Another Busy Day...

Today was another busy day, but with less work and more fun activities. First we started off exploring the DuPont State Forest. This area is home to several major waterfalls like, Hooker Falls, Triple Falls, and High Falls. All of them are breathtakingly beautiful. The constant and even percussion of the rushing white waters is soothing and the energy of place completely calming. I had a lot of fun hiking around and exploring.

Above is a picture of the river from the road. It's just a small taste of the white waters and waterfalls ahead.

Above is a picture of Triple Falls. We all ended up hiking down to the base of the waterfall and climbing up the rocks. From this vantage point we would look only like little tiny ants. You might recognize these waterfalls from the Daniel Day-Lewis movie, The Last of the Mohicans.

The hike along the river was dotted with lots of flora. The paths were flanked with loads of flowers and trees. We also had fun finding raspberries, wild strawberries, and blueberries.

We spotted all manner of fungi. Some were deadly and some were benign. Our policy though was avoid touching them all. None of us are experts and the risk is too high to play around with them.

At the base of one of the waterfalls, a bunch of flower petals had washed up. The image was striking and seemingly poetic.

Hiking with a child isn't an easy job. It takes constant supervision. She could eat a poisonous mushroom, slip on gravel and fall down a ravine or get caught up in poison ivy. Between all of us adults, the warnings kept flying. "Don't do this..." and "Don't do that..." Being a four year old, she'd of course question WHY!?!?! Generally speaking, our answer would be "because you don't want to die." I guess she was getting tired of us saying that, so she started pretending that she was dead. Highly disconcerting, but she thought it was amusing.

After our hike, we went to Ribfest where we enjoyed lots of carnival food and some tasty barbeque. Smokin' Joe's out of Columbus, Ohio has some pretty killer pulled pork sandwiches. Above and to the left is a picture of Cynthia enjoying some ribs. In the center is a picture of a perfect funnel cake that we enjoyed with some tasty Hillbilly cream soda. (Yes, we drank out of a recycled metal can.) To the right is a picture of Azalea on one of the carnival rides. She picked the bright red mustang looking one. It reminded me of Cynthia's first car, which was of course a bright red mustang that she called, "The Red Comet Car."

Above is a picture of Azalea and Cynthia enjoying some cotton candy. Azalea begged for it hard.
When we finished up at Ribfest, we decided to head downtown for a little chocolate. At first the line was ridiculous, so we ducked into Malaprop's Bookstore and Cafe to take a look around. When the line finally succumbed at The Chocolate Fetish little we picked out some yummy treats. Above and to the left is a picture of Cynthia waiting for the chocolates to be wrapped up. Above and to the right is a picture of my hand holding a delightful Kahlua truffle.

We were all pretty wiped out from our adventures, so we decided to take a nap. When we got up, we prepared a giant smorgasbord to enjoy for our evening meal.

Along with apple wedges and baguette slices, we served up a variety of cheeses (like brie, jarlsberg, smoked gouda, and a nice triple cream) and dipping oils.

I also assembled these quick little treats. First I smeared on a thick coating of garlic and herb chevre cheese, then added some smoked salmon tips, topped with some chopped scallions and chives, and then sprinkled a few drops of roasted garlic olive oil. The results were rich, creamy, and bursting with flavor.