Thursday the 1st it was Jill’s birthday and her mom, older sister Melissa and nephew Tiernan came to visit. We had Chinese food for dinner and Jill got a cake and gifts. Nina was still in skateboarding camp and went to a skate park during the day Friday, then we ate at Amphora that night (in an empty dining room since outdoor seating was in the sun). Saturday Melissa, Tiernan, Nina & I went to Dave & Busters in Fairfax, then we all had a late lunch at Ford’s Fish Shack in South Riding. The outside seating was nice and the crab legs delicious – I just needed to walk over to the nearby grocery store to pick up some unsalted butter before the food arrived. Later Jill, Sue and I went to concert #2: Dar Williams at the Strathmore Patio Stage (they put a tent over the patio behind the concert hall). A very Falcon Ridge show as it rained heavily right before the show and some during, a cool breeze blew and kids fell asleep on their parents’ laps.
second from right, with two of her besties
Sunday was the 4th of July and everyone else went to the Baltimore Aquarium. I’d planned my day by starting yard work, but got a rude surprise as I got stung as I started on the Magnolia bush by what turned out to be a bald faced hornet. I did some first aid on the sting, then did the rest of the yard. I didn’t feel too bad after a shower, but the sting site was red and inflamed for a week. That night I grilled and everyone but Sue went out on the boat to watch the fireworks extravaganza. Monday was my holiday and Jill, Sue, Tiernan and I went to the Spy Museum in DC (Nina started art camp). Everyone but Sue went home Thursday.
Friday I had Veteran Pest come and remove the giant hornet nest (the guy calmly dressed in a beekeeper suit, went out and sprayed and scraped). He said they should be gone in a day. After work, Jill and I left for the weekend as Sue had offered to watch Nina. We hadn’t made dinner plans, and stopped at Parrando’s in Ashburn for Mexican. It wasn’t bad, but I wasn’t expecting my tacos to be so salty. We headed west and realized we would have no access to alcohol at the remote place we were staying in, so found Tri-State Liquors not too far away in Brunswick. It was a hidden gem, with dusty bottles up to the ceiling in every nook and cranny – I had to stop myself after a while. We kept going and were soon at the Inn at Stone Manor.
Since we were near Catoctin Creek, Saturday we planned on going to the Catoctin Creek Distillery. Then when we mapped it, saw it was in Purcellville VA (and a closer drive to home). But we had bought tix for a tasting tour, so hit the road (and it was a nice drive). We drove through Hillsboro and it was a bit weird to see the short stretch of redone roads until I read this article. Purcelville was nice and we had burgers from Market Burger Fries & Shakes before the distillery. I had the cocktail sampler and bought some more liquor to add to the stash. We stopped by Re-Love It then headed back to the inn.
Jill had thought about taking Lyft to and from Frederick, but I told her I wasn’t going to drink much. We drove to Frederick and I went to The Rock and Roll Graveyard and Record Exchange while Jill went to Magpie Fibers. Then I joined her at Brewers Alley for a pint before our reservation at Thacher & Rye. When we’d eaten there before, it was called Volt, but it was still run by Bryan Volltagio. We both had a delicious three course meal (the pork chop was outstanding). We decided to walk down to South Mountain Creamery to get ice cream, which was a little disappointing for coming from a creamery.
Sunday we checked out and drove to Middletown to have breakfast at The Main Cup, then went to Frederick to explore the treasures at Wonder Book & Video. Nina had sniffles on Friday that developed into a cold, but Sue took care of her, even going to Glory Days for a favorite meal. She had to get a Covid test just in case, but it was negative.
Monday the 12th Nina started Camp Goodtimes on The Road with the Grunspans. She got to go to Paddle Boating, Bowling/Cavalier Family Skating, the Science Museum of Virginia & Splashdown Waterpark. The only problem was their bus broke down on Wednesday and they were 2 hours late getting back. Friday we got takeout from Santinis. Saturday Jill took Nina over to Bards Alley where she met author Megan Wagner Lloyd. Sunday morning I got up at sunrise. I had found more bald faced hornets in a small nest in our bush, and I’d bought spray after the last nest. I dressed in ski clothes and a fish net over my hat (and looked ridiculous, Jill was bummed I didn’t take a picture) but when I went outside I didn’t have a clean shot without cutting branches, so went back to bed and called Veteran Pest the next day. Also my massive summer playlist served up “Hungry Heart” followed by “Hungry Eyes”. Randomized, my ass.
Wednesday the 21st Veteran Pest returned – the same guy in fact. He took one look, muttered that he should have come back an hour later the first time, and put on the suit, sprayed and scraped again (this time they did not come back). Nina had Aquatics Camp that week and got sunburned on her face before we started sending her with a sun hat, then Friday she had a picnic dinner with her friends in our backyard. Saturday was concert #3: Chris Thile at Wolf Trap, with a lovely dinner buffet (the volunteers served us each type of food like a cafeteria) on the Associates deck before. Lovely night for a concert, and so glad to be back at Wolf Trap. We had 2 tickets for Encore Circle that night, and Nina and Jill spent about half the show there and I didn’t have to leave early. Nina had her friend Bailey over on Sunday.
Wednesday the 28th was concert #4: Aoife O’Donovan at Wolf Trap by myself. It was a warm night with a slight breeze, makes it really feel like Falcon Ridge season. Having The Knights for her new “America, Come” song cycle and special guest Yasmin Williams made up for her show being my first Covid cancellation back in March 2020. Saturday we were up early to start vacation. They cancelled in 2020, but the Falcon Ridge Folk Festival was back for a one day event at the Goshen Fairgrounds and we got there to see Susan Werner, Vance Gilbert & The Slambovian Circus of Dreams for concert #5. We also saw Andrea, Jim & Chris from Shantytowne, then got takeout from Grey Area Tavern and ate at Andrea & Jim’s house. It was nice to catch up, but a wasp outside made Nina want to go inside, and with the 5 cats that live there, it wasn’t long until she had her first asthma attack in quite a while (also March 2020). Then we spent the night at Jill’s mom’s house.
During work, since I’d stopped listening to live shows, I had just been listening to random music, but in July decided to listen to my whole collection in order from the start. This month’s music collection note: I have all the AC/DC hits (mostly from Who Made Who and the Iron Man 2 soundtrack), but at some point I acquired 1983’s Flick Of The Switch and 1988’s Blow Up Your Video. They were entirely unnecessary (besides the hits).