those three special words

I love you.  Those are three words that everyone wants to hear.  Some people wait lifetimes to hear them, some kill to hear them and some sacrifice everything to hear them.  Those three special words.  I love hearing them, don’t get me wrong, but I have a more favorite triad in the English language.  Oh yes, friends.  You and I both know that few words get me as excited as these: Food and Wine.  What a glorious combination of syllables.  So simple and yet, so very satisfying.

I am a fan of pretty much any kind of festival.  In my family, we are “festival people.”  A sort of snooty carnie, if you will.  We like to hang around food people, we really like to hang around wine people, and when the day is done, who isn’t thankful for a bit of art and music on the side (those are regular pairings with the magic three, don’t you know).  So, when my big sister from my sorority (are you really surprised that I’m a sorority girl?) told me that she would be participating in the Disney Wine and Dine Half Marathon and wanted to do the Wine and Food Fest the next day, I agreed to attend pretty much immediately.

Fast forward several months.  Lindsay ran and it was very exciting.  It was her first half marathon and she absolutely killed it.  She had been eating very healthfully for about two weeks prior, so to celebrate, the day of the race, we prepared and bought wine, cheese, desserts and crackers from The Fresh Market, parked on the couch until the 10pm race was to start, and relaxed.  As we were too tired to actually eat the cheese at 2am after the race finished, we decided it would be the perfect and most appropriate breakfast for our F&W day.

After a healthy dose of lactose and alcohol, we set off to Epcot to journey around the world and taste the many delicacies they offered.  Before eating, however, we decided to check out a few of the “rides” at the park to have a full Disney experience.  I have to say, one of my favorite things about Epcot is the wonderful irony of it all.  This park was supposed to be the focal point of Disney World in Orlando (thanks, Magic Kingdom, for killing the dreams of the big golf ball), and was intended to be a permanent Worlds Fair, with the main part of the park as a sort of “future world.”  What is so fantastic about Epcot is how outdated everything is.  The rides and attractions talk about the “future” that we are supposed to have and it reads a bit more like a ’70s science fiction novel than it does an accurate depiction of the future as we now think it will be.  But it is awesome.  I just love rides that haven’t changed since the late ’80s.  Really makes you wonder what they’re spending all of their money on…

After lots of laughs and sarcastic/snarky comments, we went to try all of the delicious food.  With two cash cards loaded and in hand, we went to Hawaii to taste the pork slider with pineapple chutney and the tuna poke with seaweed salad and a taro root chip.  I have to say, this was a great way to start off the day.  The slider was delicious; the pork was tender, the pineapple wasn’t too sweet, and it was on a sweet Hawaiian-style roll (go figure…) which was to die for.  The tuna poke was also very tasty.  The taro chip was a bit of a miss for me, but the tuna was fresh and cool and the seaweed salad was a great salty compliment.  Feeling good and ready for more, we went to Argentina for the beef empanada–also delicious.  The ropa vieja from the Caribbean tent was pretty good (although the rice was not very well cooked), and the mahi with coconut lime sauce and hearts of palm over rice from Brasil was surprisingly tasty.

We were on a roll.  Next was Mexico for the shrimp tacos for Lindsay which she loved, and the Swedish meatballs from Scandinavia (for me) which were just ok.  The sauce was not as flavorful as it should have been, the lingonberries were incorporated with the sauce, thus not really impacting the dish, and the meat was fine.  A let down, but I still ate them.  Linds and I shared the rice pudding and it was bizarrely unevenly cooked.  I don’t really understand how they accomplished crunchy rice pudding, but they did it.  Wanting to cleanse our palates of these let downs, we decided that a visit to the cheese tent was a must.  They had an Artisan cheese plate and another dish, a cheese fondue, which I was pretty pumped about.  Linds saw the Germany tent across the way, so while she went to go get some apfel strudel, I waited for the cheese.  When I went to place my order, I was very distressed to learn that they had run out of Artisian cheese and would not be replenishing their stock for another 15 minutes.  I proceeded with ordering the fondue and found Lindsay and the glorious looking strudel.  The strudel did not disappoint.  It was just as it should have been.  The fondue, however…well, it was weird.  They just didn’t cook it long enough.  The wine hadn’t burnt off its alcohol and the cheese was still in warm shreds.  Nothing had incorporated together to form a sauce.  It was thrown out.  And that’s saying something, because I will eat pretty much anything.  Really, I will.  This was just not worth the stomach space.  And you might be surprised, but space was running low.  We were hitting a wall and we were only about halfway through.  We also had spent about $15 each.  Who knew that it was so inexpensive to gorge yourself at Disney World?

Not wanting to lose momentum, we went to the Werther’s caramel store in Germany and each bought a dessert.  I ate mine promptly (a brownie with caramel sauce drizzled on top).  Lindsay judged me and said she wanted to “hold off.”  Not cool.  Next was Poland for the kielbasa with pierogi.  So good, and so heavy.  I would have eaten a full serving of that any day, though.  Doesn’t get much better than potato-filled noodles.  Then we went to Singapore to try the shrimp cake on a sugarcane skewer with Singapore noodles.  This dish was just not tasty.  The shrimp cake was way too shrimpy (although, in defense of the dish I really don’t care for shrimp so much) and the noodles were altogether bland and oddly flavored.  We even tried to chomp on the sugarcane as a little treat but the shrimp cake had permeated the flavor of the cane and it was just not a good situation.  So we got a snow cone to make up for the loss.

It was around this time that we decided to not eat anything more, save for the fisherman’s pie in Ireland, which Lindsay had been planning for since we’d read the menu (so about 48 hours).  Deciding not to eat anymore is not as easy as it sounds.  Because we passed Belgium and couldn’t resist the waffles with berry compote and a chocolate truffle.  The waffles were actually delicious, and the mussels they were serving looked awesome too.  When we finally rolled our way over to Ireland, I was fairly certain I’d never eat again.  But Lindsay had really been looking forward to the fisherman’s pie (with lobster and scallops, and a mashed potato top), so I put on a brave face and dug in.  I’m glad I did, because this was absolutely the stand out dish of the day for me.  I was surprised at how much I liked the combination of seafood with tomato cream sauce and mashed potatoes.  Bravo, Ireland!  Thanks for ending our day on a high note.

We made a quick pit stop to taste some of the sodas from around the world before departing and heading our separate ways.  Overall, we had a wonderful day.  Nothing says true friendship like letting someone watch you consume more calories than you did the entire month prior.  And all for a pretty decent price.  Epcot, I will be back.  Just maybe with a more discerning eye…

❤ Amy

food, food, food

We have officially written things under the “where to eat” page on the blog.  Check out the list of restaurants (so far we just have listed those through Portland) and descriptions if you ever find yourself following in any one of our many footsteps.

❤ Amy

road: closed

Being back in “real life” is proving to be a little more difficult than I imagined.  Now, granted, I’m still in Cincinnati until Tuesday and when I go back home it’s only three weeks before the move, after which I’ll be frantically searching for a job and then moving in to the new house, but also sleeping on couches.  So yeah, real life and I have quite a bit of separation for the time being.  But now that we are no longer feasting on America, all of the things I worried about pre-road trip are crawling back in to my mind.  Luckily, I get a very small vacation before I have to be totally immersed in a job and all of that, which is nice.

Also, before I tell you about our last day on the open (and ever closing) road, I would like to let you know that we will still be continuing on with the blogging.  It will very likely center on food, restaurants and recipes, but I’m sure you’ll get a bit of our everyday and the trials of moving.  We are also adding a restaurants tab and a recipes tab, as well as a tab of where we stayed so if ever you find yourself in a city where we have journeyed, you have a starting off point (if you so desire one).  Lastly, stay tuned for our Top 10 lists.  We will be posting them soon.  The best way for you to see all of this is by subscribing (I am shameless).  Ok, enough on that.  Our last day went as follows:

We decided to take our time leaving Nashville.  We really didn’t want the trip to end and the reality was moving closer and closer, so we just had to make the most of our day, and that meant taking our sweet time.  We started with Noshville.  I’m going to tell you all something that embarrasses me a lot, as a foodie/future hopeful chef: I was getting really bored with the food.  I think it was mostly due to the taco overdose in Austin which resulted in my being bored with a lot of meal options.  So we scoured urbanspoon and found Noshville, and I’m really glad we did.  They offer simple, NYC Deli-style creations, and it turns out that was exactly what I needed.  Nothing fussy, nothing monotonous, just good ol’ egg salad.  We started with the potato pancakes, which didn’t actually come until our meals arrived, so we got them for free.  Score.  They were just alright, but I devoured them.  I just can’t resist a good latke.  Culinarily speaking, I think I was born Jewish.  Nothing gets me going like latkes and brisket and a feast after a day of fasting.  Ok, back to the food.  For my main meal, I had the half egg salad sandwich with some matzah ball soup.  It was so good.  The soup was awesome (albeit one of the largest servings of soup I have ever had), and the egg salad was creamy and awesome.  I added pickles and spicy mustard for a little kick (and another score: they offered free pickles!  we had lots).  Joellen had the tuna melt, which she seemed to really enjoy until afterwards when she demanded several mints and sticks of gum.  I guess it’s one of those things that you can only enjoy during the small window of eating.  I just loved lunch.  I really did.  It was just what I needed to perk up my taste buds and keep me going for a full day of festivals and driving.

We then headed over to Centennial Park, got a quick glimpse at the Parthenon, and then perused an art festival.  If I was a better blogger, I would tell you all of the people that we really liked.  At some point I’m sure we will put their info in here, but for now I’ll leave you with baited breath.

After the arts show, we left Nashville and returned back to Northern KY, ready to unpack and try to start with the normal.  We’re still working on it…

❤ Amy

you make me sing (nashville)

Starting the day out with Frothy Monkey is a must when in Nashville. It’s this hip little coffeehouse/café with good food, great brew, and cool clientele. This being my fourth trip to Nashville in a year, I always make sure to stop in here. It also helps that it’s super close to Cindy and Kate’s house. (Which, by the way, sits across from a Sara Lee bakery…so awesome.) Cindy joined us for breakfast before heading to work. She ordered the special breakfast wrap, filled with Tasso ham, an over medium egg, avocado, spinach, and cheese. Amy and I both ordered the Plain Jane – scrambled eggs on everything bagels with Swiss and tomato. I, of course, added sprouts and avocado…Amy did not. This was our first outing together in Nashville and I think Amy (much like myself during my first visit a year ago) was surprised about the people and the environment. People tend to associate Nashville with NashVegas, country music, and neon lights, but the benefits of being a cool college town aren’t boasted about as much as the former.

After our (late) breakfast, Cindy headed off to work and we headed off to Grimey’s Record Store. I had been here before – it’s hard to resist a great record store that’s only a couple of miles from their house. I had a growing list of CD’s I wanted to get – some from ACL, some new releases. I was able to find everything I wanted (and more). Amy spent quite a while perusing the holiday vinyl. She was thrilled to walk away with a Frank Sinatra Christmas album and an Elvis one.

All of that shopping really wiped us out and we decided to treat ourselves to some mid-afternoon pajamas and a movie. We rented Bridesmaids and laughed a lot. I had seen this in the theatre, but I forgot how funny it was. Amy had not seen it and I enjoyed hearing her laugh through the movie. After the movie we decided we were not done with the lounging and we settled in for some Cheetos, peanut butter/Southern Oregon homemade fluff sandwiches, and Modern Family. Amy is still trying to make it through Season 1 to catch up with me. We watched about 7 episodes back-to-back (I fell asleep and missed 1) before we had to get ready for the evening. Our hosts were returning to their home and we had wonderful dinner plans in store.

Now, I’m recently reunited with seafood. I have been a pescatarian for 11 years, and then gave up seafood a little over a year ago. I’ve missed it. I’ve missed sushi most of all. I love veggie sushi, but I love some good spicy tuna as well. Well, tonight it was going to happen for me. We went to Virago, Cindy and Kate’s favorite sushi place. The earliest reservation we could wrangle was 9pm. We got there a little early and got seated a little early (lesson for us: being early can pay off). We started the meal with some edamame. All salty and warm, yum. We then decided to share some small plates. Virago is a very trendy sushi spot. The small plates we ordered were lobster friend rice, robata grilled pork belly and tofu, and sake steamed Brussels sprouts. For me the clear winner was the Brussels sprouts dish. Steamed al dente, browned in a sauté pan, and finished with a touch of truffle oil and a sliver of Parmesan. I absolutely loved these and I would say they are in the Top 10 Best Dishes of the Road Trip (a list soon to come). Our sushi orders were modest, with one roll each. Cindy got The Bomb (tempura shrimp, avocado and asparagus on the inside, baked jumbo lump crab and spicy mayo on top with a touch of unagi sauce and scallions), Kate got the Crunchy California Roll (crab, avocado, cucumber, tempura crumbs, spicy mayo and honey fire sauce), and Amy and I shared the Spicy Strawberry Maki (tuna, avocado, asparagus, mango and jalapeño wrapped in avocado and strawberries with honey fire sauce and strawberry sriracha) and the Sake Sunrise (crab, asparagus and avocado wrapped with seared smoked salmon). I enjoyed all of them very much. We’ll call it a four-way tie since I liked each of them for a different reason. This dinner was a great way to celebrate both the end of our road trip and Cindy’s birthday, as well as show our appreciation to C & K for allowing us to takeover their guest quarters.

Overall, I would say we had a wonderful day.

 

Joellen

 

surprises everywhere

I’m not going to lie, I didn’t have very high hopes for the culinary scene in Birmingham.  Or really, for Birmingham at all.  It’s in Alabama, and I might be a tad bit prejudiced against Alabama for the mere fact that it is, well…Alabama.  We wanted Greek food.  Like falafels and greek salads, and I really wanted potato salad atop my bed of greens.  If you haven’t had this, you need to.  We first stopped at Taziki, a regional chain with a Mediterranean flair.  After standing in line for a few minutes looking at menus, we decided that it really wasn’t for us.  It had nothing that really got us excited, so we went back to the car to try again.  Thanks to our trusty concierge, urbanspoon, we were ushered on to The Olive Branch, a mostly-Greek Mediterranean place.  When we drove up, we saw a sign that indicated they had Coca Cola products.  I wasn’t leaving.

We walked in and took our seats at the bar, a prime spot for viewing the goings on in the kitchen.  We quickly ordered sodas and decided to start with the grilled mushroom appetizer.  It was basically just button mushrooms that had been cooked on the flat top, but they were very tasty.  Savory and perfect with the complimentary pita bread.  I was excited.  Joellen was a tad nervous (they cooked the mushrooms next to some meat).  We both ordered the falafel lunch special and waited for what felt like an eternity to taste our fried chickpea deliciousness.  And deliciousness, it was.  Joellen ranks the falafel at Olive Branch in the Top 3 that she has had–ever.  That’s pretty big.  They were crisp on the outside and moist and flavorful on the inside.  Not an easy feat to accomplish.  Our falafel patties sat atop some awesome wild rice, and we were also given greek salads, pita and hummus.  We unfortunately dressed our salads with the house dressing, which looked really tasty but tasted like olives (no bueno), and it was all I could do to just scarf it down so that I would feel good about having some green.  Joellen didn’t even try.  She just gave up.  We couldn’t finish our falafel, leaving two each for left overs, and decided to split the walnut baklava and the pistachio baklava.  I was convinced that I’d prefer the pistachio, but the walnut was just stellar.  Sweet and flaky goodness.

After our lunch, we got in the car and made the short and easy drive to Nashville (I’m a little ashamed to say that I slept for a good part of the drive), and started on our next project: cooking dinner for Cindy and Kate.  Cindy is a friend of Joellen’s from college and she has a birthday this weekend, so to thank her and her partner, Kate, for letting us stay, and to celebrate her birthday, we decided to make them dinner.  Not wanting to do anything complicated, we decided to make vegetable lasagna with salad and a cake (from scratch).  Somehow things become a little bit bigger than we intend for them to, but I’d like to think we usually pull it off.

I started out by making the cake batter to get the most time consuming aspect out of the way.  I used Bobby Flay’s coconut cake recipe (just for the cake part–frosting was of our own creation) and was very hopeful about the results (I’ve used it once before and it came out really great).  Next, we started on the lasagna.  We cooked the noodles, roasted some yellow squash, sauteed spinach with garlic and onions and sauteed some mushrooms in the same fashion.  After making the ricotta-mozzarella-herb mix, all that was left was to puree the fire roasted tomatoes that had been doctored to our liking, in to a sauce.  After much laboring and the addition of more mozzarella and pecorino romano cheeses, the creation was complete.  To be fair, Joellen made the entire thing.  I just lent my hand in the seasoning of the sauce and the turning on of the burners.  We also roasted some beets and cut up different vegetables for a mini salad bar.  Joellen made a tangy honey dijon dressing with cider vinegar and I made a goat cheese dressing with shallots that got some mixed reviews (it was excellent with the beets, though).  I am determined to try and try again until I succeed with that one.  The cake came out looking great, although the strawberry cream cheese frosting lost its volume at the addition of the strawberries (which hardened the butter) and subsequent warm down (which melted the butter too much).  It was more like a thick glaze, but all diners were very generous with their reviews and nobody had a morsel of food on their plates.  I’d say it was a very successful foray back in to the kitchen for the two of us after such a long hiatus.

We’d like to thank Birmingham for surprising us, not only with the food that they host, but with some really friendly people.  We’d also like to thank Cindy and Kate for housing us and for lending us their kitchen to make a huge mess of.

❤ Amy

reunited (and it feels so good)

We checked out of Hotel Monteleone at 12:15pm (I think you get the idea not expect anything else if you ever find yourself traveling with us). Also, is it alarming to know that you’re traveling with someone who can break the code of your hotel safe with one guess? A testament of how well we know each other, I suppose. Please advise if I need to call LifeLock sooner than later. We quickly made it our mission to be one with sought out bagel. We did some research (which included Amy calling places to make sure they did more than just sell a bagel and cream cheese). So glad she did this bit of research and found Surrey’s. Surrey’s is a small artsy café advertised as a juice bar, but with so much more. I think it could possibly be top on the list of “hidden gems” found on this trip. Amy’s friend, Nicole, had mentioned hearing of this place, but not yet having found it. Nicole, GO! There was an extensive breakfast and lunch menu that included homemade bagels and house-cured salmon (lox). Amy ordered two scrambled eggs, bacon, grits, and an onion bagel with cream cheese. She made and consumed about twelve perfect bites to reveal a clean plate (well, I think she left some bacon – a little shocking, actually). I had the lox plate with an onion bagel. I love lox, but mostly for the caper/cream cheese/bagel combination. They also served this with an avocado mash – which was such a nice touch. I ate every bite and am not ashamed of that at all. I also washed it down with some awesome coffee. I like to think that Surrey’s has it all figured out – those that know, go; those that think it’s Jamba Juice, don’t. Oh, elusive bagel – today you were finally ours.

After brunch, we circled many blocks looking for the post office. Glad I finally got the chance to pass through a metal detector on the way to mail some postcards…that’s now checked off the bucket list. We made our way out of the Vieux Carre (we’re pros now), crossed the Mississippi, and headed on to Birmingham. Today’s drive didn’t contain as many profound moments as the drive from Austin to New Orleans, but we managed to keep each other entertained for the six-hour drive. We arrived in Birmingham with enough time to change our clothes and meet Amy’s friend, Smith, for dinner. Smith lives and works in Birmingham and I was more than thrilled to get to meet another one of Amy’s dear friends. After seeing Smith’s house, we headed to the Mountain Brook area for dinner at Avo. We had scoped out the menu en route to Birmingham and we were excited to try to options. We started with the fried okra sticks accompanied by a lemon-caper aioli and the homemade pimento cheese spread. Both delicious starters. For my meal I ordered the grilled cheese and tomato soup. The cheese was light and it had avocado, but the star was the sourdough bread. So toasty and sourdough-y – I loved it to the last crunchy bite. Amy had the panko-crusted chicken on polenta and she was pleasantly surprised by her dish. (I could tell she had hesitations about the chicken breast being dry and lacking flavor.) I looked over and it was quite juicy and it just looked appealing. The polenta was nicely cooked. Smith ordered the roasted beet salad and the bacon mac and cheese. She approved of the dishes by not leaving any leftovers – which was something we all did. We indulged in a few alcoholic beverages and a lot of conversation before heading back to the car. We got back to Smith’s and returned to our hotel (Holiday Inn Express in Birmingham, I love you) for a full night’s rest.

Joellen

P.S. Is it wrong to title your blog post for your bagel reunion? No.

livin’ it up in the big easy

I was really excited to come to New Orleans for several reasons.  High among them was to see another college roommate, Nicole, who is now studying at Tulane.  I usually don’t mind arriving in new destinations late, but in the case of New Orleans, I was nervous that we wouldn’t have very much time and it kind of bummed me out.  After waking up late and struggling to get out the door, we were greeted by Nicole with open arms as she graciously offered to help us pack up the car before heading out to lunch destination number one.

Now, I don’t like to brag, but I’m a pretty good eater.  I’m sure that that has been made quite apparent to most of you, but just in case you’re new: I can eat.  I wouldn’t describe myself as a competitive eater and I certainly don’t strive to be one, but there was one challenge that I heard of that I really wanted to try out.  So much so, that I put it on my bucket list.  It was a big goal of mine to become a part of the 15 Dozen Club at Acme Oyster House in New Orleans, and although many scoffed, I knew that I could defeat this challenge with few to no problems.  So when I had the chance to go to New Orleans for the first time in March, I knew that the challenge would be my main goal of the trip, and after 40 minutes, I completed my challenge, having eaten 180 oysters, making me one of three (or four…) women to ever become a part of the 15 Dozen Club.  Among the many perks (really, it’s just like, three perks but they’re still cool) of being in this exclusive club, I was lucky enough to have my name put on the wall.  I have my own little name plate with my hometown and the date of my challenge.  I didn’t really care to have a full meal at Acme again, but I really wanted to see my name plate and perhaps milk the tiny bit of stardom that goes along with it.  I was very excited that some of the shuckers remembered me, and to my utter shock, someone wanted to take my picture.  Oh, the hardships of being a star.  We decided to have a small appetizer of chargrilled oysters, which are all the rage right now, and I can see why.  Grilled over an open flame with butter and parmesan cheese, these little suckers are salty, tangy and delicious.  They were the perfect first few bites of our time in New Orleans.

For our main lunch, we decided to go somewhere a little less fried-fishy and a little more vegetarian friendly, so thanks to urbanspoon, we happened upon Bennachin Restaurant, a little African place that caters to vegetarians and omnivores alike.  Since I was outnumbered 2-1 in this category, I decided to follow suit and order vegetarian so that we could all share.  But before I get to the food, let us first discuss the atmosphere.  With Afro-Caribbean music playing on a television just above the kitchen door and the smell of musty incense that hits you right when you walk in, Bennachin immediately makes you feel comfortable and ready for good food.  There was one server, who I can only assume was local (based on her accent) who was very friendly and knowledgable on the different menu items.  She offered her opinions and we quickly ordered and anxiously awaited our lunches.

To start,  we had the black eyed pea fritters with a tomato jam.  They were light, crispy and delicious.  I can’t really figure out which part was the black eyed pea, but none of us had any complaints about this dish.  It was a great way to start out the meal.  For our main courses, Joellen ordered the Kone ni Makondo, black eyed peas in a tomato sauce served with ripe fried plantains and coconut rice.  Her dish was absolutely delicious and even though I had my concerns about the coconut rice at first, I must admit that it was pretty awesome.   The flavor was savory and the coconut was present but not overpowering.  I had the Bikai ni Curry, a relatively spicy eggplant, bean sprout and mushroom curry which I ordered with cous cous.  The flavors were really on point, and although I could have done with a few more mushrooms, the eggplant added a nice meatiness that I wasn’t expecting.  The sauce was spicy without being too hot, and had a really good, strong curry flavor.  Nicole’s dish was the one that surprised me most.  It looked like it was just a plate of bland, steamed vegetables over rice but it was so, so much more.  She got the Baham, which was broccoli, cauliflower and carrots in a light ginger sauce over rice.  What really excited me about this dish was the savory ginger-garlic broth that was ladled over the vegetables and the rice.  It was so flavorful and really played well with the coconut in the rice.  If we have a chance to go back, I am definitely getting this dish and will probably (shamelessly) lick my plate clean.

During lunch, we found out that one of our next stops had fallen through, so we decided to stay an extra night in New Orleans and spend some time in Birmingham before heading to Nashville.  Although we were sad that we had to miss Panama City, we’re excited to make it there in the near future, and we were happy to have a little bit more time in the Crescent City.  We took our time in making it back to the Holiday Inn, and on our way stopped in some fun little shops on Decatur Street.  After perusing what the local markets had to offer and purchasing some very necessary fall decorations, we stopped at Cafe Du Monde for an after lunch treat.  Joellen had her first beignet and we enjoyed all of the people watching and re-caffienating.  Nicole had to go to class, so she left us after a little walk through Jackson Square with the promise of seeing us later that evening.

Since we were unimpressed with the Holiday Inn, we decided to switch hotels and stay at the Hotel Monteleone to have a true New Orleans experience for the night.  We got the car from one block away and drove it four blocks (thanks, one-way streets) to the hotel where we unpacked and relaxed for a few hours.  Feeling ashamed that we hadn’t really done much since lunch, we got ready and waited to hear from Nicole about dinner/drinks.  Since she is a good student, she told us that she could only meet us for one drink and that we’d have to be on our own for dinner, so I wanted to make that drink count.  When I was in New Orleans last, I really wanted to go to the bar at the Monteleone because it looked classy and very retro.  So we went downstairs to the Carousel Bar to check it out.  Aside from a rude bartender and a disagreement over what constitutes a Bellini, we had a pleasant time at this rotating bar (hence the name).

After bidding adieu to Nicole once more, we made the very short walk to Deanie’s, a popular seafood place, in search of some po’boys.   Joellen ordered the crawfish tail po’boy and I ordered the soft-shell crab po’boy.  While we waited, we were served boiled potatoes with Old Bay and butter…I could get used to that.  The service was quick and before I knew it, I was face first in to a Louisiana classic.  And it was just ok.  I think I had just been so excited about the chance of having boiled blue crabs or crawfish that anything else was destined to be a bit of a let-down.  They weren’t served with remoulade sauce, but we asked for some and that really amped up the flavor.  In the end, I’m glad that we made it to Deanie’s (it was another place that I had wanted to go to for a while), and I really did enjoy my sandwich, but next time we come to New Orleans, I think I’m going to need buckets upon buckets of boiled crustaceans to make up for this trip.  Feeling full and satisfied with our trip to the Big Easy, we made the short walk back to the hotel and promptly collapsed in to bed, thoroughly excited about the 12pm check out time the following morning.

❤ Amy

keep ya head up (austin –> new orleans)

Leaving Austin after four days was a chore. Being on the road with spurts of two-day stays has worked well for us, thus far. We were, however, thrilled to have the opportunity of being settled in one place for more than 36 hours (thanks again to Lacey and Tom – the best cousins two road trippers could have asked for).  The ability to take everything out of the car and have room for passengers – something we’ve taken for granted – was wonderful. Packing it all back in, not so much. This challenge was further exacerbated by the level of our exhaustion after three days of ACL and the intensity of the Texas sun. Nevertheless, we did it. It may have taken us 4 hours to actually vacate the house, but we did it.

Our first mission was a late breakfast/lunch. Our friend, Bryan, had recommended Wholly Bagel. We were so excited for bagel sandwiches that we could focus on nothing else. Unfortunately, Wholly Bagel does not keep Monday hours (hence the lack of hyperlink). We were frustrated and hungry and decided on Magnolia Café again. Easy, close, and quick. Oh, and good. We both started with their hibiscus tea (hibiscus is working its way into my mind and I can’t wait experiment with the leaves I bought Amy). We started with an appetizer of potatoes, cheese, and green chile sauce. We had this in Santa Fe too – I know, not very original. But, this creation was topped with their special lemon sour cream. This dish was more than delicious. I’m looking forward to making this at home in the future. For our entrees, Amy got the Flamingo Sandwich and I got the Flamingo Quesadilla. Amy’s sandwich looked amazing – bacon, turkey, hummus, Swiss cheese, sprouts, tomato, and tons of avocado on rye toast. My quesadilla had avocado, Monterey jack, pico de gallo, and mushrooms. We cleaned our plates and then headed to the gift shop next door where we learned a little about unbreakable gem eggs and Austinites.

After we accepted our fate of a bagel-less day, we set off for New Orleans. We got a late start to the day, which meant a late arrival into N.O. (it’s a nine hour hike). The drive was mostly uneventful, but I had the chance to educate Amy about several 80’s / 90’s pop culture events that were significant in my development. First off, she’s in training to learn the words for J.J. Fad’s classic (read: only) hit, “Supersonic”. I have vivid memories of my childhood soundtrack, and this is a big one (along with L’Trimm’s “The Cars That Go Boom”). I’m proud to say that’s she’s almost got it (except for the really fast part at the end that is almost impossible to recite). Next we moved on to Reba. Oh, Reba…where do I even start? I can’t remember if it was a life lesson, but I remember my dad playing “Fancy” for me when I was a young girl. I used to protest this (as I did Fleetwood Mac and solo Stevie Nicks), but now it conjures up such amazing childhood memories. When we listened to “The Night the Lights Went Out in Georgia” I recalled the concert I attended in my, ahem, younger days. I thought that song was a little controversial at the time (even more so when released in 1973 by Vicki Lawrence), but now it seems so PG. Everything is relative and maybe it takes more to shock society now? It’s only natural that the lessons of female rap groups and a country superstar I would eventually lead to Tupac Shakur 101. I read the entire Wikipedia entry (it’s a long one) and we discussed the East Coast – West Coast feud in detail. I already knew most of the Tupac information, but I like to think that I revealed a less-than-known side of Pac (we’re close) to Amy. I won’t get into details, but his death was a great loss.

Driving through Louisiana had its ups and down. The bayou smells…probably like you would expect a bayou to smell. On the upside, boggy environments bring life. I saw so many deer roadside while we headed into N.O. They were unfazed by the passing cars (thank goodness since hitting an animal on the highway ranks extremely high on my greatest fears list). The lack of too much civilization also allowed me to witness my first falling star of the trip – I’m grateful for that, Louisiana.

We made it to our French Quarter destination (so excited about the Priceline iPhone app that made the last minute reservation seamless and a bargain). The Holiday Inn was nothing to write home about, but it was centrally located and safe. As we normally do, we put head to pillow around 2am and readied ourselves for a full New Orleans tomorrow. 🙂

Joellen

acl day 3: if it doesn’t rain soon, i’m going to die

I am going to be very honest and say that I do not deal well in the heat.  It was a major concern of mine when I learned that we would be attending the festival.  The heat just doesn’t work for me.  It makes me feel horrible and faint and ill and whiny, and I know I’m not alone in admitting all of this.  So when we read the weather reports for Sunday, we were thrilled to learn that there was a 40-50% chance of rain all day.  Score.  Rain at a music festival makes you feel infinitely cooler.  See: Woodstock.

We began the day with a later wake-up call and a trip to Juan in a Million.  This legendary restaurant is famous for their breakfast tacos.  I’d say that we have become pretty huge fans of the things, so we were excited to try it out.  We were meeting with Helen’s friends, who suggested the place, and we had also heard of it from TV, so I had high hopes for the quality of their breakfast.  I have to say, I was a little disappointed.  I got the Con Queso Breakfast: eggs covered in their house queso, carne guisada, refried beans, potatoes, and flour tortillas.  I was surprised that I liked the carne so much, but the eggs…oh, the eggs.  I don’t understand why anyone who can call themselves a breakfast place would cook eggs like they do.  It was just not ok.  While Joellen’s were overcooked, mine were overcooked on one side and slimy on another.  No bueno.  I wound up eating one and a half tacos, which was really one taco more than I wanted/should have and dipped the rest of my potatoes in the queso, but the damage to my appetite had already been done (I know, this upset me too).  They also charged $4.50 for quacamole, aka some unripe avocado mashed up with zero spice.  Bravo for using real avo, but boo to you for all of the other offenses of the morning.  If you’re in Austin, this place is definitely worth skipping–just go to Tacodeli.

We headed from Juan in a Million to our last day at ACL, just in time to see The Head and the Heart, a Joellen pick.  Even though the heat was so intense that I thought I’d pass out, I really liked them.  Check them out here.  I know that I sound really dramatic, but the heat was becoming unbearable, so Joellen and I decided that we would go to the big stage to stake our claim on a spot and enjoy whatever bands were playing ahead of the big show of the festival–Arcade Fire.  We first got in to the very long line for a delicious snow cone from Snowie.  Just what we needed.  Cold and sweet and wonderful.  We also walked through the “Art” section of the festival and got some ACL paraphernalia to round out the whole experience.

We went to the Bud Light stage and found  a nice spot to make our own for the rest of the day.  The first band that we happened upon in this venue was The Airborne Toxic Event, which we all liked.  I can’t really remember much about them, as I was focusing on shading myself, but they had a good sound and were fun to watch.  There was an hour break between them and the next band, so we got to hear some of the Chiddy Bang show, which I thought was fun, but Joellen disliked.  As a rap music lover/appreciator, I thought that they put on a good show, but Joellen made the valid point that rap is often much better when only listened to, and that rap shows are usually kind of stupid.  I don’t disagree, but enjoyed hearing it all the same.  We then watched the Broken Social Scene, which we both agreed were like every other alternative band right now, and definitely were not memorable.  Not horrible to watch, though our attention was focused on the rain clouds that seemed to be heading our way.

I am pleased to let you all know that not long after Broken Social Scene, the sky turned grey and it finally started to rain here and there.  It was so necessary, and the feeling that I was going to pass out soon faded in to a distant and horrible memory.  During the interim between Broken Social Scene and the next band on the stage, Fleet Foxes, Emily, Joellen and Helen decided to get some food and I stayed at our camp to hold our place.  While I waited, I listened to Elbow, a British group that was actually really awesome.  I had heard good things, and had I known how great they were, I definitely would have made more of an effort to actively see their show.  I loved listening to them, though, and Joellen arriving with dinner made the event all the more exciting.  She came back to me bearing a Love Burger from Tim Love’s Love Shack, accompanied with some of the truffle mac and cheese that I had on day one, and for herself bought a Thai style vegetarian pie from Boomerang’s Pies (to share with me, of course) and another avocado taco from Torchy’s.  For me, the burger was just ok.  I heard that Tim Love, the chef at Lonesome Dove and Love Shack, was famous for his burgers, and I was slightly disappointed that the only unique thing was the sauce, a mayo-based tangy aioli that I probably could have found at countless other places.  It wasn’t bad, but definitely did not exceed expectations.  The pie was pretty good, and I really enjoyed the flavor of the sauce (the crust was also awesome), but there was an overabundance of baby corn that made it slightly less enjoyable.  Overall though, it was a nice meal (especially since we finally regained our appetites that were stifled due to the heat).

While we ate our dinners, we watched Fleet Foxes, who we had been looking forward to.  They were pretty awesome.  I am glad that the Bud Light stage was showing some pretty great artists, because our 9 hour tenure could have been pretty horrible if that had not been the case.  After Fleet Foxes, we heard some of the Empire of the Sun show before the main event: Arcade Fire.  Now, as the recent recipients of the Grammy Award for Best Album, I had high hopes for this show and I was not disappointed.  They put on an amazing performance.  They were energetic and fun to watch.  I really enjoyed the last part of the day.  And, at the last minute I decided to participate in the Rock & Recycle program.  I was given a large trash bag and had to fill it with recyclables, at the completion of which I would receive a free t-shirt.  I decided to do this around 9:15 on the last day (shows end at 10), and by closing time, my bag was overflowing and I went to claim my free shirt.  It was pretty exciting.  We decided to wait a while before trying to catch the shuttle, which really paid off, because we were some of the last people to leave the show and wound up not having to wait in line at all before boarding an empty bus.  Score.  Exhausted and exhilarated, we headed home to rest before the continuation of our cross-country trek.

Over all, I am so pleased with our ACL experience.  With the exception of a few hot hours, we could not have asked for better weather, and our music-loving companions were wonderful.  We’re already talking about the next festival that we might go to.

❤ Amy

we get on (acl: day 2)

There is one huge reason to skip music festivals:

• The Porta-Potty.

There are, however, so many reasons to do it:

• Great bands you know
  • Iron & Wine was a good show. Not sure if it was our location or the sound or the distractions around, but it wasn’t what I expected. I was thinking more along the lines of slow and acoustic, but they jammed out! They played on one of the two large stages (AMD) and we were pretty far back – still awesome to see them live.
  • Gillian Welch went on stage about 20 minutes late (which is not festival-like timing – something really pleasing for a rule-follower like me). We stayed for about half of her set and it was really enjoyable. She played at the only covered venue, which was not exactly to her liking. I agree, though, it would have sounded better on at one of the outside venues.
  • We left GW and headed over to see Cee Lo on the other main stage (Bud Light). Amy wanted to hear “Forget You” and I was more than excited to see half a dozen middle age women singing “F#%@ You” at the top of their lungs and dancing around. I suppose we can’t really count him because we only saw one song and it takes three to make it count.
  • Stevie Wonder was challenging, but he is a legend. I was fortunate enough to see him last year at Bonnaroo, so this time it was for Amy. Unfortunately, the sound was set too low and it was difficult to hear. Also, we were quite far back. If you’re going to a music festival with so many stars, don’t expect to see everyone up close. It’s much better to relax and make the experience about the live music. Another Bonnaroo lesson learned.
  • We stayed for about three of Stevie’s songs (counts) and the headed over to My Morning Jacket. I had recently seen them as they passed through Cincinnati. Great performers and a very energetic show. We stayed for a few songs and then listened to the final songs walking to the shuttle pick up.

• Even better bands you don’t know
  • We arrived late morning and headed right for Telekinesis. I found this indie rock band out of Seattle quite entertaining. The lead singer’s voice was sweet and he played the drums (Phil Collins anyone?). I think this is an album that I will probably check out. If for no other reason than to support their endeavors – I felt they were genuinely honored to be a performer at ACL.
  • We caught a set from Alexander, at Emily’s suggestion/demand. I’m so glad we did. He was really amazing and I will definitely be a fan…already am.
  • The Antlers and Young the Giant were both new to me. They were really good shows and the crowds for both of these were expansive…made me feel cool and old at the same time.

• People watching
  • Man, it’s so good here at ACL…one because it’s a festival and two because it’s Austin. Some of today’s highlights were: A Where’s Waldo lookalike (on purpose), so.many.raybans., children running around and playing (a useful place for light up shoes), grown men passing time with potentially dangerous child-like acrobatic moves (superman), a young boy celebrating his 13^th birthday with his parents (awww), and so, so, so many kids ages 12-17. (I could keep going, but it would take all night.)
  • Speaking of people, I got the chance to reunite with a friend from high school today. Brian lives in Seattle and was making the trip to purchase a 1987 VW Westy and decided to hit ACL for a day. Had a great time catching up and hanging out with him (along with introducing him to some new music). Looking forward to visiting him in Seattle!

• The flags
  • As Amy identified yesterday, the regulars use flagpoles topped with unique flags/items to serve as a marker and sometimes show who’s cooler than the next person. Today we saw some interesting things like a blow-up doll, a flag that simply reads “Yogurt”, a plea to Legalize Armadillos, a lamp shade, and one with a highly debated rodent-like creature (Amy asked, it was a ferret…I still think otter). Let us know if you have any ideas for our future flag.

• The food
  • When heading to the shuttle bus this morning something caught my eye. It was iced coffee. In a dispensable Igloo cooler – you know the ones that you could get from McDonald’s filled with their Orange Drink? It was awesome. Then I look over and Amy is already standing by the Tacodeli tent. We shared one taco with Mexican mashed potatoes, black beans, and cheese and another one that was Migas style. Added a little spicy avocado sauce to both and that made our morning so much better – breakfast tacos are magical. At the festival we tried not to repeat too much of yesterday, but its just so good. We first shared a goat cheese and black bean tamale. I am growing more and more fond of tamales…which is good because if you know Amy, you know she loves those little masa packages. It was good, but I think we can do better. Next we divided and Amy got chicken biryani that got her stamp of approval (see the mint chutney validation from yesterday’s entry) and I got another fried avocado taco from Torchy’s (yum). For dinner we decided it would be fun to eat when everyone else did. This meant standing in line for 25 minutes for Amy to try the fried chicken from Lucy’s. I think she really liked it – all I know is that it was half gone before I got back with my veggie burger and fries from P. Terry’s. I enjoyed both items a lot.

• Personal challenges
  • Attending a music festival in the summer (in Texas, no less) means that you need to be ready to sweat. And pray a lot for rain. We had pretty good weather the first day and today was looking hopeless. The clear blue skies and burning sun were already having an effect on us. Well, me. I learned that heat makes me angry. I think Amy learned that as well. Thank goodness the rain rescued us from further anger – I’m a little scared to think of how the day could have gone. It rained for a good hour and we were all so glad to be cooled off and enjoying the good music and food.
  • We learned a lot from day 1. After waiting in line for so long Friday night to catch the shuttle bus back to downtown, we made a smart move and left the festival a little early tonight – what a great move on our part! We barely waited at all and were home by midnight.

Day two was a huge success! Can’t wait for day 3.

Joellen