This past weekend

This past weekend was so much fun! I packed a lot in; I like to keep busy!

Saturday

The Pumpkin Festival at Butler's Orchard

We weren't sure what we wanted to do, but then my friend mentioned that the Flower Hill String Band was going to play at a local pumpkin festival. He mentioned the musicians on a whim, but I had just worked with them on an event for my job, so I already knew the band. I definitely wanted to stop by and say hi!

We listened to the music, but the festival also had other fun things to check out:

Fun fact: it takes 120 days for a pumpkin to grow to full size from a seed.

Rather than throwing darts on a board, you throw pumpkins at the darts!

The barnyard animals were my favorite. There's Charlie the pig on the right!

Flower (top) is the mother of Milo (bottom). We couldn't pet them, but they were certainly cute!

I'm driving a tractor! (Well, sitting in an old one that hasn't moved in YEARS...)

Gluttony at its finest: a slice of pumpkin pie AND a s'more on a stick (i.e. a marshmallow covered in caramel, mini chocolate chips, chopped walnuts, and graham cracker crumbs on top of a pretzel stick).

After that, we headed to Little Bennett Regional Park for a hike. We had considered going to Sugarloaf Mountain (my favorite local hike), but we have done that hike several times. So we tried something new. This hike was more like a nature walk (not too strenuous), but the leaves were beautiful now that the foliage is changing color. We hiked for about two hours, and just as we were heading back to the parking lot, the rain started drizzling. Talk about good timing!

The fluff from the milkweed pod is SO soft!

The seeds are nicely packed into the pods before they really explode!

We saw this wasp nest on our hike. Luckily we didn't see any wasps!

After our hike, we quickly changed our clothes in the car and then made our way to the Comus Inn (a fancy restaurant where hiking clothes would not be particularly appropriate). I had a Groupon that was going to expire in a week, so our full day of fun was actually all based around making sure to have dinner at the Comus Inn. We started with the butternut squash bisque and glasses of Reisling (I tried the Elk Run wine since it's local), and while I had the North Carolina trout, my friend had the pork special (I think I liked his better; it came with apple butter!). Since we had already eaten pumpkin pie earlier, we figured we didn't need dessert. Such a lovely meal!

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We ended the night with a trip to Rockwell Brewery. At this point it was heavily raining, so we all packed inside. I don't like beer, but we were just there to hang out anyway. There were a lot of people, and everyone seemed to be enjoying themselves. So if you're ever in Frederick, MD and you like beer, I would recommend checking this place out!

Sunday

Republic Restoratives is best known for their CIVIC vodka, but they also have rye whiskey, bourbon, and apple brandy!

I signed up to participate in the Junior League of Washington's "Kitchen Tour" mini-event (since the real tour isn't until April). This particular event was a brunch at a women-owned distillery in D.C. named Republic Restoratives. I worked with the distillery on the same event for my job recently, so I wanted to show my support and thanks by paying it forward and going to an event at their location.

We started our with a tour of the distillery, learning about how they make their products and doing a tasting of their vodka, rye whiskey, and bourbon. Then we went upstairs to where the barrels are kept, and that's where we enjoyed our family style brunch. We were served delicious waffles with all different kinds of toppings (not just syrup!), and we each got two drink tickets to enjoy hand-crafted cocktails.

We each got a Republic Restoratives glass. What does the logo mean? It's the letter R in American Sign Language. Because of the distillery's proximity to Gallaudet University, a school for the deaf, all of the bartenders are fluent in sign language.

We had brunch upstairs. I didn't even know this room existed!

Cute autumn-themed table decorations

The food looked and tasted so delicious!

I enjoyed waffles topped with pesto chicken salad (front), beef and mustard (top left), and eggs and bacon (top right). There were also waffles with salmon/lox on them, as well as a dessert waffle served with chocolate syrup and strawberries.

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It was a rainy day, so after brunch, I mostly just lounged around. But I ended the night with an at-home movie night and watched The Internship. This movie came out several years ago, but I was in the mood for a comedy, and I knew Owen Wilson and Vince Vaughn would not disappoint. And I was right! This is a lighthearted film that is perfect for just relaxing at home.

What a nice weekend! This coming weekend I'll be in NYC, so stay tuned for my blog post about that!