July 4th Weekend at Washington DC and Annapolis, Maryland

With Caiqian and I still taking advantage of our Southwest Companion Pass we decided to take a quick trip to visit our friends for July 4th weekend. First we decided to visit the best man at our wedding, Matt, in DC! After we landed, Matt brought us to an Ethiopian restaurant called Dukem.  

Caiqian, Matt, and spare Injera

I love whenever we have a chance to try new foods so this was right up my alley. Our main dish consisted of cooked goat, uncooked seasoned beef, spicy powders and sauces, and vegetables piled on top of a large spongy, pancake called injera. Using injera off to the side, you tear off pieces and add the central toppings, it's very communal.

Spongy Injera with many different toppings

Afterward we had the biggest walking day ever. By the end of the day (and we only landed in DC around lunch) Caiqian had recorded over 30,000 steps! First we walked to the Smithsonian National Zoo.

The zoo is free to enter (although I believe it costs to park, but this didn't apply to us!), so the only expense we had was a souvenir drink. 

Animals, starring Tian Tian the lazy panda, at the Smithsonian National Zoo. 

We all walked around and enjoyed the animals, although there some funny moments, like this display case where no-one supported reducing elephant conflict.

Left to right: "Track Wild Elephants", "Make Elephant Babies" and (empty) "Prevent Conflict"

The most memorable however was a $3 bet between me and Matt. While we walked around, we noticed at least 25% of the displays did not have the animal featured, and that percentage seemed to go up for animals we really wanted to see. One animal Matt wanted to see was an Andean spectacled bear. I bet Matt $3 that we wouldn't see it, and he agreed. It was the last display that we went to that day, and I captured his crushing defeat below :)

The Saga of the (non-existent) Spectacled  Andean Bear

After a long day walking around the zoo, Matt took us on a hike to food. Caiqian was stoked!

Walking to Food

For dinner Caiqian was starving and quite happy to eat some Peruvian cuisine at El Chalan. Again, I loved being able to try a new restaurant, and here I got to try my first beef heart. I think we all agreed it was a real treat. Great seasoning, and the  meat was somehow crisp and snappy, but not tough, kind of like a woodear mushroom.

Beef heart at El Chalan

Another place we enjoyed was Thomas sweet, where I had a delightful "butterbrickle" ice cream, a sweet ice cream that had a distinct butter flavor.

Menu at Thomas Sweet

We also went to Pica Taco where we got to try tamales and Lengua (beef tongue) tacos. The Lengua was quite tender, another hit!

Pica Taco

My favorite thing to do was hang out with Matt and get to see his place. Matt is always good for a game, below I snapped a pic of us all playing new (to me and Caiqian) Dominion expansions.

Dominion Guilds Expansion

In addition to playing the Guilds expansion, we played Dark Ages, Cornucopia, and Intrigue expansions as well. It was a long night!

After a busy 24 hours with Matt, it was time to spend the next 24 hours with friends in nearby Annapolis.

Annapolis, Maryland

Caiqian and I took a subway and were picked up by her friends Zach and Katie in Annapolis, Maryland. There we enjoyed the sea breeze and Annapolis's boating culture.

Enjoyin Annapolis's City Dock

After Zach and Katie let us drop off our luggage at their new house, Caiqian and I did our favorite vacationing activity, eating!

The whole gang at Iron Rooster (with Maryland flag in background).

Here at Iron Rooster we got to try some local shrimp dishes.

Shrimp and Grits and Shrimp Burger

Seafood was a general theme of our Annapolis trip. Caiqian really enjoyed eating a lobster roll at Mason's. I personally liked the roll in New York better (from Luke's Lobster), but this roll was a better bang for your buck ($14 versus $17).

Lobster Roll at Mason's.

My favorite seafood in Annapolis was as a dockside restaurant called Pussers. There we enjoyed inventive dishes featuring Maryland's famous blue crabs. I particularly enjoyed the crab cake eggs benedict.

Enjoying the view, food, and friends at Pusser's

Besides eating and shopping, Caiqian and I toured the US Naval Academy (makes sense with the sailing culture). There we even managed to get a glimpse of some Naval Students, who were still walking around in formations and uniforms on a Sunday. Talk about a unique college experience!

United States Navel Academy

Walking around, one room we enjoyed was Dahlgren hall, which had 56 flags. We evnetually found out it was all 50 states plus Washington DC and the US's five territories, Puerto Rico, Guam, Northern Mariana Islands, the U.S. Virgin Islands, and American Samoa.

US Navy Academy's Dahlgren Hall.

Afterwards Caiqian got to take a memorable flight back on July 4th. Not only did we get free cocktails from Southwest, but we got to see fireworks shows from our window. I was surprised how close to the ground fireworks seemed to explode when viewed from an airplane. Even the biggest fireworks looked like circular explosions on the ground compared to flying altitude.

Well that wraps it up for our busy three day vacation. The next post will be when we visit my Uncle in San Francisco!

1st Anniversary in Portland

Caiqian and I have been busy with our careers, but fortunately 6 months into this year we were able to take our first vacation. Caiqian and I love Austin, but we've heard rumors that Austin's famous "Keep Austin Weird"was actually borrowed for another, possible even more laid-back city, Portland.

So we decided this would be a great place to celebrate our 1st year anniversary.

The Croppers are in Portland!

Portland at has similarities to other large scale cities. But there were some distinguishing factors in the "Rose City." One in particular were the water fountains called "bubblers", which confused us since they continually dribbled water.

Some Portland Specialties

There were also large communities of homeless, even in front of signs saying "No Camping, No Fires, No Dumping". We also discovered that Oregon legally sells Marijuana. Before you ask, Caiqian and I didn't even go into a store. It was still interesting to see such a rare sight. 

On our first morning, we met up with some internet strangers that Caiqian befriended from an online financial forum. This was my first time meeting people from the internet in real life, and I can say it went really well! Two were a married couple, an the third was another friend. We decided to eat together ät a restaurant called "Screen Door." It was fortunate that we met up on the morning of the first day, because they reccomended restaurants for us to eat at for the rest of our trip.

Meeting Online Friends at Screen Door!

One of them ran a food blog so we knew we were getting top notch recommendations. At Screen Door I really enjoyed Caiqian and my dishes, namely the fresh "Fried Oysters Egg Benedict" and the towering "Chicken and Waffles." 

Screen Door's Oysters Egg Benedict

Screen Door's Chicken and Waffles

Afterwards we all hopped in the couple's car. From there we dropped of the nice friend at her apartment. But the couple nicely drove us to Washington Park and joined us at Portland's Japan Garden. Normally there is an entry fee but the couple got us in for free since they were members!

Portland Japanese Garden

The gentleman actually frequented the Japanese Garden, and was able to give us an informal, but thorough tour of the gardens. We learned that every japanese garden has moving water, a turtle to represent long life, and large rocks. We also learned that water walkways are zig-zagged so that spirits can't chase you (spirits can only run in straight lines). And we even enjoyed two large rock gardens.

Beautiful Sights at Portland Japanese Garden

My favorite display at the Japanese Gardens was the Bonsai collection. One of the trees is over 500 years old, and my personal favorite was a bonsai (tiny tree) Redwood (the largest tree species), the top picture below.

Bonsai collection including ironic Coastal Redwood (top image)

Afterward we finally parted ways with the nice couple. Just a short stroll from the Japanese Garden was the free Rose Garden (also in Washington Park). 

The Rose City's Rose Garden

Although the gardens were my favorite non-food activity in Portland, we also enjoyed the Portland Ariel Tram. The most unique thing about the tram is that it's part of the commute for dozens of medical professionals.

Portland Ariel Tram

I think Caiqian's favorite attraction in Portland was Powell's Books. I say it was her favorite because we went there three times! Powell's is a city-block-wide bookstore with up to four floors. Caiqian and I found boardgames and coffee shops in the labyrinth, but the only purchase we made (in fact, the only thing we took back to Houston) was a cute coloring book (you can see Caiqian's face in the bottom picture).

Powell's Used and New Books

For the second half of this post I wanted to talk about the different delicious foods, starting with the savory food! One delicious meal was Portuguese Fried Rice from Cheryl's on 12th. I didn't care for the sausage, but the rice was subtle yet not bland. Would recommend!

Portuguese Fried Rice from Cheryl's on 12th

Another savory set came from Tasty and Alder, which featured unique Koran meals.

Potatoes Bravas and Korean Fried Chicken from Tasty and Alder

We really wanted to celebrate Portland's food truck culture, since this might have been the starting ground for the food truck craze that has spread to Austin and even Houston. If you want some really delicious Korean comfort food, get the Bibim Box at Kim Jong Grillin'.

Galbi Bibim Box from Kin Jong Grillin

Lastly (for the savory foods at least), Caiqian and I stumbled into a small food truck village where we walked past at least a dozen trucks. From here we got some juice from one truck and some indian at another.

Trailer Food Park on SW 4th and College 

That's it for the savory foods, time to move onto the real show, the desserts of Portland! I'll start off with a recommendation from my mom, and possibly the only place that we went to hat wasn't mentioned at our original Portland meetup. 

Saint Honoré Boulangerie Café Salon de Thé

The place was called Saint Honoré Boulangerie, and there I learned that Napoleons = mille feuilles = delicious.

Cannelais and Strawberry Mille-Feuille.

For you ice-cream lovers out there, there is no place more creative, and delicious, than Salt and Straw. Caiqian and I ended up getting a honey-lavender ice cream, and now I wish I could pick up lavender ice cream in the grocery stores. As our Portland friends told us, don't forget that if you go, you can try as many flavors as you want!.

Honey and Lavender Ice Cream + Menu at Salt & Straw 

Our biggest let-down in Portland was Voo-Doo donuts, which gets a 10/10 for theme, but a 4/10 for donut deliciousness. 

Voodoo Donut Display

Caiqian and I found the one donut we bought had far too much flour, and only a chocolate-flavored sugar frosting (instead of real chocolate topping).

Voo-Disappointment

If you want to go to a real donut place, look no further than Blue Star Donuts.

Blue Star Donuts

Here Caiqian and I ordered the same donut that we ordered at Voo-Doo, namely a creme-filled-chocolate-glazed donut. But the difference was night and day. The inside was a creamy vanilla custard, and the top was real chocolate, not chocolaty-sugar. And as a bonus, there were crunchy choco-bits.

Valrhona chocolate crunch donut from Blue Star

Well, that's it for Portland. But fortunately, in the second half of this year we will be traveling to many new locations (since we got Southwest's companion pass). Stay tuned.