Road Trippin' (Spring Break 2018)

With the car packed and full of gas, Mr. Plow and I (sporting fresh haircuts) set off last Saturday on a whirlwind road trip that saw us travel through six states and the District of Columbia in order to dine at destination restaurants and visit with our far-flung friends. Here's a day-by-day review for those of you who might be headed to these locations in the near future!

Day #1 - Atlanta, GA to Kinston, NC
Driving from Georgia to North Carolina seems easy, right? After all, the two states are adjacent to each other. In fact, if you were to head due north from our house, you'd get to the North Carolina state line in about two hours. But to get to Kinston? In Eastern North Carolina? That's a weary, day-long journey involving I-20, I-95, and more than a few country roads.

We broke the monotony of interstate driving with a pre-Masters stop in Augusta for lunch at Chicken Salad Chick. (Dear Chicken Salad Chick, please bring one of your restaurants to either the Tucker or the Buford area ASAP. Thank you.) I took advantage of the Trio Special and enjoyed a scoop of chicken salad, a scoop of pimento cheese, and a scoop of egg salad - all tasty. Mr. Plow went for a chicken salad BLT - equally yummy. We washed it all down with some delicious sweet tea and then hunkered down for the long drive into Kinston, still six hours away.

Just outside Fayetteville, North Carolina, we left I-95 and enjoyed a scenic drive along Highways 13 and 55 into Kinston. Why Kinston? For dinner at Vivian Howard's Chef and the Farmer, the ultimate goal for this portion of the trip! While we did not see Chef Howard (her social media posts that day indicated that she was dealing with some Easter cakes), we did recognize several familiar faces from the television series. The restaurant did not disappoint! We started with some fresh-baked Carolina Pull-Apart bread, served with soft cheese and a tomato relish. Next, we dove into a hot skillet full of grits, greens, sausages, and tomatoes - and served with a side of pork skins for dipping! For the main course, I stuck with pork and enjoyed a substantial tenderloin served with sweet-and-sour beets and dirty farro. Mr. Plow enjoyed the catch of the day - a striped bass accompanied by asparagus three-ways (raw, grilled, and pickled). We ended the meal with a giant slice of chocolate cake and salted caramel icing - and headed back to the hotel for a proper night's sleep.

Day #2 - Kinston, NC, to Bowie, MD
Departing Kinston took us back through the countryside (on a road the GPS did not know existed) in order to link up with I-95 for the dreaded approach into metropolitan DC. The Easter Sunday drive through Virginia proved no different from any other I've taken on I-95 - all lanes packed with stop-and-go traffic all the way from Richmond to Alexandria.

Why Bowie? To visit with Mr. Plow's high school English teacher, mentor, and friend, Dr. T, who has retired to a lovely cottage in the DC suburbs. She greeted us with cheese and crackers and a spot of wine and then we all got ourselves spruced up for Easter dinner in DC.

My exhaustive pre-trip research had led me to The Dabney, tucked away in a maze of alleys somewhere between Rhode Island Ave, Massachusetts Ave, Logan Circle, and the National Portrait Gallery. (DC geography baffles me, so I have no idea if this description makes any sense.) I managed to secure a reservation for Easter dinner (no easy feat since the reservations are only available 14 days out and the spot is very hot, trendy, and popular right now).

Listen, y'all - The Dabney is extraordinary. In short, we had an Easter feast that included the following:
- fried catfish on sweet potato rolls
- peppered St Malachi cheese on housemade crackers
- foie gras "parfait" topped with blueberries
- grilled pork belly
- charred sweet potatoes and mustard greens
- Sea Island red peas
- "Bloody Butcher" cornbread
- chocolate cream pie with toasted benne (aka sesame seed) ice cream

Happy Easter indeed!

Day #3 - Bowie, MD, to Washington, DC

Dr. T got our day started with a fabulous brunch - mimosas, ham-and-cheese scones, cheese-and-corn stuffed poblano peppers, and a wonderfully satisfying and decadent Spanish breakfast casserole with pork, paprika, and baked eggs! This was more than enough to fuel our short drive from the DC suburbs into DC proper.

Why DC? To spend some time with my lifelong friend, JDL, and his partner, EP. Mr. Plow and I met JDL at the Library of Congress where he commanded us through a whirlwind tour of the library and the many underground tunnels and trains that connect the various buildings on Capitol Hill. Later, we trekked over to the National Portrait Gallery and queued up with the crowds in order to see the two latest additions to the collection - the portraits of President Obama and his First Lady. Later, JDL, EP, Mr. Plow, and I took a stroll through their North Cleveland Park neighborhood to have dinner at the local Italian restaurant (Sfoglina - thumbs up to the grilled calamari).

Day #4 - Washington, DC, to Asheville, NC

We take frequent car trips to Asheville to enjoy the mountain solitude and to dine at great restaurants (specifically at Cúrate, our Spain-away-from-Spain), so it was to be expected that we would include a night in the tiny city known as the San Francisco of the South. JDL and EP got our day started with a hearty breakfast in their beautiful dining room - and then we set out on our long drive back south.

Leaving DC is much more pleasant than entering DC. We took I-66 to the west and then I-81 to the south, enjoying the rolling hills of rural Virginia, traveling through such towns as Harrisonburg and Salem and Bristol on our way to Johnson City, Tennessee, and the final push toward Asheville on I-26, where a surprising and unexpected hotel upgrade found us in a top floor suite overlooking the Great Smoky Mountains.

Cúrate - our happy place - did not disappoint. We enjoyed our favorite libations from the Basque country: housemade cider, effervescent txakoli, and potent patxarán. And we enjoyed our favorite pintxos from throughout Iberia - patatas bravas, goat-cheese-stuffed piquillo peppers, grilled pulpo, croquetas de bacalao, squid ink pasta with calamari, and an insanely delicious "bomba" - ground lamb wrapped in mashed potatoes, rolled in panko, and deep fried! Then the dessert - an equally insane combination of chocolate chunks, chocolate ganache, orange sorbet, and candied corn nuts!

What a glorious meal to close out our Spring Break road trip!