Showing posts with label Seafood. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Seafood. Show all posts

Saturday, January 15, 2011

Hittin’ The Texas Roads (Part II)

Spring semester started as of this past Monday. I am taking 18 credits, so my life is a bit jam-packed as of now. Bare with me and the sporadic posting if you will! :-)

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Glad everyone enjoyed the recap of the first half of my trip. So here’s the part two recap I promised….

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Like I said, this trip was a lot of things food-related, but another reason for going was to visit my aunt and uncle (my gram’s mom’s sister). And I have to add in that they are 90 years old, but would you have guessed if I didn’t tell you?!

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They took my grandma and I to a Texas chain restaurant called The Black-Eyed Pea.

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They pride themselves on all home-cooked style meals. Everything we ordered was delish, which was evident by the clean plates all scattered on our table! ;-)

I ordered their grilled Atlantic salmon with Cajun seasoning & a baked potato on the side. I guess I was on a salmon kick this trip!

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My aunt ordered their homemade chicken pot pie. We couldn’t get over how “cute” it was when it came!

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And my uncle ordered their home-style meatloaf which he couldn’t stop raving about.

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My aunt actually doesn’t like to cook one bit, so they also took us out to Red Lobster one night and I got the steak and shrimp—my fav!

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Then for what I like to call our “adventurous” day, we went to both the Natural Bridge Caverns and the Natural Bridge Wildlife Ranch. They are located between Austin and San Antonio.

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I had never been into any caverns before, so I had no clue what to expect. The only thing I can say to sum up caverns is “absolutely breathtaking”! It’s amazing how fascinating untouched nature can be!

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And on a side note, this 3/4 hike was quite the workout, so I was kind of glad that at the Wildlife Ranch you get to sit in your car ha ha! :-/

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The whole concept of the Wildlife Ranch is that you drive through a 4 mile fenced in area that is supposed to be like a realistic African safari. You are given a bag of food, and you basically feed all the animals right out of your car window. It seemed scary at first, but it’s by far the best “zoo” experience I’ve had, and believe me, I’ve been to a lot of zoos in my day.

The food.

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Giraffes=my second favorite animal.

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Obviously everyone today was a bit hungry!

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This was proven true my the lick of Mr.Goat’s lips…

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Gram’s favorite animal=the buffalo!

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Buffalo photo shoot…

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And of course a goat photo op couldn’t be passed up..

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And finally I spotted my all-time favorite animal—the zebra.

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Lucky for us, we got a zebra who had quite a personality.

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I was laughing so hard I was in tears!!

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I would highly recommend both of these attractions. They were $15 each which is a great price for all you get to experience!

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To say are adventurous afternoon worked up an appetite would be somewhat of an understatement. I was hungrier than our new zebra friend was. Luckily, we came across one of my favorite restaurants—The Golden Corral!

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Various plates included steak, shrimp, salad, baked potato, grilled veggies, and steamed cabbage.

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I really wanted to see the San Antonio Riverwalk, and being that we were only ten minutes away, we decided to venture downtown to see it.

It’s basically a bunch of shops and restaurants all along the river—it’s very similar to what I imagine Italy to look like!

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And did you really think I’d go a day without some fro-yo? Nope!

Hello Fruity Frogurt!

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By far the cutest decor I’ve seen in a fro-yo shop so far!

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I got the strawberry cheesecake flavor with strawberries and graham cracker crumbs—priceless :-) 

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Well all, hope you enjoyed my trip to Texas—I know I sure did! Have a fabulous weekend! :-)

What is your favorite animal?

 

Friday, August 13, 2010

Road Trip Recap

I have actually never taken a long road trip—usually I am flying or taking the train. A.k.a. the fast way of getting to a destination. However, the slow way, or driving, is one of the most enjoyable and rewarding!

And we’re off!!

Day 1

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My mom and I left a day early so we could enjoy Wisconsin Dells a bit since we have never made it over there. I definitely recommend going there..it reminded me a lot of Florida with all the touristy shops and attractions!

Who knew driving could work up such an appetite? We found a Ponderosa’s which is one of my favorite restaurants/buffets. I ordered the grilled shrimp and baked potato—delish!

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Then it was time to explore!!

Hotel Rome

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All homemade saltwater taffy.

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I seem to meet up with my favorite thing everywhere!

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Day 2

Both my mom and I got so excited when we spotted a Dunkin Donuts—Minnesota doesn’t have any!!

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Coffee and donuts anyone? Hey we’re on vacation..

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The morning consisted of driving, driving, and oh..more driving.

Sunflower field!

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Our next destination was the House on a Rock. It was the most amazing place I have ever been to in my 19 years of living. And we took about 300 pictures, so I am going to dedicate one whole post on it once I get home—so definitely stay tuned for that.

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Only three more hours till Chicago, so we took our time and stopped at the Grand Victoria Casino in Elgin, Illinois which is a casino on an old river boat.

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The original reason we stopped though was to eat at the Grand Victoria Buffet!

Steamed tilapia, green beans, sautéed mushrooms/onions, and a baked potato.

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Broccoli, peel and eat shrimp, artichoke hearts.

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Overall, the buffet was a really nice spread and the selection of food would really cater to a lot of taste palates. If you are ever on your way into Chicago, you should make a pit-stop for sure!

With full bellies, we finally made it to the city!!

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Stay tuned for more Chicago shenanigans and recaps of all the Healthy Living Summit events!

Have you been to Chicago? If so, what do you like to do here?