washington d.c.

Back in early October, Kurt, Erik, Silvia, and I took a quick weekend trip down to Washington D.C for a football game. It was the weekend before Kurt and I left for Italy, so we probably should have packing, but Kurt had been looking forward to watching Ohio State take on Maryland ever since he heard they were joining the Big Ten a couple years ago. You only live once! Packing can wait! While the boys went to the game, Silvia and I did some site seeing around D.C.

We saw the Capitol Building...

...toured around the Botanic Garden...

...used D.C.'s bike share to ride along the Mall...

...saw the Washington Monument...

...the WWII monument...

...the Lincoln Memorial...

...stopped for a bite at We the Pizza...

...saw a few exhibits at the Hirshorn Museum...

...and breezed through the Air and Space Museum just as it was closing.

The DC metro is so moody and clean in comparison to NYC.

We stayed at an awesome Airbnb in Columbia Heights which was convenient to Maryland's campus as well as central DC. The neighborhood was great and we found some great bars and restaurants nearby--Kangaroo Boxing Club for meat-heavy dishes, The Coupe for tasty brunch, and Meridian Pint for football watching on Saturday night and again for a quick breakfast before hitting the road on Sunday.

Thanks D.C.! See you next time!

the world famous canfield fair

As long as Kurt and I have been dating, I've heard stories about the annual county fair in his Ohio hometown. Kurt and his brother grew up attending the fair religiously and even raised some prize winning turkeys and chickens for the 4-H competition. Since Kurt and his brother have moved away from home, they don't always make it back for the fair every year, but their parents still help out behind the scenes.

So after years of hearing all these amazing fair stories, Kurt and I finally took a Labor Day trip to Ohio to experience the greatness that is the Canfield Fair. Please excuse all the animal photos. I went a bit crazy but they were all so cute! And Mom, all those horses are for you!

BFFs!

Llamas!

Enormous pumpkins!

Kurt and his dad

Gorgeous blooms in the flower show. (Kurt's dad was in charge of the floral building and one evening Kurt and I got roped into emptying water out of hundreds of bottles of water, so a new show could be set up the next day. The full fair experience!)

There was an entire exhibit of hay!

Blue ribbon corn

Homemade beer and wine

Livestock/poultry auction

We spent a little time touring the horse stables and watching a few classes at the horse show.

Terrible fried food and people watching were plentiful.

On the last night, we even took in a few rounds of the tractor pull. You have to get the full experience.

I was very happy to finally witness the Canfield Fair and get a glimpse into Kurt's childhood. Next year, we've got plans to hit the New York State Fair!