We did not have that long for a trip because of the kids having so many sports practices starting on Wednesday, but we managed to do lot into a few days away.
We had early breakfast at home. We drove along the basin in Washington DC admiring the cherry blossoms and astounded to find so much traffic that early. We then went to The Ford Theater. This was to be the start of our taking the "John Wilkes Both Escape Trail" Unfortunately, there was a play going to take place so we had to forget about that. We then traveled to Waldorf , MD. to the Surrett House, where Booth stopped to pick up guns . The house was not yet open to the public, so we had a really nice picnic lunch there at the picnic tables brfore the tour.
Our next top was the Doctor Mudd House where Booth's broken leg was set by the doctor and where he spent eight hours before going on. I decided to include this which shows you where we went and what we saw.
John Wilkes Booth Escape Route Driving Tour ..This is really a fun trip to do and it was particularly beautiful as there were so many trees in full bloom.
We spent the night at La Plata and ate at our favorite restaurant in the area. This is located right near where Booth traveled across the river to reach Virginia.
Home Page . My oldest granddaughter and I ordered the fried oysters and they were cooked to perfection......and so nice and large. I chose fries and Cole slaw with mine. The fries came with cider vinegar! I assumed that they did not have malt vinegar so did not ask. My son had a large bowl of their fantastic oyster stew. It was just wonderful. I wish that I knew how they seasoned it. For his entree, he had stuffed tilapia with crabmeat and said it was excellent. The two younger children ordered the shrimp boats and fries and applesauce. The waitress described them as being medium sized but they were very laaarge and fried very lightly.
My daughter is law was the only person unhappy with their meal. She ordered the jumbo lump crab cakes and said that they were loaded with chopped pepper and you could not even taste the crab. I would have been unhappy too. I cannot understand why people put so many ingredients into crab cakes which hides the wonderful fresh crab taste.. We were too full to even ask what the desserts were that day so cannot tell you anything about them. Art and Jill both had the salad bar with their meal and they said "It is nothing special and very small." For anyone who likes seafood, this is a great place to dine..........right on the river and great food and very good service.
We went back to hotel for swimming and off to bed. We had a two room "suite" but this is still a small space for 3 adults and 3 kids. I was awakened at 5 by three kids running all over the place looking for their Easter Eggs and Easter baskets. I put the blankets over my head but could not shut off the yelling and squeals. Finally, all the Easter Baskets and all 60 eggs were found and off the family went to breakfast. I made coffee in my room and managed to put on a "happy face" before they arrived back.
Soon after, we were on our way to do the two John Wilkes Booth stops in Virginia and then headed for Williamsburg and The Great Wolf Lodge. We were fortunate enough to get an early check-in and it was off to water slides heaven for rest of the day. We had decided that we would have Easter dinner in our room which consisted of a meal from Pierce's Barbeque.. I do not care for their food at all but rest of family loves it. We ordered the DOC'S FAMILY SPECIAL $36.99 2 lbs. of our famous, original pork Bar-B-Que made from tender, slow-cooked Boston Butts and smothered with "Doc" Pierce's Original Bar-B-Que Sauce. Comes with:
- 2 lbs of our original recipe baked beans
- 2 lbs of our tasty potato salad
- 1 pint of Pierce's own slaw
- 1 package of fresh-baked rolls
- Six of Pierce's delicious home baked cookies*
Serves 4-6
plus a quart of collard greens, 2 orders of sweet potato fries. and a slab of ribs. I do not like the chopped pork as it is mixed with lots of their barbeque sauce and all one can taste is smoke and sweet. I cannot believe that anyone cold tell it this was chicken or pork; too much sauce. The slab of ribs were the same.............floating in too much sauce. The slaw was very fresh tasting with little flavor; the beans were too sweet. We tossed the potato salad out. No one would eat it. The potatoes were hard and there was no flavor. The collard greens and the sweet potato fries were terrific. Maybe I am prejudiced about the meat as I like dry rubbed ribs and I like to add the amount of sauce that I want to my sandwich. I know other people love this place. I do not! The next morning, we had a healthy breakfast of yogurt, fruit, bagels and cream cheese and juice in our room. The kids swam for awhile and then we headed for our hotel right in Williamsburg. We stayed at the Quality Suites and had a huge two room suite with lots of room for the kids to play. The rest of that day was at Jamestown and the new museum. The museum is beautiful and the guide gave a very informative talk on the tour. We had a nice picnic lunch there and then headed over to Jamestown Settlement. Our dinner that evening was at La Yacca. La Yacca is a great French restaurant; very pretty; non-stuffy; terrific service and wonderful food. Le Yaca - French cuisine in Williamsburg, Virginia, featuring Romantic French and European Dining, with a fine wine list, Speci I choose two appetizers as my meal. I had the escargot which were nice and garlicky and the the salad of pan fried scallops on mixed greens with crispy potatoes. This was really outstanding. My grandson had the crepe stuffed with lump crab and has been raving about it ever since. The younger granddaughter has a grilled chicken breast (not on menu) but one of the options that was offered to "young diners". My son had poached fillet of salmon and my daughter in law had the sea scallop combination. Everyone loved their meal and we had the most outstanding service. It was a very enjoyable dinner.
It has taken me so long to do this that I have decided to follow up with Part Two tomorrow.
<message edited by Greymo on Sun, 04/25/10 3:42 PM>
