Picture of the Day: Temple Dragon Statue

Chang Mai, Thailand
08.09.2008 

Picture of the Day: Doorway in Cuzco

Cuzco, Peru
11.10.2007 

Picture of the Day: The Apostles

Great Ocean Road
Victoria, Australia
01.02.2009 

Picture of the Day: Painted Masks in San Juan

San Juan, Puerto Rico
02.17.2007

NOLA Road Trip Day 2: Memphis

We started off Friday with a quick breakfast at Chick-fil-A. I absolutely love Chick-fil-A (it reminds me of my undergrad years when we had one on campus) and there are none in my area back home so I was a very happy camper.

From Nashville we set off to Memphis arriving at Graceland around lunchtime. The American "Colonial" style mansion was built in 1939 and purchased by Elvis Presley for $100,000 in 1957. The Graceland mansion was a little smaller than I expected but the decorating lived up to all of my crazy kitschy expectations. Green shag carpet on the ceiling? Check. Peacock stained glass? Check. Indoor waterfall? Check. Stairway with walls and ceiling covered in mirrors? Check. It was also really fun to be there at the holidays because everything was decorated for Christmas.

In addition to touring the mansion we also got to see two of Elvis's planes, the Jet Star and the Lisa Marie (Elvis's daughter's name and my name, too!). I loved how Elvis had the plane seatbelt buckles plated in gold. We also saw several of the automobiles from Elvis's collection including his famous 1955 Pink Cadillac. Additionally there were a lot of exhibits about Elvis's career in music and the movies. Since we were there for lunch we had to try Elvis's favorite at the cafe, a grilled peanut butter and banana sandwich. It was delicious, but required drinking a lot of soda with all that peanut butter. 

I would have loved to check out some of the other sights in Memphis but by the time we finished at Graceland it was five o'clock and they were closed. We arrived at our hotel in time to see a beautiful sunset over the Mississipi River and the Hernando de Soto Bridge.

Since we were in Memphis eating barbecue was a must so we headed over to Central BBQ for dinner. I had a pulled pork sandwich with cole slaw on top and a sweet tea to drink. They had four sauces (mild, hot, mustard, vinegar) but I had to have vinegar since I spent four years living in North Carolina during undergrad. Frank got the rib plate (half wet, half dry) and we shared the amazing homemade potato chips with blue cheese. The meat was fabulous and we left quite stuffed.

After dinner we took the Main Street Trolley to check out Beale Street. Lined with restaurants and bars, the street was closed to traffic and filled with throngs of people. With the Liberty Bowl happening in Memphis the next day, Cincinnati Bearcat fans were out in full force and having lots of fun. After wandering up and down the street for awhile enjoying the atmoshpere we stopped in a bar for a beer before catching the trolley back to the hotel for the evening.

If you are interested, check out the rest of our road trip to New Orleans here: Day 1, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

Picture of the Day: Saipan Sunset

Saipan, Marshall Islands
12.13.2008 

NOLA Road Trip Day 1: On the Road Again

Frank and I hit the open road yesterday for our trip to New Orleans. It seems like we were just on a road trip (because actually, we in fact were) but we are off again. We had planned our pre-Christmas New York trip before we knew that Michigan would be playing in the Sugar Bowl and going to the Sugar Bowl is a must. Frank has not missed a Michigan football game (home, away or bowl) since he went to the Illinois game in 1999. So far he's been to 155 straight games and counting.

After setting off from Ann Arbor in the the morning we hit Cincinnati midday so of course we had to stop at Skyline Chili for lunch. Founded in 1949 in Cincinnati, Skyline Chili is a restaurant chain that has branched out in the surrounding areas. Their chili is known as "Cincinnati-style Chili" and is famous for being served over spaghetti or hot dogs. I got a 3-way chili (spaghetti covered with chili and topped with a huge mound of cheddar cheese) while Frank got two cheese coneys (hot dogs topped with mustard, chili, diced onions and cheddar cheese). We sat at the counter and had fun watching the staff prepare food while we enjoyed our meal. Their meal prep area consisted of a long galley of vats filled with ingredients (hot dogs, chili, spaghetti, cheese) and the staff very efficiently walked up and down along it prepping ways and coneys.

While driving through Kentucky we saw a sign for the Jim Beam distillery so we decided to check it out. It wasn't part of our plan but it was an interesting stop. The last tour of the day had already started but we joined the crowd and were in time to see their stillhouse exhibit, featuring an authentic 1800's copper still, and Warehouse D. Built in the late nineteen thirties after the end of Prohibition, Warehouse D is Jim Beam's oldest rackhouse and ages 20,000 barrels of bourbon at a time.  It was interesting to learn how they store different types of bourbon in different locations in the warehouse and how the American oak barrels are made and then charred on the inside to give flavor to the bourbon. The most fascinating thing that I learned about was that the trees surrounding the distillery are all a deep black color, almost like they were caught in a wildfire, due to a black fungus. The fungus is found in areas where fermentation product is aged in oak barrels (some of the bourbon is lost through evaporation and the airborne ethanol stimulates fungal germination) and is happily harmless to the trees. You learn new things every day! 

As we crossed into Tennessee we were greeted with a beautiful sunset. The sky was an absolutely gorgeous shade of brilliant red fading into deep purple.

After checking into our Nashville hotel (packed with Mississippi State fans for their bowl game) we headed out to ChaChah for dinner. We started with a cheese and charcuterie plate which was delicious and had a different accompanyment for each meat and cheese. I particularly liked the onion jam and mustard with the serrano ham and the spicy cranberry chutney that was served with one of the cheeses. For dinner we ordered a selection of small plates: warm brussel sprouts, roasted beet salad, ginger crab cakes and lamb meatballs. Everything was delicious but I especially loved the spiciness of the brussel sprouts with the thai chili.

Our first day on the road was on the long side (eight and a half hours of driving) but we had a fun day and luckily tomorrow's drive should be much shorter. Happy travels!

If you are interested, check out the rest of our road trip to New Orleans here: Day 2, Day 3, Day 4, Day 5, Day 6, Day 7

Picture of the Day: Ciudad del Esta Taxis

Ciudad del Esta, Paraguay
05.30.2007 

Picture of the Day: Caryatid Porch at the Acropolis

Acropolis
Athens, Greece
11.15.2009 

Stopover in Pittsburgh

To break up our drive home from New York, Frank and I stayed in Pittsburgh on Thursday night. Neither of us had been there before and we thought it was a great city and wished we had some time to wander around and discover the city more.

After checking into our hotel we headed out to dinner at Primanti Brothers. Opened in 1933 to sell sandwiches to truckers and dock workers in the Strip District, Primanti's is famous for serving fries and coleslaw on their sandwiches instead of on the side so that workers could eat with one hand and keep working.

Although Primanti's has several location around the city we went to the original restaurant which had cool old signage and a neat mural of Pittsburgh luminaries. Frank had a cheese steak sandwich, I had the kolbassi and cheese sandwich and we split an order of Smallman Street fries topped with chili, cheese, bacon and sour cream. I loved my sandwich and thought the combination of kolbassi, melted cheese, fries and cole slaw on soft, thick slabs of Italian bread was amazing.

In the morning we headed to Shadyside to try breakfast at Pamela's Diner. My corned beef hash was one of the best I've ever had with amazing amounts of corned beef and large chucks of perfect potatoes. Frank tried Pamela's famous crepe style pancakes which were light and fluffy and had wonderful, crispy edges.

On our way out of town we stopped at the West End Overlook which provided a great panorama of downtown and the Allegheny, Monongahela and Ohio rivers. It was quite overcast but the view was still lovely and I can only imagine what it would look like on a sunny day.

If we had more time I would have loved to explore the city more and in particular visit some of the museums like the Andy Warhol Museum and the Carnegie Museums of Art & Natural History. Hopefully I'll have a chance to go back someday...