Travel – Page 6 – Fervent Foodie

Taking it easy in the Big Easy – Part 3

October 18, 2010 5 Comments

Day 3 in the Big Easy started off with:

Haha, well actually it started off with FREE continental breakfast at the hotel. Thennnnn the Maker’s Mark (for Jarrod anyway… I think that stuff tastes like nail polish remover).

After breakfast and some meandering through the French Quarter

Then we stopped at Primo’s for some snacking:

Primo’s got horrible reviews online, but we were dying for some bruschetta and they happened to have it on the menu so we decided to ignore the reviews.

I love how all the bars and restaurants down here are open to the streets. Most of the buildings have huge windows that you can open up and it makes you feel like your are in a courtyard instead of inside the building.

I should also mention that the whether has been AMAZING the whole time we have been here. 80+ degrees, sunny, and no humidity. GLORIOUS!

I’m so glad we ignored those reviews on Primo’s! Take a look at this beauty:

Jarrod said it was the best bruschetta he ever had. I don’t know about the BEST, but it definitely was REALLY friggin delicious.

We also ordered a small margherita pizza:

This was tasty too—just needed a little hot sauce!

After lunch we had some time to kill, so we popped a squat across the street from Jackson Square to watch some street performers.

These guys were actually REALLY good!

And they drew quite the crowd!

It’s crazy what these guys can do with their bodies. I can’t do a pushup let alone hold my whole body up with one arm and spin it around like a helicopter while simultaneously bouncing up and down:

Me and the BF in Jackson Square:

After lunch, we headed to our French Quarter & Cemetery tour (which I purchased on Groupon a month or so ago). The tour only cost us $10 a piece, and it was a self-guided walking tour that lasted 1.5 hours. SCORE!

While walking around the French Quarter a random man shouted out Jarrod “Man you big as an Avatar! Look at that big ole white boy!” Neither of us have seen the movie (so we’re not quite sure how Jarrod reminded the guy of an Avatar), regardless we both busted out in laughter at the man’s explanation (as did the group of people walking behind us). Only in New Orleans 😀

You may be wondering why the heck we wanted to go on a cemetery tour on our vacation. No, it’s not because we are nearing on Halloween. It’s because New Orleans cemeteries are uniquely interesting:

Since the city is located below sea level, all of the deceased are buried ABOVE the ground.

What’s even more interesting is that family members are added to the tombs over CENTURIES. We passed many tombs where the first family member was buried in the 1800’s and over the years more and more family members were added (even as most recent as 2004)!

Jarrod and the tour guide:

The tour guide told us that this is the tomb Nicholas Cage built for himself:

Even though this tour was REALLY cool, we both felt odd smiling for a picture in front of a tomb (hence the grimace on Jarrod’s face) 😛

After the tour, we headed back to the hotel for our daily afternoon nap (we’re like a bunch of old farts, I swear!).

We were having a lot of debate on where to go for dinner, but settled on Margaritaville. I know, I know… Jimmy Buffet is one of Jarrod’s unstated idols, and neither of us have ever been to Margaritaville, so off we went.

We wanted to push ourselves a little out of our comfort zones, so we opted for the Crab, Shrimp, and Mushroom dip for our appetizer:

It came with delicious garlic bread for dipping. I thought it was actually really good (Jarrod wasn’t quite so keen on it, but he was fully satisfied with the bread).

For dinner we went with the Jambalaya:

Jarrod said this was the best meal he had to date in New Orleans, and I agree it was DELICIOUS. And yes, that is seven (count them) seven pieces of garlic bread that we wolfed down during dinner 🙂

After dinner we strolled over to Bourbon Street and stopped on the backside of Jackson Square to snap a photo of the shadow casted on the backside of the building:

While on Bourbon St this time, we hit up several bars including Club 524, Krazy Korner, and the Bourbon Street Blues Company (again!).

On our walk back to the hotel, we both concurred that our favorite parts of New Orleans were everything we had seen OUTSIDE of Bourbon Street. Bourbon Street is definitely fun and full of crazies, but it is a little too commercialized. We both just prefer the old-world charm of NOLA over the flashing neon lights of Bourbon Street. I do wish we had an extra day in LA to visit the districts outside of the French Quarter, but alas that will have to wait til next time!

Restaurants, Travel

N’awlins – part deaux

October 16, 2010 7 Comments

Day deaux in New Orleans started off as any vacation day should: A HUGE breakfast of course.

We woke up bright and early Err… we headed to breakfast at 11:30…. whatev. Our destination was the Old Coffee Pot Restaurant in the French Quarter.

To our surprise, Guy Fieri had just been to the restaurant last month! How cool!

The best part of the restaurant (in my opinion) was the AWESOME courtyard, which had a really intricate mural painted on all the walls.

Gentleman admiring the view:

The service was incredibly slow :-/ but I just had to keep reminding myself to take it easy. I’m used to a much faster pace of life than they have down here, that’s for sure. We were able to get some mimosas pretty quickly, so that helped to turn my frown upside down 🙁 –> 🙂

For breakfast we decided on splitting the Creole eggs and potatoes:

And some creole pancakes with mashed bananas:

Jarrod REALLY liked both of the dishes:

I wasn’t real excited about them though. The banana pancakes were super tasty, just too sweet for my breakfast tooth. And I was really caught off guard by the creole sauce. I expected something spicy, but it turned out to taste more like spaghetti sauce! We decided I was thinking of cajun sauce. Hopefully I can score some cajun food in my belly this weekend 🙂

After breakfast, we walked around the French quarter:

We spotted Cafe Du Monde, which was one on my MUST-VISIT places… but since we were still full from breakfast, we didn’t stop.

Then we walked along the Mississippi River

Until we reached the Aquarium! Neither of us have ever been to an Aquarium before, so we were pretty pumped to check it out!

I soon realized it’s incredibly difficult to capture good pictures of an fish in an aquarium!

Jarrod checking out the fishies:

This one makes me laugh every time I look at it 😀

There were two really AWESOME parts of the aquarium. First, was getting to touch sting rays:

Isn’t that out of this world??

In Jarrod’s words, the sting rays were “creepishly smooth.” I didn’t believe him til i mustered up the courage to touch one as well. After several missed attempts, I was able to brush my hand across one of the stingray’s backs. I immediately flung my arm from the water, squealed like a child, and ran over to Jarrod with my hand stuck out it front of me and a look of fright on my face. Hahaha.. I’m fairly certain I scared all the children waiting in line for their turns. What can you expect though, those things really are freakishly smooth!

The second BEST part of the aquarium was one of the final rooms on the tour that had a floor to ceiling GIGANTIC aquarium with HUGE fish, sharks, and turtles:

I could have sat in here for HOURS! So relaxing.

After the aquarium, we did some more site seeing and then stopped at the Crescent City Brewhouse for a drink:

Even though neither of us are beer drinkers, we both thought the fermentation tanks were pretty cool!

Next stop: Johnny Po-Boys for lunch!

We split the chicken po-boy and the shrimp po-boy:

Then headed back to the hotel for some much needed sleep! First stop on the dinner path was Pat O’briens Courtyard:

This picture really doesn’t do the courtyard any justice (darn night time pictures). Just trust me that it was AMAZING.

For dinner we split the sampler, which consisted of Jambalaya, Chicken and Sausage Gumbo, and Red beans and rice:

This was hands-down our best meal to date in New Orleans. My favorite was the jambalaya, and Jarrod’s favorite was the gumbo. Don’t worry, we wolfed down the red beans and rice too 😀

After dinner, we made a much anticipated return to Cafe Du Monde!

I have been waiting to try these Beignets (French doughnuts) for MONTHS.

That is an extreme amount of powdered sugar! Ready to dive in!

DSCF3826

These beignets were so hot and friggin delicious. Heaven in my mouth I kid you not. We may have to make another stop at Cafe Du Monde this weekend 🙂

After hitting up a few local establishments, we headed to the Casino to get our gamble on. I was feeling lucky, so I popped $5 into a 2 cent slot machine. About 5 minutes later, I decided to pull my money out:

Don’t worry, I lost the remaining 40 cents on a penny slot a few minutes later.

Jarrod nearly lost his $10, but luckily he hit the jackpot on his last spin and was able to get his total up to $9.94!

Given that I didn’t pay for any of my drinks, and that I got to keep the 94 cents because Jarrod hates having change in his pockets, I’d say I came out the TRUE winner this evening 🙂

Restaurants, Travel

Big Easy – Part 1

October 15, 2010 9 Comments

Here’s a recap of our first day in the Big Easy:

Jarrod almost fell down the escalator in the airport. Sadly, I did not capture this on video.

We hopped in a cab and headed to the hotel, which is right on the border of the business district and the French quarter.

Our hotel is super old and super charming:

After we cleaned up, we headed to the French Quarter and stopped in at the first restaurant that caught our eye: Jean Lafitte Bistro… though oddly that wasn’t the name on the front of the building… Peculiar…

View from restaurant balcony:

Dinner!

This pasta sauce was RIDICULOUSLY amazing (though both of us weren’t impressed with the sausage).

I love the old-world charm of all of the buildings here:

After dinner we headed to drinks and some live music at the Blues Club:

Then drinks at the Beach:

Hello Bourbon Street!

Next stop, the Bourbon Street Blues Company

Cheese!

Annnnnd then we went back to the hotel and passed out! Long day of fun in the Big Easy!!

Travel

Last Day in Chi-Town

August 15, 2010 8 Comments

Today was my last day in Chicago! The morning started off with a Fun Run Walk along the lakefront. Many of the attendees set out on 10K or 5K runs, but there were many of us in the walking group.

After the walk, we headed to breakfast, which was sponsored by Thomas’ bagel thins. Part of the breakfast was a create-your-own cream cheese contest. We had our very own chefs on hand to do all the grunt work:

Here’s what went in to my combo:

Reduced fat cream cheese
Fresh tomatoes
Onions!
Jalapenos
Carrots
Cucumber
Pinch ‘o salt

The goods:

I was really graving protein at breakfast, so I thought I’d make a little breakfast sandwich out of my bagel thin and veggie cream cheese. I loaded my bagel with the veggie cream cheese:

Then I sliced my two turkey sausage links in half length-wise, and piled them on the bagel:

All I needed was a little hot sauce 😉

After breakfast, I headed back to the hotel room to get my pack on. We got SO many freebies this weekend, I can’t believe I was able to cram it all back in the suitcase!

My roommate, Haya, and I headed to Trader Joe’s where I picked up a new Luna Bar flavor and some Quinoa. Cannot wait to experiment with the Quinoa (which I had for the first time at Saturday’s lunch).

After the TJ’s excursion, a group of us gathered together to head to Giordano’s for some Chicago pizza (FINALLY!).

First up, I had a jumbo side salad (my body is literally in vegetable withdrawal) and some garlic bread:

Stuffed pizza:

YUM. Any time I go to a new city, I like to try out the foods the area is known for. While Pittsburgh’s Primanti sandwiches, South Carolina Shrimp & Grits, or Chicago style pizza may not be my #1 choice they are definitely tasty and REQUIRED food stops!

Besides, pizza definitely makes for happy bloggers:

(Erin @ a Girl and Her Mutt)

Overall, the HLS was a really interesting experience. I went into the weekend expecting to get the most value out of the Saturday Seminars, but it turns out my favorite parts of the weekend were hanging with bloggers and getting to know each of their stories behind the blog. I met a few bloggers whose sites I’ve been following for some time, made many new friends, and had my first first-person exposure to this crazy food blogging community that I’m a part of!

What surprised me most about this weekend was the mental list I began gathering of things I don’t want to be and things I want to work on or change in my life Odd, right? Over the course of the weekend, I told dozens and dozens of women my story: who I am, what I do on a daily basis, why I blog, etc. I think that sort of self reflection is a good challenge for us all. It forces us to internally take a step back and determine whether or not we’re happy with our own story.

In the time-management session, Sarah asked us to write down our list of priorities in life. I stumbled on this task. At first I wrote nothing on my list. Then, whether for fear of admitting the truth to myself or for fear of someone else seeing my true list, I wrote what I thought my list should be. I internally compared my “ideal” list of priorities to my true list, and I was bothered by the blatant discrepancies between the two. Time is a finite resource (thank you, Sarah!), and I want to work on using mine in ways that match my ideal priorities in life!

All-in-all a terrific weekend, full of terrific women, and terrific food!

(thank you Sarha @ theSHUbox for the photo!)

(thank you Jennifer @ RunningWithCake for the photo!)

Travel

Day #2 in Chicago

August 14, 2010 3 Comments

First thing on the agenda for Day#2 in Chicago was a walk to see the Big Ole Shiny Bean (that’s the proper name) to take some pics.

Big ole bean:

Me in the bean:

I kind of love the bean, not gonna lie:

After the giant bean, we went and saw a giant creepy face:

Then it was time to head to breakfast. These Adora calcium supplements have been on my blog “want to try” list forever! Now I have a whole bag to try out 🙂

The breakfast spread was stellar!! I wanted one three of EVERYTHING

Bagel thins, peanut butter, yogurt, granola, fruit, muffins, croissants, oatmeal… Are you kidding??

I ended up with yogurt(x2) and some fruit

I also scarfed down an Empower Glo Bar (check out Oh She Glows):

After breakfast, we had several breakout presentations, one of which focused on photography:

Another discussed potential obstacles to eating healthy:

Misconceptions for sure:

Some things I need to work on:

Midway through the day, we had the hands-down best lunch I ever had at a conference. I went with a side salad with balsamic dressing, roasted veggies, quinoa salad, garbanzo bean salad, giant pickle spear, and a turkey and ham sandwich on a deli flat:

Here are some of my favorite takeaways from the seminars:

Only 1 in 3 women ages 18-33 years old cook their own meals 5+ days a week.
Balance, variety, moderation…
Take the first step, then the next. Repeat.
Time is a finite, non-renewable resource.
You are beautiful 🙂
It’s ok to be different. It makes you a more interesting person.
Quinoa is AMAZING. Must cook this myself in the very near future!
Windows Live Writer. Changed. My. Life.

After the conference, we went for a walk along the water:

The water in Chicago seems so much bluer than Lake Erie in Cleveland!

After the walk, we headed to Core Fusion Yoga sponsored by Subway. Luckily, I didn’t snap any photos. Yoga kicked my butt. I just hope I’ll be able to walk tomorrow. Only one thing can help a girl come back from such a beating:

Epic. Burger. EPIC:

When I have hand-cut fries, I LOVE to top them with Malt vinegar…. buuuuut when I asked the waiter for Malt vinegar, she gave me the wonky eye like I was crazy.

Tweeting ensued:

That’s ok – I got to try out the Organic Heinz ketchup on the fries:

This tasted just like normal ketchup to me! It didn’t have the super sugary taste that the Reduced-sugar ketchup has. It just tasted like my normal everyday ketchup. Just a little dollop of heaven 🙂

And I’m exhausted! Time for bed!

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