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.

Central Illinois Oct 7-Oct 9

Oh, Central Illinois.  We've spent many moons together and you never fail to surprise me by how boring you are.  While I always enjoy mindless driving, I do wish you would give me more to look at than corn fields and those giant, creepy electric-generating windmill things.

I drug Jesse along on a work trip to install a few price patches at a dozen locations scattered around Central Illinois.  Of course, we took this opportunity to eat at a few interesting restaurants since that's pretty much responsible for 75% percent of the traveling we do.  We knew of a place called Bacaro Wine Lounge in Champaign, IL that our friend, Sunshine had mentioned.  She met the chef while working in New York and hadn't been able to make the trip herself.   The atmosphere was nice, though a little dark.  We sat at the bar only intending on ordering off the limited bar menu but opted for dinner instead.

The truffled fries were good as were the specialty drinks we ordered.  I ordered the gnocci, which was also good, but not better than Old Ebbitt Grill in Washington D.C., which is a shame since Old Ebbits is kind of touristy.  Jesse had the Risotto of the Day, which featured scallops.  Also, very good but lacking that push over to great.  I hate to say it wasn't good, because that wouldn't be true.  However, I think since it's located somewhere that doesn't offer a lot of competition, the dedication to perfection may be lacking.  If I ever end up in Champaign again, I will order an entree from the regular menu and see how that stands up.

The next day we hunted and hunted for a place to eat and almost ate at Hofbrau, an apparently really good German place in Peoria, IL.  I'm not a fan of German and it was a little expensive (despite what you see in that picture on their front page) for me to not actually want to eat anything there so after a drink we kept moving.  (Also, it was really early in the afternoon and it was full of creepy old guys that had been there drinking all day.)  After scouring Yelp, Jesse decided on Burger Barge.  Why, you ask?

This.

Yee haw, ya'll!  This is the Buy The Farm.

This thing was a 9oz. burger patty, butterflied pork chop and a chicken breast with all the regular burger toppings, plus something they call 'dock sauce', which Jesse asked them to leave off.  He said it sounded like it tasted stupid.  He's funny.  I had a 'Barge', otherwise known as a cheesesteak.  It was terrible.  I gave most of it to Jesse.  All was not lost though, the Cheese Blobs, though gross sounding were good, even if they were just battered and fried cheese cubes, I'll take it.

The next day we pulled over in Decatur and had lunch at Firewater Cafe.  The bubble bread was good and much less greasy than cheesebread typically is and I had a shrimp and bacon pizza, which doesn't look like it's still on the menu, but was killer, in a good way.  Seriously, shrimp and bacon were meant to be 2getha 4eva.  The service was slow, but don't let that discourage you.  It was really that good.  Maybe if you ask real nice-like, you can convince them to make that shrimp pizza for you.

Bubble Bread

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 10 - September 29, 2010

It was raining when we woke up so we decided to do something indoors and visit the Smithsonian American History Museum.  Before though, we stopped for a little breakfast/lunch at Old Ebbitt Grill.  This place is apparently a hot spot for politicians, though if we had seen any, I wouldn't have known one way or the other.  That's bad isn't it?  I had the Gnocci which was done is almost a carbonara style with bacon but with the addition of mushrooms.  It was by far one of the best thing I had during the trip.  It's a shame we didn't get a picture.  It was amazing.  I think Jesse ended up eating half of mine along with what he ordered.  I'm pretty sure he had the crab cake sandwich.  Whatever it was, it was also really good.  And you should have seen the surprised look on their face when Jesse had finished his first drink and when he asked for another they wanted to know if it was a Arnold Palmer (1/2 tea, 1/2 lemonade) and he said, "No, a Bloody Mary" at 11:00 in the morning.  Ha!

We walked through the United States Navy Memorial and the National Sculpture Garden on our way to the museum.  Once in the museum, that had a lot of really great exhibits going on.  The Julia Child one was pretty neat-o and seeing the actual Star-Spangled Banner was incredible.

We were staying at a Radisson outside of the city in Delaware, so before our dinner reservations at Sei, we went back to the room to get ready in anticipation of our long awaited special sushi meal of the trip.  We had done weeks (literally) of research in our decision to find a great sushi place to go while on the Honeymoon.  We decided on this place because of its inventive rolls and since we were doing Le Bernardin while in the city.

We arrived and were seated immediately in the ultra modern dining room which is partitioned away from the bar area.  We ordered a couple of cocktails and began mulling over the menu.  We started with the sea bass sliders and pork buns.  The sliders were crispy and sweet and tangy and perfect.  I could eat those every day.  The pork buns were also tasty.  Not a typical style of pork bun, it was almost a cake-like bun, spongy in texture and the pork was more like pulled pork.  Sweet and tangy as well, the textures, melded together well.  For our entree we chose the Fish and Chips (flounder, malt vinegar, potato crisps, wasabi tartar), Kobe Tataki (spicy crunch, watercress oil, red wine ponzu) and Surf n' Turf (kobe, lobster, yuzu horseradish aioli) rolls.  All were good, but not amazing.  Not as satisfying as the starters for sure but decent rolls.  We've found that despite being in Louisville, Sapporo is really difficult to beat in quality, flavor and value.

Looks like a mess, but was good.  Obviously too much aioli.

Still hungry but not wanting to bust the budget for the night we headed to Gordon Biersch Brewery Restaurant for a drink and an appetizer.  Keeping with the fish theme, we had the seared ahi tuna appetizer and a couple of drinks.  The waitress was incredibly rude, but the food was good so it's a wash.

We returned to the hotel and headed for the hotel bar.  We are apparently friendly-looking folk so a few people began to talk with us.  So friendly in fact, that I'm about 95% sure that I was rufee'd by someone sitting next to me.  I supposed he thought that when Jesse went to the bathroom that he wasn't coming back and he had an opening.  Boy was he surprised we he wasted that pill on a girl he couldn't take advantage of.  *eyeroll*  What an asshole.  What is it they say, "It isn't a honeymoon until you get drugged by and dirty man at a hotel bar in Delaware?"  No, I don't think they say that.

Honeymoon - Day 9 - September 28, 2010

We jetted out of Atlantic City and wanted to stop and have lunch in Philadelphia since we have never been there.  The place we originally planned on eating ended up being closed so we pulled out our handy dandy smart phones and found a place close by called, Honey's Sit 'n' Eat.  Ok, so let's have a conversation about Honey's.  It's awesome with a really comfortable menu.  What I mean by that is that it's things you're familiar with, but done well or done differently, but not in such a dramatic way you would be uncomfortable ordering something.

I had the Spicy Avocado Tuna on wheat.  It had pico de gallo, sour cream, mayo, lettuce, tomato, onion
and came with french fries.  The fries were better than the sandwich, which could have been a little spicier, but there were plenty of hot sauces on the table to remedy that.

Spicy Avocado Tuna on Wheat with those amazing fries, which surely had truffle oil or something.

Decent selection of hot sauce.

Jesse had the Brisket Soft Tacos which were topped with red onion and avocado sour cream and served with beans, lettuce, and pico de gallo.  They were really good.  Like really, really good.  The brisket was well cooked and well seasoned.  This is something he plans on replicating in our own kitchen eventually.

I mean, seriously, how good do these things look?

We also ordered two sides, the asparagus casserole and the mac and cheese.  The mac and cheese was creamy and rich and delicious, and the asparagus casserole would have been too had it not been actually cold when we got it.  It was even topped with onion rings!  We could have sent it back, but as everyone knows, that's kind of a crap shoot so we just picked through it.

The casserole and mac and cheese.

Oh, and while we were waiting to eat, this ad was on the place mat.  I mean, I get it, but really?  I wonder if this works...

Anyway, we finally made it to Washington D.C. where we met up with our friends Robert and Yenny Rivers.  We were staying at their place this night and they were nice enough to escort us not only out to dinner but also on a late night tour of the most popular monuments.  We went to dinner at Rosemary's Thyme.  Get it?  Rosemary's Thyme.  You know, because they're both spices but it also sounds like a name and/or phrase, right?  Get it?  Let's keep moving.  We planned or Peruvian, but it was closed to this menu looked decent.  The food wasn't terrible, just not quite there.  I had the Seafood Ravioli, which was black ravioli stuffed with crab and shrimp in a vodka cream sauce.  Like, I said, edible, but for $16 there should have been at least less shell if there weren't going to be more ravioli's.  Just saying.

We visited the Washington Monument, World War II Memorial, Reflecting Pool and Lincoln Memorial and of course got glimpses of the White House and Capital, Jefferson Memorial, etc.

The escalator from the Metro.

Yenny and I on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

We had such a great time with Robert and Yenny and a big thanks for staying out so late with us on a 'school night!"  Mwah!

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.

Honeymoon - Day 7 - September 26, 2010

After another late night, we woke up on our last day in the city and tottled over to a place called Pax Wholesome Food next to the hotel.  I have a breakfast sandwich with hashbrowns and Jesse had an omelet.  Both were actually pretty good.  We also stocked up on orange juice, coffee and iced tea to release some of the alcohol demons that were still holding fast in our bodies.

Since we were leaving later in the afternoon we didn't want to stray too far so we wanted to make a few 'Gossip Girl' stops.  Yeah, I know, it's lame, but I won't lie, it was pretty cool to see where Serena came in the first episode in Grand Central Terminal and where she 'lives' at The Palace.  But I digress...

Grand Central Terminal

We took the subway back to the hotel to wait for our friends Simone and Larry to pick us up to take us to their house.  After arriving a little early, we stopped again in Bryant Park and sat down at the Bryant Park Cafe for a drink before they arrived.  We didn't eat but the food we saw and smelled looked fantastic!

Simone and Larry arrived shortly thereafter and drove us back into New Jersey where our car was.  They always go out of their way and are so hospitable to us.  It was my first time meeting Larry and he was such a nice dude.  Jesse and I tried to talk them into moving to Kentucky, but I think we at least got them convinced to visit.  They made us a delicious meal of Chicken and eggplant parmesan and could have rivaled any Italian we have here in Kentucky.  Then there were Henrietta and Gus, just about the cutest dogs ever.  So little, so cute, so wrinkly, so full of 'puppy smell'.  It almost convinced us to get a dog.  Almost.  ;)

The behbeh pugs, Henrietta and Gus.

Honeymoon - Day 6 - September 25, 2010

After a long night of drinking, we were a little hungover.  We started the day at 'wichcraft in Bryant Park since it was close to the hotel.  It's a small chain partially founded by Tom Colicchio of 'Top Chef' fame.  I had cold sandwich of goat cheese, avocado, celery, walnut pesto and watercress on multigrain bread.  It was fair.  The bread was dry and the walnut pesto wasn't strong enough to rise above the celery and watercress.  Jesse had a sandwich from the 'warm' section of the menu with roasted turkey, avocado, bacon, onion relish & aioli on ciabatta roll.  He liked his more than I liked mine.

Waiting at 'wichcraft

We didn't have anything specific planned so we wanted toward Herald Square for a while.  It's an area with a lot of shopping and Jesse needed socks so we breezed through but didn't stay long since the crowds were pretty big.

We then headed towards Washington Square Park.  Since our early lunch at 'wichcraft had been small, we ducked into a little restaurant called Cafe Reggio.  We had a couple sandwiches and some really delicious tea.  The place was tiny but cozy and charming at the same time.  We actually liked the idea of the mis-matched tables and chairs so much that we may incorporate it into the restaurant we plan on opening in a few years.

TORINO:  Brie, Avocado & Dill

PARMA:   Prosciutto, Mozzarella & Fresh Basil

We made it to Washington Square Park, walked around, took some pictures, saw a show of street performers and caught the last 30 seconds of the dumbest looking fitness class I've ever seen.

 

The Washington Square Arch and that dumb workout in the same picture!

We Foursquared and found out there was the 2010 Dumpling Festival going on.  Too bad it wasn't as cool as it sounded so we made our way to the Union Square Greenmarket.  It's too bad we still had another week of vacation or we would have left with our arms full of food.

After all that walking around we decided to stop yet again for a small snack (and a few drinks) and ended up at Old Town Bar.  The atmosphere was good and there were quite a few people there even though it was only 4 pm on a Saturday.  We had the Crispy Spuds, which were essentially uneaten baked potatoes that had be sliced long ways into wedges and deep fried.  While the potatoes had been cooked to death and most likely over and over again, the Cheddar Horseradish dip was pretty good.

Mike and Elaine were taking us to dinner this night at Il Vagabondo.  I had the cheese ravioli which was really good and surprisingly light.  Jesse had the special of Osso Bucco that wasn't really up my alley but he almost pissed himself over.

We finished off the evening with a visit to PJ Clarke's and Jack's.  The word on the street is that PJ Clarke's has amazing mac and cheese with peas.  Had we not been so full, we would have ordered a dish, but we'll have to put that on the list for next time.

Honeymoon - Day 5 - September 24, 2010

This was the day we did our honeymoon pictures.

Dressed up near Times Square before the shoot.

We worked with a company called Photo Pink NYC.  Our two chosen locations were the The Meatpacking District and The High Line.  So we first stopped at Chelsea Market for a light lunch beforehand and then met up with Liesl and Jenny, our photographers.  We had a lot of fun posing with the graffiti and scenery and who would think that in New York City that ANYONE could get attention from passersby, but we had people taking pictures and catcalling when we would kiss.  It was amusing.  Here are a few of our favorites.

Epic.

Hogs and Heifers Salon

On the High Line

This was also the day that Mike and Elaine, Jesse's Dad and Stepmother joined us in the city.  We all went to dinner at Churrascaria Plataforma, which is one of those brazilian style steakhouses where there is a huge buffet and then the servers come around with different types and cuts of meats on giant swords for you to select from.  The buffet was so good, I think I could have just eaten that.  We then ended up at Jack's, where we were given a small plastic juicer as a wedding gift and then sold a second one by the bartender who had apparently invested in the startup company that was making them.  Interestingly enough, a couple months later, we saw them listed on the William's-Sonoma website, so I guess they really were a good investment afterall.  Especially since we only paid $5 for ours and they work awesome.

Honeymoon - Day 4 - September 23, 2010

We switched hotels this day, which truth be told, while the Courtyard Marriott in Times Square was definitely beautiful and had more amenities, we wouldn't have been opposed to staying at Chelsea Pines for our entire stay. It really was cozy.

Our view from out hotel window at the Marriott

This was also the day we were heading towards Chef Eric Ripert's, Le Bernardin.  Said to be one of the best seafood restaurants in the country, we were pretty excited.  Since it's definitely not cheap by any stretch of the imagination ($130/person for dinner) while we were there, we opted for the more affordable lunch at $75/person.  Needless to say, when we arrived we were in a little over our heads.  Between the snotty coat check girl and the fact that our silverware was replaced at least four times throughout the meal, we were a little out of our element.  Jesse needed a jacket, which we never expected for lunch and were even more frustrated by the fact that he had brought a full suit to the city, we just didn't realize he would need it here for a meal other than dinner.

Either way, the meal was outstanding.  It was prix fix, which has changed since then, but I remember I had escargot for the first course, sea bass for the second and a hazelnut ice cream with a chocolate ganache for dessert.  It was all delicate and flavorful at the same time and they really did an amazing job of highlighting the ingredients without being too showy.

Oh, and before lunch we stopped for a drink at the midtown tourist trap known as Ellen's Stardust Diner.  As if you needed me to tell you, avoid this place at all costs.  This was the most expensive basic mixed drink I have ever paid for coming in at $14.  Stupid.

Jesse with his overpriced drink.

Me with my overpriced drink.

We had dinner at Schnipper's which despite its location was actually really good.  It has a modern open feel to the inside and though they're famous for their Sloppy Joe's, which were featured on Bobby Flay's Throwndown, we had the fish tacos, and they may be the best fish tacos I've ever had.

Our friend Sunshine was in town staying in Brooklyn with some friends of hers and had acquired foie gras that she planned on sharing with everyone.  If you know me, you know I am not even slightly interested in foie, but if you know Jesse, you absolutely know he was.  Instead, Sunshine made me delicious pasta with olive oil and parmesan that suited me just fine.

Close up of the beautiful toast, foie and pasta.

It's a foie party, yall.

Honeymoon - Day 3 - September 22, 2010

Our first full day in New York.  We realized early in the trip that we had forgotten our sunglasses so after a quick trip to Fossil for a couple pair, we headed the long way through Central Park (which I had never been to) on our way towards Shake Shack.  Shake Shack is one of those places that you rarely hear anything bad about.  They have a special blend made for their burgers and it's know to be an hour wait to simply pick up food at the window of their original location.  When we arrived, there was a slight line but seating downstairs, so we didn't wait long.  Jesse and I both had ShackStacks and fries and Jesse had a vanilla milkshake.  What exactly is a 'ShackStack' you ask?  According to their website menu:

A Cheeseburger and a 'shroom burger topped with lettuce, tomato and Shack Sauce.

What is a 'shroom burger', you ask?

Crisp-fried portabello filled with melted muenster and cheddar cheese topped with lettuce, tomato and Shack Sauce.

ShackStack at Shake Shack in NYC

Exactly.

Amazing.

After lunch we headed to a taping of the Jimmy Fallon show.

Waiting in the NBC Experience Store to be ushered into the studio.

In deep thought about Al Roker.

The featured guest was Josh Brolin, which was pretty cool, but the other guests were the suck.



If you can find a clip of the end of the show you can see Jesse and I in the front row.  You can also see me reach for a cupcake and miss.  It made me look pretty lame.

For dinner, at the recommendation of the front desk clerk at Chelsea Pines Inn, we went to Vynl.  It was a lot of fun with a projector going showing Lady Gaga videos and old Whitney Houston.  I had one of their build-your-own style grilled cheese sandwiches and I would wager Jesse had a Burger, but I don't really remember.  The true piece de resistance was to come tomorrow though, when we visited Le Bernardin.

Honeymoon - Day 2 - September 21, 2010

We finally made it to New York this day after a lot of driving and stopping.  We had breakfast at McDonald's which I think I could eat every day.  Not McDonald's in general, but their Bacon, Egg and Cheese Biscuit with the hashbrown put right inside I would seriously consider as an option for my last meal.  I know, it's disgusting.  We also had Long John Silvers which is also a guilty pleasure of ours and learned that they were now offering fish tacos for $1.  Not outstanding, but definitely worth $1 if you don't care about being dehydrated for a week after eating one.

We also stopped at Sheetz a few times.  If you're unfamiliar with Sheetz, it's a chain of pretty awesome gas stations that run across the north east.  Their food offerings put our local chains to shame and there are actually fan pages dedicated to how much people love this place.

We actually stopped in Jersey and parked the car at my friends Simone and Larry's place and took a car service to our hotel in Manhattan.  We stayed at Chelsea Pines Inn.  It was wonderful.  You can read my review on Trip Advisor.

Chelsea Pines Inn - Ann Margret room

Chelsea Pines Inn - Ann Margret room

The resident cat at Chelsea Pines Inn, Charlie.

 

Jesse really liked the mounted television.

Taken by the Innkeeper for their inline scrapbook.

But the day was not all a loss 'culinarily' speaking.  We did have dinner at Cafe Loup.  I don't remember what we had so I guess that doesn't bode well for it's memorability, but I do remember it was good.

Honeymoon - Day 1 - September 20, 2010

We were in Cincinnati most of today on our way to New York.  We stopped at Cincinnati Premium Outlets and ended up with a Le Creuset dutch oven for a good price.  That outlet mall is awesome and I hate outlet malls.  ANYWAY, this day of the trip was pretty uneventful.  We ate at Cracker Barrel and stayed at a Baymont Inn in Cambridge, OH.