Soo Out of the City

New Orleans

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I haven't been to NOLA since...I was in my early 20s?  That's like 15+ years ago!  Well, for the first part of the trip I have to say I remembered why I hadn't been back in such a long time.  The first leg of my 3 day trip was mostly around Bourbon street, eating, hurricanes, hand granades, beignets, stinky sewage or horse manuer ordor, definitely not fabulous.  

The second day I decided to take the advice of a friend, David, whose taste I like, and make my way, solo, down to Magazine street via street car.  It was fairly easy with a little help.  It's a $3 all day pass and I spent the latter part of the day traveling through a wonderful neighborhood, Garden District.  Beautiful houses, had dinner by myself at La Petit & Grocery.  The decor wasn't anything to admire, but the food was excellent!  I know the steak tar tar doesn't look very appealing, but it was really delicious!  By the time I had made it down Magazine street, most of the shops were closed, but I could tell I liked this part of town better than downtown.  I did do a little shopping a purchase a fancy looking fanny pack for myself and Denyse.  It's close to what I've been looking for and got it for $26 per pack.  Great for traveling!

The next day, at the advice of David, we made it to Cafe Amelie before heading back to houston.  Great spot, we all loved the atmosphere!  Food was alright to good, but it was the courtyard that was the most appealing to all of us.  Well, that's it for now...I may be back to visit Magazine street, but there's definitely to rush to get back.  

Fried Chicken at Momofuku (NYC)

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My mission to find the best fried chicken, so called ended a few weeks ago at the Chicken Ranch here in Houston.  But, since I was making a trip to NYC, I decided I will continue my mission at Momofuku for their famous fried chicken that you have to make reservations for at least 3 weeks in advance, minimum party of 4.  So, though I set low expectations, I always hope for the best and considering how unlucky I have been in finding amazing fried chicken, I have little real expectation.  However, some years ago I did see David Chang (Momofuku owner) on the Jimmy Fallon show competing with Quest Love with Jimmy's guest for the show as judges, one I remember being Tina Fey, can't remember the others.  And it was unanimous...David won!  So, that is in the back of my mind and as our obnoxiously big plate of fried chicken comes out, I'm super curious!  I try it and...it's...good.  The fried part of it looks kind of unusual doesn't it?  It's actually not bad, good, but not knock me out of my chair, punch your mama good.  Anyways, I'm officially, officially done with fried chicken...until someone else suggest some stupendous fried chicken...and I'll reconvene my mission to find the best fried chicken.

Palma (NYC)

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I love this place!  One of my clients had highly recommended it and kept reminding me, which was good thing because I kept forgetting!  Being in NYC can get hectic especially when with friends, but it was on my list of places to possibly visit.  We did have one night free and decided it might be the best time especially since we were running 13.1 miles in the morning.  I looked up pictures on yelp and I was not really feeling it.  But, since Carla made it a point to keep reminding me, I decided it's the least I can do and try it.  Driving up to the restaurant, I was feeling really hopeful!  It was so cute!  I love the front of the restaurant, so charming!  And walking in...wow, so super cute and cozy!  I loved it!  

We had decided to go last minute, so we ended up sitting at the bar, which was not ideal, but our bartender and server was so helpful and excellent, it was all still great.  We ordered the cauliflower as everyone had recommended and delicious, it was!  We also wanted a salad, so they whipped an off the menu salad for us, simple and tasty, perfect.  I ordered the Fettucine al Funghi and Matt ordered the Pappardelle.  Again, only very few times I had pasta so tasty, you think, this has to be homemade.  My dish was so simple and flavorful, exactly what I like.  It's one of those very few times I shut my eyes and nod over and over, savor.  Wonderful, excellent, special, perfect...are the words that come to mind when I think of Palma.  It was the perfect marriage of food and ambiance.  I loved it so much, I wanted to find other restaurants similar to it...it's my perfect restaurant!

I forgot to mention, we did order the Tiramisu, and I'm not a huge fan of Tiramisu in general, but it was pretty good, big slice too.  Matt and I loved it so much we convinced Susan and Kirk to come the next day and they loved it as well.  So excellent, you must try!

Philadelphia, The City of "Brotherly Love"

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I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I don't know much about Philadelphia other than there's a lot of crime and that a lot of history went down in the town.  Why would we pick Philadelphia, you might be wondering...we're here for an event related to Matt's work.  So here we are for two days of leisure, two days of work related events.

On getting here, I was pleasantly surprised.  The city is a lot cleaner than I expected.  The architecture is breathtaking!  There are great restaurants, and the city is just really pretty. We were able to run on this beautiful route along Schuylkill river, the weather was great, and so far we're really getting a lot of mileage in walking around seeing the sights.  We're trying to fit in everything people are recommending, but so far, I'm not totally loving my cheesesteak experiences.  But we're not giving up!  We still have 2 more days, so I'll let you know.  I did have my first Hefeweizen (grapefruit) at Frankford Hall and it was so so good!  And thus far, we're loving the Terminal Market, Frankford Hall, Sabrina's Cafe and the Schuylkill River Trail...definite must trys!  

Thank you Georgia & Tennessee!

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Everything we tried or ate was researched, or came highly recommended.  This day, the King Pop was exceptional and best thing, other than Lucille's Mountaintop Inn & Spa.  We thought lunch at Highland Bakery was our very least favorite.  The drive through Stone Mountain was nice, cost $10.  The actual spot in front of the stone was a little uninteresting when nothing much was going on.  This King Pop thing, I thought seemed like a bad idea, but since it got so many reviews, we decided to try it anyways.  Love loved it!  Simple, but really good, and great quality too.  Overall, fabulous trip, we had a wonderful, much needed, vacation!

Blueridge, North Georgia

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Beautiful mountaintop views, food that feeds the soul from exceptional service and hospitality, old country, small town, with local wine vineyards, 2 hour spa sessions, and ending the day with a 3 hour relaxing afternoon on the porch swing staring at this beautiful breathtaking scenery...

Hotlanta, Georgia!

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These past days I've been feeling tired and traveling has exacerbated my exhaustion.  We're finally making our way up to the Smoky Mountains tomorrow but for now, this is my Atlanta experience.  I've heard Atlanta is similar to Houston, but I would have to disagree.  I have only had a small glimpse, but it doesn't seem similar to Houston at all, which is what I have heard in the past.  It seems further along, and I love the not so flatness about it.  it just is a much nicer city to look at from what I have experienced.  If you plan to visit Atlanta anytime, do visit the places I posted photos of.  I always do my research and all the places we ate at were really amazing!  I am totally impressed with Atlanta!  Now, I know why they call it Hotlanta!  :)

We thought it was a nice town, we really liked it, but we're really just passing through for our real destination...Smoky Mountains!  Stay tuned!

Marie's Italian Specialties (Madison, NJ)

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We were really impressed with this quaint and casual restaurant.  The Marie's salad, Mac n Cheese, and my roasted chicken, that chicken skin was sooo good!  But more than everything else the service was the best thing about Marie's!   We're not from around here so we always forget about the BYOB and Carl went and got us a bottle, now that is service!
 

Spring Break in Colorado!

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This year's ski trip to Breckenridge and Vail was more of a family oriented trip.  I loved it!  First time with the Burgards.  We had a really great time, full of skiing/boarding, snowball fights, cooking/eating, apple pie, games, laughing, staying up late and making it an all nighter home.  It's nice to be home, time to relax and sleep!

My Bark Box Has Arrived!

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As you can see the pups love it!  Especially the chews!  What is it?  It's a box full of treats, chews, new products and toys that comes once a month.  I figured it would be something fun for the dogs, so I went ahead and ordered it as soon as I heard about it.  My box is only $19/month and I figured if it comes to be too much, I could always give it as a gift to my followers.  If you have a pet  and would like to sample or see what one of these boxes are like, post here and the next one that comes in is yours!  This service is not in Houston, but from Brooklyn, NY and you know...not matter where the location, I always support great, fun ideas!

More at Barkbox.com