nerd that he is knew exactly when the steam train would depart from the station so we could see it go by. I'm not going to lie, I enjoy watching trains too. My dad is a train buff as well as my grandfather and I've grown up with it. We've ridden on that train before but it was really cool to watch it from up on the mountain. Later we managed to get right next to it at a crossing on its way back. While up on the mountain we met a man who does the official hawk and eagle count for the Cumberland Gap and spent a few minutes birdwatching. Unfortunately all were saw were turkey vultures.
Once we came down from the mountain we made a stop at Charis Winery, located in the downtown area of the city. Their wines were great, my favorite being the Catawba that I purchased. After a failed hunt for a cupcake shop that seems to no longer exist, we looked for a spot to get dinner. There are very few options in Cumberland unless you love Italian or deep fried food, so I set my sights on the surrounding towns. Rocky Gap State Park opened a casino in the last few years and I discovered that they have 4-5 restaurants to choose from with the kind of food that Justin and I like.
When we got there we sat on the water for about an hour enjoying the scenery, then headed up to LB's Place, the more casual dining spot at the casino. We shared a sweet and savory appetizer of Brussels sprouts with bacon and maple syrup (I'm obssessed!). I ordered the rotisserie chicken flatbread, served with pesto and tomatoes, and Justin ordered the skirt burger. Neither one of us realized that the skirt burger meant a huge "skirt" of slightly burned cheddar cheese. Artery clogging but so good! My flatbread was very tasty but huge, so I took quite a bit of it home for the next day.
The food adventures continued the next day with a harvest festival at Big Cork Vineyards in Rohrersville, MD. I've been wanting to visit this vineyard but their tasting room is still under construction. Since it's nearing completion the vineyard hosted this festival to taste their wines and celebrate their soon-to-be opened tasting room. Not only were the wines fantastic (my favorites were the Russian Kiss, Syrah Rose, and Vidal Blanc) but they also had several local food vendors. I first had #Juan Guacamole at the Taste of Linganore festival in August and it was just as good the second time around. We also had incredible smoked cheddar cheese from Buttercup Valley Farm in Jefferson, MD, and Mango Catawba wine sorbet from Misty Meadows Farm in Smithsburg, MD. Seriously some of the best sorbet I have ever had.
Later that night I had my birthday dinner with my parents at Bluegrass Tavern in Baltimore City. This place was listed as one of the Top 40 restaurants in Baltimore and I loved the southern style menu options. We shared two appetizers, Brussels sprouts with smoked bleu cheese and walnut oil, and crawfish hush puppies. Both were delectable, and my dad even asked for a third helping of the sprouts!
My entree was the Southern Fish Stew with whitefish, shrimp, mussels, uni roulli, and charred bread in a tomato and fennel broth. Out of all the restaurants I've been too this was one of my favorite dishes. The magazine had mentioned that this was one to try and they were so right. The broth was the right amount of thickness with delicious flavor and went well with all of the types of seafood. This is a must order!
My mother and friend Lee who also joined us had the catch of the day, trout with rice and mushrooms, shrimp, and seafood sausage with monkfish and swordfish. I had never had seafood sausage and tried some and it's actually quite good! It's slightly drier than regular sausage because of less fat content but it doesn't hurt the taste or consistency. My dad opted for the Bluegrass Salad with shrimp, apple cider mustard vinaigrette, lardons, red onion, baby heirloom tomatoes, and queso fresco. He cleaned his plate.
I also loved the decor at this place. Very rustic!
The birthday shenanigans continue this weekend with dinner at The Food Market in Hampden tomorrow night with my fiance, his mother and boyfriend, and my parents, and on Saturday night it's girls night out at the Blue Hill Tavern in Canton. Look for more posts coming soon!
No comments:
Post a Comment