Sunday, July 31, 2011

Tina Visits Asheville

Our 2 year anniversary was last weekend, and since I was in Asheville, Tina came to visit and spend our anniversary in the NC mountains like we did last year.  We went to the small town of Burnsville because Tina found a Living Social deal for a bed and breakfast there - Nu Wray Inn.  It was a nice historic building in the center of town, and we stayed in the Elvis Room, because legend has it that Elvis stayed in that building when he visited Burnsville back in the day.

This was our breakfast, which was french toast croissants with various local berries.  It was very rich and kind of heavy, but I liked the unique concept - I'd never think to french toast a croissant!


We then climbed Mount Mitchell.  It wasn't a crazy feat, because you can actually drive to the top.  We drove to the visitor center which was about 2 miles from the summit and hiked the remaining 2 miles up to the top.  It was a strenuous hike, but we had a good time.  The highest point east of the Mississippi!


We then went to Crabtree Falls - a 70-ish foot waterfall.  The trailhead began right off the parkway and was a 1.5-mile hike to the falls.  Well worth it!


Dinner was spent at Salsa's in downtown Asheville.  We got the Ultimate Molcajete, which was basically grilled chicken, steak, and shrimp in a lava rock bowl with some vegetables (peppers, onions, cabbage).  The meat was nice and smoky (almost like the kebabs on the streets of China), and there was goat cheese on top, which added a nice depth to the flavors.  It was humongous and we both split one and were satisfied.  I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Yelp.


On another note - if you have Spotify, you should friend me!  If not, you should get it - it's a music streaming program (like Grooveshark) that allows you to see what your friends are listening to.

Saturday, July 16, 2011

Trip Down The East Coast

From Maine, we stopped in Boston, New York, and Washington D.C. on the way down to NC.  Of course, we spent a lot of time eating food.  Here are some photos.

Whole Wheat Honey Nut with Apricot and Date bread and a lemon blueberry pudding cake from When Pigs Fly Bakery in Boston.  Their bread was really good.


Pho at Pho Pasteur in Chinatown Boston.  It was a much-needed delicious meal after a long morning walking the Freedom Trail.


Tina and her Banh Mi from some small store near Pho Pasteur in Chinatown Boston.


Of course, dan ta.  Chinatown Boston.


They were staging a mock Revolutionary War in Boston Common since it was July 4th weekend.  It reminded me of the time we did this in paintball and how stupid I felt.  But I guess that's how they fought back then.


Tina eating a flower ball thing in Boston Public Gardens.


Me eating a da bao from Chinatown Boston.  Mine was much yummier.


Pistachio cannoli from from Mike's Pastries.


Stopped off at Frank Pepe's Pizzeria in New Haven, CT and got to meet up with Faith for a little bit.  Their white clam pizzas are super legit.  Some of the best pizza I've ever had.


Breakfast in Flushing, NY.  Nom.


Breakfast continued in Flushing, NY.  I think this was dried fish with taro chok.


Took my parents to the underground in Flushing, NY.  Got the dumplings and bao zi.


And of course, xiao long bao from Nan Xiang Xiao Long Bao.


Tina found out about this meat-on-a-stick stand in Flushing, so I went to check it out.  Super duper good.  I got lamb meat with spicy stuff on a stick.


And that concludes my travels up and down the east coast this summer.  It was a good time filled with great travels, delicious food, and just straight fun.  Thanks to the 3 of you that actually followed me on this blog.  :-) Next stop.. Asheville!

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Wrapping Up in Maine (Food)

As promised, here are the highlights of the food we had during our final week in Maine.

This is a whoopie pie.  I think it originated in Maine, and is also Maine's "official state treat."  This particular whoopie pie is from The Friar Bakehouse in Bangor, and was voted best whoopie pie in Maine by someone somewhere at sometime.  Needless to say, it was pretty good.  It was very very very sweet - so much so that I couldn't eat the whole thing at once - but what I had was pretty good.  It was basically a big oreo, but the cookies were softer and the filling was a little lighter.


Tina and I visited Gifford's for ice cream.  I was surprised there was such thing as a World Dairy Expo and even more surprised that I was never invited to one.  Anyways, we split two scoops of Maine Wildberry (essentially lots of berries mixed with vanilla ice cream) in a waffle cone.  It was delicious.  Just not as good as Maple View (which still stands as the best ice cream I've ever had).


In Bar Harbor, we went to Cafe This Way, and Tina ordered the Pecan Crusted Halibut, which everyone agreed was the best dish out of the four of our dishes that night.  They did a good job with the pecan crusting, and the fish was tasty too.


We also visited the Thirsty Whale in Bar Harbor.  It was mainly bar food - pretty decent bar food, though - but the highlight was the clam chowder.  I didn't get an extensive sampling of clam chowder while in Maine (maybe 3 or 4 different bowls), but this one was the best.  Not too heavy like a lot of chowders I've had, but still chock-full of clams and potatoes.


We ate at The Chart Room near Bar Harbor, which had awesome views (it was right by the water).  Tina ordered the haddock, which is a fish I had never heard of before coming to Maine.  It's a nice, tender and flaky fish, and it became my go-to fish at any meal.


Dysart's Restaurant in Bangor - it's a truck stop restaurant with a unique feel.  Almost like a Cracker Barrel but it's literally in a gas station.  It wasn't a dingy or sketchy place, either - it felt like a family restaurant.  Anyways, the Hot Thanksgiving Sandwich was pure awesome.  Chopped turkey meat and stuffing inside two slices of bread, covered in gravy with a side of cranberry sauce.  Each bite was literally melt-in-your-mouth delicious.  I also got a side of poutine - french fries with melted cheese and gravy on top.  My first time ever trying poutine - not bad.


I heard too many good things about the pies at Dysart's, so I had to try their blueberry pie a la mode.  Even though I was incredibly stuffed from the thanksgiving sandwich and poutine, I made room for the pie and it was definitely worth it.  Surprisingly enough, it was the only time I had blueberry pie while in Maine, and it was a good place to have it.  FYI: blueberry pie is the "official state dessert" of Maine - not to be confused with the state treat, which is whoopie pie.


My parents went to Canada for a few days, and on their way back, they picked up some fresh lobster and clams for dinner.  Like most of the other seafood we had in Maine, it was so fresh and delicious.  No more words to say than that.  These pictures tell most of the story.  Credit Tina for taking these last three.


Yummy lobster.  :-)


Lobster tail meat.


The food in Maine will be missed - particularly all the seafood.  But seeing as how I put on a few pounds during my month in Maine, it's probably better that I'm back in NC for a while.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Wrapping Up in Maine (Travels)

Forgive the pause in updates, we have had no internet at home since I've been back from Maine (which has ended up being a good thing, but not for updating this blog).  The last week in Maine found me already knowing I would miss it, but making the most of my time while in the beautiful state.

Did the Gulf Hagas hike near the Katahdin Iron Works.  It included wading across a river, which was neat.


Swam in freezing water, but I was getting a little warm from the hike, and the water looked so tempting.  I didn't last longer than a minute.


Moose sighting!


The family came and spent some time in Bar Harbor.  We did a whale and puffin watching tour.  It was cloudy so we didn't see much, plus it was really cold.  But we survived.


We also went biking on the carriage roads in Acadia National Park.  A lot of fun and good exercise!


Bubble Pond in Acadia.


Back in Bangor, I showed them around, taking them to the town's top attractions, one of them being the largest statue of Paul Bunyan in the world.  I also showed them where Stephen King currently lives (right down the street from us!) and... that's about it.

 
We drove down the coast of Maine, stopping off in a couple places, including Freeport, which is where L.L. Bean started, I believe.


Also stopped in Portland and visited the Portland Head Light.  Really pretty lighthouse.


Don't worry, this is only the travel portion of wrapping up Maine.  I'll have a-whole-nother post on the food we had.  AND another post on the rest of our travels down the east coast.  We ended up stopping in Boston, New York City, and Washington D.C. on the way down, breaking up our trip rather nicely and making for a pleasant drive back.