Christmas in Chicago - Dec 23-26

We came.  We saw.  We conquered.  We ate a lot of cheese fries.  Again.  Yes, I know, too many cheese fries.  Our intention this time was not as such, but downtown Chicago on Christmas Eve and Christmas is practically a ghost town.  Who would have thought?  Warning: this is a long post.

Our first night we stayed in Crystal Lake, IL.  Why?  It's a long story - don't ask.  We found Nick's Pizza and Pub on Yelp.  It had good reviews and was close.  The waitress was exceptional, the food was good, but it was a little overpriced.  Click that link.  If you like dead animals, then this place is for you.  Wanting to go out for a few drinks we stopped in at Duke's Alehouse.  Some drunk mess of a guy started a conversation with us and everyone else at the bar, we had a few drinks and then went back to the room.

The next morning, we had breakfast at Benedict's La Strata.  You can read my full review on Yelp.

Crab Cake Benedict with home fries

Crab Omelet with avocado and home fries

We were early for our hotel reservation at the Hard Rock Hotel downtown, but we called and they agreed to let us check in early.  The lobby was very modern and very "rock star."  Faux alligator walls, guitars behind the check in desk, slimline pool table in the lobby, low sitting chairs, etc.

We upgraded our room.  What a smart idea.  It was pretty fantastic.

We settled into the room but we were getting hungry and went out in the snow to find a place to hang before dinner.  Most things were closed, but we found Snicker's, a tiny little bar with decent drinks and decent food.  The greek fries were interesting in a good way.  Perfectly cooked fries, topped with feta, tzatziki and lemon juice.  I know!  Crazy, right?  Surprisingly good.  Macy's was open with a large crowd clustered around their windows looking at the displays and the skating rink was packed.  The bean was neat covered in snow.

The coldest bean in Chicago

After exploring, we were ready for dinner.  We found Rockit Bar and Grill.  There was an event going on, which we though sounded a little complicated and shady so we went across the street to Mother Hubbard's.  We drank and ate cheese fries and then drank some more and between the waitress (who we thought seemed so nice!) 'forgetting' she charged us for free wings and the couple beside us causing drama, it had turned into a long night.  So we lied and said we would meet up tomorrow, stopped for some beer at 7-Eleven and went to the room.

Christmas Day found us hungover and in need of something to eat.  We had indian delivered to the room.  Tasty, fun and WAY cheaper than room service.  After tending to our wounds we bundled up and hit the streets again.  It was quiet downtown but Blue Frog 22 was open for karaoke.  Jesse's song of choice, Monster Mash was a graveyard smash - har har har.  The tragic girl at the bar was disappointed when she realized she was going home alone and we met a former NFL player.  Though, I can't remember his name, he was very nice.  As Blue Frog closed we searched for somewhere to end the night - though our better judgement told us we should go home, we stopped back at Snicker's.  No trip would be complete without someone starting a completely inappropriate conversation with us while we're drunk at a bar, so why should this time be any different.  After a good verbal violation, traipsing back to the room was in order.  What a long night.

Sunday, we make the 6 hour drive back home, but not before a little brunch at Bandera's.  Mac and Cheese for an appetizer was perfect.  (They used sage!) A burger and ribs for the entrees.  Jesse LOVED the ribs and while my burger was good, it was a little sweet for my taste.  Between the ketchup, brioche roll and bread & butter pickles, it was a lot.  If we go again, I think ordering without the pickles would fix the issue.

It was a nice way to spend Christmas.  After the past year being about weddings and family and drama and learning a lot about the people we know - both good and bad, it was nice to have our first Christmas alone together and kind of decompress.  Who knows, maybe we'll make this a tradition.  Just don't tell my Mom.

P.S.  Thank you to the Hard Rock for being so awesome about returning my back I accidentally left with the concierge!  Quick, painless and not one thing out of place inside.  You guys rock.  Literally.  ;)

Asheville, North Carolina - December 3-5

Jesse's Mom, Micky lives outside of Asheville, so since we weren't able to make it for the holidays, we fit a trip in a little early.  We took Jesse's brother and his girlfriend, Angie with us on the 7 hour drive east.  We arrived late in the evening and stayed with Micky the first night.  She made dinner that night and we sat around and caught up since we hadn't seen her since our wedding in September.

When we woke up, it was raining with just the slightest bit of snow beginning to form.  Of course.  Since it was pretty cold, we didn't want to walk around too much without several places to duck into to warm up.  We headed downtown and after a bit stopped into Jack of the Wood.  The Garlic & Cheese fries sounded like a good, group-pleasing starter and Jesse and I split the fish tacos for our entree.  The fries were garlicky and gooey and just enough grease to make them the table favorite.  They were so good, it reminded you of how bad they are for you.  Now, the fish tacos on the other hand...hm....very good, but also VERY skimpy on the fish.  As in, one of the tacos only had a piece as big as a golf ball.  No kidding.  Normally I would bitch, but since we had other people with us, I let it go.  They did have the option to add more fish, but for $11 in Asheville, there should have at least been a moderate sized filet on each.  Pitiful.

It got colder and started getting a little slick out so we headed for the hotel.  Our reservations at Tupelo Honey Cafe were for 7, so we got ready for dinner and our night out and had a few drinks in the room.  Our cab arrived around 6:30.  Tupelo was still on a wait even with reservations, but we only waited 20 minutes or so.  Jesse and I ordered a single biscuit with gravy for the appetizer and then both had the shrimp and grits with crab as our entree.  Let's have a conversation about this, ok?  The biscuit and gravy?  I get it.  It was good.  BUT, I've had better.  And not to sound like an ass - but Cracker Barrel is better.  Just saying.  Though the gravy left something to be desired, the shrimp and grits was awe-inspiring.  I could literally eat it every day.

Tupelo gets a lot of negative reviews from people who think it's overrated but honestly, I eat a lot of southern food at southern inspired restaurants and this place deserves the hype.

It's always sad leaving Asheville.  We really enjoy it everytime we go.  Good thing that since Jesse's Mom lives there we have a legit reason to visit often.

Honeymoon Day 12 - October 1, 2010

The last day of our honeymoon and we were exhausted.  It was nice, but we were ready to be home.  We left the hotel around 10 am and decided to eat in Huntington before getting on the road.  Most people know Huntington for Hillbilly Hot Dogs (which is disgustingly amazing) but since we had previously had the pleasure of their fried mac and cheese and amazing cheese fries (I know, and there's only more to come) we went to local favorite, Fat Patty's.  We ordered the cheese fries (told you) and I had the Strawberry Salad with Salmon while Jesse had a burger.  To be honest, we were so full after the fries we didn't have room for our actual meal so we ended up taking the majority of it home with us.

We had such a fantastic time and it was sad for it to be over.  We really packed it full with friends, restaurants, cities, sites, etc.  Some people may prefer laying on a beach or being catered to on a cruise, but we're adventurers, attempting to be as spontaneous and my project manager-mind will let us.  If the rest of our life together is as exciting and ridiculous and delicious as it started, then we're both doing pretty well.  <3

So lame, right?  ;)

Honeymoon Day 11 - September 30, 2010

We left D.C. and headed towards Huntington, West Virginia.  We had plans to meet up with some friends of ours, John and Ashley Stephens.  It took a little longer to get there than we thought, but we eventually made it in around 8:00 pm.

We met downtown and headed for sushi at Taste of Asia.  Really good little place, would definitely go back.  Since it was warm out, we walked around the downtown area a little, which is really nice.   They've done a great job of revising their downtown area and making the most of bringing the business of the college students in.  Ashley and John then took us to a great place called The Union Bar and Grill where I may have had some of the top 5 cheese fries of my life.  I eat a lot of cheese fries and consider myself a bit of a connoisseur.  If you ever find yourself in Huntington, you must stop.

John, Ashley, Liz and Jesse

They were also nice enough to drive us to the scary (but free with hotel points) Quality Inn we were staying in.  Good thing we got there late and were leaving early - totally sketchy.


John and Ashley were excellent hosts and we're looking forward to treating them to a night out in Louisville.

Honeymoon - Day 8 - September 27, 2010

We headed out early Monday morning to get to Atlantic City with enough time to walk around before it got too dark.  Our first stop was a Starbucks with the most regal exterior I have ever seen.  Tre fancy, no?  We drove for a little while and eventually stopped for breakfast at a small diner called Town and Country.  Basic breakfast, good service, you know, a diner.

Can't find a link for the place, but here's the juice we drank.  That's good enough, right?

Jesse has never been to Vegas so I tried my hardest not to get his hopes up too much about Atlantic City being anything like he sees on television about Vegas.  Let me just say that Atlantic City was so much worse than I had anticipated.  Besides the fact that it was dreary and cold it might possibly be the saddest place on Earth.  People there aren't gambling for fun, they're gambling to buy their kids shoes.  Pretty tragic.

We stayed at Caesar's which was fine.  The room was a good size and we had a view of the ocean.  I had bought the room on the American Express travel site and ended up having to pay for it a second time when we checked out and then it took seven phone calls to get it cleared up and returned to my card.  What a mess.

Our room at Caesar's

Our roof/ocean view

Caesar's has a lot of shopping and restaurants, all of which are also pretty $$$.  A sports bar called Game On! looked good enough and little did we know the little gem of greasy, caloric goodness it would offer.

Behold the Buffalo Blue Cheese Fries.

Warning:  This picture will clog your arteries.

Though I would never recommend anyone visit Atlantic City, in the event that you are ever there it would be un-american not to try these.  Keep in mind, they weren't on the menu.  It was only by the awesomeness of our server that we were able to experience this delightful nastiness.

As we're not big gamblers after we had lost about $10 we went to the bar instead.  If you're not gambling enough to get the free drinks, it's not really worth losing the money in my opinion.  Either way, we met some people that seemed very nice at the bar and started chatting.  Let me preface this by saying that Jesse and I are magnets for crazy people.  Liars, cheaters, freaks and cons - they'll find us and we gots ta get tha hell outta there.  Ya dig.  So....these two seemingly nice people, right?  Well, the lady of the couple and I go to the bathroom - you know, how drunk girls do and she's telling me how nice her husband is and how they've been together for years and he's so good to her.  Back at the bar her husband is telling Jesse how he cheats on her constantly and she has no idea and that he's never been faithful, etc, etc, etc.  After we realize this, the night began to sour quickly.  The stories got more and more bizarre and the hugging more and more frequent.  Jesse and I pulled a good maneuver and while he was in the bathroom, I pretended like I needed to go also and we split.  This also meant that we stuck them with our bill.  But after all the crazy sh*t they were telling us, I think we earned our $4 in drinks.  Crazy people, if you ever find this and remember (which I doubt you even knew where you were), let me know and I'll send you a check.

It was a good thing it was already pretty late because in fear of crossing paths with them, we got a quick dinner, albeit at 3:30 am, and went to bed.  Wow Atlantic City.  I get it, but you ain't no Vegas.