If I Ever Visit Dallas...

Over my vacation at Christmas, I had the chance to hang out with some great friends.   We laughed.  We ate.  We caught up.  But it was like those 10+ years from our days together in high school had never passed!  So much fun.  Anyway, Anna and I started talking food and travel... and she mentioned that she wasn't finding many things to do in their new town near the Dallas, Fort Worth area. So.... here's where I would go check out Anna if I were to come visit!! :)

First things first, I'd head for the cheese shop.

 

photo from here.

Scardello's Cheese to be exact!  It has a ton of great reviews and I'm a sucker for tasty cheese. :)  I would also hit up one of my favorite online stores that has a store front in Dallas - Penzey's Spices located at 12835 Preston Road, Dallas, TX 75230.  YUM.  You will love this place if you love to cook (which I know you do Anna!!).

 

photo from here.

Of course, I'd do the Diners, Drive-Ins & Dives tour too -- Twisted Root Burger Co. (I'd totally order the Bacon Bomb Burger, Fried Onion Strings, Sweet Potato Chips and a Peanut Butter Custard Shake... mmmm), and  Avila's Mexican Restaurant (I'd order the Flour Nachos - I'm a sucker for flour tortilla chips! - and Brisket Tacos - they are known for them!).

 

photo from here.

My favorite place to search for places to check out is yelp.com and that's where I found Mozart Bakery, which sounds excellent (try a macaron, not to be confused with a macaroon!).  Or try Highland Park Pharmacy -- it's a soda fountain that has been in business since 1912!  One review says to try a grilled peanut butter and jelly sandwich to go with the milkshake.... mmmm..... I totally would!!  Also found Bubba's Cooks Country (the pancakes or a biscuit sandwich?  I love that kinda greasy diner breakfast every once in a great while!).  And I found Bread Winners Bakery Bistro -- looks good for brunch and pastries!

 

photo from here.

Okay so if you make it through all the food... lol ;)  I'd check out a few local places such as the Dallas Heritage Village, the Dallas Arboretum (they have a concert series!), and the Fort Worth Nature Center & Refuge.  And what's travel without real history?  I would totally check out the Sixth Floor Museum, see the grassy knoll and the JFK Memorial.

 

photo from here.

I'd also check out this Fort Worth landmark, Billy Bob's Texas.  BBQ, live music, real bull riding and free line dancing lessons?  It is also a bar... but it sounds like a true Texas experience to me!! :)  In Fort Worth, there is also the Modern Museum of Fort Worth which sounds (& looks) really interesting.  They have a Friday night dinner and movie event that I would totally check out!!

 

photo from here.

Other things I'd check out:
Lonely Planet's Texas Barbeque: A User's Guide
Dallas Observer's Best of Dallas 2011
Things to Do in Fort Worth, Texas
Things to Do in Dallas, Texas
White Rock Lake (biking, walking trails)
Dallas Farmer's Market (7 days a week!)
Mesquite Pro Rodeo (live rodeos!)
Trinity River Audubon Center (more biking, walking trails)
Stockyards Station (horseback trail rides!)
National Cowgirl Museum & Hall of Fame (you are in Texas... I'd totally soak up some culture! ;))


That should keep you busy for a while Anna!  You'll have to let me know what you try or do -- I'll have to travel Dallas vicariously through you!! :)

Weekend Getaway: San Francisco 2010

This weekend we went to San Francisco to celebrate our 5th anniversary and we had a great time!  I absolutely ♥ SF!  I love visiting a few times a year, but it's really much more fun to stay for the weekend.  Hold on... this is a long post today!

There was a lot going on this weekend in the City... Fleet Week, a Giants game, a Bluegrass Festival in Golden Gate Park and the Breast Cancer 3-Day Walk (seriously, I did a double take when we came across the signs by accident!). All of these things resulted in super pricey hotel rooms in the City.  So we stayed at the Hyatt Regency San Francisco Airport in Burlingame Friday and Saturday nights -- $150 per night less than City hotels, gorgeous hotel and so close!!

Apparently, I was all about food pics on Saturday... so I apologize in advance!  My goal is not to make you hungry.  Promise. :)

We started off Saturday morning with breakfast at Stillwater Cafe, the Hyatt Regency's restaurant.  It was so tasty...  Brian had Salmon Benedict and I had Sticky Bun French Toast.

Yum.  Might have to try and make my own sticky bun french toast.  There's something novel about slicing a sticky bun in half and making french toast out of it!  The first of three excellent meals today!

After breakfast we drove into the City and went to the de Young Museum to see Van Gogh, Gauguin, Cézanne, and Beyond: Post-Impressionist Masterpieces from the Musée d’Orsay.  I have to say my favorites were:

Henri Rousseau, The Snake Charmer

Paul Signac, Women at the Well

Vincent Van Gogh, Starry Night Over the Rhone

Once we were done there, Brian suggested visiting the California Academy of Sciences.  But we couldn't leave without stopping for this photo op!

How could we resist?!  Anyway... where was I... oh yes... to the Academy of Sciences. 

Evolution exhibit... ginourmous!!

Cool display about dog breeds.  Of course, had to take this picture for my Dad and brother. :)

We saw Claude the Albino Crocodile in the Swamp.

The first of many photo attempts throughout the day.... mostly trying to get Brian to smile and my eyes to be open.  Good times. :)

 An indoor living Rainforest, complete with trees, bugs, frogs, snakes (yuck) and lots of butterflies!

And of course, we ate lunch at the Academy Café.  What did we eat?   Let's see...

Brian got the Irish Beef Stew, Spring Rolls and Corn on the Cob. 

I had the Turkey Sandwich, root beer and... Schaeffer Berger Chocolat Pot de Creme... which I shared with Brian.  Like a good wife. Ha!  As if I had a choice... or needed to eat it all. 

All the food was organic and totally tasty.  So far, two for two on meal choices for the day!

Before leaving we made sure to check out this:

The living roof.  So cool!

When we finished at the museum, we headed over to Pier 39.  Wandered in and out of the stores on Jefferson Street and watched some street performers.   This group of break dancers was really entertaining and they were so talented!

 This guy ended up doing a flip over these two guys - Brian caught it mid-air.  So awesome!

Also learned something new about Brian after 9 years together.  He used to perform break dancing when he was a kid at school  How cute... totally wish there was a home movie or pics of that! :)  Also wished we had a spare couple thousand to buy one of these.  Seriously.  I want one in our dining room!

We finished off the day in the City by going to dinner at Butterfly.  All I have to say is wow.  It was delicious!!  More food.... are you ready?!

We started off dinner by sharing a bowl of Carmelized Maui Onion Soup.... which apparently I forgot to photograph... oops! ;)  Let me just say... Yum. I wanted to lick the bowl. The restaurant was too nice for that!! ;)

For my main course I ordered the Macadamia & Blue Cheese Crusted Filet Mignon:

Sour Cream Whipped Potatoes, Shiimenji Mushroom Jus de Veau, Buttered Haricot Verts and Carrots, Port & Thyme Demi Glace.

Melt in your mouth!!

As if that wasn't good enough... I hate to admit it but Brian ordered something even better than my dinner... the Crab & Mascarpone Stuffed Crispy Chicken Breast:

 

Sweet Summer Corn and Shrimp Ragout, Arugula Salad, Aged Balsamic Vinegar, Lobster and Orange Reduction 

Wow.. it was amazing!  Little side story... In between the soup and our main courses, Brian was staring at other people's food.  It's a common restaurant occurance actually!  So he was particularly interested in this one woman's dish and stopped our waitress to ask what it was.  Lucky him... it was what he had ordered!! ;) LOL

For dessert we had the Vanilla Crème Brulée. mmmmmmm..... so good.  Loved it!!

It lasted a matter of minutes... and we restrained ourselves from licking this dish clean too!

It was a great end to the day!

On Sunday we grabbed a quick breakfast and hit the road home... stopping at Ikea on the way!  Always a fun time. :)  We left with a few small things for the house and.... Scarlet. 

Yep, she got a Krocodil.  hahaha!!  She's in love with it. :)

We had so much fun!!  I love it when we have the chance to getaway for the weekend!!  Thanks for reading to the very end.  I appreciate it. :)

Do you have any favorites in San Francisco? 

Amish Country

Finally getting around to finishing up these posts about my trip to Pennsylvania back in May/June!  So come join me on a quick tour around Amish Country!

Many of these pics were taken from our car as we were driving five miles an hour behind one of these:

They are everywhere!!  In fact, on the first day when we got back to my brother's house from Philadelphia, we turned onto main street in Akron (where my brother and sister-in-law were living at the time) and there was a buggy right in front of us. :)

It's so strange to see them everywhere... literally....

Alongside you....

Behind you....

And then you see these.... This one is a "tourist" attraction.  Can't blame them for wanting to make money from tourists I suppose, right?!

And my personal favorite.  The one with the car seat.  Safety first!  We even pulled over to get this picture.  Classy right?! ;)

And then, they have to park them somewhere right?

Welcome to Wal-Mart.  Yes.  Wal-Mart.   There's a barn.  For the Amish.  How does that work?  Really.... I mean don't the Amish people denounce all things modern like electricity?  But they'll go to Wal-Mart?!  Love it.

So aside from seeing Lancaster County countryside everyday... an interesting mix of Amish and modern... we went to the Amish farms.  Basically, you drive up to their house and they each sell different things.  Mostly jams, jellies, pies, whoopie pies.... some sell plants from their greenhouses.... others quilts from their basements.  I felt *slightly* guilty about taking their photos (it is against their beliefs), so I don't have many. 

Here is one of the roadside stands:

Isn't it quaint?  They had some yummy whoopie pies too!

And then there is the Amish Village...

I love this picture of my brother -- too funny!!  It's a gas powered washing machine.  No electricity, so they will use it.  The Amish also use a gas powered iron.  It just looks dangerous!

There were even buggies to climb in for pictures.  Great touristy trap!

I had a great time seeing Amish Country... it was picturesque.  All about the crafty stuff.  And the people were really nice!  I most enjoyed the quilt shop that I didn't get pictures of.  All the quilts are handmade.  Some are machine pieced now, but all are quilted by hand.  I can't wait to go back there and choose one for myself! 

In the meantime, here is one last picture of the countryside...

Hope you enjoyed this little peek at the Amish County in Lancaster County Pennsylvania!

Hershey

Day two of my trip to Pennsylvania took me to a place where I swear I gained 5 pounds just entering town! :)  Mmmmm.... Hershey.  I can't wait to go back!!! I'm glad my brother and sister-in-law have now moved here.  What's not to love about a town that has these for light fixtures?

And roads named Cocoa and Chocolate?!  We started our day in Hershey with a visit to Hershey Gardens. 

In a word? Gorgeous!  And of course, I took a ton of pictures.  Here are just few of my favorites I took at the gardens....

See full size photos in my album here.

And my favorite flower picture:

I loved the perfect spiral in the middle.  Isn't it cool?!

After wandering around Hershey Gardens, we ate lunch and headed over to the Hershey Story.  We took a class at the Chocolate Labs....

Aren't the hats awesome?! lol

Where we learned how to taste chocolate and made our own candy bars:

My brother couldn't control himself and ate his upon walking out of the chocolate lab when he knew we were going to do this next....

Chocolate tasting.  He got his own tray.  Amy and I shared one.  And to quote my brother "he was going to earn his stomach ache!"  It was soooooo tasty.  I could seriously live on nothing but the Java region chocolate in liquid form.  Like drinking caramel vanilla chocolate.  Heavenly.  I know exactly where I will be heading after arriving at my brother's house next time I go visit!! :)

The rest of the Hershey Story is a big museum about how Hershey's chocolate came to be.  Really nice museum:

The picture is really blurry, but you can see some of the cool displays like the 12 foot crystal lamp!

After Hershey Story, we headed over to Chocolate World... the "sweetest place on Earth."  There was a LOT of chocolate there!!  We taunted my poor husband with pics like this:

This is just one small corner of the store!!! yikes!!!! :)

And then I bought some yummy stuff to send home to him.

I look definitely look forward to going back to Hershey and seeing some of the stuff I missed including Hershey Park and ZooAmerica.  Up next in my trip recap will be the Battlefield Tour -- Gettysburg, Valley Forge and Brandywine!

If you missed my first day, you can read about it here.

Thanks for hanging in for all the pics!! :)