(Saturday + Day off) x (Little Amps + friends) = FUN

Don't think we could have packed much more into our Saturday than we did last weekend.  The weather was sort of crappy, but we managed to fill the time with all sorts of activities.  Most importantly, we started the morning off right with the opening of our very own-finally open-we've been waiting for-Harrisburg doesn't have enough-Olde Uptown-neighborhood-coffee shop...LITTLE AMPS!!

When Mike and I first visited the neighborhood, we heard a little buzz about an old corner store that WCI Partners had acquired and was *cross your fingers* working on the logistical details to find someone willing and ready to caffeinate the neighborhood.  We've been awaiting it's opening ever since (and I'm pretty sure the rest of the neighborhood has too)!  It's a good thing, too, cause Harrisburg is definitely lacking in the area of good coffee houses and in coffee houses in the city.  I mean, c'mon...I don't want to drive clear across the city to get my cup of coffee.  Yes, we do have a coffee pot and yes, we do have lots and lots of coffee (thanks to our recent visit from our favorite Starbucks barista and crew), but that is another conversation all together. Sometimes I just want somebody else to make my coffee and hand me the steaming cup to sip and enjoy...aaaahhhh!

Enter: Little Amps Coffee Roasters :-)

The place looks stunning inside & out...I'm partial to the brick and black combo!

Neighborhood groupies anxiously awaiting an open door and the smell
of fresh coffee on an October morning...we might have underestimated
our 25 second walk from door-to-door

How cute is he??

I'm lovin' the artwork

A few of the first paying customers

Needless to say, we spent a few hours sampling coffee, relaxing, and chatting...with a little impromptu photo shoot with the camera man from The Patriot News (we'll have to keep our eye out for the article and see who made the cut).  We joke, but this place might just end up being our 'Central Perk' straight off the set of F-R-I-E-N-D-S.  Seriously though, we spent a bit of time joking about who emulates which character the best.  Not only that, but I'm pretty sure that half the neighborhood staked their claim to set up coffee-shop offices straight from Little Amps...telework style :-)

If you're ever in town visiting, you can be sure we'll end up at Little Amps at least once or twice during your stay...after all, who can pass up a good cup of coffee?  No work tomorrow, guess where my day is starting out??

Crabs, Ahoy!

It's a long trip...I'll need a snack.  Like a scene straight from Men In Black, I'm pretty sure that by the time we hopped in our cars at the end of our D.C. tour, we were all a little tired, a little crabby, and a little hungry.  OK, so maybe "a little" is an underestimate...we were all in dire need of re-fueling; it's hard work being tourists!!

**Insert photo of tired, hungry, crabby tourist group HERE**

Mike used his iPhone navigation skills to find an appropriate establishment.  Our only requirements: 

1.) The place should serve seafood...after all, it is the East Coast. 

2.) Our destination had to be somewhere on or near our route home.

3.) We had to find somewhere quickly, because we were damn hungry! 

Mike directed us toward Laurel, MD on a whim...by that I mean that I almost missed the exit and by the time we told the other vehicle the plan, they did miss it and had to continue driving and turn around further down the freeway.  Ultimately, we ended up here:

Let's just say it was a bit of a dive...which ultimately we knew based on the reviews Mike read.  The reviews also said not to be turned away by the "dive-ness" of the place, because the food was well worth it!

You know the place is great when the sign on the bar door says 'USE OTHER DOOR"

We found the OTHER door...just steps to the left

We walk in the door, were greeted and immediately asked if we even needed menus.
Yes, yes we do...there will be six people total...greeter proceeds by tearing off two large sheets of craft paper (our table cloth) and four--count 'em, four menus.  Hmmm...thought there were six of us!?!

So apparently 90% of their sales are CRAB, which makes sense...to the total of 2400 pounds of crab per week.
Maybe this is why we didn't need menus?  

Looks like we found ourselves some crab!

I think the crab was getting ready to eat us!

Molson Golden, anyone?? If I remember right, there were two beers on tap
and only a handful of bottles, hence the fact that Molson Golden was one of the best choices! 

All-you-can-eat crab

After a while, I started posing the crab...he's enjoying a few hush puppies and french fries...

Obviously can't forget the Yuengling...a crab needs beer! This might be one of my favorite pics!

The only air conditioner in the place was the small wall unit you see in the photo above.  There were however, EIGHT ceiling fans...none of which were on.  Hmmm....it was actually quite funny! I've never seen so many fans in one small room!

Ironically, the shrimp were just as difficult to peel as the crab were to crack.  Enjoying the process...the table was definitely getting nasty with food and shells, I'll spare you the photos.

What a laugh! In just a few words...the food was great.  We're still not really sure what the town of Laurel, MD is actually like...and not sure if we should find out.  The place was interesting. Our drinks were served in styrofoam cups. There were no plates. A creepy dude eating three dozen crab didn't quite get the fact that we were trying to joke with him and not really eat his crab. A nice couple (recent transplants from Denver) taught us how to correctly crack and eat the crab. The waiter/greeter was actually quite fun when we could get him near our table...and even more friendly when he learned that we were from Minnesota, since he was headed back to Dakota, MN for a family wedding the next week.  The table next to us was amazed (as were we) that neither of the TV's mounted on the wall worked, even though they both appeared to be connected to a power source.  Oh, and the cook was a shoe-in for the guy from Pirates of the Caribbean who always loses his eye--with a little bit darker, longer, and more scraggly hair.  Seriously.

All in all, it was just what we all needed after a long day practicing our tourist skills.  We left with stomachs sore from laughing and full of crab :-)  I'm sure we'll be back at some point or another...did I mention they had one mean jumbo lump crab cake??

Happy travelers :-) Pretty sure this might be the ONLY group shot we got the entire weekend.
I'm gonna have to remember to be better at this next time, more group shots!

Completely Random--Washington, D.C. Style

When we're out sight-seeing, I usually end up making myself and Mike take a bunch of dumb, random, photos.  The ratio and severity of randomness is usually pretty dependent on the number of photos I've taken.  Case in point, pretty sure we took some 1200 pictures during our short little tour of D.C.  I figure, might as well take more pictures than needed--I can always delete them later, just can't make 'em up after we've left the area!  I've also been trying to get both of us IN more of our photos, instead of just capturing the scenery.  

As a side note, my mom mentioned something to me the other day about taking pictures of every day life...just hanging out with friends.  In her words (if I can capture them as correctly as I remember), those are the people and the things you're going to want to remember later on in life.  Something like that...although she said it better.   I'm going to try and take more "real-life" photos like that...without being the crazy neighbor that always has a camera in her hand!!! LOL :-)

I'm thinking swan or bird of some sort...sculpture outside a museum in D.C.

Saw the front of this crazy little vehicle rolling down the sidewalk near the Air and Space museum...

Didn't realize it was a mini-McDonalds-deliverymobile.  Gross! Yet cute and funny at the same time.  

Ice cream truck near the Capitol.

A Fiat for Mrs. McSurdy...I was going to take some better photos but the thing was really dirty and it's owners were standing nearby complaining to a cop about something parking-related so I thought it would be a little creepy if I decided to have an impromptu photo-session with their car!

Ignore me...I really only wanted this picture cause I thought the sculpture resembled a heart (as in aorta, atria, ventricles, etc.).  Then I realized the name of the sculpture was something about red horses--not as exciting.

Crazy metal tree.  For some reason it reminds me of the movie Twister and/or the tin man from The Wizard of Oz.

Clearly Mike should not be stopping or standing there.  'Nuff said. 

Tour bus.  Winona, MN.  I guess there must have been quite a few Minnesotans around the city somewhere.

A street performer, juggling a 10-lb bowling ball, basketball, and tennis racket.
 Made me think of the SNL census skit with Christopher Walken (a favorite of mine).

I dunno.  These were all over, I didn't take the time to look over the balcony.

Tour group in yellow vests.  Remind me never to agree to something like this.

As mentioned briefly before, the crazy-crowded Nickelodeon Day of Play.
Kids everywhere and really bad tween music playing on the stage (with lots of screaming girls).
The picture doesn't even begin to describe.  There are great birth control options everywhere...this was one of them, lol. 

Giant HEART from the American Heart Association.
Mike wanted to go up and ask if he could wear it.  Then we chickened out. 

Duck-butt.

Close-up, one of the many ducks on our walk to the WWII memorial and the empty reflecting pool at the Lincoln Memorial.  

Yes, I said EMPTY reflecting pool.  On second thought, it didn't actually even resemble a pool.  

I was a little bummed, the reflecting pool is like iconic Washington, D.C.  Instead, this is what we saw...

Lots of peeps at the Lincoln Memorial.  We didn't make it that far...it'll be on my list of stops for the next trip down.

As we were walking from the WWII Memorial to the MLK, Jr. Memorial.
 Mike and I both did a double-take as we walked through a crowd of WWII veterans (accidentally).
We didn't realize they were meeting and greeting with Bob Dole.
We both turned around and at the same time said, is that Bob Dole?? 
Immediately began snapping photos.

Mike sent the pic to some of our friends and Jase was the first to reply appropriately
with "Bob Dole is going to stab you with this pen" (from a SNL skit).  

Think the guy in the suit was part of Bob Dole's entourage.
Although, if he's FPS or security detail, he looks more relaxed than I'd imagine...
which is why I left him out of my secret service/police/security post.  

Washington, D.C. squirrel

We wandered upon ACOG while attempting to find a place for a quick lunch.  Couldn't really pass by without documenting it.  That and I figured somebody would get a kick out of it.  

Apparently there are not many restaurants or places to consume food in and around the D.C. National Mall area.  We walked a little off the beaten path to try and find a sandwich shop, but apparently everything is really only open during the week when the business people are in town.  After walking by a M-F Potbelly and a Starbucks that closed at 2PM, we settled on snacks from CVS pharmacy and didn't really care cause by that time (4PM) we were uber hungry after not eating a meal all day!

I think the Starbucks window needs a little washing. 

Could have gone for a coffee.  I'm always in the mood for coffee!

Couldn't leave D.C. without a photo of their license plate.

Rugby game near the National Mall.  Saw some fans walking to the game...pretty sure it was a college match, just don't remember which one. 

OK, so it's not from D.C., but we definitely saw a suit of armor at a consignment shop in Harrisburg.
Not sure what she was doing, but I definitely made her pose for this one too!