5.24.18 Carnival Horizon

We headed to New York to board the brand new Carnival Horizon. Glenn spent the morning working while I explored New York. I tried to get into the Today Show plaza (FAIL) and then hung out in Central Park. 

Then we boarded the Carnival Horizon. The ship is great!!! Some of the highlights from the ship were:

5.19.17 - 5.23.17 Seattle and Portland

We arrived about 3 hours late Friday night because of bad weather across the country. I was very glad we decided to stay at a hotel near the airport. It took about 25 minutes from claiming our bag, calling the shuttle, and getting to the Coast Getaway Hotel. It's a clean, dated hotel with a friendly staff. It's on a road with several restaurants including Roasters in the parking lot. We enjoyed the continental breakfast with hard boiled eggs, waffles and sausage in the morning.

Saturday morning, we took a Lyft down to Pike's Place Market and checked into the Inn at the Market. The location is amazing. We are steps from the market. The hotel is on a steep incline so that's something to keep in mind. We checked in early so our room wasn't ready.  They took our cell phone number and said they would call us when it was.

We headed out towards the Space Needle. The museum on our list was the Museum of Pop Culture. It is fantastic! The exhibits on Horror, Fantasy, Sci - Fi, Star Trek, and Jim Henson were immersive, interactive and fun! We spent about 2 and 1/2 hour there and could have spent longer. We usually spend about an hour at a museum so this was a great museum.

We headed to Elliot's on the pier to get our oyster fix. The oyster list was so long! We couldn't choose so we trusted our server to choose for us. The oysters were fantastic.

Our favorites were Eagleock and Snigoku. We also had a crab and shrimp melts and the spicy crab chowder. Both were very flavorful with a lot of crab meat. Glenn thought the crab chowder was too thick. It was a little globby.

We got the call our room was ready so we headed back. We needed to fix a part of Glenn's shoe since the sole was a little loose. We completed our shoe repair and headed back to the docks. I wanted to see the Seattle skyline from the water and ride a ferry so we chose the 35 minute ferry to Bainbridge.

Everyone was in good spirits since the weather was sunny and warm - a Seattle anomaly. We walked into town, tried some very good Amelia Wynn wines and took the ferry back.

It's game time! Time to check another stadium off our list. As we were walking to the stadium, Glenn stopped and pointed to a bar across the street. "That's the bar from the painting." We've had a LeRoy Neiman painting for years of F.X. McCoy bar. I was so excited. We headed in and had a drink.

It's famous for its collection of whiskeys. Glenn had Woodford Reserve Brandy Cask Finish. The bartender was pretty excited to serve it.

A few unique things about the Mariners stadium are:

• One of the stands has cask ales.
• The ridiculous walk up music - It was a lot of sad country and Phil Collins.
• The scoreboard showed First Pitch Stats

Overall, the stadium was a good mix of local  and corporate food. The fans were friendly and we loved the location right downtown.

Sunday, we headed to the Amtrak station. It was a little stressful because we didn't count on there being a long line to check bags. Then we stood in the wrong line. We figured it out and made the train, but that much stress at 7:00 am when you've only had one coffee is a bit much. The views from the train made up for the stress.

We arrived in Portland, checked in the Portland Vintage Hotel, grabbed a beer at Rock Bottom Brewery, and then headed to the Northeast neighborhood to meet up with Devon and Nick. They gave us the BEST day. We had amazing French food for brunch, sampled terrific sour beers at Great Notion Brewery,

played games while drinking fun cocktails and eating yummy tacos at Cruzoom,

sampled an ice cream flight at Salt and Straw,

and ended the evening at Alberta Street Pub. It was a blast - the absolute best way to spend a Sunday.

Monday we took it easy. We made the pilgrimage to Voodoo Doughnuts and tried a whole bunch. Glenn's favorite was the Portland Crème and mine was the Lemon Crueller.

We took the train back to Seattle. A little boy around 2 years old and his dad were in front us. He was pretty cute and talked the whole time. The best moment was when he was trying to do something. His dad said, "Don't do it." The little boy responded  in the same tone of voice, "Don't do drugs." The entire car laughed.

We checked in the Palladian Hotel. We were upgraded to a one bedroom suite - I know, we are so fancy. Glenn found a great Japanese restaurant just down the block. We had a great meal and called it an early night.

Today we take a VIP tour of Pike's Place Market and then board the cruise ship. I can't wait.

9.25.15 - 9.27.15 Valpo Homecoming

We headed back to Valparaiso University for my 15 year reunion. We also got a chance to visit our friends Jon and Jackie. We finally got to visit Three Floyds.  The best part of the weekend was playing euchre on a restaurant patio with my college roommate and two friends. It was worth the trip just for that. We also got to try a new restaurant in Chicago for brunch.

Red Sox Home Opener 2015

On Saturday, we headed up to Boston for the Red Sox home opener. We stayed at Beacon XV. Was a great boutique hotel right on Beacon Street. It felt more like an apartment then a hotel room. Saturday afternoon we headed over to the Museum of Fine Arts to check out the time tech capsule that had recently been unearthed. It was a great museum and the time capsule was interesting - mostly coins and some newspaper clippings.

After the museum, we headed back to Beacon Street and met up with some friends at a dive bar. We shared some good local beers and oysters. Then we headed to Emmett's pub for dinner with our Boston friends and family. The dinner was great. It was so fun

 to have everybody in the same place. We missed those who are not able to join us.

On Sunday we had a good breakfast near our hotel and then we headed off to tour the city on a duck boat. I hadn't been on one before so it was really fun. After the duck boats we wandered around Boston doing lots of fun exploring. We met up with our friends Brenda and Kevin at a barbecue restaurant - Sweet Cheeks BBQ -  Glenn have been wanting to try. The chef is Tiffany from the first season of Top Chef. Her claim to fame is the biscuits and they were very good.

Monday was the big game day. Unfortunately Glenn sister broke her foot so she wasn't able to go. I got to take her place. It was a beautiful day for baseball. We had lunch at Sweet Caroline's and then headed into the game. Tom Brady threw out the first pitch. Children's choir sang the national anthem. And the Red Sox won. We headed to a great Italian restaurant and then had a beer at the oldest tavern in Boston.

Tuesday we took the first flight back to Florida. Overall, it was a wonderful weekend seeing all of our great friends and family.

Jon and Jackie visit Florida

We love visitors!! Jon and Jackie flew down for a quick one night only trip, but we fit a lot in! After breakfast at Castile where the food was good and the service was slooooowwww..... We headed to downtown Tampa for the Bourbon and Beer Fest. It was so fun to surprise Jon and Jackie with two of their favorite things in a downtown park on a beautiful sunny day.

After the beer fest, we headed to our favorite brewery - Rapp Brewing  - and then home for dinner. 

Sunday we went to lunch at Ulele. The food was great. Jon took one for the team when the server spilled a beer on him. We all got a free round of drinks. 

We stopped at Chart House for one last view of the Bay and a spot of sunshine! 

August 23rd - Creative Loafing Beer Fest

This weekend was the Creative Loafing Beer Fest at the Museum of Science in Tampa. 

We both love the new Smoke trend in beers.  This beer fest is a favorite for us since it features an entire room of local craft breweries! 

July 19th - July 20th: Tables in Wonderland Epcot Food and Wine Preview

Saturday we headed over to Pop Century to check in and enjoy the pool before we headed to Epcot for the Food and Wine Preview dinner. It was a hot! day. 

Then it was time to head over to the dinner. We checked in early and had about an hour to wait so we headed over to Canada to enjoy the air conditioning for about half an hour and then went to see the movie. It was perfect timing since we walked right in when we got back to the event location. 

The event was located in a secret pavilion you can access between Canada and United Kingdom. 

The event was beautiful! I loved all the chandeliers and decorations. 

Here was the menu:

 Buffet Reception

Pao de Queijo (Brazilian Cheese Bread)

South Africa Bobotie with Turkey and Mushrooms - I really enjoyed this spicy quiche-like treat 

Scotland Sea Scallop with Spinach Cheddar Gratin and Crispy Bacon - The line was 30 minutes long as we skipped it. 

Puerto Rico Sweet Corn Sorullitos with Mayo Ketchup - This was my favorite appetizer. I loved the presentation with the dropper of mayo ketchup. 

Terra “CraB’less CraB Cake”, Pepper Slaw and Cajun Remoulade featuring Gardein™ - This was the offering from the Vegan stand at Epcot food and wine. I thought the slaw and the sauce was good, but it really didn't taste much like crab. 

Farm Fresh Nueske’s Pepper Bacon Hash with Sweet Corn, Potatoes, Hollandaise and pickled Jalapeños - I really liked this hash. It had a fair amount of spice because of the pickled jalapenos. 

Cocktails 

Aulani Sunset featuring Sammy’s Beach Bar Rum - This cocktail had a little too much pineapple for my taste. 

Paperboy Red - This is an interesting red because the "bottle" is actually a plastic bag wrapped in heavy duty cardboard. The wine wasn't my favorite - but the packaging was cool. 

The Great American Wine Company, Chardonnay - I really enjoyed this wine! 

Domaine Chandon, Brut Sparkling Blanc de Noir - The sparkling wine was terrific! 

Duke’s Cold Nose Brown Ale, Bold City Brewery, Jacksonville, FL - One of my favorite brown ales! 

 Plated Dinner

We moved to the large room for the plated dinner. 

Greece Course

Vegetarian Moussaka - The clove on this was far too heavy. We could only eat it when we paired it with the surprise beer of the night: MMMM Hop. Yes, it is by those famous Hanson brothers. 

Patagonia Course

Roasted Verlasso Salmon with Quinoa Salad and Arugula Chimi Churri - This was my favorite course of hte night. Everything was delicious! 

Puerto Rico Course

“Carne Guisada con Arroz Blanco” Slow Braised Beef with Puerto Rican Grown Rice - I didn't get a photo of this dish. It was good, but could have used more sauce. 

Paired with Medalla Light Beer or Sangriiia Cocktail

Dessert Trio

Hops and Barley Fresh Baked Carrot Cake with Craisins® and Cream Cheese Icing

Refreshment Port Croissant Doughnut

Bean to the Bar Warm Drinking Chocolate

Paired with Rosa Regale

This course was fantastic! Everything was so good! Overall, we really enjoyed the dinner. The service could have been better and the pairings didn't always match up. We would definitely go again next year if they have it. 

On Sunday, we decided to stop by Two Henry's Brewing on way home. We really liked their beer at the Beer and Loathing event. 

I was impressed with all their beer. I think we'll definitely be going back there!