My parents have spent the past year or so remodeling their house so they can sell it and move to Texas. That time is approaching, so Mark and I took one last sojourn to the house where I grew up. We planned to see the Cherry Blossom Festival, of course, but there were a few other things I needed to do.
First I needed to fly into the One True Airport. Hadn’t been there in years, but I love the swooping mid-century modernness of the main terminal and the fact that they have kept the same font and color scheme that they have used my entire life. The shiny new terminal is impressive (even if the moving walkway did make obsolete the people movers that have always reminded me of Star Wars walkers), but I really felt like I was home when we reached the pea gravel walls of the main terminal. More than just flying out of Dulles, I associate that terminal with the countless times that I went with my mom to drop off or pick up my dad from business trips.
Once we got to VA, I needed to visit my favorite barbecue place (well, favorite before Beaver’s came into my life). I needed to visit the site of many, many late night meals shared with Jes, where we would laugh about either the shift we’d just worked or that night’s takeover of the DC punk-shows-and-driving-around-lost scene:
The thing about Amphora, other than being open 24 hours, is the dessert. They have this cake called ‘chunky chocolate mousse.’ They used to have a photo of it in the lobby, with all the awards it has won over the years at the Fairfax chocolate festival. It has been my birthday cake a year or two. If you ever find yourself in or near Vienna, VA, you absolutely must stop by and order it. It was as good as I remembered and I was so swept up in the moment that I forgot to get a picture, but this is the entree I used to order on the rare occasion that we ate more than dessert:
It’s the world’s tastiest grilled chicken on the world’s softest, fluffiest pita bread. There is a restaurant here that has a chicken kabob that tastes just like it, thank goodness, but I doubt I will ever find a replica of the chunky chocolate mousse cake. I can, however, show you the cake that my mom made:
That is a full-size cake with a creamy filling. It has approximately 20 sticks of butter in it and tastes like heaven. My mom knows what I like.
After we’d gorged ourselves on some nostalgia food and oreo cake, we sampled my parents’ Wii. Mark was not impressed by my fancy bowling technique:
But he perked up when it was time for boxing:
The boxing is hard. It’s a little too much like real exercise. When I realized I was sweating, I decided to box from the couch:
And as long as I was revisiting childhood, I found this outside my bedroom door on Sunday morning:
I hope the Easter Bunny can still find me after they sell the house.
(P.S. — we visited the Peeps store! It was awesome.)
