Just added the photos from our memorial day weekend in Atlanta.
Not much else to report. We actually went to Hooters last night because they were having a special on boneless wings and beer. I think I was one of like 3 female patrons in the entire place. Reminded me of my RPI days!! haha.
I’ve finally uploaded our pictures from our trip to the Midwest last March. I know my galleries have come in many formats and flavors, but I still feel like keeping all of ‘em on my site is much more centralized than trying to post them on limited space storage sites like Picasa or flickr. Besides, I’m not going to pay for those when I already have unlimited space here. So there! How do you like my new “collage” format? I’m giving it a try – I’m realizing when I look at other people’s photos, I really just want the highlights, not every photo they took. So, let me know if you like ‘em!
Another totally random gallery addition is of our visit to the Raleigh children’s museum last January. We had a tad too much fun there… probably more fun than most of the kiddies! haha.
More photo updates will be coming soon… though, I might wait on uploading my Project 365 (though, at the rate I forget to take pictures, it might be more like Project 300) until the end of the year. We’ll see 
A few weekends ago, we went to the NC Hot Sauce Contest in Oxford, NC. It seems they have a festival for just about anything here, huh? Well, this one did not disappoint! There were a bunch of little tents set up by the different hot sauce companies with samples of their sauces. Yuuum! They were all pretty good except some Caribbean one that was definitely going for the heat factor – we were burning pretty good for about 15 minutes
after that.
After the pain wore off (thanks to some beer), we were able to taste the
remaining sauces. Because the votes are controlled by who sells the most hot sauce at Stovalls, we headed over there and bought our bottle of the John Boy and Billy hot pepper sauce, our personal favorite!
We also checked out the hot pepper eating contest. After experiencing that crazy Caribbean sauce, all I can say is NO THANKS! The contestants all ended up giving up on eating 5 different chile peppers and split the prize money ($300)! My mouth hurts just thinking about it!
Well, ever since moving to the South, we’ve talked about visiting Atlanta. Because it’s a little bit of a lengthy drive (about 8 hours, including stops – maybe actually 6 hours of drive time), we decided to save it for a holiday weekend. Memorial Day weekend 2009, it is then!
We went camping, of course. I chose Red Top Mountain from the list of state parks for its cheapo price and proximity to Atlanta (about 45 minutes or so). It was a pretty nice park, which we definitely would have taken more advantage of had the weather been nicer – “Hot-lanta” did not live up to its name this weekend, and we ran into a lot of rain and highs of about 70 degrees. (Though, we did partake in going to a bluegrass concert one of the nights – that’s a whole other story!) Definitely not lake and hiking weather now is it? Luckily our fancy tent held up well to the elements and I never woke up in a puddle.
So, Atlanta. First thing was the Coke Museum, which was pretty neat. It had a bunch of Coke memorabilia, a “4-d” ride on the pursuit of the Coke secret recipe, a recreation of a Coke bottling plant, and a tasting room where you can drink different soft drinks from around the world. Overall the museum was pretty well done, but the content was a little self-promotional and lacking in history and information. I felt myself being brainwashed to drink Coke every 5 minutes. Apparently the SPAM museum has set a pretty high standard on food history museums. However, we really did enjoy tasting all the different sodas, and the free coke at the end of the tour!
The only other really “toursity” thing we did was go to a battlefield. Yawn. I mistakenly admitted to Oak that I fell asleep during the informational movie (luckily he is a kind and forgiving husband). A demonstration of Civil War artillery was frighteningly similar to one we saw at a fort in Savannah (the round versus bullet-shaped canons, etc) – am I actually RETAINING INFORMATION?! Surely this must be stopped. Other than that – uuh, it’s a FIELD. (PS Yes I do realize it was Memorial day and dutifully paid my respects, but now I get to complain a little! )
I really wanted to go to a plantation house, a la Tara in Gone with the Wind, but it appears that the real plantation area of Georgia is about 3 hours south of Atlanta. Durn it! There were some GWTW museums but they did not look very “worth it”! Sighs. The author of GWTW was from Jonesboro, which we briefly visited, and let me just say – there ain’t much goin’ on there.
We did a mini “Good Eats” tour – which included visiting popular Alton Brown hangouts such as Cooks Warehouse and Harry’s Farmers Market. Both were cool. The equipment specialist “W” and the creepy vampire guy in the beef section of Harry’s were nowhere to be seen. Apparently they took off for the weekend.
In other foodie finds, we did have to go to the Varsity for its status as an Atlanta institution. It was good but not mind-blowing (luckily one of our friends that went to Georgia Tech warned us not to be “wowed” !) I also trolled Chowhound a bit and came upon this place in Marietta called Tasty China, which is supposedly ranked as one of the top Sichwan restaurants on the East Coast. It was really pretty amazing. My favorite dish was almost like a pressed tofu salad with peanuts, scallions, and garlic. I’ll have to find a recipe. It was my first time eating Sichwan food (YUM!) and we’ll have to pursue it some more in our travels to other major cities.
We also wandered Your Dekalb Farmers Market, which wasn’t really a farmer’s market but more of a global food marketplace. However, it was like 20 times bigger than any other ethnic market I’ve seen. It had a bunch of crazy vegetables, its own bakery, an entire fish section where you could pick your own fish and they’d clean it for you, a restaurant, a deli.. plus the regular groceries like dried goods, etc. Holy moly. Too bad we are trying to clean out our pantry! Because of the holiday it was SUPER crowded. The low prices bring everyone and their mothers there apparently.
The State Farmer’s market paled in comparison – it was pretty dead compared to the NC one. However the food at the attached restaurant was very good. Here’s my “Rachael-Ray $40 a day-esque” dining out tip: ALWAYS check out restaurants or eateries that are associated with the farmers markets in the areas that you visit. You are always guaranteed tasty food at a great price! (Proof in point: both restaurants at the NC farmers market, and the Moose Cafe near the market in Asheville.)
We also did some wandering of local neighborhoods when we had enough sun - Marietta had a cute square with some shops, and we went to an art festival type deal in Decatur. We weren’t wowed enough by anything down there to feel a need to go back any time soon, but we enjoyed our stay. Bye Atlanta!
So, we went on a tour of the Midwest after Belinda’s wedding last month. We hit many destinations in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa, and Minnesota and had lots of tasty tidbits along the way (actual destinations will have to be in another post.. haha) :
- Cheese curds. Tasty! Apparently they are something only to be found in Wisconsin (and in Minnesota, a little bit). They are basically a “young cheese”, sold in bags of different flavors. We had a bag of cheddar and dill curds. Also, they are uber tasty deep-fried, which is done as an appetizer in a lot of restaurants. Think extra-fresh mozarella sticks! Mmm! I’m already having curd withdrawal.
- While we were at Psycho Suzi’s Motor Lounge in Minneapolis, there was no seating for two available so we ended up sitting with this group of people about our age for dinner. It was fun! We discussed all the midwestern food items and learned about something called hotdish. I was pretty confused until we figured out it basically meant a casserole. I tried to find out if there was a restaurant that served it, but apparently it’s an at-home thing to make. I’m intrigued by the tater tot hotdish.. must try making that soon! The item that we had at Suzi’s that I’d like to try making at home is sort of a sushi roll made out of pickle, cream cheese, and ham. Sounds gross but it was tasty.
- In Minneapolis we also compared the Jucy lucy hamburger from both Matt’s Bar and the 5-8 club. Yes, we had happened to have seen the episode of Man vs. Food the week before we left, where we got this idea. Good timing. If you’re too lazy to click to see what a Jucy Lucy is, it’s a burger with a molten cheese center. Genius!!! We both agreed that we enjoyed the 5-8 club Jucy Lucy for its “doggy nougat” cheese.
- Northern Iowa has absolutely no tasty food. We tried. We failed. We ate dinner at a Taco Bell at 9pm one night. And it was hopping!
- Desperate to find something tasty we did some internet research and stopped at the Motley cow cafe in Iowa City. Oak and I both got fairly simple egg dishes – mine was a spicy omelet, but they used fresh fancy eggs in them, so the eggs came out almost a dark golden yellow. I think it was the best egg I’ve ever had. Now I understand that passage in Martha’s Pies and Tarts book where she compares a tart made with supermarket eggs to one made “with eggs from my hens.” Oh, brother.
- In Chicago, we did the Hot dog Tour. Key places visited: Hot Doug’s and Superdawg. Both were good – I do have to say, even though it did not seem appealing to me, the Chicago hot dog (which includes: “mustard, onion, sweet pickle relish, a dill pickle spear, tomato slices or wedges, pickled sport peppers, and a dash of celery salt”-Wikipedia) is on the top of my list as far as hot dogs go now. Even without the ketchup. Apparently the higher authorities of Chicago will kick you out of town if you put ketchup on your hot dog. There’s enough other stuff on there that you don’t really miss it. Hot Doug’s has the edge for french fries and overall food quality, but Superdawg had serious style.
- Finally had a deep dish pizza at Giordano’s. I’ve actually never been to the Pizzeria Uno so it was a new experience. Talk about heavy! Sorry Chicago-ites, I love your hot dogs but I’m not sure I need to experience that pizza any time again soon. And I heart cheese!!!
- Dried meats are all the rage in the midwest. Stop at any gas station, and you have an array of slim-jim esque sausages to choose from. These, with many varieties of root beer and cheese curds, were our “driving food.” De-lish!
- We also have like 4 different pictures of me with giant mice eating cheese statues around Wisconsin. Apparently Wisconsians (?) enjoy Badgers (the U of W mascot) and mice.
- Had the best bubble tea ever at Joy Yee, where all the juices for the tea are fresh-squeezed/blended. Of course, we knew Belinda would not steer us wrong. If you get the huge bubble tea plan not to be hungry for several hours…. apparently the bubbles expand in your tummy!
- Another Chi-town stop was Kuma’s Corner, land of strangely dressed burgers named after Metal bands. I got a burger that had a pear and Gorgonzola cheese on it; but to be fair this was eaten on the same day we had the deep dish pizza so I think my heart just wasn’t in it. Fruit plus hamburger meat is a weird combination. Oak had a “greek burger” that was very good!
- On our last day, we got the Mother in Law sandwich that Anthony Bourdain had. It’s basically a tamale in a hot dog bun covered with chili. I got the “Father in law” which added cheese to the monstrosity. It was, while extremely messy to eat, quite satisfying.
So, after gaining about 30 pounds, we returned home. Luckily our CSA is in full swing now and I can at least pretend that I’m eating healthier now! More soon (and, hopefully some pictures!)
No, I haven’t suddenly turned this into an adult website. We came across this window display while walking down the Magnificent Mile on our trip to Chicago:
Of course, we had to look and see what it was about. Surely in the elite designer-shop filled neighborhood they couldn’t possibly have an actual peep show, could they? Oh, yes, they could… Take a look at the very risque contents of one of the little holes!
Scandalous, no? Did that get you all hot and bothered? Well, let me feed your addiction with this site full of naughty little tidbits. In the words of my old friend Austin Powers, “oh behave!”
Figured I’d share how I use delicious to plan trips. Like anyone else, I surf the web and come across interesting places that I want to visit one day. I save them to my delicious links so they are in one place online that’s independent of which computer I’m on. No duh, right?
Well, what I do when I am planning a particular trip is to create a tag that is a specific name for that trip. For example, we’re going to Chicago for Belinda’s wedding in March. We’re also planning on doing a little bit of travelling after the wedding around Wisconsin. So, I’ve created a tag called “midwest2009” for all the links I am saving for that trip.
That’s all fine and good, right? Well, how this really becomes handy is to copy and paste the addresses and phone numbers of the places into each delicious entry. You can then print out a list of all of the places you’ve bookmarked with the trip tag you chose, with addresses all ready to put in your GPS unit before you leave for your trip! Ding!
Happy travels!
My friend Julie, from high school, tagged me on Facebook to write down 25 random facts about myself. I figured I would also publish it here because it was a huge pain to come up with 25 things. Try it. It’s harder than it sounds. In fact, if you have ever left a comment on this blog, consider yourself tagged!
- My job as an information developer means that “I write documentation so the engineers don’t have to! I am a word and computer nerd, dammit!” (Bonus points if you understand the Office Space reference.) Seriously though, the job suits my personality and, even though I only took 1 technical writing job in college, I’m not too bad. Side effect: Everyone either wants me to edit their writing or thinks that I am secretly criticizing their writing.
- Although Oak is the serious cook at our house and often does the cooking when we are having friends or family over, I’m pretty proud to say that I can rock quite a few dishes and am a very good sous-chef. After all, sometimes we do need still to eat when Oak is not feeling the cooking. My specialties are Asian-inspired stir fries, southern-style greens, and pasta.
- I love Bloody Maries. There aren’t many others out there that love them as much as I do, but my mom and mother-in-law both approve, so they are always flowing at family gatherings.
- Despite having a job in the high-tech industry, I’m generally dis-interested with new advances in consumer technology devices. My phone does not access the internet, my iPod has a gray screen, and I don’t own any gaming systems. The only exception is my Silhouette cutter that I use for scrapbooking. I also consider the GPS an amazing invention. Purchase one and see how many road-rage arguments you avoid with your significant other.
- I drive a 2007 light blue Honda Civic. I love it. It’s the first car I have actually gotten excited about/loved! (Sorry to all my other un-stylish cars.. you served your purpose of getting me from point A to point B.)
- The biggest thing I learned in college was stress management… though my perfectionist tendencies are still there, I finally realized there is always going to be someone out there that can not study, show up drunk, and still get an A on an exam.
- I like to think I have a good sense of style – or, at least, “a style.” (I think if people identify certain colors, patterns, or styles as “Carrie-esque”, I have succeeded.) Thanks to my mom for always sending me to school in coordinating outfits in elementary school. Those lessons have endured to my real life.
- I love smelly products – Bath and Body works is an everyday indulgence for me! In the past few years I have gotten some nice-ish perfumes too – my favorites are the tropical scents by Escada and Paris Hilton (uum, I know Paris is dumb but she smells good!). I also have a French citrusy scent that I got in the London-Heathrow airport duty free.
- I have a “craft room.” (I am thinking of renaming it to my “scrap studio.”) It’s bright pink and houses all of my scrapbooking stuff. It makes me happy.
- The Swiffer wet-jet commercials never get old to me. Also, I enjoy making fun of infomercials. When I was young I knew part of the Ronco Food Dehydrator infomercial script by heart. Yes, I know this is sad.
- I’ve recently realized that I am starting to be Too Old for half of the clothes at some of the clothing stores I loved in high school and college. Sigh. Luckily I can still wear most everything at New York and Company and Express, two of my favorites.
- I am one of the least athletic people on planet Earth. Seriously. I don’t think or move fast enough for organized/team sports, and am seriously accident-prone. I even managed to injure myself a few times playing tennis — tennis ball directly IN THE EYE. Hellow! It’s better if I stick to things without flying objects or possible contact – I don’t mind aerobics and the occasional hike.
- I hate chewing noises. It seriously drives me up the wall, especially if you’re chewing gum or something in a quiet room. Yes, I fully realize that sometimes people need to eat. haha.
- Planning trips and weekend getaways keeps life exciting! In the past year we’ve been to India, Mexico, California, and various trips along the east coast – Savannah, Myrtle Beach, Asheville.. I’m dying to go to Europe and French Polynesia/Tahiti.
- The optometrist makes fun of how strong my eyeglasses perscription is. You know when Velma from Scooby-Doo loses her glasses and crawls around on the ground with squinty eyes? That’s me. I used to hate wearing glasses, but I wear them most of the time now because of the inordinate amount of time I spend staring at a computer screen. I’ve thought about getting Lasik but realize I’ll be needing glasses for reading again eventually.. so what’s the point?
- I am pretty sure I have a Black Thumb, but Oak is trying to convince me to enjoy gardening. We’ll see. I do enjoy looking at and visiting gardens, so maybe picturing the end result will help! haha.
- I am a certified Scuba diver, but I only like diving in warm oceans. My favorite dive so far was the wreck of the Rhone in the British Virgin Islands. It was a tough dive with some pretty rough water, but the sea life around the wreck was pretty awesome – even saw a few huge manta rays, and I rubbed the lucky porthole! lol.
- I had super long hair growing up. After high school, i started taking more and more length off at about 6 inches at a time. Now it’s shoulder length. It dries MUCH faster! And, I don’t get the World’s Largest Tangle in it every time I go swimming.
- Scrapbooking has long been a hobby of mine- I started in high school but have gotten much more into it in the past year or so. It gives me an outlet for my visual design background from college, and, luckily, gives me a break from the computer most of the time!
- I have a few things I try to find when travelling – a cupcake shop, some interesting ethnic or local food, a local style piece of clothing or costume jewelry, and if possible, a paper arts or scrapbooking store! And, I accompany Oak to the local brewery, brew-pub, or beer store. I like brew-pubs because they normally have pretty tasty food.
- My favorite bird is the flamingo. I don’t know what attracts me to them other than their color and that they are odd-looking. When I was young my parents built me a little “flamingo park” in the backyard that had plastic flamingos under the trees. It was hot.
- I played the clarinet in high school. Though I haven’t really played since college, I appreciate that I have some knowledge of music, which I have leveraged when playing Guitar Hero.
- I am working on getting an MBA at Brixx Pizzeria. In case you’re wondering, that’s a masters of beer appreciation. It’s a serious degree that I am considering adding to my resume.
- I grew up a Yankee in NY, but have adapted to the Southern way of life – I particularly enjoy the weather and the local cuisine. Northerners do not understand chicken biscuits and sweet tea, two of the world’s finest breakfast items.
- I am a total night person. Carrie Does Not Like Waking Up Early. Thank god for flex hours and weekends!!
I’m slowly getting through all the photos and adding the captions.. Here are two more sets for your enjoyment.
First is the pictures we took on the boat during our cruise. I had to document the huge suite room we had, the food, the fun action out on the decks, etc etc. This took place over the course of the week but it made more sense to put it all in one album instead.
You can also see the photos from the ports of call. We went to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, and Puerto Vallarta. We had a fun horseback ride in Mazatlan that is the photo you see here. Is it just me or is it hard to look attractive while riding a horse?? hahaha.
Okay – it’s not really as much a vacation hangover as much as a cold I caught while on vacation, but “hangover” sounds much cooler.
So, in case you’re out of the loop, we were off for 2 weeks to San Diego, a cruise on the Mexican Riviera, and then some jaunting around Los Angeles. Tons of fun was had, much relaxing was done, and I suffered a red eye flight with the bird flu (sorry if you’re a poor soul that I infected along the way). As the suitcases become unpacked, the laundry done, and the photos sorted, I will (hopefully) return to the blogosphere.
Right now, I do have some photos to share. Our first stop in California was the San Diego Zoo. It was awesome. But, for the value, I must say after experiencing one of the most Famous Zoos There Is I really have more appreciation for our NC Zoo. It is actually pretty impressive for, ahem, being in the middle of nowhere North Carolina. Nonetheless, we saw some awesome new warm-weather animals at the San Diego Zoo (pandas, flamingos, and more!), rode the scary tight-rope ride, and of course watched the sea lion show. A good time was had by all. You can experience it first-hand here (though, our camera died at the end of the day so you miss 8000 flamingo pictures I would have taken. Poor you.)
The next day, we explored Old Town and Balboa Park in San Diego before heading north to Escondido for Stone Brewery, Pizza Port, and an un-impressive LSS. Someone very much enjoyed the beer culture of SoCal and stocked up on some new beer wardrobe items. Balboa Park was really beautiful – lots of gardens and historic architecture. Fair warning that our battery was just fine and therefore are the 8000 pictures of flowers and cacti. Proceed if you are brave.
