Picture of the Day: Warrior Carving at Chichen Itza

Chichen Itza, Mexico
10.2005 

Picture of the Day: North Rim of the Grand Canyon

Grand Canyon, Arizona
9.02.2007 

Picture of the Day: Pink Flowers Overlooking Mountains

Sequoia National Park
California, United States
6.2005 

Picture of the Day: Seagulls at Sunset

Treasure Island, Florida
12.30.2012 

Good Eats Around Treasure Island

When Frank and I headed to Florida for the Outback Bowl we only had two days to relax which we spent on Treasure Island. After our hectic drive down we were in the mood to sleep in and then lounge on the beach. Although we weren't very active over those two days we did leave our beach chairs to eat some great food. I thought I would share a few of our favorite places that we would recommend if you find yourself in the Tampa/St. Petersburg area.

Lisa's Cafe
13331 Gulf Boulevard, Madeira Beach, Florida

First up is Lisa's Cafe where we went to breakfast. Located in a small, unassuming green building the food was fantastic and the owner, Lisa, was a wonderfully friendly hostess. I also can't help but think that she has an awesome name.

I decided to order the bananas foster French toast which was out of this world. The pictures don't do it justice, but the slices of bread were almost as big as my head. The bananas foster topping was delicious and it was like eating dessert for breakfast. 

Frank had corned beef hash with scrambled eggs and grits. The portion of the hash wasn't the biggest but it was almost all corned beef and delicious.

We also couldn't resist splitting an order of biscuits and gravy and I am so glad that we did because it was one of the best sausage gravies that we ever ate. The gravy had sage in it which leant it a little bit of sweetness to offset the savory sausage. When we commented on how much we loved the gravy it turned out that Lisa herself made it. Delicious!

We had a wonderful breakfast at Lisa's Cafe and would definitely recommend it. They also serve lunch and dinner and the menus for those meals looked delicious even though we didn't have a chance to try it. Hopefully we can on some other trip!

Ted Peter's Famous Smoked Fish
1350 Pasadena Avenue South, South Pasadena, Florida

Frank and I stopped at Ted Peter's Famous Smoked Fish for a late lunch/early dinner one day. Opened in 1951, the roadside restaurant has a wonderful vintage vibe. We ate at shaded picnic tables, enjoying the warm weather with the wonderful smell of the nearby smoker in the air. 

We were starving so we decided to start with a smoked fish spread dish with saltines. It was awesome and we agreed that if we lived in the are we would be bringing home take out containers of the fish spread every week.

Frank also tried the Manhattan chowder which was homemade and delicious.

With so much food, I decided to get a smoked mullet luncheon platter that didn't have any sides. Mullet has a lot of bones, but I have a lot of practice deboning fish from living in Japan so that didn't deter me. It was worth the small extra effort as the mullet had a wonderful flavor.

Frank ordered the mackerel smoked fish dinner which included cole slaw and German potato salad as sides. The mackerel was fantastic and so were the sides, especially the potato salad. Amazing! 

We loved Ted Peter's and if we lived in the area we know we would be regulars. There are two things to note if you head over there. First, they only take cash so be prepared to have some on you before you go. Secondly, they close at 7:30 pm so if you want to grab dinner there, make sure to go early. You won't be disappointed!

The Floridian
230 107th Avenue, Treasure Island, Florida

Being in Florida Frank and I had to grab Cuban sandwiches for lunch one day so we decided to try out the Floridian, located in a bright, cheerful building. The restaurant was bustling at lunch but after ordering at the register it didn't take too long to for our food to arrive at our table.

I got a combo with half a Cuban sandwich and a bowl of Floridian bean soup. My sandwich was loaded with meat and the bread was great. I also really enjoyed the soup which was tasty and hearty.

Frank got a spiced pork sandwich and a bag of plantanos chips. Delicious!

We also couldn't resist sharing a side of rice and beans (awesome!) and a "Tampa style" devil crab, deep fried dough roll with blue crab inside. The devil crab was tasty and reminded me a little bit of a Brazillian coxinha, but with crab instead of chicken.

The food was great at the Floridian making for a wonderful lunch. It's no wonder that the St. Petersburg Times rated it as having Tampa Bay's best Cuban sandwich!

Picture of the Day: Mountain Reflections at Grand Teton

Grand Teton National Park, Wyoming
9.26.2005

Happy New Year's Eve From Florida!

Frank and I are back in Florida. We were on Amelia Island just three weeks ago for Cindy's wedding and now we are in the Tampa Bay area (Treasure Island) to see Michigan play in the Outback Bowl. 

Our trip down here was fraught with delays. Our original game plan was to leave Friday morning at 7:00 a.m., pick up some friends in Columbus and then get to Treasure Island around 1:00 a.m. That did not exactly work out to plan.

First, our friends in Columbus had their holiday flight cancelled and had to be rebooked so we couldn't pick them up at the original time so we had to delay our departure time to 11:00 a.m. We were then plagued with a traffic jam that kept us a dead standstill which turned a normally three hour drive to Columbus into a five hour journey. After picking up our friends we then were hit with terrible weather and more traffic jams. After reaching Georgia at 1:00 in the morning it was raining with strong wind and near zero visibility so we decided to get a hotel and continue the next day.

On Saturday the weather was better but we had such bad traffic that we didn't get to Treasure Island until 6:00 that night despite leaving at 8:00 in the morning. All in all, what should have taken 18 hours of driving turned into 24 hours. Needless to say we were exhausted by the time we arrived and ended up sleeping in and relaxing all day yesterday. We spent some time reading and napping on the beach, ate some good food, and enjoyed a beautiful sunset.

The weather here was a little chilly for Florida yesterday, but absolutely lovely today and no matter what I am glad to not be dealing with the snow back home right now. Tonight we are changing hotels to be closer to the stadium for the bowl game and then hopefully Michigan beats South Carolina tomorrow.

I hope everyone is enjoying a lovely last day of 2012. What are you doing to ring in the New Year?

Picture of the Day: New Year's Fireworks in New Orleans

New Orleans, Louisiana
1.01.2012 

Picture of the Day: CN Tower Illuminated for Christmas

Toronto, Canada
12.19.2012

Holiday Decorations in Toronto

Frank and I arrived back from our short trip to Toronto last night. Due to me not feeling well and being out of town a lot I didn't do much decorating in my home this year for the holidays but I thought I would share a few pictures of the decorations in Toronto that inspired me.

The first thing that you notice wandering around town is the way that all of the outdoor planters are done up for the holidays. The basic theme was to have tall birch logs in the center of the planter for height with an arrangement of greens around the base. I saw tons of variations on this with curly willow, magnolia leaves, seed pods, pinecones and ornaments included in the mix. They were all really pretty and looked quite festive.

My favorite variation that I saw was swapping out the birch logs for bamboo painted a bright, cheery red color. It was so striking to look at.

Moving indoors, I thought that this line-up of Christmas trees each decorated in its own color scheme was really fun and pretty.

Our hotel lobby was beautiful with all of the decorations done in white and silver to complement the dusky blue color scheme of the furniture.

The part I loved best were the flower arrangements.  They had huge bouquets of white football mums in glass vases with a few silver pinecones tucked in to make it festive. It was so simple yet so elegant and beautiful.

Have you been inspired by any decorations that you have seen this year? Do you do any decorating around your home for the holidays?