Official Bourgie Saturday #1 - Type D for Disaster

When I first came up with the concept of Bourgie Saturday, I found few friends who were interested in participating. There was a lot of whining, a ton of excuses, and some unreturned facebook messages (you know who you are). The date was set, the theme and venue chosen, and off the four of us went to plan our first Bourgie Saturday.

Picking the Theme

Bourgie people love theme parties. Whether they're ugly sweater parties (more on that later), dinners with a specific TV show theme, or a night out on the town dressed a certain way, bourgie people love them!

My three bourgiest friends and I went through several ideas before finally landing on what we thought was the best idea for our first outing: A bourgie hike, followed by a bourgie picnic. We decided, since the weather last fall was pretty mild, doing something outdoors would be a fantastic idea! And who doesn't like a picnic? I mean, really.



Bourgie Picnicking


If you're going to have a bourgie picnic, you need to make sure you have the essentials: wine, cheese, and various dips. For our adventure, we decided to venture into the Dutch Country Farmers Market in Laurel, Maryland. (If you live in the Washington or Baltimore Metro Areas, you must schedule a trip!)

• Cheese: The H&S Cheese stand inside the market has an incredible variety of cheeses. (Make sure you sample some of them. You'd be surprised by some of the more unusual flavor combinations.) For our trip, we picked up about 4 cheese, one of which was the spicy Buffalo Cheddar. Yum!
• Dips: They have amazing dips in the Farmers Market as well! It's basically a one-stop shop for deliciousness. Like the cheeses, you can also sample dips!
• Side note: This is going to sound weird, like a soundbite from Snooki, but they seriously have the best pickles I've ever tasted in my life. Ever. There are so many different kinds of pickles. It's like pickle heaven for any pickle-lovin' girl!

While you can't get wine in the Dutch Country Farmers Market, you can get delicious hot meals and beverages. The Lantz Restaurant -- located near the exit -- has a great menu. I got a hot turkey sandwich, and wished I had ordered three of them! They are famous for their fried chicken, so make sure you order some on your first trip! They serve both breakfast and lunch, so you can grub regardless of when you're shopping.

• Wine: For this important element of our Bourgie Saturday, we came prepared. We packed up some  red wine in a fancy wine cooler (to keep it classy), and added it to our growing collection of picnic goodies in the trunk. I'm going to go slightly off topic here for a moment, because I have to share info on where we often purchase wine. 
• One of our favorite places to purchase wine is Corridor Wine & Spirits (or, as one member of the Bourgie Saturday crew dubbed it, "Liquor Mart"). It is like the Target of spirits. Domestic, import, wines, champagne, prosecco, beer, vodkas - you name it, they have it. I have tried some great local wines at Corridor, as well as some unique imported beer. The staff is very knowledgeable, and they even have wine tastings on the weekends for those looking to try something new.

Go Take a Hike

Since we decided to go hiking, we had to get dressed for the great outdoors. This is where things started to go wrong...

One of these outfits is not like the other ones...

Having gone hiking many times, I know that, regardless of temperature, you want to make sure to have your legs and arms covered when traipsing through the woods. Ticks and other insects live in these places, and poison ivy/oak are found in abundance in our region. I find that dressing in layers allows you to cool down, but ultimately, you want to make sure you're covered. (Check out this expert advice from REI)

Footwear is another important element of any hike. If you're hiking on an actual mountain (like we did), you want to make sure you have supportive shoes that aren't going to slip on rocks or leaves. I have this awesome pair of Merrell hiking sneakers that, though they appear bulky at first glance, are perfect for a low-impact hike. Hiking isn't about looking fly anyway...

To merge the hiking with the picnicking, make sure you pack a sturdy backpack, but more importantly that you check the policies of your hiking destination to ensure that you are not getting ready to break any. Which brings me to my next point...

You Can't Drink Wine at Sugarloaf Mountain

This was kind of a shock, considering there's a winery right at the base of the mountain. It also sucked because it meant that we couldn't drink any during our picnic. Which brings me to yet another point...

Stink Bugs Suck. They Can and Will Ruin Your Picnic!

You can't see them, but the stinkbugs
are definitely there...waiting for you!

Now, I'm not one to be afraid of insects, but stink bugs are pretty awful. It's not that they're going to bite you or anything, but they're just a nuisance. We have our share of obnoxious insects in our area (including cicadas every 17 years), but those stinkbugs are some of the most obnoxious. They're hard and crunchy, which is not something you want to think about when attempting to picnic (which is why we had to take our picnic inside).

So here's how our hiking trip ACTUALLY went down.

Yogi and Boo-Boo? No Thanks!

1. Went to pick out the food at the Dutch market. Got hungry from sampling so many different foods (how does that even happen?), which set us way back on our trip.
2. Started down the road to Sugarloaf Mountain, which is on the border of Montgomery and Frederick Counties in Maryland. (One of our Bourgie Saturdayers kept referring to it as Sugarfoot Mountain.)
3. It was over an hour away, but it was a beautiful trip to the mountain. The Agricultural Reserve in Montgomery County is absolutely gorgeous.
4. Pulled up to the base of the mountain, and saw a sign that said something to the effect of, "there was a bear cub spotted on the trails today." 
5. Convinced one member of our group to keep driving. 
6. Parked. Truck got covered in stink bugs.
7. Convinced our designated Bourgie Saturday driver not to turn around.



Some random dude told us which trail
was the best for us. He was wrong.

8. A couple of us checked out the map so that we could pick a trail. 
9. Walked around the picnic area. Observing a gazillion stink bugs, we took our food back to the vehicle (after already having to leave the wine in the truck).
10. Proceeded to walk the trail. It was a pretty steep slope. We later learned that the "helpful" gentleman at the map had identified the most challenging trail on the mountain.
11. Climbed about a half mile up the mountain (much of which was literally climbing), turned around, and headed back to the start of the trail.
12. Tired, sweaty, hungry, and dirty, we decided to do the most logical thing: Have the picnic inside one of our apartments.
13. Reflected on the day. Decided that, although it was a bummer that we didn't actually picnic during our hike climb up the mountain, it was a win because we had fun, got some fresh air, and had tons of laughs. 
14. Vowed never to plan a hiking trip during the peak of "stinkbug season."

We will be planning another hiking trip at some point in the future. At least now we know the do's and dont's!

Need ideas for planning your own Bourgie Saturday excursion? Send us an email or tweet us @bourgiesaturday for free pointers!