Anniversary Weekend!

Every time I make plans to go to a restaurant I stalk the menu for weeks in advance. I eat healthy at home so when I go out I want to be really excited and confident about my selections and indulge a bit.  This almost always backfires and I need to stop.  A few years ago I became obsessed with soft shell crabs.  They are in-season late May through the summer which is perfect because during that time is my birthday, Mark's birthday and our anniversary so we have lots of dinners out to celebrate things and lots of chances to order and enjoy soft shell crabs.  That particular year that my obsession was in full swing, I had selected a restaurant with soft shell crabs on the menu for my birthday and was checking the menu daily to make sure it was still being served.  Of course on the night of my birthday dinner the waitress is reviewing the specials and mentions, " also we've run out of soft shell crab".  I was bummed but knew that I had two more dinners out in the next few weeks....until the same thing happened both nights.  No soft shell crabs for me in 2011! You'd think I would have learned my lesson about menu stalking after that experience!

Flash forward to this past weekend. Our dear friend Lisa offered to dog and babysit for the weekend so Mark and I could get away for our anniversary!  On Saturday, we headed to Paradise Springs Winery in Clifton, VA for an afternoon delight!  It was a perfect sunny day and there were lots of families and couples enjoying wine, snacks and music.  We ordered a bottle of Nana's Rose which I think might be my new favorite Virginia wine, and some cheese and baguette.  Yum!

After wine, we drove to our hotel Suites at 249 in Culpepper, VA.  I liked many things about this hotel but one of my favorites had to be the keyless entry!  We didn't have to wait in a reception line or even interact with anyone, we just punched in a code to the exterior of the building and to our room - so easy and private!  We stayed in Verde Suite, since I made the reservation and I love green.

We headed to dinner at Foti's Restaurant and no surprise, I'd been stalking the menu for the past month.  It's a pretty small space and in my opinion a much more casual atmosphere than the "fine dining" label on their website would indicate.  I proposed to Mark that we get the Vanilla Roasted Maine Lobster and Cornmeal Crusted Oysters to start - he agreed with those choices, and I planned to have the Moraccan Spiced Mahi Mahi with rock shrimp and Mark selected the Lamb Tangine.  The waitress goes through the specials and mentions, instead of Mahi Mahi, it is trout and instead of the rock shrimp, it is regular shrimp.  Of course this would happen!  I decided to move forward with the Trout with shrimp and was still excited about our appetizer selection...until I ordered the lobster and the waitress failed to previously mention that was out too.  Arg! In my next life I should be the person in charge of ordering food quantities for restaurants.  Mark suggested the Prosciutto wrapped Duck Confit instead and we went with that.  I have to say everything was so delicious that I forgot I didn't have what I originally intended.  The food here is very flavorful and fresh.  We capped off the night with dessert - I loved my carrot shaped carrot cake!

Next to our hotel was one of the Virginia Love Signs!  I think this is the first one I've seen, which seems surprising but is a nice way to sum up this anniversary post!