not too far out the city... and it is the country


this weekend past we had farm adventures on each side of the Potomac River it is true... we dabbled in both the north and the south
interestingly enough they were not that different
saturday I rode mountain bikes at an informal ride/race
which was set up to be uber family friendly
so... after the ride was over it was timed such that the family showed up to a bbq
the kids spent the afternoon on a swing from an old tree with horses roaming about within view this farmi like property was just north of Baltimore with a reservoir just a short hike through the woods away
then sunday we went and caught live music and ate amazing food just south of The District on The Whipple Farm just south of Warrenton
or is that Warrington?
Lisa and I brought the boys we drove up in tandem with Rob and Vida at the Glover Park meeting point there was a swap
I rode with Rob and and his son Pearce
while Vida rode in the following car with Lisa and our boys
I rode shotgun with a map in hand not having even the slightest inkling that I would be shooting a shotgun later that afternoon in addition to all the food and fantastic music there was a pond with a hired life guard and a man made sandy beach that kept Dean and Grant and a number of other kids occupied for the full duration of our stay
to our pleasure there were some other friends and their similar aged kids on the man made beach

Lisa and I each took turns looping about
as the other hung with the kids... feeding the kids... and making sure the kids were all safe
ah... yes... the hover parent
we are the era of the hover parent
if we blink they will not be safe
the music was the background score to our very mild summer day
it seemed buggless on this farm
the sun dropped slowly as the activities of the day continued
to my own surprise I found myself shooting clay pigeons with a shot gun with the Shenandoah mountains sitting far in the background
the with kids adventure is not the same adventure as without kids but it can still be an adventure as we walked to the car we were passed by one of the men who were organizing and instructing the skeet shooting it made me wonder if eight year old Dean would have been allowed to try the gun under proper supervision that would have been quite an experience for him Dean tried taking some shots of me while I shot but I could not explain to him how to operate the camera on the Blackberry while I listened to instructions on how to hit my target a few near misses and an open ear to instruction had me hitting the small orange discs at close range when I asked Dean if he got any photos he said he got one of my back and then another of my arm and the gun sure enough... that is exactly what he photographed the food and beer was fantastic I did not sample the wine or the sangria so I can nor rate either but I did review each salad dish and each individual cut of meat with some of the various sauces frisbee was in hand and there was bocce and croquet in the trunk of the car the area did not need any additional entertainment the reggae music... the country pond... the cold beer... the amazing food... and of course the skeet shooting quite a day it was a beautiful Sunday afternoon in the Summertime at The Whipple Farms a biodynamic farm just an hour outside of DC that provides food for LOCAL 16 there were shuttle buses from Local 16 but we drove ourselves some background information on Local 16 from The Prince of Petworth www.princeofpetworth.com the food was amazing... the vibe was awesome it was a fantastic Summer Sunday afternoon next Lisa and I will have to get a sitter and head over to Local16 http://www.whipplefarms.com/ http://localsixteen.com/
and SEE-I on LAST FM