Hatteras Beach Week

Every year, for the past 10 years, we've gone with the family to Hatteras, NC for a week at the beach. We arrived yesterday, staying at our rental house -- this year the house is named Surf N'Dippity. Neat house -- sleeps 16 and we are only 12 this year. Katy and me; Mike, Debbie and the 4 grandsons; Pete, Linda and their grandson CJ, and brother in law John (who arrives tomorrow). This is CJ's first trip to the ocean ever, so he's having a 7-year old's blast of a time. Weather is perfect -- high today was 85 and not a cloud in the sky. Lows in the mid 60s. Great sleeping weather. The only down side at all -- Hurricane Danielle is about 800 miles off shore and the waves are something fierce. Never seen them quite this big.

Here's a photo of the house.

Our Anniversary -- Blue Duck Tavern

For our anniversary last night we went to the Blue Duck Tavern in the Park Hyatt hotel. This is another of our top-10 restaurants in DC. Katy started with Sardines on "toast," a tasty preparation of a typically bland fish. Paul tried bone marrow for the first time, spreading it and roasted garlic on some toasted bread. For the main course, Paul had two magnificent crab cakes and Katy ordered the whole fish fillet. The meal was accompanied by a delightful wine -- the 2006 Mendel Unus from Mendoza, Argentina. It's a 70/30 Malbec/Cabernet meritage blend with a very fruity nose and a strong alcohol finish. It improved very much as the evening went on.

What we particularly liked about this visit to Blue Duck (besides the food which was, as always, spectacular) was our chance to watch the kitchen. We'd told them in advance that it was our anniversary and, to our surprise, they saved us seats right by the kitchen, so we got to watch the preparations. One of the interesting pieces was the finishing chef (who knows what his official title is?) whose job was to put on all the garnishes and to grind on the last little bits of topping for the dishes. He was a master of the "small touch" and we really enjoyed the show.

Overall, Blue Duck rates tops for ambiance and food. Well worth a visit.

The Music of Epcot

Epcot Center in Orlando has a series of pavilions reflecting cultures from around the world. We had lunch in Italy and dinner in Morocco. And along the way we heard the music of Mexico and Japan. Here are two small tastes:

We Went to Disneyworld!

We take a short pause from the blogging about the trip to Peru to note this weekend's trip with the grandkids to Disneyworld. Details to follow. For now, just to prove we were actually there here is a photo.