Road trip adventures: Grand Rapids, MI

It is 10PM.

I finished my run at 8PM.


I still haven't showered.


I'm kind of gross that way :-)


I chose to do some work (I'm sick, I know), catch up on blogs, and write this post instead of showering. Aren't you glad? (sarcasm).


How was your weekend, blog friends? Zak and I took a road trip to Grand Rapids (MI), to visit his sister and her family. We used to hang out with them frequently when they lived in Chicago, but there was something about a 700 square foot high-rise condo that didn't mesh well with having a baby :-) They moved to Grand Rapids earlier this year, and this was our first trip to their new town. 


It was also our first trip with both dogs in tow. They did surprisingly well on the road!

Here's how the weekend went: We pretty much either a) played with baby Zeke, b) went out to eat, or c) took photos with baby Zeke. It was great! 

Saturday, we managed to catch some of the Herman Miller Grand Cycling Classic (US Finals Criterium) races through Downtown Grand Rapids. It was pretty cool to watch! Team Bissel (yes, the vacuum cleaner) owned the race, at least the one we watched.

source

Later, we checked out Stella's Lounge, a punk rock bar with a killer whiskey list and a giant, mostly-vegan menu. We went early, and the music wasn't too loud or anything, but was pretty hilarious to take a baby there. We had to take advantage of their cool mural outside for a mini photo shoot.

Stella's menu was indeed impressive, mostly because of the 200 types of Bourbon and whiskey available. I didn't want to be *that girl*, at least not while hanging out with Zeke, so I opted to try the "Hellbent for Lentils" vegan burger with "Chronic" fries. Holy delicious.

They call these "chronic fries" for a reason - highly addictive!

Hands down, the best burger I've had this year. And 100% vegan!

Zeke said that once he can eat solid food, he will have to try this burger.

Baby fist bump!

After dinner, we headed to Jersey Junction in East Grand Rapids, for dessert: ice cream!

Cake batter ice cream. It was pretty swoon-worthy.

"There she goes with the weird food photography again..."

All in all, it was a fantastic night. More foodie adventures and Zeke photos to follow!

You do the talking: Have you ever had vegan bar food? We have a great place in Milwaukee called Palomino that is pretty fantastic, and has a similar rockin' vibe.

Are you a whiskey drinker? I seriously love whiskey and Bourbon. It's kind of my thing! Only a little bit at once, though. I'd rather order a high-quality whiskey on the rocks and sip it over a couple hours, than order beer after beer.

Heaven a la horseback in Garden of the Gods, plus Colorado Springs eats and hundreds upon hundreds of firemen...

Hello to all of you out there in cyberspace... Today I am blogging from a lovely futon at my sister's apartment. It's 10:30 and I've been up for a couple of hours... Annie is still sleeping off a very late night out in CoS ;-)

Yesterday was great. I had the pleasure of treating myself to a 3-hour horseback trail ride through Garden of the Gods!

Vacations can be tough in terms of fitting in physical activity, but horseback riding is a great way to experience a new place. This was my second time trying a ride with Academy Riding Stables in Colorado Springs... the experience last February was amazing and I was stoked to try out another ride.

Garden of the Gods is honestly one of the most beautiful places I've ever experienced. It was a great three hours to reconnect with nature and relax.

I booked the "Perimeter Ride" for this trip, which goes throughout the entire perimeter of the park. The multiple trails lead through prairie, hills, steep rocks, and sheer cliffs. The views are intoxicating!

My horse, Strawberry, was a funny gal. She frequently stopped to eat stuff and pretty much ignored my tugging at her reins!

This would be Strawberry causing a flash flood, haha.

So mature of me to have posted that, I know. I didn't get a picture, but the wrangler Todd's horse Vegas was even more hilarious. That horse farted every time she stepped up an embankment or hill. She even burped a couple times, too!

During the ride, we heard lots of rattlesnakes shakin' their rattles in the prairie grasses. Eerie but very cool. There were also not-so-natural sounds of fighter jets practicing above, a la Air Force Academy that's nearby. It was like our own private air show!

Since we walked the horses, the ride wasn't too challenging except for the steep bits. My horse took the rough terrain like a champ, but I am definitely a bit saddle sore today.

MAJOR THANKS and MUCHO PROPS to wrangler Todd at Academy Riding Stables! He's the absolute best.

After the ride, I was hungry! Annie took me to a great brewpub called Trinity. It was love at first sight... craft beers and vegetarian / vegan fare!!!

Though Trinity is located in a new strip mall, the interior was hip and industrial-chic. It looked like the bar and a lot of furnishings were made from reclaimed materials - very urban and funky. The menus were inside heavy metal covers.

The first thing inside the menu was a page-long letter, signed off with "Peace, Love and Gratitude." How cute is that? This added to the crunchy, altruistic vibe of the place. Beatles music played and you could hear the cooks singing along.

I went with the "Hot wing" salad - Seitan "wings" with organic spinach, carrots, celery, onion and tomatoes in a vegan bleu cheese dressing. I opted to have some dairy bleu cheese crumbles added on top.

This dish was muy caliente! The "wings" were drenched in super spicy buffalo sauce, and perfectly fulfilled my craving for hotness, ha. The portion was perfect - the size of a large soup bowl.

Annie chose the mac & cheese, served in a small breadbowl. Holy yum!

We shared some of the sweet potato fries, which tasted like they were baked vs. fried. They weren't as crispy as we would have liked, but had a pleasant mush to them :-)

I almost forgot - the beers! How could I forget about the beers? I tried Trinity's "Sonna," a Belgian. Delicious. Check out how sun-kissed I am here, ha.

I don't remember which beer Annie chose, but she sure looks nice in this photo!

A great meal! Will look forward to returning to Trinity during another visit.

I am going to go and wake up Annie as it's ALMOST 11:30! Sheesh. Assuming that we get moving :-), we will be checking out the Fallen Firefighter Memorial ceremony. There are hundreds and hundreds of firefighters in Colorado Springs this weekend, honoring their brethren. Think bagpipes, a motorcycle procession, and said hundreds of firefighters in their dress uniforms. Should be a unique and meaningful afternoon.

Cheers to another great day!

A Weekend of Sisterhood + Fabulous Eats

Hello there! I took the past few days off from blogging as my lovely sister Annie was in town. She was here for less than 48 hours, however it feels like a lot longer as we packed activities into each day and evening!

Among other things, we experienced some great food. We ate out... I don't know... three times? Lol. 

Saturday started with a lunch at Fratello's, a restaurant overlooking the Milwaukee River in the Historic 3rd Ward. Here are some photos from the restaurant's website - it was too cold out for us to sit on the patio, but the interior has a modern, warm vibe.

Special guests were my Aunt Bonnie and Uncle Dave, who were in town from Eau Claire for a Jimmy Buffet concert! My family also chose Fratello's for my Mom's birthday dinner earlier this year, and while the server was great, the food was so-so. This time around, the service was poor but the food was a bit better. 

The problem with service, started with too little bread being brought out for the dip trio that was ordered for an appetizer. I was late to lunch and did not get a photo of this... but it looked like mini garlic toasts and pita wedges were offered alongside hummus, bruschetta topping and a third mystery dip. 

When I got there, there was about 50% of the dips left but we were out of bread. My Mom requested some more and we did this 2x. It wasn't until later when we had the bill, that the waitress had charged an extra dollar for each tiny basket of bread! Sure, an extra dollar isn't that bad - but she should have mentioned we were being charged each time. 

I started with a cup of broccoli soup - it was nice and hot, but pretty bland. Tasted fine after I added some salt + pepper.

For an entree, I chose the Blackened Halibut Salad. 

The fish was great - perfectly done, warm and spicy with the blackened seasoning. The salad was pretty standard, next time I'd probably request the mixed greens vs. the romaine lettuce base. There were black olives and feta cheese in the mix; the feta was good but the black olives tasted can-ny. It's a big pet peeve of mine that restaurants cut corners by using canned black olives instead of kalamata olives in Greek-type of salads. I digress...

My sister ordered the margherita pizza. They key to this simple dish is fresh ingredients for fresh flavors - ripe tomato, tangy basil, fresh sweet mozzarella cheese.

She said that it was not very good... the tomatoes were mushy, there wasn't enough cheese, the basil wasn't fresh and there was too little. Annie is a foodie and loves her pizza, so this was a disappointment. 

For dessert, we ordered the trio of cupcakes for the table. Fratello's has a lovely cupcake menu with lots of options!

We chose the Turtle, the Peanut Butter Cup, and the Chocolate Fixx.

These were great - frostings were the highlight - however the cake parts tasted pretty stale. I enjoyed a few spoonfuls of the Turtle, and tasted the frostings only for the Peanut Butter Cup and Chocolate Fixx. A sweet ending to the meal.

I usually keep an open mind with restaurants... however have to comment that the server was absolutely horrible to my Mom. When we received the bill, the waitress rudely (and I do mean rudely) and loudly proclaimed that "We DON'T accept Discover cards, actually MOST restaurants DO NOT accept them." She also cleared the table of every utensil - water glasses which we were still drinking out of, every last piece of cutlery - while all of us were still sitting there. Many times she interrupted our personal space by stacking plates, slamming stuff around - inches from our shoulders or arms! What a rude gal. I hope that whatever was bugging her, she gets over quickly because WE will not be headed back to the place anytime soon!

Sorry for the rant. I insist on being honest on this blog, and that was my honest opinion :-)

Coming up - a recap of our visit to the Milwaukee Public Market, and Saturday's dinner + dessert!

Review: Metro Bar & Cafe at Hotel Metro

Currently Listening to: "California" by Lucero

Today, I had the pleasure of joining my lovely parents for lunch at Metro Bar & Cafe, at Hotel Metro!

Hotel Metro is an elegant boutique-style hotel, fashionably located in Downtown Milwaukee on Mason & Milwaukee Streets. I've been to Metro Bar & Cafe a few times for their Happy Hour specials, but only once before for lunch.

The summer menu boasted some intriguing beverage options!

My Mom selected the Ginger Fizz - "house made ginger ale with fresh ginger, seltzer and a shot of lime juice." I tried a little and it had a strong, refreshing ginger taste. This was my favorite out of our three drinks, I want to figure out how to make it at home!

I tried out the Peach Ice tea, which included fresh peach puree - very mellow in taste with a hint of spicy black tea.

My Dad had the Mango Ice tea, same as mine but with delicious fresh mango puree. Smooth and sweet (sorry no pic).

The waitress brought a bread bowl - I had half of a white roll. The thin, crispy cheese breadsticks looked good as well.

For entrees, a special of the day was a Blue Crab Grilled Cheese. My parents love crab so they both ordered it!

I tried out the Roasted Vegetable Melt sandwich with fries.

While I was impressed with my Peach Ice tea, I did not much care for the sandwich. It arrived on some thick, whole grain bread but was coated with butter. I should have asked for them to hold the butter. The vegetables were overdone to the point of being kinda mushy, and it was a weird combination of squash, artichoke pieces (which I don't much like - too bitter), with just a few tiny pieces of mushroom and red pepper. My body was craving a salad and I guess I should have listened! I ate 1/2 the sandwich and about 2/3 of the fries, which were hot and crispy and pretty good.

Overall, a good meal at a great value. My favorite part of it was spending time with my parents! My Mom is back to school soon, I can't believe how fast the summer has gone by.