Beer, bagels and burritos. It’s everything you need from a college town, and Charlottesville has it all.  In an impromptu visit last weekend, we managed to relive the best of college life — from the $2 drinks to the cheesy 80s dance nights to the hungover breakfast bagel binge.

Charlottesville is everything you’d want from a college town: record stores, cheap drinks, beautiful campus, walkable streets and plenty of ways to escape from the students. The only downside to visiting is explaining to everyone back home that, no, you did not make it to Monticello.

We stayed at the English Inn. The book described it as motel meets bed and breakfast, I found it to be a Disney-version British manor home invaded by a Kirkland’s outlet. I didn’t even get to gorge myself on complementary waffles because, having forgot about the time change, I missed breakfast.

However, we didn’t spend much time in the hotel.

Where to drink….

…. with the students

The first time I went to Charlottesville, I only found the pedestrian mall. I have to say I was bit baffled. Where were the dive bars? Where was the two-for-one PBR specials?  There was organic, Tibetan, tribal throw pillows, but no $2 rail drinks. What kind of college town was this?!

I now know the answer. The place to go for college seediness is “the corner.” It’s about a 1.5 miles from the pedestrian mall and runs along side the campus on University Ave. While, I’m sure every bar has it’s own segment of the student clientele, they seemed identical to an outsider. I’m not even sure which ones we visited.

All I do know is that fours drinks came to $12. And the 80s night DJ plays Backstreet Boys. Wrong decade, UVA.

…. among boxes of beer

And then there’s Beer Run. Although I normally have an aversion to places that try to be everything at once (how many Chinese/Japanese/Korean restaurants do any of those foods well), this creative beer store meets bar meets deli, excels at all three.

As noted in its Yelp reviews, the prices are more on par with DC than southern VA (beers run about $5), it’s still fun. They had a decent tap selection(see here), including one or two on cask, a walk-in freezer and nachos served by the mound,

If you could go for yet another pint, try the South Street Brewery. The microbrewery is located in an old warehouse.

Burritos

Mono Loco is a gourmet take on Mexican/Cuban/Southern … urg .. something. Anyway, they have margarita’s in pint glasses, burritos involving pulled pork and plantains and a porch. Again, prices were more for a DC budget, than a student’s. I thought $8 was especially steep for a margarita, until I saw that the drink came in pint glass (making about 2.3 regular margaritas) .

Bagels

The place for bagels in Charlottesville in Bodo’s. Despite having several locations around town, the line was out the door at the shop nearest our hotel. However, the staff moved with factory-like precision and had us out the door — bagel in hand — in no time. I ended up returning for a half-dozen (still warm) bagels and a package of olive cream cheese.

This spring, though, I’ve been on the look out for DC-area equivalent. So far, I’ve found two.

St. James Catholic Church
905 Park Ave., Falls Church
Fridays until March 26.
5 pm to 8 pm (or until supplies run out)

When I opened the door to this church’s basement rec room and was over-powered by the smell of battered fish, I thought I had hit the deep fry jackpot. I imagined little, Catholic grandma’s battering fish with their secret [insert Eastern European country] here recipe.

The reality — too salty fries,  fish sticks and rock hard hushpuppies – was quite different.  This fish basket was a far cry from the best of Cleveland — fresh Lake Erie perch served over hand-cut fries.

Of course, in this season of self-deprecation, it seems ridiculous to complain about a $7 dinner. Just maybe these people are giving up good, fresh food for lent.  I’m giving them the benefit of the doubt and thinking of the cost as a charitable donation.

Epiphany of Our Lord Byzantine
3401 Eoodburn Rd., Annandale
Fridays until March 26.
dine-in 5 pm to 7 pm (or until supplies run out)

With a write-up in the Washington Post, I’m optimistic about this dinner. I’m not so optimistic about the food not selling out before my arrival.

The focus here isn’t a fish fry, though. It’s pierogies, which the Post spells ”pirohis,” Eastern European-style dumplings. And apparently Our Lord Byzantine makes them like my grandma used to — stuffed with potato and cheese.  I’m also a fan of the saurkraut. With my last attempt to find pierogis in DC not going so well, I’ll be scooting over here early on Friday.

I planned to buy this wild meat during the Texas trip.  San Antonio apparently had a famous speciality meats store, Exotic Meats USA. However, when I arrived and looked up their website, I found that the store had moved to Reno, NV.

Foiled, I put this culinary experiment on the back-burner for a few weeks.

What’s a Crocodile Anyhow?

Finding crocodile meat quickly turned into a biology lesson. As I Googled where to find crocodile in the DC area, I began to wonder what is the difference  between a crocodile and an alligator, anyhow. Alligators, which live conveniently in the southern US,  are relatively easy to find on DC menus.

The San Diego zoo enlightened me. Crocodiles live in Central and South America, Africa, SE Asia and Australia. They have V-shaped snouts and a tooth that sticks out of their mouths. Alligators have U-shaped noses and no visible teeth (when their months are shut).  So, in other words, there’s not much difference.

So, I’m Americanizing this list, which was orginally compiled by a Brit. I’m having alligator.

What Alligator Tastes Like

Fortunately, RT’s a cajun restaurant, which is located conveniently down the street from my apartment, serves the meat in stew form.

Opened in 1986, RT’s is a neighborhood institution — in a neighborhood that has transformed dramatically in the past decade. (See this Washing Post article on the subject.) The area know as Little Chirilagua is home to thousands of Salvadorian immigrants.  Pupsarias, international markets and Latino bakeries now surround the restaurant.  I drove past the place dozens of times, not realizing it wasn’t another pollo ala brasa place.

The restaurant was quiet on a Tuesday night, and the manager walked over to chat. He asked us if we had been to the restaurant before. No, we replied, we were new to the neighborhood. When we told him where we had moved from — Arlington — he snickered. Apparently, it didn’t make sense to him to move a few miles down the road.

Then, taking leave of this decade and our surroundings, he took another look at me.  He announced sagely that I, judging from my “vivacious personality,”"must be an Aries.” Um. No.

Eventually, the alligator stew arrived. The meat, served diced in a slightly spicy, gumbo-esque broth tasted just like Wikipedia describes crocodile: “a cross between chicken and crab.”

The rest of the food was decent — We had fried catfish and crawfish etouffee — but the bill came to nearly $50. And we were treated to one last conversation with the manager.  He stood next to us as he chatted with his boss about the lack-luster evening and how he didn’t manage to sell as single piece of sweet potato pie.  Ah, it’s all in the name of blogging.

But recently, I got something that has majorly improved the 1.5 to 2 hours I spend in the car each day: Sirius Radio. 

I used to have a routine. There – I listen to NPR morning edition. I am now an expert on Afghan poppy farmers and Cadillac healthcare plans.  On the way home, well .. the radio’s a wasteland.  When 94.7, once a respectable mix of classic rock and new alternative, was transformed overnight into a station playing cheesy circa 2001 pop, all was lost with the radio in DC. It’s so bad I haven’t even bothered to take 94.7 out of my presets.

I’m now fascinated with the selection. It took me nearly 3 there-and-back-agains, to set me presets. And i’m still wondering if I made the right choices.  Some of the channels just seem so similar.

Here’s my line up:

1. 90s on 9 = I think this is the best of the “decade on corresponding number” stations. But with every decades there’s some misses. Disco? Early Beatles? Rush?

2. Outlaw Country = I’m embarassed to admit that I copied this from my parents’ presets. I love alt country.  This station seems a bit heavier on the county then I would like, though.

3. Alt Rock & 4. Siruis XM U = These two stations are so similar, I don’t know if I should keep both of them.  When I first switched on Siruis XM U, I thought maybe the “U” stood for “you,” and it was programmed specifically to cater to my  taste in music. Creepy.  The station was playing a song I loved in college. I quickly figured out it was “U” for “University.”  I guess there’s a reason these songs were regular features on my college radio station.

5.  Backspin: This classic hip hot station is called “Pop 2K” on my Sirius. Regardless of the name, channel 39 amazing. Hearing this music was like taking a bite of food and realizing that I’m suddenly ravenously hungry. I didn’t know how I missed this stuff. 

6. Coffee house: Sometime you need some lame acoustic melodies. This station does well on  6 am drives to the airport or rides home after I fall asleep on my friend’s couch very well. But how is this station different from The Loft, which is directly preceeds it on the dial.

7. Deep Tracks: Yes, their tracks are obscure. That’s about all I can say.

8. Classic Vinyl= Think DC’s Big 100.3. And since when did Elton John play ”great songs from classic rock’s formative years.”

9. 1st Wave = This bills itself as “classic alternitive,” but it’s nearly all New Wave.  However, it seems to be the only station on here playing my current favorite band, the Talking Heads. 

10. Garage = I love this mix of old and new garage rock. But “Little Steven” Van Zandt of the E Street Band yacks so much. Steven, I do not care about your first trip to Amsterdam after swearing off drugs or how your think that our culture’s teaching of history is not representative of what really happened. I’m just here for the music! 

Any suggestions on what I should change? I need to craft the perfect presets.

Stop for a Shiner in Gruene, Texas

When people think of the regions where great American craft beer is brewed, they usually think of the West Coast, the Northeast and the Great Lakes region.  Texas and the Southwest are typically not thought of as great beer regions. In fact when people think of beer in Texas, Corona, Tecate and Shiner Bock are probably the first brews that come to mind.  However, after visiting San Antonio and Austin last week, I can say that Texas does have good beers, breweries and most importantly great beer culture.

 Real Ale Brewery

Of all of the new (to me) breweries I sampled in Texas, I was most impressed with the Real Ale Brewery out of Austin.  Since they offer a variety pack, I was able to sample all of their year-round beer.  Included in the pack were refreshing blonde ale, a sessionable brown, and an interesting pale ale hopped with Saaz.  While all were very tasty, my favorite was their Full Moon Pale Rye Ale.  Pale ales with rye (or Rye-P-As) are quickly becoming one of my favorite new styles. While Full Moon wasn’t quite on par with the superb Bear Republic Hot Rod Rye, it is definitely in league with others like Founders Red’s Rye and Terrapin’s Rye Pale Ale.   

Draught House Pub and Brewery

The two most important aspects of a successful beer bar are selection and price.  Who cares if there isn’t enough wood paneling and the waitresses are inattentive?  Good beer at a reasonable price is really all that matters.  The Draught House Pub and Brewery definitely has these two bases covered.  There were about 40 taps in all, including Bigfoot, Yakima Twilight, A Little Sumpin’ Extra, Arrogant Bastard and some very tasty ales brewed on sight.    In addition to the top notch selection, the prices were very reasonable.  Emily and I had 8 beers altogether and the tab was under $30.  Try finding that in DC!  The only real problem was that the barroom was packed and to place your order you had to wait in a line that snaked out the door.  I don’t mind standing at the bar waiting to be served, but there is something unsettling about standing in a line at a bar that isn’t for the bathroom.   

Central Market

Imagine the selection of a great bottle shop but with the convenience and prices of a mega-mart; that’s Central Market.  Central Market is a gourmet grocery that is like a cross between Wegmen’s and Whole Foods.  They seem to be everywhere in Texas.  We happened to venture into the one in north Austin.  Their selection was amazingly good.  There were sixpacks, bombers and single bottles of wide variety of brews.  I even saw some pretty rare “wet hop” beers that have been off the shelves in DC since November.  At this point they’re probably past their prime, but it’s nice to see a store that doesn’t get completely picked over the second a new seasonal comes out.  Along with the usual suspects like Stone, Rogue, Bear Republic and Sierra Nevada, Central Market also featured a lot of local Texas beers, as well as a few breweries that don’t distribute to DC like Boulevard Brewing out of Kansas City and New Belgium out of Fort Collins Colorado.

The view from behind a bike wheel

The oddest part of the cathedral, isn’t the actual structure. It’s the act of parking in a normal suburban subdivision street and walking right into someone’s backyard — only to find a towering junk pile there. When we visited, the owner and he dog, were standing right in the driveway chatting to some neighbors. Kids were chasing each other around the pile. I felt like I was part of some subversive flash mob of weirdness. 

Although, in these photographs, the cathedral just looks like a giant heap of trash. It’s really an ornate construction with towers and spiral staircases. You can climb up to the third floor and peer out the bicycle-spoke window. Don’t worry. It’s sturdy and has been tested by city engineers. 

According to this site, the owner, Vince, has been working on the pile since 1988. The Cathedral has hosted weddings, CD debut parties, bachelor parties, and is a popular destination for tour groups of schoolkids and senior citizens.

Cathedral of Junk

Address: 4422 Lareina Drive, Austin, TX

Directions:

On the south side of town. US 81/290 to the Hwy 71 (Ben White Blvd E.) exit. Hwy 71 west to the Congress Ave. exit. Head south a couple of blocks, turn right on St. Elmo Rd W., then take the second left onto Lareina.

Admission: Free, donations accepted.

Hours: Tu-Su 9-6 pm . (Call to verify)

Phone: 512-299-7413

In case you forgot where you were

Junk is all around ... even in the sky

Zebras approached cars at the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch

I’ve never been to Texas before. I had been warned that it is a country on to itself. When I visited my brother — a new San Antonio resident — over Christmas and New Years, I found that to be percisely true. The two hour drive from San Antonio to Austin showed us exactly the sort of wierdness I hoped from Texas.

Safari Park

Our first stop was the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. We had to be the only adults there unaccompanied by a child under the age of ten. The parking lot was full of minivans with Oklahoma license plats.  But no matter! People for all ages love to feed pellets to overwieght wild animals out of their car windows.

We drove the track through the safair park twice. The first time, we followed the directions that the park gave us. We threw our feed pellets on the ground when the animals approached us. We did not stick our hands out of the car. Or allow any animal heads in.

Other safari park vistors feed the ... um... reindeer

We viewed reindeer, buffalo, llamas, zebras and ostrich from a safe distance, and a herd of over eager mountain goats mobbed our car.

Boring! The next drive, we got brave.

Wild animals invaded our car. We barely escaped.

We stuck our heads out of the window. Let the zebras and misc. animals eat from our hands. This ostrich nearly pecked Greg’s eyes out as I tried to get a close-up shot of it.  Ahhh. Nature’s so exhilerating.

I like a little holiday magic — as long as it doesn’t involve ballet, the mall or It’s a Wonderful Life. This rules out most things, of course, except Christmas beers and tacky lights displays. This week, we ventured to two of the more spectacular light displays in the Washington Metropolitan Region: Baltimore’s 34th Street display and Gaylord Hotel’s Christmas lighting/ snowfall display.

Miracle of 34th Street

This display in Hampden, Baltimore’s colorful hipster meets hillbilly neighborhood, stole it’s name from the famous Christmas flick. It’s famous throughout the region — this site even names it one of the seven best light displays in the world. And I’m not sure why. This display is joining the long line of destinations that have disappointed the writers of the blog — up there with Asheville, NC, and Assateague Island.

Really, only on house — the first one, which is pictured in all the photos — is spectacular.  On the short block, most of the houses donned lights that were comparable to what you’d see on normal houses in a normal neighborhood: a few mechanical reindeer, some icicle lights draped from the overhangs and multi-colored bulbs on the bushes.  However, I did enjoy the hub cap Christmas tree and bike wheel snowman produced by someone the website calls “Jim the artist.”

Post lights: Grab an Irish coffee at my favorite Baltimore bar/restaurant, the quirky, Poe-themed tavern Annabel Lee’s.

Verdict: I’m always looking for a reason to go up to Baltimore, so this fills that requirement. If you’re not a fan of DC’s downtrodden neighbor, skip it.

Gaylord National Hotel

This corporate conference complex lives across the Woodrow Wilson Bridge from Old Town Alexandria. The complex was meant to be shopping, restaurants and bars surrounding the river-front Gaylord Hotel and conference complex. Unfortunately for it, the place opened its doors to the recession.

Despite the empty storefronts and annoying parking policy (street parking costs $3/hour 24 hours a day. We didn’t try the garage), the hotel and lights were beautiful. The lobby and atrium were decked out in Christmas finery. It snows — its, um, actually soap bubbles — every night at 6:15 and 9:15. I’m easily entertained and found the novelty charming — just don’t stick out your tongue to catch a flake.  We also got to see the Christmas fountain light show, which was peculiarly religious. It involved hymns and Bible readings.

Post lights: Hit up Bobby McKeys, the piano bar down the street. There’s no cover (but the beers are over-priced), and you’ll be treated to some interesting renditions of Piano Man, Journey hits, Brick in the Wall and whatever else patrons request.

For more DC area Christmas light displays see the Tacky Light Tour site and Bull Run Festival of Lights.

#3 Huevos Rancheros

I was happy to see huevos rancheros on the list.  After spotting versions of it on many a yuppie brunch menu over the years — with mango salsa, on multi-grain toast, with baked tofu — I thought, I’d boil this dish down to its authentic self.  Huevos rancheros was originally served on Mexican ranches to the farmhands as a second breakfast — after eating a lighter meal at dawn.  I found this recipe on simplyrecipes.com that fulfilled my purist requirement: just eggs, corn tortillas and homemade salsa.

The ingredients were a case for GrandMart, the most extensive and inexpensive ethnic market in the DC area. GrandMart does Korean, Chinese, North African and, most importantly in this case, Mexican and Central American. The best part of GrandMart is its amazing selection of fruits and veggies. (Try it for excellent lychees every July.) This includes every imaginable type of pepper, from the scorching chipotles in adobe sauce (one of my favorite ingredients) to mild anaheims. They also have a variety of corn tortillas; I got mine thick and handmade.  

The recipes is easy.  Saute the salsa, brown the tortillas and fry an egg. Be careful not to add too many chipotles, or your salsa will end up — like ours did  – a scorching mix guaranteed to give you an unpleasant case of 10 am heartburn. 

#4 Steak Tartare

I was not so excited about steak tartare. I knew the dish, a gourmet treat in northern and eastern Europe, simply as raw beef.  We found this recipe  online that called for tenderloin. In the comments, the readers hashed out the consequences of eating uncooked meat. “Danger,” proclaimed one commenter. Just a “risk,” wrote another. I figure that we have immune systems and stomach acid for reason. So, in an attempt to get the highest-quality beef, we headed back to Whole Foods.  Buying from Shoppers, Giant or, even worse, GrandMart would be asking for trouble.

The half pound of grass-feed beef tenderloin set us back $13. We cut up the beef into tiny pieces. Many recipes call for ground beef, but a meat grinder is the one kitchen gadget we lack. We served it with a sauce of mustard, capers, anchovies, egg yolk and Worcestershire and rye toast points. I wish I could say it was delicious.

The steak tartare tasted like a wet sponge dipped in mustard. Sigh. What a waste of the highest quality meat I’ve ever purchased. We barely made a dent in the beef, so I packed it away for use in stir fry. What else can you do with with tiny bits of beef? It will be my gourmet chow mein. 

However, I can vouch for Whole Food’s beef.  I woke up the next morning food poisoning free. 

Coming up next: Pho. We try the best place in the DC area.

It's beautiful -- but chilly -- on the beach in the off season.

It’s too cold to swim. The bars and restaurants are eerily empty. The souvenir shops are shuttered.  The Outer Banks may not be the most lively out-of-season destination. But there’s plenty to do at this resort town, if post-apocolyptic desolation is your thing.

Drive on the beach

The beach on at the northern end of Carolla is always open to vehicle traffic, but in the off-season, after October 1^st, several other stretches of beach open up to automobiles as well.  This includes parts of Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills.  Since We’re Out of Here only had a two-wheel drive Toyota Carolla, we decided to opt for the well-traveled (and well packed) beach on the north side of Carolla.

Now, driving on the beach can be a little dicey, especially in a two-wheel drive car.  The packed sand close to the ocean is great for driving, but to reach it, you have to drive through the fluffy sand at the top of the beach.  The sight of a PT Cruiser and another Carolla stuck in the sand made us think twice, but we went for it anyway.

There is really only one secret to driving through loosely packed sand, speed, and lots of it.  It’s not like driving on snow, you have to gun the engine and plow right through the sand to safety. 

Glide Down a Giant Dune

In the summer, walking on the baking sand of Jockey’s Ridge State Park’s giant dune is akin to being trapped in the Sarhara. On average, the sand is 20 degrees hotter than the tempeture of the surrounding area.

In the off season, the weather is cool enough to enjoy this breath-takingly large pile of sand — the biggest, in fact, in the entire Eastern US. Also, with the off season come sand boarding. Only permitted on the dune from Oct. 31 to March 31.

Buy Lot’s of Beer

We’ve all seen that ubiquitous Brew Thru t-shirts that people don in the summertime with their flip-flops.  Conventional wisdom would tell you that this is the place to go to buy beer on the Outerbanks.  Not so.  Chip’s Wine and Beer Market is the place to go.  Located in a strip mall at about mile post 6 on the Croatan Highway, this small store is filled with beer.  It has one of the best selection of single bottles I have ever seen, including some local beers that I haven’t seen anywhere else.  The staff is knowledgeable and friendly and they even wear matching bowling shirts.

All You Can Eat Seafood Buffet’s

These places are pretty much everywhere in Nags Head and Kill Devil Hills.  During the summer, they are usually packed with an interminable wait to be seated.  In the off-season, however, they are practically begging you to come on.  They even try to tempt you with the promise of six different kinds of crab legs or a free lobster tail.

For your seafood pig-out the best bet is probably Carolina Seafood or Jimmy’s Seafood Buffett.  I have been to both establishments and I must admit that there isn’t much of a difference between the two.  Both have mounds of fried goodies, both have a variety of crab legs and both usually have a small selection of locally caught food.  My advice is to go to whichever one you see first.