National Cherry Blossom Festival

We haven't had a travel focused blog in a while, so I wanted to share one of my favorite springtime trips. Nothing says spring to me like the National Cherry Blossom Festival in Washington DC. We have been several times during the 5 years we have lived in Viginia and it has been breath taking each times For our family, the Cherry Blossom Festival is usually a REALLY long day trip. We leave early in the morning, driving to the furthest south point on the DC Metro line, and return home after bedtime with kids sleeping in the car. If you want a more relaxed trip, or are coming from further afield, there is certainly enough to do and see to make it a weekend trip. I love taking this trip because there is something for everyone. You can enjoy the the beauty of the blossoms, or delve more deeply into history or science- depending on your personality. And for the shoppers, there are plenty of souvenirs to be had. 

The first 3,000 of these beautiful Japanese Cherry Trees were planted in 1912,  a gift from the mayor of Tokyo to celebrate the friendship between two nations. First Lady Helen Taft and Viscountess Chinda, wife of the Japanese Ambassador, planted the first tree. This cemented a connection between the two countries that has lasted over 100 years, and has weathered some very trying times. In 1915 the US returned the gesture, with a gift of Flowering Dogwoods - a favorite tree across southern climates. The original trees were planted around the Tidal Basin, with an additional 3800 gifted in 1965.  In 2012, additional trees were planted, expanding into the area around the Martin Luther King, Jr Memorial. 

We were not able to make the trip this year, due to to the combination of an early spring break and wonky weather patterns. The trees were primed for an early peak bloom, due to an especially warm February, but they were then stalled by snow and freezing temperatures last week (when we were on break). Unfortunately no one can predict entirely how this will effect blossoming, but those in the know (horticulturalists) believe that the majority of he blooms were past their critical period, and they expect peak bloom to be sometime in the next week and a half. So if you don't have weekend plans, or are lucky enough to have Spring Break next week (it's much less crowded during the week), head to DC and enjoy! 

When you arrive- we take the subway into the National Mall / Smithsonian area- head first to the large white tents along the Tidal Basin. Here you can gather information, watch performances and speak with members of the National Parks Service that oversee the festival. For our children, one if the highlights of the Festival is the opportunity to earn a special cherry blossom park ranger badge.  If you complete the ranger badge workbook, you will have seek most of the monuments on the Mall, and all of the peak cherry blossom areas. It includes a chance to learn about the history and science of the trees, as well as stretch your creative skills via art and poetry in the Japanese Haiku style. 

We normally pack lunch in a backpack so that we can spend the day in theTidal Badin area. When you have finished your time with the blossoms, DC has restaurants sure to please any palate and budget category. 

For more information, check the Official National Cherry Blossom website!

Bring the Magic of Faeries to your Garden

One of my aunts has been very interested in family genealogy for a while, tracing the family back for multiple generations in America and abroad.  She recently used a DNA testing service that measures ancestral history based on certain blood markers and received the results that she had a strong Scotch-Irish heritage. While this mirrored what I had always heard about my maternal grandmother, I had never given it much thought.  For some reason, talking to her this time, motivated me to look more deeply at who the "Scotch Irish" were - which is a fascinating story for another day. As usual, my Google searching led me on a tangent - this time into reading about the faerie history of Scotland and Ireland.  

Fairy Garden - Out 2 Lunch LLC

Although there have been faerie type legends across cultures, from Greek to Norse, to Roman, the Celtic and Gaelic stories seem to be the most predominant in our modern society.  Leprechauns, elves, goblins, among others, are a part of these faerie traditions.  For large parts of human history these stories were accepted as fact and were incorporated into many aspects of life.  Faerie legends often had their roots in ancient religions with a nature or animist base, but they did not die out when Christianity came to the British Isles.  In fact, often, the minor deities in these traditions were recast as faerie folk with the coming of Christianity.  During the 20th century, the faeries fell out of favor as science and reason rose to the forefront. 

In recent years however, faeries have seen a resurgence in popular American culture.  My daughters' preschool years were dominated by the fictional fairy Tinkerbell and her friends.  Although she was a sidekick character in the original works by Scottish playwright J.M. Barrie and the 1953 Disney Film, Tinkerbell became the lead in a series of animated films in over the last decade.  These films focused almost entirely on life in the faerie realm, and introduced countless children to this world.  My daughters had more fairy themed costumes and parties than I care to count! 

Fairy Door - Out 2 Lunch LLC

In addition, fairy festivals and fairy house contests have become popular across the country. Children and adults of all ages participate in these events each year; dressing up and creating tiny fairy homes.  Last summer, Christine and her children created a fairy garden in their yard - it was a great way to use some left over building materials, creating a visually interesting area and allowing the children to have their own garden space.  Pictures of their garden are throughout this article.  We also featured a fairy door tutorial in a prior blog post, found here, that can be attached to a tree as a hidden treasure. We hope you use our ideas as a springboard to follow your imagination, enjoy the spring weather and create some whimsy in your garden! 

Enjoy! 

Stacy 

The Grasshopper: A Year of Cocktails - March

Today's classic cocktail had its start, interestingly enough, during a prohibition-era cocktail contest in New York City.  While I'm not so sure how you hold a cocktail contest whilst the selling of alcohol is illegal, I guess it's the fine line between creating and selling... Nonetheless, this iconic drink was created during the romanticized era of speakeasies and jazz musicians.  Philibert Guichet, Jr., the owner and proprietor of Tujague's in the French Quarter of New Orleans, created the Grasshopper for the above mentioned competition sometime during the 1920's (dates vary in the sources I found...). After his creation received second prize in the contest, Guichet brought it home, began to serve it, and it grew in popularity over the next half century. The history of the the Grasshopper, combined with it's electric green color, make it a perfect drink for a Mardi Gras celebration! 

Although Mardi Gras was yesterday, we chose this as our March cocktail because its green, frothy color also works well for upcoming St. Patrick's Day celebrations (think an adult version of the Shamrock Shake!) and as a general welcome to Spring. It's also a great replacement when you run out of Thin Mint cookies. 

Due to the strong mint flavor of the drink, we chose to play up the creme de cacao flavor by rimming the glass with semi-sweet melted chocolate (chilling while the drink was mixed) and topping with some chocolate shavings. In my book this created to the perfect blend of chocolate and mint flavors, and a very refreshing drink. We used the classic recipe (below); there are many variations created by modern mixologists, but Christine and I feel that the original has stood the test of time and does not need improvement. 

Recipe: 

1 oz. green creme de menthe    

1 oz. white creme de cacao 

1 oz. light cream

Mix all ingredients with cracked ice in a shaker and pour into a chilled cocktail glass. 

Share with us in the comments how you will use the Grasshopper to celebrate spring, or which variations you like best! 

Cheers

Stacy