NOLA again

For the Fourth of July weekend, I went to New Orleans.  I needed my hurricane fix.  I just did some gambling, a lot of eating, and some drinking.

I feel like NOLA has lost its luster, for me.  Maybe it had something to do with how crowded it was because of the holiday weekend, the jazz festival, and Essence music festival.  I could not enjoy the city as much and the hurricanes got sweeter and less strong.  I was kind of disappointed.

Ben and I went to Antoine’s again.  It is still my favorite restaurant in New Orleans.  I was happy that we did not have to sit in the front dining room again.  I wish we had Cedric for a waiter again, our waiter this time was okay.  I got a platter of oysters prepared three different ways.  I cannot remember the names of them, but when I do I will update this post.  The oysters were delish and so was the gumbo I got for an appetizer.  I got the grilled soft shell crab with almonds.  That was good, considering it was my first time eating soft shell crab.  I did not know you can eat the whole thing–shell and all.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention.  We drove to NOLA in Jenn’s Jeep, we lost a fender somewhere along the way and got a flat tire about 10 minutes outside of NOLA.  I will post up some pictures of the trip in a bit.

[Currently Listening to BT - Somnambulist]

Oh Disney, you’ll always have my heart

This past weekend, I also went to Disney.  I cannot be in Orlando and not visit Disney World.  We stayed at All-Star Movies.  It was a decent room for a last minute trip.  We got a 1-Day ticket to Epcot.  Epcot is my favorite park in Disney World.

We had dinner at Cape May Cafe, located in the Yacht & Beach Club Resort.  I have been here several times, and each time I stuff myself full like a Thanksgiving turkey.  It is an all-you-can-eat clambake.  There were clams, mussels, corn on the cob, potatoes, shrimp, salad, clam chowder, sirloin, ribs, sausage and peppers, and more.  I usually just go for heapings of clams.  I always seem to have trouble getting reservations at Disney restaurants.  So, we usually settle for eating early when the restaurant opens.  You just have to walk up and put in your name, and you will usually be seated within 15 mins.  One thing I would suggest is eating there early.  As the night goes on, the queue for the clams and other food are long–I hate waiting in lines.

Another thing great about this place, they know how to make a decent hurricane–not as good as New Orleans, but still tasty.  The first one we ordered was bottom shelf.  It did not taste bad, top-shelf was a lot better.  We went to the bar right after to continue hydrating ourselves.  Turns out, the bartenders there were the ones making our drinks.  They were surprised to see “the people that ordered the 5 hurricanes.”

We continued our hydrating at Pleasure Island.  We got the multi-club ticket, $20 cover for five or six clubs.  We got a bucket of some random drink.  I saw Grey Goose and figured it would be good.  The bartender put waaaayyy too much sour mix in there.  Pleasure Island was okay.  Disney only created that to keep the 21+ crowd entertained late night.  I do not think Disney was striving to have the best nightclubs in Orlando.

Sunday, we went to Epcot.  It was a great time.  We hit up all the cool rides, except Test Track–that was closed down due to the weather, I assume.  We had lunch at Tokyo Dining.  It was really good.  I have not eaten there in a long time.  I got the mixed tempura and sashimi combination plate.  I was a bit hesitant to get the tempura, cause I have cut back on my intake of fried food a lot.  The batter was not too heavy or greasy.  The sashimi was the best.  I love sashimi, especially tuna.  Ben got the grilled chicken with ponzu and teriyaki sauce.  It was pretty good.  The waitstaff was cute and on top of everything.

Oh I cannot forget to mention this particular cardinal hanging outside a window of the restaurant.  I saw this cardinal fly down to this railing and he was just sitting there peering into the restaurant.  After a while, I realized that he was still hanging around the railing and then….he flies head first into the window!  I had not noticed that he was doing that.  For the rest of the meal, all I could do was watch this bird continually fly into this glass window.  Our waitress noticed that we were admiring the resiliance of this bird.  She told us that he has been hanging around and flying into the window for the past two weeks.  Now I do not feel bad for this bird anymore.  He is just plain dumb.  How many times does this bird have to fly into the window before he figures out that he cannot get in through the window?  I hope somebody helps that birdie out.

I want to go back to Disney.

A Morning Jolt

As a child, I would start my days off with a glass of milk or juice.  When I got to my teens, I wanted to be more grown up, so I switched to coffee.  Also, my mom did not want me to become addicted to coffee at a young age.  Little did she know that my father let me have iced coffees when I went to see him.  Mr. Coffee Iced Coffee in a can was delicious.

I can now proudly say, “My name is Sheila.  I’m addicted to coffee/caffeine.” I do not see what is wrong with being addicted to coffee.  I can easily stop drinking it anytime I want.  I choose not to because it is so delish.  My tastes in coffee have evolved.  I used to drink instant coffee.  Once I discovered different blends and roasts, I was hooked even more.  After visiting France, I became hooked on espresso.  Now espresso has been introduced into my morning routine.

After visiting New Orleans, hurricanes would be part of my morning routine, except I cannot find a daiquiri bar in Tallahassee open that early or a daiquiri bar that serves hurricanes at all.  When I was in New Orleans, a hurricane would definitely do the trick in the morning.  Some might say that I was using that as the “hair of the dog that bit you.”  I will just go ahead and say that it was because I was instantly hooked.  I stopped liking fruity drinks around the time I started college.  They were always way too fruity and sweet.  I started feeling like my teeth were rotting after drinking those.  I have been sticking to beers instead.  [Beers will likely be a future post]  Anyways, those hurricanes are awesome.  There is a lot of alcohol in it, but you just do not notice it because it tastes so good.  I have to admit though, I cannot drink more than two of those drinks in a row.  They get too sweet for my liking.

Since being back from NOLA, I have been craving a hurricane..or two.  I want to go back just so I can get a fix.

[Listening to Lily Allen - Littlest Things]