Hiatus?!?! What hiatus?!?!

If you'd have told me when I made my previous post (Super Bowl weekend) that my next post wouldn't be until after the All Star Break, I'd be more than a little disappointed in myself, and terribly embarrassed. But here we are.

Clearly I didn't intend to take a hiatus from the blog -- it's not like we haven't been doing anything (more on that in a minute) and I didn't have anything to say. But sometimes when your day job is sitting down and typing words into a computer, you find that's *not* what you want to do during your spare time. And then one week of no posts turns into another, pretty soon it's been a month, you get busy with other stuff and you find yourself staring at the Fourth of July.

So why am I back? Well, I do like the concept of blogging (even if I'm flawed when it comes to execution) and I keep seeing/doing/eating/drinking things that make me think "This would make a good blog post." We'll see if I can keep this up, but I thought it might be worth another try. If only I could find a way to quit my day job, or maybe spend a little less time trying to get some of my posts absolutely perfect...

Anyway, the stoppage in blog posts has definitely not been an indicator of a stoppage in Gastonomical adventures. Quite the contrary. Here's a couple of high points from the first half of 2014:

Downstate Weekend -- Saturday Touring

Showing the love at Cardinal Point

I'll be honest -- we covered a lot of ground and as the day wore on, my notes got less and less. But we hit some good places and had some good beer and wine. Here's the rundown:

Headed to the Blue Ridge

Been a couple weeks since the last post, but a business trip, a heavy workload and a (much needed) slow weekend will cramp the Gastonomical adventures. This weekend, on the other hand, we've got a little getaway going down. We found a Living Social (Or was it Groupon?) deal for a dog-friendly B&B down in Nelson County, VA, just southwest of Charlottesville.

Philly Visit: Reading Terminal Market

Another must-stop when we visit Philly is yet another market (sense a theme here?). The Reading Terminal Market is smack-dab in Center City Philadelphia, just off of Market Street. It's part of the city's Convention Center Complex and according to its website, it's been in operation since 1893 and was originally tied to the Reading Railroad that ran through there. It's had its ups and downs over the years, but it sure is thriving now, with many of the original stalls still in place.

Happy Holidays, Philly Weekend and Other Things

It wasn't intentional for the blog to go dormant for nearly a month, but between the holidays being hectic and a spike in the workload that made me disinclined to spend *more* time sitting in front of a computer when I wasn't working, here we are. It's Christmas Day and I'm finally getting some time in front of the personal laptop while the oven does its magic on the roast beast.

Random Savory Links

An occasional feature where we post articles and blogs we're reading these days, in no particular order.
A Case for Virginia -- Wall Street Journal, September 19
Cooking with Daniel -- The New Yorker, July 29

Anthony Bourdain on How to Fly -- Esquire Blogs

How to Have Just the Very Best Time Ever on your Foodie Vacation -- Esquire Blogs