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adults only dc weekend
August 5, 2020

DC Weekend with Matt

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Hello friends! Matt and I are back at his parent’s house outside Pittsburgh after a weekend back at home in DC just the two of us! 

adults only dc weekend

We headed back to DC for the weekend to attend the super small backyard wedding of our good friends on Saturday; Matt’s parents kindly offered to keep Riese for the weekend so we could have some time to ourselves for the first time since… October, I think! Whoa. 

It was super weird to be back at home with such a quiet house – no toddler, no dog or cat (they are staying with my parents). I really had to fight the urge to do 500 productive things every second because that’s what I’ve been doing for so long, and instead really tried to relax a bit and recharge. 

Here’s what we got into this weekend – we had a lot of fun and I feel super fortunate we were able to have a little mini “staycation” weekend!

1) Boating!

We went out on a friend’s boat and it was amazing – I love being on the water. 

hefeweizen on a boat

Such pretty views of the monuments from the water!

boat view of the monuments in DC

2) Our friends’ wedding! 

It was a super small backyard wedding at our good friend’s home, and true to 2020 fashion, their wedding favors were personalized masks. Perfect! 

masked up for a wedding

It was a beautiful, special ceremony with only a handful of guests. We are so happy for our friends Matt and Christine!

Congrats again you two – we were honored to be part of your big day. <3

wedding pic

The food was amazing – really good salads with edible flowers, fried chicken and/or brisket, brussels sprouts, and mac and cheese. Everything was absolutely delicious! 

fried chicken with brussels and mac and cheese

3) Stand up Paddle Boarding at Lake Ridge Marina!

It was really really hot most of the weekend in DC and I wanted to have a fun outdoor adventure with Matt just the two of us, so we decided something water-focused was the best choice! 

After some Google searching, I found a spot called Lake Ridge Marina about 30 minutes from us that offered stand up paddle board and kayak rentals on a pretty lake. 

stand up paddleboarding

We opted for the stand up paddle boards – I hadn’t been on one in ages (remember when I tried SUP yoga years ago?! that was hard) and I forgot how fun it is! It was nice to be able to sit down and put my feet in the water when I got hot, too. 

stand up paddleboarding from lake ridge marina

For dinner after paddle boarding, we drove over to an adorable town that we passed through on the way called Occoquan. We’d never been there before! 

We found a fun Belgian restaurant with a deserted outdoor seating area called “Cock and Bowl” and ordered beers and a ton of appetizers to share as our meal.

We had salad, smoked salmon, assorted cheeses, a cured meat platter (not pictured), pickled veggies, and soft pretzels! 

This was one of my favorite moments from the weekend – it was so nice to have a leisurely, relaxing dinner with Matt out at a restaurant and all the food was really good. 

occoquan cock and bowl dinner

4) Hiking at Cunningham Falls. 

For our last big adventure on Monday, Matt and I decided to break up the drive home and stop at Cunningham Falls State Park, which is about an hour and a half outside DC on the route towards Pittsburgh. 

We originally wanted to go hang out at the man-made lake area, but when we got there it was pretty underwhelming – I was so excited to swim and even brought my goggles (nerd alert), but the water was roped off so that the deepest you could go was about to your knees for some reason. It was super weird. 

cunningham falls lake

So we decided forget that – we’ll go do a hike instead! 

cunningham falls hike

We hiked to Cunningham Falls using the more difficult route, which was some fun uphill hiking and scrambling. 

cunningham falls hike

We made it! We avoided the other people that were there and instead hiked up and up and up past the waterfall to an area we had all to ourselves. It was quite nice! 

cunningham falls hike

We made it back to Pittsburgh shortly after dinnertime and enjoyed some pork chops, sweet potato, broccoli, and spinach that was saved for us before getting Riese to bed!

What a nice treat of a weekend! We are very glad to be reunited with our little one, but it was so nice to have a little bit of time to ourselves, too – it had been far too long. 

pork chop with sweet potato and broccoli

Riese apparently had a blast while we were gone – in addition to Matt’s parents, Matt’s brother Drew and his wife Morgana are here now too and Riese LOVES them, so she had plenty of people to choose from as playmates while we were away! 

I’ll see you guys back here on Friday with a recap of what we’ve been eating this week back in Pittsburgh – lots of good eats as usual, including my Mediterranean Sheet Pan Chicken Thighs which was on the menu last night! We’re planning to make my Overnight Crockpot French Toast Casserole this weekend, too.

We’ve decided to stay up here an extra week, until the weekend of August 14. It’s nice to get to spend so much time with Matt’s family and also really nice to escape DC’s oppressive August heat (and storms)! 

By the way, I hope you found my Instant Pot Frozen Chicken Breasts Recipe from Monday helpful – it’s such a game-changer to be able to cook directly from frozen without thawing first! 

- anne
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12 comments
  • Ana August 5, 2020 · 12:24PM:
    What a wonderful weekend! Sounds like Riese was having a ball, too - how nice for everyone!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 5, 2020 · 12:59PM:
      She legit wasn't that excited to see us when we got back...
      Reply
  • Melissa Caulfield
    August 5, 2020 · 12:47PM:
    What a lovely weekend! I adore your dress! So pretty! Quality time without the " littles" is necessary ?. It's especially nice when you know your child is having fun as well. When we ask my parents to babysit, my husband says " Yeah, we are giving the boys a break from us?" It's healthy for everyone!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 5, 2020 · 12:58PM:
      Haha love that - so true!
      Reply
  • Lisa of Lisa's Yarns
    August 5, 2020 · 4:33PM:
    Sounds like an amazing weekend away! You packed in a lot of fun stuff. I dream about doing this in a couple of years when our next baby is around 2. That's about when I seem to feel comfortable going away and hopefully by then a vaccine will be widely available if not before then! Besides after our toddler goes to bed, we have not had much one-on-one time together. We did take the afternoon of our anniversary off and went hiking at a local state park while our son was at daycare. So that was a really fun afternoon. I was hoping to do that more this summer but we have both been super busy. Love that the couple really leaned into COVID and had personalized masks as the party favor! Too cute.
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 6, 2020 · 12:29PM:
      I love your hiking afternoon date - what a good idea!
      Reply
  • Roadrunner August 5, 2020 · 5:07PM:
    What a wonderful weekend (other than the driving, of course)! How nice that you and Matt could get away and enjoy the wedding and time on the water. Nicely done!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 6, 2020 · 12:28PM:
      Actually, driving without a toddler to entertain felt like a vacation - we really enjoyed the downtime to listen to podcasts and music and just relax!
      Reply
  • Gilly August 5, 2020 · 10:42PM:
    What a lovely weekend! Good for you guys. :) I love how much fun stuff you pack in, it definitely motivates me! We have been lucky here in Perth that things are back to normal (besides the borders! They locked us all in very quickly and COVID never took off) and I can only imagine how nice it is to get out and about after such a long lockdown. Take care.
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 6, 2020 · 12:27PM:
      Thank you Gilly!
      Reply
  • Kris S August 7, 2020 · 1:46PM:
    Sounds like a great weekend and a much needed break! :D Happy belated birthday to Matt!!
    Reply
    • Anne
      August 7, 2020 · 1:48PM:
      Thanks Kris!
      Reply
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anne mauney fannetastic food
Hi, I’m Anne! I'm a Washington D.C. based Registered Dietitian, mother, runner, and lover of travel, adventure, and the great outdoors. I've been blogging since 2009, sharing a mix of lifestyle content, recipes, and fitness tips. Come for the recipes – stay for the fun!
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anne mauney

I’m Anne, a Registered Dietitian and mother. I've been blogging since 2009 and love showing others that eating nutritious foods and staying active can actually be fun rather than overwhelming!

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