Old Town Manassas

With just two weekends left until we leave Virginia, Ray and I decided to spend part of this one having an overnight date night. The girls had a sleepover with friends, where they went swimming, had homemade pizza and watched a movie. (Thank You, Nichole!!!) The dogs went to the “doggie hotel” for a night, where they boarded together in an indoor/outdoor run. And we headed to Manassas, a town that we have enjoyed visiting several times over the last couple of years.

We first went there a while back to see the Manassas National Battlefield Park. While in that area, we decided to check out Old Town Manassas, where we discovered a delicious Cajun/Creole restaurant. The place is called Okra’s, and they keep us coming back. The food is great, and on Friday evenings, they have live music in the street. People can dine outside, while listening to local bands.

Last night, we had concert tickets at a venue not far from Old Town Manassas, so we decided to spend the night there. We checked into this little Bed & Breakfast in the historical district, got ready for the night, and headed to Old Town. The B & B had a couple of quirks, but the owner was a nice character, and I really like old houses, so it was good.

We went to Okra’s for some happy hour drinks and an early dinner. We opted to eat inside, since it was about 90 degrees outside, and we were there before the band was playing. Okra’s has a Mardi Gras/Alligator/French Quarter theme. Being from Louisiana, I was a little skeptical that first time that there could be such good Louisiana fare in Northern Virginia. But, they did not disappoint, and they never have.

I always struggle with the menu, because I want a bite everything and really wish they’d have a sampler platter. They don’t, so I settled for crawfish etouffee this time. I went for the beaucoup portion (larger), because I was ready to chow down. Ray had an oyster poboy and the crab and corn chowder. The etouffee is fantastic. They don’t scrimp on the crawfish, and the roux is really tasty. The poboys are done right, too! The bread is not too soft, and not too crunchy. It’s that somewhere in-between that poboy bread has to be. The oysters are big and fried golden. And the chowder is ridiculous; I could drink a gallon of the stuff – just guzzle it down. Since we had already tried the bread pudding and bananas foster (both incredible, but the bananas foster was a near out-of-body experience for me), we decided to go with crème brulle last night. It was also very good, but seriously, the bananas foster… I wanted to cry.

I’m no food critic. I can’t tell you what flavors complemented what, but I can say that this place makes my taste buds very, very happy.

With an hour or so to kill before time to head to the concert, we stopped in at Macky’s American Pub down the road to throw back a few beers (Ray) and bourbons and Coke (me). It’s a nice place for some reasonably priced drinks. It has a patriotic/military theme. They are not stingy on the bourbon. That’s for sure.

The concert was at Jiffy Lube Live, an outdoor venue in Bristow, VA. We arrived to see one of the two opening acts, Dan and Shay. Never heard of them, but it turned out I knew two of their songs pretty well! The headliner was Darius Rucker. I was there to see the country singer, and Ray was there for Hootie. He delivered on both counts. I like that this place is out in the middle of nowhere, it’s outside, and people go nuts with tailgating. I don’t like that the parking situation can get tricky (sometimes it takes a while to get out – like, a long while) and on a hot night, it is  a sauna under that pavilion.

Darius Rucker puts on a great show. He sang four Hootie songs, so Ray was happy. He sang all his top country hits, and he did a little bit of his new stuff. He ended with a tribute to Prince: Purple Rain. It was pretty awesome.

We were lucky to get right out of the parking lot and onto the road back to the B & B very quickly last night. We woke up to a breakfast of eggs, bacon, pancakes, fruit, coffee, and juice this morning. We ate with a lovely couple who were also staying at the bed and breakfast. They were headed down to North Carolina to scope out some retirement digs, and had stopped in Manassas for a weekend in the quaint town.

It was a fun night. We picked up the dogs, got the girls from friends (seriously, Thank You, Nichole!!!), and headed back to the RV for some hardcore napping. This was “I can’t even keep my eyes open” napping. It was step into the RV, fall into the bed napping. It was “kids do what you will… I’m napping” napping. Well, Ray and I (and the dogs) did the napping. Mostly me. I was the longest of the nappers. The girls did none. Never do.