For the Love of Bisque

Okay, I'm not going to lie. Eight years is probably a little too long to wait for a solo vacation with your spouse. We've gone places together but it's always been (every single time, we counted) to a destination involving family, either his side or mine. In other words, we were never alone for more than an airplane trip or a long drive in the car. We never went anywhere to BE anywhere together, just he and me. Nobody to blame but ourselves. I'm sure the opportunities were there. Now we have two children and life has grown so busy with babies, moves, and daily living that "couple" vacations have been low on our list of priorities. So you can imagine our awkwardness with each other once we did get away without any of our usual distractions. He and I were absolutely lost without our family. I felt like I was on a blind date with my own husband and it was cracking me up.

I could write twelve posts on how we fumbled around each other aimlessly in Frederick, Maryland (oh yeah, that was our destination- really nice quaint town w/tons of shops and restaurants, good choice for a short trip.) Or how we didn't know what to talk about if it wasn't the kids, finances or his job. Knowing how to relate to each other outside of "Mommy" and "Daddy" is certainly a skill and as we both discovered this weekend, not one we have acquired. At least not yet.

As for this weekend, the real romance was between me and a hot bowl of beautiful tomato bisque. After spending three hours in a mall debating over which new cell phone to buy (how's that for fireworks?) we decided lunch was in order. We drove downtown, parked, then stumbled on a fantastic place to eat called The Orchard Restaurant with the BEST tomato bisque. I ordered that and their Indian Stir Fry. My taste buds are still thanking me. Andy ordered some kind of chicken pesto dish that was equally impressive.

Here's the link in case you ever find yourself in the mood to treat your belly with something different and memorable: Our waiter said there are recipes for some dishes on this site but I can't find them. He also mentioned emailing the owner who will forward a recipe for something not listed. I recommend looking into the bisque. It's the right thing to do.