The Three Hundred and Sixty Third...

Number Three Hundred and Sixty Three:

Riverbound Cafe, Lunch, Crab cake sandwich

The thing about a crab cake sandwich for 6 bucks, while they claim Bay crab, is that you know it's gonna taste like a 6 dollar crab cake sandwich. It was OK, I guess. And I think I am off onion rings for a while, it's not that they were bad, in fact, someone who likes HUGE chunks of onion with a nice batter in a bite may love them, but I felt like a mouthful of onion can be a little, "Oh, wow that was a chuck of white onion in my mouth, ew."

T-minus two!

The Sixty-Fifth...

Number Sixty-Five:





Crabshack Seafood Restaurant, Lunch, Crab cakes







A four day weekend equaled a day trip to somewhere! How about to The Mariners' Museum in Newport News. This place is huge, we barely scratched the surface after three hours, most of that on the Ironclad (Monitor vs. Virginia) exhibit. That exhibit is spectacular. You are immersed (and submersed, heh) immediately as you sit in a ocean blue room to watch the witness testimony and shadow recreation of when the Monitor sunk, then you make your way around to the actual red lit lantern that was brought up, after just seeing the drama of it being the last thing anyone ever saw of the ironclad over 140 years ago. Well done. But that is not all. You then come out to a partial lifesize replica of the shipyard where the Virginia was clad in irons. And more, more more more! So thorough, and the finale after all that goodness; you get a window view of the actual Monitor being conserved! Wow. And that was just a small portion of this spectacularly well done (and well financed) Museum. Wow.

Pretty much the only lame thing about it were the gift shop employees, who would rather talk about going to the movies with friends than answer any questions with accuracy or knowledge; the dingbats could not even answer where Route 60 was, which happened to be the road out front, complete with proper signage for when people leave. Their best answer to that question? "Ask the people at the information booth of the museum, they're like a hundred years old and would know that. Oh Cindy, did you go to the movie theater blah blah blah..."

That's okay, I would rather get information from them anyway, and I most certainly did!

One kind of rule that I like to have if we visit the tidewater area for an extended time and go out to eat is that it must have seafood. We were originally going to some place called the Train Station, but another good rule to go by when you are looking for a lunch spot is to ask a local. This "hundred year old" lady suggested the Crabshack, right on the James, right by the James River Bridge. Score! Some damn fine crab cakes!

The Sixty-Third...

Number Sixty-Three:



Home, Dinner, Crab cake sandwich



After lunch on the Bookmobile at Panera Bread, G. and I walked around the Fresh Market, a fancy grocery store in the old Saxon Shoes place on Parham. I remember going into that shoe store when I was a kid because my mom had to get some fancy shoes, and how completely bored I was! My parents often took me to places I was utterly impatient with; see also Franco's and Jos. A. Banks. I am pretty sure I got into trouble once or twice when I was young at these establishments.

Anyway, the Fresh Market is like Trader Joe's, only more colorful and snobby. The first thing I noticed when we walked in were a bunch of employees huddled around complaining about working. Ahh, so this is more like a Food Lion. Okay...
I have to remember to go there to get some fancy groceries sometime, because it does look like some nice comestibles. I bought a crabcake to go (meh) and some cookies for band practice tonight!

The Fourth...

Number Four:



Buster's Place, Lunch, crab cakes

After birdwatching (and bushwhacking) in and around an old farmhouse at one of the Rappahannock River Valley National Wildlife Refuge sites with L.'s folks, we crossed the River back at Port Royal. There was this seafood restaurant called Buster's Place that had staked at the roadside real estate signs boasting "Best Crabcakes", "Seafood Here" and "Party Barge Platter: $9.99" ...'nuff said. I call this one the "Royal Napstache".