Cheers to Our First Week

Friday morning John and I woke up bright and early and started our walk to the Smithsonian National Zoo. A little fun fact is that all Smithsonian Museums are free and since the zoo is run by the Smithsonian Institute, it's free too. The walk took us through the Adams Morgan neighborhood, up and down a few hills and was overall pretty enjoyable. We didn't even come close to seeing everything and will most definitely be returning in the near future. We did, however, get to see an elephant training session with the Asian elephants and take a walk through the butterfly house.

After we walked around the zoo for an hour or so, we walked to the nearest Metro and made our way to the NavyYard stop for the Truckeroo food truck rally. The event takes place once a month and features local food trucks that run the gamut when it comes to types of cuisine. There's also live music, tons of picnic tables and cornhole. Since it was our first time, we decided to sample goodies from four very different trucks.

We started by tasting 3 different tacos from the TaKorean food truck, a food truck that specializes in Korean style BBQ tacos. It may sound like a weird fusion, but it was one of the best things we have had in D.C. thus far. We chose Bulgogi Steak (thin sliced ribeye steak marinated in a sweet & spicy soy based sauce), tangy chicken (chicken marinated in sweet chili sauce, ginger & soy), and the daily special pork taco. We also had chose to top two with the spicy Kimichi slaw and the other with the Napa-Romaine slaw. All of it was delicious, but John and I agreed that the steak taco with the Kimichi slaw was our favorite.

Our second food truck to try out was D.C. Empanadas. While all of their handmade empanadas sounded tempting, we tried the El Toro which was filled with chipotle beef, onions, garlic, cilantro, black bean, cheddar cheese and corn. It was good and packed with flavor. My only complaint was that the empanadas weren't bigger because we could have easily eaten more of those little goodies.

Our third and final entree food truck was Reggae Vibes, a food truck that specializes in Jamaican fare. John and I had Jamaican for the first time back in December during a trip to Seattle and fell in love with the flavorful cuisine that's full of spices and a kick of heat. We chose the day's special, jerk pork sliders with a side of plantains. It was so so good and tasted like a very unique version of a pulled pork BBQ sandwich.

Since John and I split all of the food listed above, we still had room to split a dessert. Plus, we are still getting our fill of sweets before we banish them from our house for Whole Life Challenge. After perusing our choices, we decided to try the Orange Cow and were so glad that we did. We had a frozen banana on a stick covered with Belgium chocolate, Heath bar, and course sea salt. The blend of fruity, chocolaty, and salty was the exclamation point to our food truck experience. The people that ran the truck were super nice too and even took a picture of us and let me ring the prized cow bell!

That evening we had another dinner on our roof top and then walked down the street to the best bookstore in the D.C. area, Kramerbooks. I found the bookstore during our trip to D.C. last fall and was thrilled when we moved in just a few blocks away. In addition to being a bookstore, it also has a cafe in the back with a fabulous patio and live music. We chose to toast to the end of the week and start of our first weekend as D.C. residents with coffee and a slice of lemon berry mascarpone cake (lemon cake w/berries layered w/mascarpone and served w/fresh whipped cream and berries, drizzled w/raspberry puree). It tasted like a slice of summer and was definitely a good way to go out before we start clean eating.

After reviewing this post, it appears that all we have done has centered around food. However, John and I were talking today about how we have probably walked around 10 miles or more each day since we have been here. So, I'm thinking that all that walking balances out my food indulgence. Right? I still love it here and everyday feels like a holiday. Not that there has ever been a dull moment in the Lyles' household, but there most definitely hasn't been since we've been in the District. Cheers to an excellent first week!