February 12, 2022 Lunch - Water Street Grille, Yorktown Dinner - Cheese and Baguette at Aldrich House B & B, Williamsburg

February 12, 2022 Lunch -     Water Street Grille, Yorktown  Dinner - Cheese and Baguette at Aldrich House B & B, Williamsburg 

We got up and I ate the Icelandic yogurt and slices of apple for breakfast.

We then got packed and left the Graduate Hotel around 9:30 and drove to Williamsburg.  We walked the two main blocks where the pop up market was. 

By 10:30 I became tired and we bought a scone for Suzette and a carrot cake muffin for me.

I ate the muffin as we sat in front of the Lululemon store on Prince George street and then we returned to the car and we drove to Yorktown the views along the river were spectacular.,

Yorktown is very small and Saturday market stretched along Water Street, the main road.  We parked in a public lot and walked down stairs to the center of Yorktown. There was Water Street Grille across from the parking area north of the market that had been recommended and on Water Street, so we walked there.

I was tired and so after we put our name on the waiting list I waited on a bench by the restaurant while Suzette went to the market to shop.  She returned in about 30 minutes with a bag filled with 6 hand blown glass flowers that she will give to her senior staff as presents.

Soon we were texted by the restaurant that our table was ready.

We were very lucky, because we were seated at the table closest to the water with an amazing view of the York River where it joins the Chesapeake Bay.

Unfortunately, there appears to be a direct correlation between great view and poor quality food.

We tried to order intelligently from the menu.  Suzette ordered a crab cake appetizer and we agreed to split the Catch of the day, which was flash fried flounder with julienned vegetables and country fried potatoes.  I also ordered the she crab soup.

The crab soup turned out to be a clam chowder style soup with a cream sauce base.  It was flavorful but too thick. When the head person came by to check on us we tried to suggest a fix.  Suzette mentioned white wine and the head person mentioned more sherry.  We agreed and she took it back to the kitchen to fix it.  When she brought it back it was still too heavy and inedible because the sherry added must have been cheap cooking sherry that ruined the flavor.  Our waitress was gracious enough to take the soup back and remove the charge from the bill.

When the crab cake was served Suzette said it was the smallest $18.00 crab cake she had ever seen.  I thought it was just an overcooked mound of crab meat without any bread crumbs or egg white to bind it.  But that did not matter because we were going to eat the crab with the flounder.

When the fried flounder came I filleted it and gave the top 1/2 to Suzette and she mixed it with the crab to make a crab and fish mixture.  I deboned the bottom fillet and put my 1/2 of the crab cake on top of the fish and ate bites of each.  

The menu said the fish was served with julienned vegetables and roasted potatoes. When the dish arrived the vegetables were mostly a hash that had been run through a Cuisinart and the potatoes were the same sort of potato cubes that we were served at the Timberline Steakhouse at Stapleton Airport.  Although the potatoes tasted okay I suspect they come prepared and seasoned from a purveyor such as Sysco.  Suzette surmised that the kitchen ran low on the julienned vegetables and ran a bunch of vegetables, including Brussels sprouts and kale through the food processor.

Suzette got a Moscow Mule and I drank a grapefruit and hibiscus kombucha.

Suzette rated the meal “good”, which she describes as adequate but not great or excellent.

We had driven to Yorktown to see the Revolutionary War Battlefield and that is what we did next.  We drove to the Visitors’ Center and got maps and toured its small museum.  The most interesting item in the museum was George Washington’s field tent.  

We then drove a loop road through the battlefield.  Many of the siege redoubts are still visible and we visited the surrender field and Moore’s house where the terms of surrender were negotiated.  Moore’s house is beautifully sited on the crest of a hill overlooking the York River.  Here is a picture.

The Revolution was won because of the assistance of the French, whose navy blocked the British fleet from reinforcing Cornwallis’ troops as well as providing French troops under the command of Lafayette and Rochambeau, who fought along side the Continental Army.

When we  finished touring the battlefield a bit after 4:00, we drove to the Aldrich B&B.

We were tired and rested until 7:00.

We watched some TV and at 8:00 went downstairs and ate some cheese and baguette and talked a bit with our hosts.

We went back upstairs to our room decorated in period art prints and furniture and watched An old episode of Midsomer Mystery and Suzette went to bed at 10:30 and I blogged this entry.

Bon Appetit