Big News!

We are very excited to officially announce that Bobby is starting a new job with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) starting Monday, May 24!

Most of our blog readers are likely very aware that Bobby's transfer to the Baltimore office wasn't exactly what he had expected. He has been quietly and patiently conducting a job search over the past few months which led to this opportunity. His new office is just a 15 minute train ride from our house and the SEC is conveniently located next to Union Station and the US Capitol.

Bobby's transition from public accounting to government work will be really tough! He will have to get used to working at a snails pace, getting every other Friday off, a bunch of paid holidays (i.e. Columbus Day) and even having work cancelled the minute a snowflake hits the ground. Yes, he will surely miss public accounting and the 70 hour work weeks!

All kidding aside, Bobby is very excited to be one of the first members of a newly created group within the Division of Trading and Markets, which will be responsible for regulating the securities markets and how investments are bought, sold and settled. His primary responsibilities will be focused on the regulatory reform related to derivatives, which has been a very hot topic in the Senate over the past several months.

- Laurie

The Doctor is in!

One of my really good buddies Nick paid Laurie and I a visit a couple of weeks ago. I have known Nick since we first played baseball together in little league. Needless to say, Nick can come across as a strange fellow, but it was sure nice to see him! Here are a select few of the best pictures from the weekend.

All kidding aside, Nick has been one of my best friends for a long time and it was great to see him for a few days. Even Jimmy was excited to see him! Nick is nearing the end of his medical residency in Saint Louis Park, MN and will soon become a certified, real-live doctor. Watch out nurses!

We started his trip pretty low key by watching the Twins whip the Royals and did some grilling during the evening. We had a lot of catching up to do (and a lot of beer to drink), so we didn’t end up making it out that night.

Nick and I have actually seen a number of ballparks together, including the Metrodome (far too many times), Pittsburgh, Wrigley Field (twice), Milwaukee, Tampa Bay, and Cincinnati. Naturally, we were sure to swing by the new Nationals Stadium and Camden Yards during his visit. Laurie, Nick and I saw the Nats take on the Los Angeles Dodgers and sat in the first row down the third base line. Great seats, but no luck with the foul balls! Surprisingly, the Nats won by a score of 1-0. I have watched 18 innings of live Nats baseball and have yet to see them give up a run. Since when did these Nats turn into such a good team?

After the Nats game, we toured DC’s Mall area and eventually made it the ESPN Zone in the District to catch some soccer!? Yes, unfortunately the only games on at that time were soccer. What a stupid sport. I have never watched anything so boring! Oh well, the beers were great and the food was delicious. After ESPN Zone, we made a few stops at some of the other bars around the area and enjoyed the District night scene.

The next day, Laurie had to go to work, so Nick and I weren’t sure what to do. Who was going to feed us? Who was going to drive us home after bar close? Well, what would anyone do in that situation? We decided to drive to Philly to enjoy some of Philly’s finest cheese steak sandwiches. The hour and half drive was well worth it! We each had a “provolone without” cheese steak from Geno’s in south Philly. We also toured some of downtown Philly, including a stop at the Terminal Market and Constitution Hall. We had a few beers at the Field Bar near the Terminal Market and then made our way back to DC.

Later that evening, Nick and I headed out to a few bars in the District to watch the Capitals take on the Montreal Canadiens. The Caps played like crap and were eventually ousted in the first round.

Our next stop was a trip to Camden Yards in Baltimore. We saw the O’s take on the Yankees. The O’s surprisingly beat the Yankees 5-4, proving that the Yankees do indeed suck. We met up with one of my buddies from Baltimore, Joe at the O’s game and collectively booed the Yankees. We also made a few stops before the game, including having some beers at the ESPN Zone in Baltimore, Pickles Bar and Sliders. Each bar and all the streets of Baltimore were covered with Yankee fans, so it was nice to see them lose.

Thanks again for coming out to visit Nick! it was great to see you and I look forward to seeing you again soon!

- Bobby

Go Nats?!?

Laurie and I made it to a Nationals game a few weeks ago and we had a blast! It certainly wasn’t as fun as a Twins game, but considering the DC sports scene, the Nationals are pretty fun to watch. We saw the Nats defeat the Milwaukee Brewers in which former Twin Livan Hernandez through a complete game shut out. It would have been nice if he would have done that for us!

Nationals Park is located in DC’s Navy Yard neighborhood and is a just short ride on the Metro from our place. Even on a really nice day, tickets are pretty easy to come by. I guess that is no surprise considering this team lost over 100 games last year and finished with the worst record in baseball. However, this year may be different, as the Nats currently find themselves in second place in the National League East and are playing pretty well.

Laurie and I have been to a number of baseball parks across the US, but this was our first trip to the new Nationals Park, which was built in 2008. We were impressed with the ballpark as there aren’t many bad seats and there was an abundance of good eats! As a ballpark expert, I would rate the Nats home a 4.0 out of 5.

The ballpark has 41,000 seats and features 66 suites, all around the infield. The park has an out-of-town scoreboard, which is 102 feet long, installed in the right field wall. The main scoreboard, at 101 feet long and 47 feet high, is more than five times the size of the one at RFK Stadium. The park also features a grove of cherry blossoms located just beyond the left field bleachers, which provides a look that Americans associate with the nation's capital. You are also able to see the U.S. Capitol from the upper deck.

And last, but certainly not least, what DC event would be complete without a Presidential Race? The Presidents' Race, which takes place in fourth inning, features four former Presidents of the United States, namely those found on Mount Rushmore: George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, Thomas Jefferson, and Theodore Roosevelt. As you can see, the Presidents are dressed in period costumes and topped with giant foam caricature heads.

As you can see in the standings, our 26th President has had some troubles getting his first victory.

Overall Standings (Since 2006):

Lincoln: 125

Jefferson: 76

Washington: 80 

Roosevelt: 0

The running joke of the Presidents Race has been Teddy’s inability to win a race. The reasons for Teddy's failures have varied, ranging from tripping, to confusion, to striking up conversations with fans and forgetting to run. He has been disqualified for cheating, including the use of a golf cart, emerging from the visitors' dugout instead of running the length of the first base line, zip-lining into the infield from the top of the stadium and riding in a rickshaw pulled by a bicycle. I wonder what will come first, a Nats division title or win from Teddy!

-Bobby

Running Man

Bobby signed up and has started training for his second marathon. His first one was the 2006 Twin Cities Marathon. He finished in 3 hours and 26 minutes, which at the time was 11 minutes short of qualifying for the Boston Marathon.

The 35th annual Marine Corps Marathon is on October 31, 2010. This marathon is the 4th largest in the US, and the 8th largest in the world. Runners get views of all of the main attractions in DC, and the finish is right by the Marine Corp War Memorial.

The runners will be wearing RFID tags so that their location can be tracked throughout the course. As a spectator, I can sign up for text alerts so I can maximize the number of Bobby sightings throughout the race.  Link to the course map.

Bobby has started training by doing weekend runs on the mall, early in the morning before the tourists get in the way. I drink coffee and read a book until he is done.

This year, the qualifying time for the Boston Marathon is 3 hours, 10 minutes. Can he do it???

If anyone is interested, we would love to have you join the cheering squad for this big event!

- Laurie

TPC at Sawgrass

I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity recently to play the Stadium Course at TPC at Sawgrass, home of The Player's Champtionship. It is also famous due to being the location of Tiger Wood's first taped press conference (more like a poorly delivered speech), but hey, that's old news.

The overall experience was wonderful - they really take care of you! Upon arrival I was directed to my locker. The ladies room was so big I got lost.

This year's Players Tournament is being held May 6 - 9, so the crew was busy getting the spectator stands all set up.

The famous Island Green hole, the most photographed hole in golf:

This is what it looks like during the tournament:

Photo credit: Fred Vuich/SI

Our caddie kindly informed us of the odds. 40,000 rounds are played here annually, and 120,000 balls are fished out of this pond in that timeframe. My playing companion stuck one within 6 feet, while I left my mark on the course and contributed my Noodle+Lady into the pond.

Now we reach the 18th hole leading to the clubhouse. This time I was lucky - my drive actually went in the fairway so I got to experience the full effect of walking up the 18th fairway.

The gorgeous clubhouse:

Two of the golf greats in the champions locker room. Once you win here, you get a permanent locker with your name on it -

I guess you only get one locker if you win more than once:

We'll be watching the tournament in a few weeks. Will Tiger grace us with his presence???

- Laurie

Northern Virginia Wineries

Who knew there were tons of wineries within a 2 hour drive of our house? Virginia alone has over 140 wineries and counting. While nothing in North America can compare to Napa and Sonoma, there are some pretty decent wine offerings in the region.

A short history lesson: The Jamestown settlers had high hopes for Virginia as a major source of wine for export to Britain. A law was passed in 1619 that required every male settler to plant and tend as least ten grape vines. The grapes of European origin failed to prosper, and the tobacco industry became the focus of the country. Both George Washington and Thomas Jefferson tried to grow vines in the area, and failed. Eventually, settlers tried using Native American grapes, which yielded better results for an industry to be born. The Virginia Norton wine was named “best red wine of all nations” at the Vienna World’s Fair in 1873. The industry suffered a hit during the Prohibition era, but has slowly recovered and prospered.

We randomly selected a winery to visit from our guide - Bluemont Vineyard. The short description indicated it was situated 1,000 feet up into the Blue Mountains, with great views and scenery. As we pulled up we realized we made a great choice! The building itself was really beautiful, and they had a great deck and outdoor spaces for enjoying your tasting. Apparently on a clear day, you can see the Washington Monument in the distance.

We felt right at home when we learned all of Blumont's wines are named after farm animals. No highbrow wine snobs here! This was definitely a family run operation, and everyone was so nice. They spent a lot of time with us explaining all of the different wines we tasted. They were all really great, but we ended up purchasing "The Pig" (2007 Norton) and “The Cow” (2008 Vidal Blanc).

They must employ a master marketer, because we also ended up buying a bottle to share, a huge amazing fruit and cheese tray, warm bread, souvenir glasses, and souvenir t-shirts (almost). They also had a cute dog. I think I want to live there.

The next place we went was by recommendation of Bluemont – Sunset Hills Vineyard, which was actually in a historic Amish barn.

Photo credit: http://www.sunsethillsvineyard.com

We were expecting to meet Ezekiel and Rebecca, but no such luck. We enjoyed another tasting as well as a selection of Amish cheeses. We don’t believe in the spittoon method of tasting and were feeling our tastings, so we had to share. The server was busier and couldn't give us as much personal attention when describing the wines, so we preferred Bluemont. We picked up a bottle of 2008 Sunset Red Cabernet Sauvignon.

What a fun day and something different to try! Hopefully more visitors would like to experience Virginia wine, because it is such a fun and easy day trip. There are many more we can visit, and Bobby can drive!

- Laurie

Cherry Blossom Festival

What better time to visit DC than during the National Cherry Blossom Festival? My parents came to visit at the perfect time, just a few days prior to the peak blooming period.

We started out the day at Eastern Market, which is a regular farmers/street market in a cute neighborhood in DC. Many locals come for the fresh produce and other food, while tourists can pick up art, jewelry, and other random things for sale. We stopped for some coffee.

Next we went to check out the cherry blossoms, which are all over the Mall area. Spring was definitely in the air as there tons of people out and there were literally hundreds and hundreds of kites flying all over. No kite fighting though.

By the Smithsonian Institution Building:

The main area by the Tidal Basin and Roosevelt Memorial:

By the White House:

A highlight of the day was when we met our distant relative Kirt for the first time, who lives in the area.  Kirt (pictured below on the right) has done extensive genealogy research and has traveled to Norway to visit the old farms and villages of our mutual ancestors. His research eventually led to our family and therefore, our meeting.

More to come soon about the next day of their visit!

-Laurie