Mobile (AL) & Vietnamese Food

If you are traveling through Mobile and you are craving some good Vietnamese (and Chinese) food, you have to check out Yen Restaurant. It's worth getting off the highway a bit and you get to see a nice area of Mobile. On our drive from Texas to Florida, we like to stop over in Mobile as it's a little bit over the halfway mark. This time, while we ate in Mobile, we pressed on after dinner. This restaurant was awesome - good service, great food, decent pricing. I highly recommend it and would definitely eat there again. Mark and I enjoy using our phone apps to find good eating options - anything light. We just don't often do burger stops anymore. Hope you give Yen a try!

Honey & the TSA

This is a repost from our bee blog but since it fits the topic, I know you won't mind since it means I actually posted here! :-)

Have you ever found yourself wondering if honey travels well? I do a bit of travel for my training job with the steel making company and I like to take a bit of home with me whenever I can in order to reduce homesickness. I typically take one squeeze bottle with me and every single time I have honey in the suitcase (since you can’t carry it on unfortunately), my suitcase gets inspected and they leave me a personal note to let me know. Isn’t that awesome? This time, I made them work for it. I packed two glass jars for a friend to save her some shipping cost and added in six 1-pound squeeze bottles (coworkers wanted to sample them). I individually seal each jar in a Ziploc bag so any leaks could be contained. I would love to know what those TSA people think when they open my suitcase. I also count this as good and free advertising since it puts our name in front of at least one new person. Maybe more if they tell a coworker, “Yea, look at this crazy lady carrying eight pounds of honey around…” You never know.

Hyatt Lost Pines (Bastrop, Tx)

This is a fabulous resort and I highly recommend it. The scenery is lovely, the hotel is AWESOME and the service is excellent. I can't post all the pictures I want to share but I really enjoyed our few days there!

And near by is the Bastrop State Park so you have to drive through there - it's beautiful and made me feel as if I was back on the east coast. The tall pines and needles on the ground cushioned all the noise. The road went on and on and on for something like 13 miles I believe. We went at dusk and totally enjoyed the quiet. We didn't get out since it was so hot and humid but there was a lot to do there it appears (fishing, hiking, camping, etc.).



And if you get hungry and would like to sample some local fare, be sure to check out Gracie's, which is a block off of Main Street. Their little historic downtown are was super pedestrian friendly and while it wasn't a huge area, it was a nice way to spend an hour walking through shops before dinner. Gracie's has awesome home-cooked food and a great, friendly staff. On Friday nights, you may even catch some live music. We did and loved it. We even got to see a saw being played in person. Very beautiful sound. :-)

Lily's Cookies (San Antonio, Tx)

I was in SA for an appointment and took a drive down McCollough for kicks on the way to Highway 281 and I was rewarded for my decision! I saw this adorable bakery and had to go around the block to get a closer look. I'm so glad I did!



This adorable bakery is gorgeous - just the sort of place I picture I would love to work if only I was a great baker. Which I'm not. So good thing people like these folks are around for us. It's lovely inside and the young lady helping me was really nice. I also picked up a couple of cookies and my friends said they tasted great. I'm on a diet or else I would have totally done the taste test myself. Check them out on the web as well - Lily's Cookies.

Moultrie, Georgia - Dalton's Chicken

If you are ever in the Moultrie (GA) area, then you need to stop by Dalton's Chicken and try their yummy food. We stopped there overnight last month when we went to pick up beekeeping equipment and supplies from Rossman Apiaries. The Hampton Inn was very nice, as was the staff there - super friendly. The lady suggested this restaurant if we like chicken. We like chicken. And we liked this restaurant.

It was a very delicious fried chicken and we even got fried chicken livers. I can't remember the last time I had that! Not something you find on many menus. It's nice to be in the south, right. :-)

They also have this neat system for delivering the food. You order and pay for your food and then you're given one of these little "shirts." Once you find the table you want, you slide the shirt into that device you see and I guess that tells the wait staff which table has a certain order. Neat. I've never seen that sort of system before that visit. Great food, friendly people and learn something new - what more could we want?

Fuel and a taco to go, please.

While traveling through Lake Jackson (Texas) once, we stopped to fuel up before heading home. I saw this and went to check it out since I had not seen anything like it before anywhere I've traveled. I was so amazed and tickled! You use this machine to place orders for tacos and they are prepared as you fuel up your vehicle. Then, after you are done, you pick up the food inside. Pretty cool. I haven't seen these anywhere else I've traveled. Have you?

Corpus Christi, Texas

City Diner & Oyster Bar is a great place to eat if you are traveling in the Corpus Christi area. Last month, Mark and I ventured down that way since Mark presented a talk on genealogy research at the public library there. They are celebrating their 100th birthday this year and have scheduled special programs throughout the year. I was proud of Mark for being a part of that. He used to work at that library so it's nice to visit with old friends.

Anyway, the building art caught my eyes and just cracks me up. Even now when I look at it. I have NEVER seen anyone depict an oyster with hands. It's hilarious! The food was fantastic. We went for breakfast and really enjoyed it. The waitress was super, too. I highly recommend it for breakfast at least. Don't know what they are like at other times.

I (Heart) Pho (Irving, Tx)

Another week in Irving. I know I haven't posted in a while but that's because I've only been coming to corporate office lately. But then I thought, hey, I could always do another showcase of the yummy food I have while I'm here.

Tonight I went back for a third visit and had soup again. It was yummy! For about $6.50, you get a big bowl of soup (even though I got small, it was huge) and a water. I couldn't even finish all of my soup! I highly recommend it if you are up here -- great selection of food and the fresh spring rolls are delicious, atmosphere pretty nice.

Cadillac Ranch - Irving, TX

Since my trips lately have only been to Irving, there's not much new stuff to share. :) Besides, I am mostly working except at dinner time! I love food! I went with friends to Cadillac Ranch again because it's convenient and pretty good. After a rough day, I decided that I should try something new, just because it's always good to do that I think. Sure, I was leaning towards the oven-baked fried chicken (again) but I forced myself to try the quail. Boy, was it great! And so cute too. Look at those little legs! I am now a fan. Poor little, delicious quails. My sides included asparagus and grits. Yes, grits! It was delicous too!

Driving-to-Irving Survival Guide

Lately we have been driving between San Antonio and Irving (Texas) when we need to go to Corporate. This saves the company money and we're all about that so there are no complaints from us. Plus it's a great trip when you are with someone you enjoy -- constant talk and jamming music makes the four hour drive fly by really. Once we're up there, we also opt for the two-bedroom suite ($125 per night) versus getting our own room ($111). If you like to have a little company (like we do), the suite is a great bargain. The rooms are great at the Hyatt Summerfield Suites.

Here are some of the things we enjoy on our drive:

1. Great company
2. Lots of talking (about work but also about life)
3. Lots of laughing (lots)
4. At least one stop at a Starbucks
5. Where to eat once we're there discussions
6. Snacks (Funions, Cheetos, an occasional banana and apple for me, pistachios)
7. Texting and calling our family and friends to update them on our adventures

The Summit Diner (NJ)

This is a great place to grab a bite if you are in Summit. I really enjoyed breakfast there. Two of us ate a filling breakfast with juice and coffee for under $20. Not bad in an affluent town. Below is a shot of inside.

This diner is located across from the train station so you could grab a quick bite and then hop the train for a 30 minute ride into New York City. Too bad we didn't have time to go into the city but we had a really nice time driving and walking around Summit. It's a really lovely community.

Doubletree Hotel, Claremont, CA

Back to the Doubletree. They offer room service which is something that I love to see. There's just something very fun about room service to me and once in a while, I let myself enjoy it. I couldn't resist the French Toast though it was not as scrumptious as I would have liked. Just so you know. The coffee was very good though not enough. The young man who delivered it told me a secret (according to him). You can request a small pot of coffee and the cost doesn't increase much or you can go to the restaurant and get FREE coffee. And it's Starbucks coffee. Good to know for when I go back next month. I just need to bring a coffee mug. Coffee out of paper doesn't taste as good to me and out of styrofoam is even worse. Of course, if I'm desperate, I won't complain!

Pho in Reno, NV

I had Vietnamese chicken noodle soup tonight and tried it at Pho Restaurant in Reno. I liked this photo a lot more than the soup itself. ;) The chicken was not as tender as I was hoping so I left most of it. The broth was pretty decent. There's another Pho house near the strip somewhere on 2nd Street and Virginia but it's hard to find parking there so I'll try them if I come back to Nevada again.