Had this at my friend Becky’s house at a superbowl party. It was the creamiest ice cream I’ve ever had and bonus, its super easy. So thanks Becky for the awesome recipe!
1 can sweetened condensed milk 1 pint heavy whipping cream 1 tablespoon vanilla Optional mix-ins 1 teaspoon instant coffee or espresso 2 tablespoons jam chocolate pudding Nuts Chocolate chips Even crazy stuff like pretzels, marshmallows, crumbles cookies or candy or bacon
Using the whisk attachment on your hand or stand mixer whip the cream until firm peaks.
On slow, whisk in the sweetened condensed milk, vanilla and if you are using the pudding or instant coffee whisk those in.
If you are using the jam, nuts or chips fold these in. Just swirl the jam in so its not completely blended in.
Spread into a dish and freeze at least 4 hours or overnight.
So into the fluff stuff on Pinterest. I love things that can be easily customized. One basic recipe that you can switch in and out ingredients. This fluff “salad” does that perfectly. Not really clear why it’s called a salad. It’s whipped cream, pudding and/or Jell-O and marshmallows with some fruit added in. Sounds like dessert to me.
The basic recipe is
1 regular size tub of cool whip (I like the real cream one but I’m sure they will all work) 1 package of pudding or Jell-O (I like the new Jell-O brand all natural ones) And/Or 1 package of Jell-O 1-2 cups mini marshmallows 1 can or jar of something with liquid like crushed pineapple, peaches, pears, apple butter etc. Diced fruit, dried fruit, chopped nuts etc.
Fold the pudding and/or Jell-O into the cool whip. Be sure to fold not stir or you’ll deflate the whipped cream. Then fold in the liquid part.
You need the liquid because the pudding and Jell-O will absorb the moisture from the whipped cream and this liquid will make it less stiff and help dissolve the mix.
Then fold in the fruit, dried fruit, nuts, marshmallows or whatever you’re using.
My first try
Orange Mango Pineapple Fluff
1 tub cool whip 1 package Jell-O brand natural orange mango Jell-O 1 cup diced fresh mango 1 cup diced fresh pineapple 1 cup mandarin oranges each segment cut in half 1 cup mini marshmallows
Folded the Jell-o into cool whip then the other ingredients. Refrigerate for at least a couple of hours.
I bought the little cups of already diced fruit so there was no prep or liquid. I noticed the Jell-O didn’t completely dissolve after it was refrigerated for a couple of hours. It did after it was refrigerated over night. It still tasted awesome after 2 hours but probably use the canned pineapple next time for the liquid. And maybe mix the pineapple with the Jell-O first to dissolve it then fold into the cool whip.
Fall Apple Cranberry Peanut Butter Fluff
1 tub cool whip 1 package Jell-O brand natural vanilla pudding 1 – 9oz jar apple butter 1 heaping teaspoon natural peanut butter 1/2 each Granny Smith and Fuji apple; diced and soaked in lemon water then drained 1 cup pecans chopped 1 cup dried cranberries 1-2 cups mini marshmallows Fold the pudding mix into the cool whip, fold in everything else one at a time. Refrigerate for 2 hours.
Citrus Salad with pomegranate and minted crème fraiche
Orange and Pink grapefruit segments sprinkled with pomegranate seeds Crème fraiche sprinkled with bourbon black walnut sugar and mint leaves
Strawberries with Mascarpone cheese
Cut the bottom off the strawberries so the sit upright Cut a an X in the top of the strawberries Mix a tub of mascarpone and 2 tablespoons brown sugar Put the mixture in a piping bag with a star tip Pipe into the X of each strawberry Top with a little sugar and a mint sprig
Roasted Fingerling Potatoes with Orange Mustard Sauce
Slice fingerling potatoes in half lengthwise Place on a sheet pan, sprinkle with olive oil, salt, pepper and onion powder Roast at 425 for about 25 minutes or until golden and soft Place on platter to cool Mix equal parts brown mustard and orange marmalade
Egg salad with Bacon, Cucumber, and Pepper Jelly
Make your favorite egg salad, keep it stiff Spread pepper jelly on a halved mini croissant Top with egg salad, cucumber slice and bacon cooked and crumbled Sprinkle with celery seed and dill
Blue Cheese Dip with Pear Slices
Pimento Cheese with Apple Slices
Chicken salad with Peaches, Blueberry, Cashews and Chutney
Shred the breast meat of 2 rotisserie chickens Toss chicken with 1 peach, skinned and chopped small Add 1/2 cup dried blueberries and 1/2 cup chopped cashews Add a finely chopped celery stalk and grated 1/2 a small white onion Mix 8 oz of sour cream with 3 tablespoons chutney and the juice of 1 lime Pour the mixture over the chicken mixture and toss to coat Top toasted pumpernickel bread slices with chicken salad Sprinkle with pomegranate seeds
Drinks
Sliced peaches and fresh blackberries in Peach juice
Sliced strawberries, cucumber, and limes in limeade
I used a lot of things I already had. I don’t like to buy stuff that’s super specific for a party. I like to use stuff that you might use in real life and just double duty it for parties.
For this I used a lot of natural elements, wood trays and plates, I had faux fern and evergreen wreaths that I use for lots of things. Magnolia Market has cute ones. I had old thermoses, wooden lanterns, and old Coleman ice chest. I have wooden berry baskets that I use usually at the holidays to put cookies in. I put an enamel bowl in one for snacks. If it had been fall or winter I would have used some plaid blankets.
Just think about the theme. Don’t think about what kind of party it is or look at regular party stores they will mess you up. Instead think about the theme. It’s a woodland theme. What is in the woods, what do you do in the woods, that kind of stuff. So there are trees, pine needles, pine cones, acorns, ferns, wildflowers, nests, and wildlife in the woods. So then I look around my house and in my storage of stuff for those kinds of things. Next what do you do in the woods. Camp. So campfires, s’mores, etc.
You want tall things, medium things, then tiny things to scatter and fill in empty spaces. The lanterns and thermos were tall, I used cake stands to raise some of the food platters. Then the platters and plates are the medium items. The small things are pinecones, fake acorns I have for fall a fake nest with moss in it. I found some mason jars, filled them with battery twinkle lights and moss to look like fireflies. Your serving dishes should go with the theme too. That’s why I mostly have white, silver, and wood. You can pretty much use that combo for anything.
I also don’t like paper products. It cost more money, you are throwing more into the dump and it’s not as nice. I only use paper plates if it’s a lot of people. I have white plates from World Market or TJ Maxx or even Target they all have standard nice white plates that will go with anything. Target and World Market carry the same style for a long time so you could gradually buy what you need. I think at least 20 is good. You’ll use the small plates more so buy those first. Same thing with napkins, silverware and cups. You can get inexpensive white or off white napkins almost anywhere. Just don’t get the polyester ones. They feel terrible, look cheap, and don’t work anyways. Get cotton, linen or something natural. The cups you can mix and match so just buy cool smaller glasses when you find them. They should be old fashioned sizes. That works best for parties. The silverware will be the most expensive. You can get them at the same places or go to an antique shop that sells silver and buy mixed matched ones which I prefer. But eventually you’ll have a nice collection and never have to buy paper products again. And it just looks so much nicer.
For the food…
If I want to go with the theme because you don’t have to always do that. But if I go with the theme I think about food that would be eaten in that country or in that location or if you were really doing the thing the theme is based on. So in this case woodland, I went with camp type stuff.
Local baker made S’mores cupcakes (I got the idea from good ole Pinterest), I tried to make the cute little red toadstools from Pinterest but I couldn’t figure out how they made the little white dots. So it wasn’t a complete success but they were still cute. Made deviled potatoes that I just made up. Bought some fancy nut mix (Sahale) for a trail mix, made pigs in a blanket but put them on little twigs to look like we roasted them over a fire (you can order the twigs from Save-On-Crafts) Then the rest wasn’t all that camp like but it went with the rest of the food. Just roll with it.
Menu
S’mores Cupcakes Graham cracker mini cupcakes with chocolate Hersey icing, toasted marshmallow and a teddy graham (if it needs to be baked the day of – order it instead it will be too much to do the day of)
Camp Sliders Hawaiian rolls, with turkey, smoked gouda, and sautéed onions mixed with fig jam
Campfire Pigs in a Blanket Good quality hot dogs rolled in crescent roll dough baked according to the package. Then skewer with a twig and serve with mild mustard mixed with apricot jam
Smoked Salmon and Cucumber Sandwiches Pepperidge Farm white bread cut in half and toasted 2 pouches of smoked salmon (like tuna) mixed with crème fraiche, chopped drained capers chopped dill, mustard, lemon zest and juice top the toast with the salmon, a thin slice of cucumber that’s been patted dry, celery salt and a few sprigs of watercress.
Toadstool Caprese Skewers Skewer half a grape tomato, a little piece of mozzarella string cheese, and a leaf of parsley. (maybe you can figure out the little white dots)
Deviled Roasted Potatoes Baby gold potatoes, cut in half tossed with olive oil salt and pepper and roasted until soft and browned. Hard boil eggs and remove the yolks, whip the yolks with sour cream, mustard, and drained relish. You want it stiff. Top the cooled potatoes with a dollop of egg mixture and a piece of cooked bacon.
Spring Vegetables with Dip Bousin cheese with sour cream, chopped fresh chives. Microwave a bag of French green beans until still crisp. Microwave very thin asparagus with the woody ends snapped off until still crisp, slice radishes in half.
Fancy Trail Mix Sahale nut mix they have many different flavors
Coffee and Nut M&Ms These were buy one get one at Publix so I grabbed them can’t really taste the coffee but they are all different shades of brown so they looked like pebbles! Perfect!
For the drinks
I bought Simply Lemonade brand juices. They are all natural not from concentrate so they taste great. Not fake.
Simply Peach | add sliced fresh peaches and blueberries
Simply Limeade | add sliced cucumber, limes, and strawberries
Pitcher of water | add sliced cucumber
Then I also had a bottle of champagne if anyone wanted to spike their juices.
Usually I set up everything the week before to make sure I have what I need and have time to go buy what I’m missing
Then I prep the food the day before and just assemble the morning of. It was a busy week so I didn’t get to prep ahead of time. Fortunately, I had chosen simple things and my son, his boyfriend, and my husband all pitched in. We had the food ready to go in 3 hours. Sweet!
This place is paradise. The people are so genuinely friendly and lovely. Smiling and helpful. Pretty much everyone speaks English. But they really appreciate when you take a second to learn some Balinese or Indonesian. Suksma | thank you and pagi | good morning were all I could remember. I suck at learning other languages.
So the flight there, yeah. Not fun. 2 1/2 hours to New Jersey, 2 hour layover, 15 hours to Hong Kong, 5 hour layover, 5 hours to Bali. With a 12 hour difference. Fortunately getting there if you just stay up until your normal bed time and then sleep you should be close to straight when you get up. Coming home for some stupid reason is not the same. It’s been 3 days and I’m still waking up at 4am.
Bali is part of the Indonesian Islands, the string of islands between the Vietnam peninsula and Australia. Most of the other islands are Muslim but Bali is over 80% Hindu. They are very open and welcoming to all kinds of travelers. They have small temples (not actual buildings but little places to make an offering) at almost every business and larger ones at homes. Then there are the big temples that are a group of buildings inside a wall. Everywhere you go there are little palm bowls full of flowers and incense burning. It smells lovely.
It’s really hot, Florida in August hot but I didn’t think it was as humid. You were hot and sticky the whole time but you just get used to it. At night you shower and sleep in the a/c. Their rainy season is I think November to April so we were there just at the end of the season. I think it was perfect. It rained just like Florida afternoons for a couple of days and all day one day. Otherwise it was fine. The rain would cool things off. I didn’t really notice a lot of bugs or mosquitos. We came with 10% deet repellent just to be safe but about halfway through I forgot to use it and didn’t have any problems. You can check the CDC’s website to see what shots or precautions you should take when traveling to a certain country. They kind of go overboard. We ended up just getting tetanus shots and taking antibiotics in case we got a back case of Bali Belly. Fortunately as long as you only drink bottled water, don’t swallow when brushing your teeth, only use ice if it’s a specific shape not just broken up, and don’t eat that the sketchy places along the street or from street vendors you should be fine. If it looks like it’s dirty don’t eat there. There are lots of clean beautiful places to eat.
Their money is crazy – 100,000 Rp equals about $8. So we were walking around with millions, hence the Ballin in Bali. Download the Currency + app or another simple app. But once you figure out what 100,000 is worth in dollars it’s pretty easy. Most things are some combo of 100,000 or 50,000. So 800,000 Rp is 8 x $8. Everything is ridiculously cheap. Our 4 star 5 course world class meal with wine at each course at Bridges in Ubud was $64 pp, yes $64 pp. Our full day at the Karsa Spa – 1 hour massage, 1 hour body treatment followed by an essential oil bath full of flowers, 1 hour foot massage, and a pedicure $72. Yes, $72. It’s crazy and the flight was the same as getting to Europe about $1,000. But once you are there you’ll spend a fraction of what you’d spend in Europe.
Don’t bring dollars or travelers checks (if they even still have those). Just use the local ATMs to get out what you need each day or whenever. They have them everywhere. Most banks have a daily limit to take out cash so check with your bank on that amount and let them know you’ll be in Bali. Ours had a limit of $400 for each card holder. Also, call your credit card company to let them know too. Most places wanted cash. The larger restaurants and hotels will take credit cards and larger purchases but clothes and other tourist type stuff you need cash. Same thing for paying a driver or taxis or tips. Most restaurants include a service fee of 10% so they aren’t expecting a tip. But come on. Leave 100,000 Rp. It’s $8. The average person in Bali makes $8 a day so you’ll make someone’s day.
So as far as packing and travel tips (then I’ll stop talking and post pictures). They pretty much have any toiletry you might need and as stated earlier it will be cheap. So don’t worry too much about pharmacy stuff or toiletries just pack what you normally would and get something you missed there. Or if it’s something hard to pack get it there. They have sunscreen and bug spray (you need both). Just bring any prescriptions obviously.
For the flight | pack a good pillow for the plane both our long flights were over night which really helps you be able to sleep. I used this one I got on Amazon and it worked great (I’m a side sleeper so trying to sleep sitting up is hard). I also recommend wearing sandals then taking socks. So you can slip off your shoes easily but won’t have stinky feet. They feed you constantly so you really don’t need snacks. I took a bunch of stuff and we didn’t eat any of it. Take a little travel tooth brush and toothpaste so when you wake up towards the end of the flight you can brush your teeth. It helps. Maybe deodorant and some nice wipes too.
We stayed at a beautiful smaller resort when we first got there. Again, lovely people who own it. They have nicely appointed bungalows with a/c and wifi. There’s an open air spa and a restaurant. Two beautiful pools that over look the Indian Ocean. You can walk down steps in the cliff to get to a very small very rocky beach. Really too rough to swim, my husband ended up cutting his leg. If you want a smaller cozy very relaxed kind of place I highly recommend it. You can find it on Airbnb | La Joya
Breakfast by the pool
Very laid back and relaxing. Secluded. the only down side is it’s not in a great area and there isn’t really anything near by. It’s between Jimbaran Beach and Ulu Watu south of the airport. If you are planning on just hanging out by the pool, getting massages, and eating at their restaurant for a couple of days I recommend it. They take great care of you and the view is ridiculous. But, if you want to go explore you might want to look on Airbnb for a place in Ulu Watu. Jimbaran has several high end hotels, Four Seasons and Intercontinental but they are also isolated. Ulu Watu is surfy. Kuta is party central and very surfy.
We spent a day at Seminyak for shopping. The shops are nicer here than by Jimbaran Beach and there are a lot more restaurants you’ll want to eat in. The shops are less roadside and more boutique. It’s still not Ubud but it’s getting there.
Most of the food in Bali is Asian mixed with a weird idea of western food. I am very grateful their menus are in English but their descriptions sometimes get confusing and the waiters don’t really understand when you need further description so you end up just going for it. The only time I ordered something I really didn’t like was at a very touristy place next to the rice terrace and it said mixed vegetables on a salad. It was hard boiled eggs, bean sprouts, and lettuce. Not tasty. I ate the side of white rice.
Ginger Moon was mostly Asian and very good. In Seminyak.
We also found a cool French Bistro place called in Seminyak.
Forgot to take pictures of the food but it was delicious. Very fresh and lots of salad. The tuna sandwich says tuna loin so we expected sliced tuna, it was tuna salad. But it was good tuna salad. Most places have fresh bread they bake. And every place has freshly made fruit juices. So good. You can combine the different fruits too. Banana, just banana takes like a smoothie. There were surfers down on the beach, live music later in the day and the shops were all surf shops. Just thought I’d share the random guy who was walking around with a monkey on his back.
After lunch we headed over to the Ulu Watu Temple. It was ok. the walled walk along the cliff was beautiful but the actual temple wasn’t outstanding. Lots of tourists. In fact a group of girls walked up to me and asked me to take a photo. I said sure then realized they wanted to take a photo WITH me. Which was odd. Apparently, the surrounding countries learn English in school and like taking pictures with English speaking tourists because it shows they were able to talk to us in English. Okey Dokey.
Ulu Watu Temple
There are lots of tourist traps. This silver shop was flashy and the prices were crazy. If you are paying American prices for anything you are paying way too much. Just be careful of that. Most of the places we stopped at were 1/5 of the cost of America.
There are also all these beach BBQ places. Most of them were just gross. They have obviously old seafood and the room you walk through to get to the beach, the place where you pick the seafood and they grill it, it smells like garbage. Then they seat you at folding tables and chairs with satin table cloths and chair covers on the beach to eat and watch the sunset. I’m assuming there are nice ones but all I saw were the tacky gross ones. I don’t recommend it. I ordered only the vegetables and was still worried I was going to get sick.
After exploring the area around La Joya and the airport we headed inward and north to Ubud. This was my favorite area. All the cool old stuff is here. By many accounts it’s the cultural center of Bali. You can get to volcanos, temples, rice terraces, coffee plantations, shopping and pretty much anything else they offer from Ubud. If I ever go again I would just go straight to Ubud when I get there and just spend a couple of days at the end of the trip at Jimbaran Beach to unwind.
We stayed at the Private Ubud Villas in the Penestanan area of Ubud. It’s about a 10 min walk down the hill to downtown Ubud. But there are plenty of taxis at the top too. This little area was perfect. There are a lot of Australian yoga types here. So lots of coffee shops and vegetarian restaurants. It very quickly felt like we lived there. It was easy to get around and not too far from downtown.
The villas like most of the homes are a walled in courtyard, most with a pool and beautiful garden. The kitchen and living space is open air the bedrooms and bathrooms have a/c. There’s wifi and we had a house keeper Wayan that came everyday to bring clean towels, make the bed, tidy up, take out the trash and make us breakfast. There are also really nice resorts right in Ubud one of them we happened to have lunch at Alaya Resort it was in Ubud near the Monkey Forest on Jalan Hanoman
Penestanan
Here are some pictures of the Penestanan area, gardens and rice terraces we past every day.
And our favorite little breakfast place that was across the street from our villa
They had delicious coffee, fresh fruit juices, yogurt bowls, avocado toast, eggs with asparagus and pancakes with caramelized banana and strawberries. My husband says the best oatmeal he’s ever eaten. We even brought home a wooden bowl just so he could eat oatmeal in it.
We tried black rice pudding for breakfast at another local place down the street. Tasted very similar to oatmeal.
The BEST restaurant in Ubud was Bridges. We ate there twice, I could have eaten there every night. World class atmosphere, service and food. Just outstanding. It’s this beautiful restaurant built under a bridge on the side of the cliff leading down to a river. As with everything it’s open air so each level it open to the view of the gardens and river.
Gorganzola Apple Brulee with Rucola Salad pickled fennel, orange and candied pecans
Wild Mushrooms and Polenta with caper and tomato relish, fresh pea puree and vegetable terrain
My travel friend’s favorite part of the meal, the palette cleanser
Strawberries with a lime sorbet
Another beautiful spot to eat is right downtown Ubud and has a garden courtyard in the back and a bar facing the street in the front to people watch. The food was great, fresh, and unique and the service was great.
Oops Restaurant and Bar
No website but it’s right across from the market in the center of town. Just a few blocks from Starbuck. Yes, Starbucks.
Our spa day was at Karsa Spa set in the middle of a rice terrace ponds, flowers and fountains everywhere.
The massage rooms were open air with a garden around you the ceiling fans made it perfectly comfortable. After the body treatment you slide into an essential oil infused tub full of flowers.
The view from our pergola while getting pedicures
Rice Terraces
The rice terrace was really beautiful to hike through. The area around the terrace was very touristy, I wouldn’t recommend any of the restaurants but look through the shops. There were a couple that had stuff I hadn’t seen yet. It’s free to hike the terrace but in a couple of places you’ll come across someone basically being a gate keeper and asking for money to pass. 50,000 for our group was fine. Most places were free to get in but then you paid a priest or someone to show you around or someone who was selling palm hats in the field. $4 for a group of 8, not bad.
Coffee and Tea
After the rice terrace we visited the coffee plantation. This was set up a little more for tourists. People greeted us, took us on a tour, there were people demonstrating how they roast the coffee and you got a free tasting of several teas and coffees like chai, ginger, and cocoa. A cup of the coffee where the luwak eats the berries, poops them out then they roast the pooped out beans was 50,000 ($4). It was actually deliciously smooth no wonder people pay $30 a cup for it here in the US.
While we enjoyed our tea and coffee sample we couldn’t help notice the extremely hard working ladies just below us. They would carry up empty bowls from below, another lady would fill them with dirty then they would carry them on their heads down below to the construction site. Up and down. No special safety gear. Just hard work all day in the heat.
Hike to the top of Mount Batur
Our driver told my husband about a hike up one of the volcanos, Mount Batur. They left at 2am to get to the mountain by 4am so he could be at the top by sunrise. His guide Madi was yet another tough ass Bali lady. She kept asking him if he needed a rest and would say hati-hati which meant careful careful.
Traditional Villages and Temples
We visited a traditional village out in the country side. Where there are bamboo forests and rice terraces and little beautiful villages. The villages are walled in and each “home” is a walled in space with several small buildings inside. some are open air some aren’t. Most have a temple in the front then the old historic building for tourists like us to see then more modern buildings where they live. Open air kitchens, stable for a pig, gardens. The family that lived there welcomed us in and explained how they used to live. Did I mention how friendly and sweet these people are?
Nearby was the oldest temple in Bali. I forgot to write down the name of it. Just like the smaller spaces, there is a wall with a grand door in this case at the top of a lot of steps. In side are many smaller open are buildings. Some are for preparing things for worship some are for actual worship.
We then visited the Tirta Empul Water Temple. As with all the temples, to enter you need a sarong. Then if you want to go in the water you pay for a water sarong, go into a coed changing room. Yeah, that was awkward. And change into the water sarong. We all had bathing suits on under. I wrapped mine around my neck the guys just around their waste. Some people were in there in their clothes with the sarong just around their clothes. So whatever works for you.
The priest gave us an offering, had us clear our minds and meditate for a minute then explained we choose a place for our offering at one of the fountains then started at the left and worked right taking 3 sips of spring water and then dunking your head 3 times to cleanse you inside and out. The water was cool but not cold, there were Koi in the pond with us and the stones aren’t comfortable to walk on. But it was a really cool experience. I definitely recommend it! We tipped our priest 150,000 Rp ($12) for helping us.
Aside from the spring and the pond you get in there were Koi ponds and the usual buildings all the temples have.
Near Ubud was another spectacular restaurant Sayan it overlooks a valley, river, and rice terrace and across the valley you could see one of the Four Seasons on Bali. It had a pond on it’s roof
Once again delicious. Best chocolate cake ever and it was flourless.
Some cool stuff I noticed with the food, they put salsa and dips in little banana or palm leaves they fold into little bowls. Everything is natural no plastic stuff, wooden bowls, plates lined with banana leaves, so pretty. There was always fresh fruit and herbs. They slice their limes different. Just the ends, not sure what they do with the middle of the limes. They make a dipping sauce from sambal a tomato based sometimes spices sometimes sweet condiment and mayo. I think if you took ketchup and sweet chili sauce you might get something similar.
Ubud Monkey Forest
Our last adventure was in the Ubud Monkey Forest. Ok, not a fan of this one. The monkeys are really aggressive and know you have bananas so they come running over and climb all over you looking for the bananas. You can’t shove them off or they might bite you and they are all over the place. Yeah, not a fan. But if you don’t mind the crazy monkeys all over you for sure go.
As we walked home from downtown Ubud we came across the beautiful Lotus Pond Palace. It’s tucked behind the Starbucks and the Lotus Café. It’s easy to miss because of the pergola in the front. There’s a pergola behind the Starbucks that you can sit and enjoy the pond or eat at the café but the menu looked mediocre.
Nyepi and Ogoh Ogoh
While we were there is was Nyepi. That’s the Hindu new year. The day before is a little like Mardi Gras. They party and build these cool floats called Ogoh Ogoh. Each nearby village or neighborhood (didn’t quite get a clear answer on that) makes one then the day before Nyepi they carry them to the main temple in Ubud. There’s a whole performance that goes with the presentation of the Ogoh Ogoh. There are smaller ones that children make and carry and larger ones the adults make. On the day before Nyepi they also have temple services and after we saw people carrying these beautiful trays with fruit and desserts, not clear what they were for.
These guys just added to the atmosphere
Then on Nyepi it’s their day of silence. You can’t leave your home or hotel, no lights on, no entertaining, no eating. For tourists they just asked us to stay inside, keep the curtains drawn so you couldn’t see our lights and keep the cooking to a minimum. And obviously be quiet. It just made for a relaxing day to read. I know the hotels abide as well but I’m not sure if you have to stay in your room or just on the hotel grounds if you plan on coming to Bali during Nyepi you might want to check that out. A couple of tips. Don’t wait until the day before to get cash from the ATMs they were all out and the day after Nyepi it was afternoon before we found one we could use. The grocery stores were slammed to. Think day before a hurricane when everyone thought it wasn’t going to actually hit but a the last minute realize it will. So get food, supplies, and cash out 2 days before Nyepi.
After Ubud we headed to the Intercontinental Bali Resort at Jimbaran Beach. Wow. Just wow. If I was going to Bali again I would go straight to Ubud to stay for most of the time then stay at the Intercontinental for 3 days at the end. They have everything there and lots of activities, yoga classes, cooking classes etc. A beautiful spa. The buffet and show with traditional dancers was meh. The dancers and entertainment were great but the food was just ok. It was a lot of odd Asian food. I guess at the end of the trip I was just tired of that. But they have a great breakfast every morning and the other restaurants were great. There’s one by the pool and the Sunset Bar and Grille over looks the ocean. Fresh lovely salads and sandwiches. Served in awesome wooden bowls and with snacks like bread with a mango jam and some kind of cheese spread, Bali peanuts and little coconut cookies with the coffee. They also had a white wine, apple cider, elderflower drink that tasted like apple sangria.
So here’s the lobby
And the endless pools and gardens, yes you can swim in those pools
Pool side dining
and the Sunset Bar and Grille and Apple sangria
The spa
And of course our room
Leis when we checked in with a refreshing local drink and chilled wash cloths. Beautiful rooms with turn down each night and they didn’t get there at 7am to clean it. Every toiletry you could need. 4 different restaurants, the beach, I don’t even know how many pools, club level rooms and club lounge the size of a restaurant, endless activities and it was $137 a night. Yep.
What a great trip. Its a really long way to go but so worth it. I would go again in a heartbeat and would barely change a thing
So much to do in Italy and we tried to do all of it. Rome, Siena, Florence, Bologna, Verona, Como, Bellagio, and Venice!
So let’s start at the beginning. As always I made a list of things I had to see then figured out what cities they were in then organized the trip so we didn’t waste time driving back and forth. This time no trains. I was so stressed using the trains in France. Doesn’t mean I won’t ever use them again but I was really easy with the rental car.
We used Dark Rome for most of the tours. They started off doing creepy tours of tombs etc. in Rome and are now in many countries doing all kinds of tours. It was pretty much a one stop shop for everything we wanted to see. So much easier to get the tickets in advance and not worry about where you need to be and getting tickets. And lots of times you skip the regular lines like at the Uffizi in Florence or San Marco in Venice. The tours are amazing and you learn so much more than if you just walk through. The guides love what they do so they really get into it. Expect to tip them $5-10 per person.
Restaurants were tricky finding places. There’s a lot of stuff on tourist type places like Trip Advisor but I never trust those sites. The are, well, touristy. High priced low quality food and service and usually really tacky atmosphere. So I looked at things like Mario Batali’s favorite places or Eater.com is really great.
Arrived in Rome at 8am their time 2am our time but we just dropped our bags at the Airbnb and moved on. We were definitely dragging but it really helps get you on track with the new time zone if you just immediately adapt. Our Airbnb was perfect. Look for location, something near the sites you’ll be seeing and something that’s updated inside up still has the charm of the country.
It was in walking distance of almost everything, quiet neighborhood beautiful inside and the host was outstanding.
Our host suggested several restaurants, every one of the ones we tried were great. Rome had tons of tacky places on the main streets that looked nice but if there’s photos of the food don’t eat there.
After the tour of the home and garden the guide walked us through the public garden that ended at a terrace that over looked Rome we walked back towards our apartment past the Spanish Steps. Which is beautiful but just an area with upscale shopping.
If you are anywhere with crowds be very aware of pick pockets. Don’t put money or passports or anything important in a backpack. Just jackets and water and stuff like that. I carried a small cross body purse that I held in front of me in areas like that. The problem is it’s not a scary area. Its friendly and beautiful and full of other tourists. But that’s where the pick pockets are. We didn’t have any problems but we were careful too.
Slept in to catch up on our sleep then off to the Catacombs Tour. You can’t take pictures in some of these places so I’ve added photos from online.
Also, bare shoulder and thighs are frowned on in any place of worship so either cover those areas or bring a scarf to wrap around you or over your shoulders. If it’s cool weather that’s not a problem but we were there in August and even though everyone said it would be terribly hot we were pretty comfortable as long as we stayed out of the sun. But we are from Florida. I brought a maxi skirt and kept it in my bag and just slipped it on over my shorts when needed. But don’t worry, if you forget they are happy to sell you a paper wrap for $1 to cover yourself. They are serious about it.
Monks ran out of places to bury their dead and were given a new location. The moved all the bodies to this new place but it still had limited space so the monks would be buried for a certain amount of time then exhumed and the bones would be cleaned and they decorate the rooms of the crypt with them. Very macabre and so very cool.
Then we toured a Roman tomb that was found in the fields outside of the old Roman wall.
There was a pagan temple that was then used to store grain then they built another pagan temple on top of that. Then a church on top of that. Then the San Clemente Church on top of the church from 1100. One day the priest at San Clemente noticed a sound of water. As he investigated under the church he realized there was another whole church under his church. So they removed all the old rubble and it was pretty much intact. He continued investigating the water sound and then discovered the temple to Mithras who was worshiped around 1 CE. There are several springs that run under Rome they eventually found the source of the sound of water came from a spring that ran under the temple.
Beautiful little bistro by the Mausoleum of Augustus.
Later that day we went to a little pizza place 2 doors down from Gusto, meh. The only pizza I had in all of Italy that was even as good as pizza I’ve had in local upscale places was in the artisan hipster area of Rome called Trastevere and at a place in Venice. Otherwise it wasn’t any different then any other pizza place you’ve ever been to. One funny thing was every place had a hot dog topping. They said the English love it. Ok, weird.
On to the Vatican, standing in the Sistine Chapel and looking up at Michael Angelo’s work was breathtaking. You can’t take pictures and you can’t talk. So it’s pretty incredible. The tour is of the Vatican’s extensive pieces in their museum and then of the Sistine Chapel and of St Peter’s basilica. Many of the marble and statues in St Peters were just pilfered from temples elsewhere in Rome that were no longer important. But all of them in one place. Wow. and as usual there’s always that creeper part of the tour. Once in a while there’s a special pope who gets mummified and placed in a tomb for everyone to see. Yes. Ew.
The third picture shows part of the building as white. They are restoring the buildings to their original state, which was white. The ceiling in the hall of maps was incredible. These rooms were just stuffed with tapestries, ancient statues, murals it’s just incredible.
St Peter’s Basilica
Marble marble marble. The famous statue of Mary holding Jesus after he was taken from the cross is now shielded by glass because some idiot jumped up on the statue a few years ago and started hitting it with a hammer. We took the earliest tour we could get, less lines it was actually not very crowded. In fact the tour guide said how lucky we were apparently be prepared to barely move. We were there in August as I already mentioned. August for them is hot but it’s also the month everyone takes off for holiday. So there’s weren’t a lot of American tourist but there were Italian tourists. Which I imagine was better.
The Coliseum
There were many arenas built all over Rome and Italy in fact we saw one in Verona. They referred to this particular one as the Coliseum because originally it had a giant statue in front of it that they referred to as Colossus so to easily explain which arena you meant you’d say the coliseum meaning the arena with the colossus statue. The statue is long gone now. Before the arena was built for the masses Nero began building a ridiculous palace on the spot with a man made lake probably fed from one of those underground springs I mentioned. He died before completion and they destroyed the palace filled in the lake and built the coliseum for the people. Part of the coliseum is built on where the lake was filled in. When an earthquake hit Rome the side of the coliseum that was over the filled in lake crumbled. Below I have photos of the what it looked like originally with the statue and photos of the surrounding buildings that used to be there both how they originally looked and how they look now.
Constantine’s Arch
Which just like most of the monuments and churches he used statues and marble taken from older temples.
Athena’s Temple which is right next to the Coliseum
These buildings were right next to each other there are temples and arches and palaces all jumbled together. Everything was built very close together. Think of it as downtown in any large city with all the skyscrapers close together. The 2 on the left are what they originally looked like the one on the right is today.
Found on Trimble Warehouse.
Build by Andrea Pittalis.
Palatine Hill is were the word palace came from. The giant homes built on Palatine Hill were all emperor’s homes eventually they were referred to palaces because they were on Palatine Hill. It’s pretty amazing what Augustus’ palace looked like compared to just a few emperors later. On top of the hill were all the palaces then below was the forum or downtown. Looking at it now is confusing until you think of all these ancient building as skyscraper then it makes sense. Same thing I’ve added a photo of what it originally looked like.
Augustus’ Palace
They discovered this not too long ago. Its under the ruins on a hillside of Apollo’s temple.
Simple rooms with some of the earliest examples of perspective used in murals.
Just a few decades later Caligula’s and Nero’s palaces each take up an entire block
The Forum
Across the street from this was Hadrian’s Palace which was 10x bigger then the other palaces, all in ruins. When you’re walking around the forum you have a little better feel what each building it’s hard to understand what you’re looking at in pictures. The Tiber River would flood a couple of times a year. When it flooded it would deposit mud. The people of Rome would shovel the mud out their windows into the street where it would dry and harden. After many years of this the street would be higher than the front doors so they would either add a new story and make the first floor the basement or just implode the house into itself and build a new house on top. Because of this there are layers and layers to excavate in Rome. This very thing happened to the forum in a way that preserved it. A huge flood covered the area in mud after it had been largely abandoned. So it just sat there unused until it was excavated. I was really surprised how much of original Rome you could still see. I mean that’s 2,000 years ago. Pretty incredible.
The Pantheon we didn’t get a tour for. It’s a beautiful building and defiantly worth walking into but I’m not sure you need a tour guide. Next to it is the Trevi Fountain. We were really lucky they had just spent a ton of time and money cleaning it for a fashion show. It was sparking white.
There was a little ice cream place right next to where I’m standing here to take this photo. There’s a famous one on the corner that had a huge line but right next to the fountain was a smaller little place that was both beautiful and delicious with no line!
Ah Trastevere!
You’ll have to take a cab to get here but it was lovely. Lots and lots of little artisanal shops. Our friend bought some leather goods the best pizza was here and Pimm’s Goodthe cutest little bar and restaurant. A friend suggested this place and she nailed it. The owner (who is very good looking) joined us for drinks.
My favorite! Smaller than Rome with just as much to see. A little more personal. Easier to get around too.
We stayed at Via delle Bombarde this beautiful apartment on the top floor in the middle of Florence. They even had a garage around the corner to park the car.
On that note. Don’t try to drive in Rome. We rented a car on the edge of the city and hopped right onto the highway. The highways were pretty easy to navigate but the round-a-bouts are murder. Google maps isn’t very clear on which exit so sometimes it took a couple of tries to get the right one. We drove to Florence and park then walked everywhere. They have mostly one way roads and then sometimes you can’t drive on them at all. The one day we took the car out to drive to Siena, what an f..ing mess to get it back into the garage. So if you are going to see cities in the area wait until you’re on your way to the next city you’re staying in and stop on the way. Leave your car in the garage. Trust me.
This was my favorite apartment.
All over Florence this artist named Blub painted little paintings. Snapped as many as I could.
We also booked lots of tours in Florence but we wandered the streets more here. It’s much smaller than Rome. We came across this amazing restaurant and gift shop by accident and ate there many times. Because the food was about the same in Florence as it was in Rome, hard to find a good place that wasn’t touristy.
The first palace of the Medici’s was in the center of town then they moved to the Vecchio which was the government building in Florence, but it was the biggest building so they took it as their palace. That was too dark and drab so they built the Pitti Palace on the other side of the river and so they wouldn’t have to walk past all the butchers (and their knives) on the Ponti Vecchio they built a secret walkway over the buildings on the Ponte Vecchio that led from the Pitti Palace to the Uffizi building. Uffizi means office it was originally built as government offices.
We hiked up I don’t know how many steps to this breath taking view of the city from Michelangelo Piazza. It’s a park where everyone goes at Sunset. Just before sunset he hiked up just a little further to the church at the top. The cemetery is really cool with lots of large crypts. Unfortunately, the cemetery was closed for repairs.
I didn’t write down what church this was. The would bury their saints and priests and crusaders and other important people in the floor. Interesting enough, in St Augustine after hurricane Matthew, one of the wine shops was damaged and before renovating the owner offered the space to the government to excavate before he covered up the floor of the shop again. They found the remains of a couple and several children. They believe these remains are from the mid 1500s and would have been under the floor of one of the first churches built there. This church had really elaborate marble reliefs.
Wow He’s really huge. The statues leading up to David are all in various states of being sculpted. Michelangelo was hired to sculpt 50 statues for a pope. When he died and another pope was selected they told Michelangelo they wouldn’t be paying him for the 50 statues. So he stopped working on them. Michelangelo always said he was freeing the statue from the marble. That it was already in there and he just had to find it. So when these weren’t finished they were referred to has the Prisoners. If you look closely at the full frontal photo of David below you can see in the bottom right corner a man’s head, that will give you the idea of scale. He’s huge.
We saw both of these on a tour. There’s typically 12-20 people and they give you headsets so you can easily hear the guide even if you have wandered away from the group.
Afternoon drinks on a rooftop bar over looking the river. Aperol spritzes and every bar had delicious snacks, sometimes even whole meals at happy hour.
Most of our meals were delicious but in more casual settings. We splurged and ate on a balcony over the river at the Hotel Lungarno
Roaming around we found this little corner bar. Spritzes and yummy cake.
Once again we ate at a place owned by the Hotel Lungarno group. We weren’t doing it on purpose their places just looked cool. This was the restaurant of the hotel directly across the river from the Hotel Lungarno. We needed a quick lunch in-between tours. Right place right time.
Day trip to Siena and we stopped at Bologna on our way to Verona which was just one night on our way to Como.
Siena was ok. I would stop on your way from Rome to Florence or visa versa but I wouldn’t go just as a separate trip. It was a mini version of Florence with not that much to see and a lot of tourists. Bologna was meh. We parked, walked a long way to find the one decent restaurant and left. The covered marble walkways were really amazing and the place we ate was great. It has a lot of shopping so I think that’s what people do there. Just wasn’t our thing.
Siena
A church that they started to add onto then the plague hit and they just never finished it. The town gates, the view from the park we had a picnic in, a rustic church, various streets.
Bologna
Verona was most definitely the shopping city. The outside streets were marble. Great mix of stores. Got my first pair of Birkenstocks there. I brought regular sandals. Big mistake. You need plenty of cushion in your shoe to absorb all the uneven cobblestones. My feet were killing me. Slipped on a pair of Birkenstocks walked out of the store with them and never took them off the rest of the trip. Huge huge difference. Not one blister either.
We stayed in a hotel here since it was just one night. Very reasonable. Steps away from everything, easy to park, snacks in afternoon and evening. Nicely appointed room with great service.
The front desk recommended the restaurant where he had dinner and they nailed it. The last photo is in the bathroom. They put glass in the floor so you could see the original floor with the natural spring running by. Unfortunately I can’t remember the name and can’t find it on the map. Ugh.
The arena there is still used today for concerts. Adelle had just played there and they had an opera there the night we stayed. There’s too had some damage. They used cranes to get the huge stages in an out. The last 2 photos are of other buildings in town.
Then off to Como. Most of the city is well just a regular city. We drove past some pretty unimpressive areas. But the area near the lake, you forgot all about the rest of the city. The area we stayed was in the middle of the lake area. Also an Airbnb on Via Giuseppe Garibaldi
The communication with the host wasn’t as good hear but the apartment was nice. The apartment said it had A/C in the living area but didn’t explain the bedrooms were on a different floor. Which was fine because even in August with the window open and the fan on us we were completely comfortable. The hot water did not work though. They had special instructions but also said they had been having a problem. So by the time they finally came to address it it was our last day. Also, the person who was meeting us to let us in was very late. But aside from that, the apartment was in a perfect location and was beautiful.
This is definitely a tourist area, lots of shopping but great shopping not trinkets and not super expensive stuff just beautiful shops. They have these huge buildings that take up the whole block then if you’re lucky they leave the “garage doors” open and you can see in and see that the middle of the buildings are open like a courtyard. Some have been converted to parking, some are still gardens. But you get a glimpse of where their “yards” were.
If you take your time you can find really great restaurants. The ones along the water were 99% crap. But we found the 1% and had the most amazing cocktails.
Lago
View of the lake. Crazy delicious cocktails and as with everywhere else, amazing appetizers for happy hour, like flat bread and pasta.
Right behind Lago, they are famous for their salads but they had great everything.
Some peeks into those courtyards
All along the water it goes from restaurants to parks to government buildings that used to be huge private homes. Here’s a look.
There’s a lift that takes you to the top of the hill overlooking the lake and the city. There’s a whole other city up there. The restaurants were all touristy so I wouldn’t try to eat up there but it’s worth a couple of hours to roam around and see the lake from the top.
We took the boat up the lake to Bellagio. Again very touristy but the boat ride was lovely and you stop in a bunch of smaller towns. Bellagio had touristy shopping and restaurants at the bottom. If you hike up higher you’ll get a great view and a little less touristy stuff and see some beautiful homes on the way.
Homes long the lake
Last stop Venice. Once again we stayed in an Airbnb. It was harder to find a nice apartment in Venice. Our place was nice but not the same as the other places. My most important requirement was a balcony. We were on the top floor and had a beautiful view. Venice is hard to get around on foot. If you’re just meandering it’s fine but if you have to tour or reservation you need to be at just give yourself plenty of time. After awhile of course we started to get the hang of it. But you constantly find yourself in a square and Google maps says things like take the northeast alley and gives a name. You can’t tell which way is northeast because you’re surrounded by buildings and none of the streets ever have the right name on them. So we ended up down a lot of streets that ended at a canal with no bridge. But Venice has an amazingly interesting history. To really get all that you need to have a guide on a tour. Also, if you did drive, drop the car at the rental place at the airport then take a water taxi over. It will probably drop you off at San Marco square. If you hire a private boat like we did you’ll need to get the directions from the owner to tell the taxi company because the address won’t be what’s on Airbnb. But they drop you off in front of your door. Handy.
The ceilings and walls in room after room were covered in paintings and gold.
San Marco Church you couldn’t take pictures inside but you could take them on the balcony outside. The 2 here from inside I got off of Google. Those are all mosaics not paintings. And at the one end when they started them the design is very Byzantine by the time they finish at the other end it is very Renaissance.
One of the places that was Mario Batali’s favs was Al Covo. I can see why. It’s family owned and run. The son was our waiter and the mom is the baker. Beautiful atmosphere, delicious food and great service.
Loved the Hidden Venice Tour. They took us to less obvious sites showed us things like where they build the gondolas and at the end we had a gondola ride. Lucky us the gondola in front of us had hired a guy to sing to them so we had entertainment for free.
Here are some photos of the Hidden Venice Tour
Gondola ride and views of the water
One of our favorite places to eat and the only place with great bread in all the cities we visited was Farini, walk up and order then grab a table. Breads, pizza, sandwiches, pastries, and sometimes salad.
We just stumbled upon the restaurant we went to on our last night. Local. Outstanding everything.
Drinks at a crazy expensive hotel bar over looking the canal and watching the sun set.
And then there were these super cool door knockers everywhere.
A final note about dining there. At most restaurants you don’t tip. But there are a few, the higher end ones or the more modern ones that will have a note at the bottom of the bill that tip was not included or something long those lines. Be sure to leave a tip there.
The people were all really friendly and helpful and everyone spoke English.
The cab or Uber drivers are crazy drivers so just don’t look. They have lines and lanes but no one seems to pay any attention to them. On the highway near the cities it was crazy but out in the country in-between cities it was like driving in the US.
You need a special drivers license to drive in Italy you can get them at any AAA for $20
What a beautiful and friendly area! I don’t think I heard a single person honk at someone in Portland. Everyone is just genuinely friendly. We got really lucky – it was sunny and low 70s most of the time bought a raincoat and only needed it to keep warm in the evenings. Down side was I apparently am allergic to poison oak because it was nasty. Some of the hives were pancake sized, blisters, and then when the swelling started I went to the ER. Then a follow up trip the next day to an urgent care that finally diagnosed the poison oak. It sucked but didn’t let it mess with the awesome time we had.
For starters 7 days in 4 cities was a little too tight. I was happy to have seen Vancouver, the suspension bridge was really cool (more on that later) and the food was great but I wish we had just headed over to Seattle after Victoria we really didn’t see any of Seattle. Just means another trip.
So Portland has different areas to explore. We stayed downtown near Pioneer Square. No matter where you stay it’s easy to walk everywhere and there was only one place near the Burnside Bridge where I started to feel nervous. The downtown area has lots of restaurants, hotels, office buildings, parks the usual.
Our hotel The Heathman was lovely. The original hotel was across the street and is now The Picnic House. 2 brothers built the first hotel and made so much money the first 2 years that they built a second hotel across the street. The second and now current Heathman was more lavish than the first so people stayed there instead of the at the first one and they put their first hotel out of business. The current one stayed open. Check in and out was easy, they had help when we needed it. The front desk was friendly and happy to suggest restaurants and areas to check out. The rooms were a little small but as to be expected in an historic hotel. In the lobby they had a little chocolate shop that had drinking chocolate (with shots of espresso) – so good.
Chinatown is just to the north of downtown – there’s the beautiful Lan Su Chinese Garden there where you can have tea over looking the koi pond. We didn’t have time to go but it’s on my list for next time.
Just to the west of Chinatown is The Pearl – really cute trendy area converted warehouses, restaurants, shops, parks etc. We walked there from the hotel and had lunch and a snack while exploring.
Every place has crazy flowers – stuff that would cost $12 a stem here are like carnations to them. Loved the big rolls of paper they used for the daily specials and the serve yourself cucumber or plain water. Menu was a little bit of everything but all of it local and fresh. The lady at the counter was so friendly – these people are just happy.
Cute shop in The Pearl – can’t remember the name.
Afternoon snack at The Pearl Bakeryok first not so nice guy. But the other guy was awesome, went and found fresh out of the oven brownies for us.
Back downtown to The Nines Hotel where we had drinks at Departure – this place is a very modern bar on the roof of the hotel. When you get off the elevator it looks like you’re in queue for Space Mountain at the Magic Kingdom. Fun cool music that’s not too loud because they get you are there to talk to your friends, the music is just background. Once again, everyone is friendly and happy. Bartenders were on top of it. Most people were sitting outside on the rooftop but believe it or not it was too hot and sunny for us!
Then on to dinner at The Picnic House, mentioned earlier as the original Heathman Hotel. It was pretty good. A little too pricy there were things with the décor that were cool and other things that were just off. The food was good but felt like they were trying a little too hard. But once again great service.
Remnants of the old lobby of the original Heathman Hotel. Not pictured are the Lion House rolls with pistachio and thyme butter and the edamame and pea hummus with ricotta, mint, sunflower seeds, and pickled onion. All really good. Above is the smoked salmon mousse with duck rillette and pickled onions.
buttermilk fried chicken with hot honey, chicken gravy, and pineapple slaw that was really good
Bacon and beef meatloaf with a tomato jam, mashed potatoes and green beans – delicious White cheddar, roasted broccoli, pickled apple mac and cheese with a potato chip crust also really good.
To the west of The Pearl is NW 23rd – upscale shopping, restored old homes, lots of restaurant options and it’s right next to Washington Park.
We had breakfast at Besaws– a 100 year old restaurant in a brand new building. Once again outstanding service and delicious food and drinks.
Blake had The Continental – vodka, cold brew coffee, strawberry rhubarb puree, fresh lime, and cava it sounds crazy – crazy good.
Cider braised oatmeal with poached rhubarb, lemon curd, and walnuts Avocado toast with feta, sunflower seeds, radish, and cilantro
The farmers hash with bacon, asparagus, onion, roasted potatoes and garlic, cheddar, greens, and a scratch biscuit Zucchini French toast with basil anglaise and granola – so stupid good!!
Pittock Mansion
We stopped at the City Marketand grabbed a picnic lunch for later then headed to Pittock Mansion– built in 1914, the home, view and gardens were beautiful Now after you’ve walked all over town you’re going to realize things are closer then they appear on the map. So you’re going to feel all like – Oh we can easily walk up to the mansion. Except the sidewalk runs out on Burnside St which is a pretty busy highway and not only is it a pretty steep climb and very windy road there’s only a small shoulder to walk on. Just call Uber, trust me.
But it’s awesome once you get up there!
Washington Park
After the tour we took the Wildwood Trailfrom the mansion’s parking lot down the mountain across Burnside Street and continued through Washington Park to the Japanese Garden and the Rose Garden. The path is natural but very easy to walk in regular sneakers (this is probably where I got the poison oak). We passed several other hikers but it wasn’t crowded with people. The trees are moss covered giant pines with fern and ivy everywhere. It couldn’t have been more picturesque.
Washington Park is huge there are parts that are just wild trails like above and parts that run next to neighborhoods. Follow the signs along the path to the Japanese Garden and you’ll come right off the trail to the garden. Originally Portland Zoo was built in the spot on the hill where the Rose Garden is. Then is was moved up higher and they built the Rose Garden. Then they moved the Zoo again up higher and built the Japanese Garden. The Zoo is still there along with several other gardens. The park would take days to see everything.
Then we walked over to the Rose Gardenand had our picnic lunch. The rose garden unfortunately wasn’t in bloom yet but lovely anyways.
Lunch on a bench –
From the garden it was an easy walk back to the hotel. We walked through several really pretty neighborhoods. If you have a car drive around King’s Hill – Park Place dead ends into the entrance of Washington Park.
Oven and Shaker is definitely a favorite in The Pearl – the best mint chocolate chip ice cream I’ve ever had. But everything was just so good.
Honey Basil Collins Cazzilli potato, salami and parmigiano croquettes with chevre aioli Arancini wild mushrooms risotto, smoked mozzarella, and tomato ragu
Maple Pig, apple butter, bacon, ham, mascarpone, and ricotta – arugula added Wild fennel sausage, tomato, smoked mozzarella, potato, and mama lil’s peppers
Then holy crap the desserts – which aren’t on the menu so I’ll try to remember…
Mint chocolate chip ice cream with the freshest mint ever. It tasted like you were biting into a mint leaf.
Chocolate olive oil cake with fresh ice cream espresso fudge and cherries
Strawberry rhubarb with shortbread cookie, olive oil and pistachios
Columbia River Gorge
The next day we explored the Columbia River Gorge. We used Sea to Summitfor the tour which I really recommend because they will tell you all about the history of the area and take you to spots others might not know about. Our guide was really nice and the pace was easy. They pick you up at Pioneer Square and you can get your tickets in advance online.
Breakfast before the tour at Public Domain, across from Pioneer Park. There is coffee everywhere in Portland in fact you just smell it all the time which is so nice. So really it’s not hard to find a good place for coffee. This place also had nice pastries to choose from as well.
The tour took us along the Historic Columbia River Highway. The highway was built 100 years ago to be scenic so people in their model T’s could travel along and enjoy the view. All along the highway were rest stops and little inns. Most have burned down but a few are still there. The first we stopped at was Vista House. Just a rest stop but it’s exactly the same now as it was in the original pictures.
Then onto Latourell Falls – an easy hike to falls from the street. All the falls are on Google maps. You could just take the highway yourself and stop at each fall. They are pretty well marked. But you won’t get all the cool history like you would in the tours.
Then Multnomah Falls– there’s a restored historic lodge there as well. Definitely the busiest of the falls we stopped at but I will still stop. You can really see the moss on the trees here.
Our last stop was the dam and salmon hatchery which was very interesting. The guide stopped at a little place on the island where you can see the sea lions. The sea lions eat about 20% of the salmon when they are spawning. Which apparently is unacceptable because the hatchery tries to catch them, tag them, then move them. But the sea lions figured out that if they block the opening of the cage the automatic doors won’t close. So instead they lounge around on the platforms.
After the tour we were starving – the lovely staff at the Heathman Hotel recommended South Park Seafood perfect, it was just a few blocks from our hotel as well.
Oysters fresh from the bay – beet, fennel, watercress, pistachio brittle salad Shishito peppers fried with lemon and sea salt Brussels sprouts with gochujang, cilantro, and peanuts Spicy shrimp and grits – and a juicy burger with fries
Then for dinner – it was a pre-fixe 6 course dinner with a little something to start and end the meal. They have 2 seatings and 2 community tables so you get to meet new people. The chef creates there right in front of you in the cozy space. The waiter did an excellent job explaining what we were eating and was happy to answer my many questions. Everything was just over the top.
House made ritz cracker with local sausage for the amuse bouche
Mesquite grilled tuna, shaved porcini, black garlic vinaigrette with hazelnuts Spring ravioli house made ricotta, green garlic verte and parmesan
Harissa rubbed lamb roast, new potatoes, carrots, peas, with preserved lemon and mint Roasted beets, shaved turnips, smoked yogurt, watercress, and Japanese ginger
Cow’s milk burrata, compressed green strawberries, shaved asparagus with aged balsamic Chicory semifredo with dark chocolate sorbet, puffed rice, and espresso crème
Foie gras on peanut shortbread with sauterne gelatins This meal was heaven.
Victoria and Vancouver BC
We drove from Portland up to Port Angeles to ferry across to Victoria BC. For this ferry it’s pretty small and they only have 2 times a day they travel to Victoria so probably a good idea to reserve a space online in advance. You have to get there an hour ahead of time, pull your car up and park it. Then you can leave the car until 30 minutes before the ferry leaves when they start to load the cars. There were several small restaurants in the area. I don’t suggest Downriggers on the Water. Let’s put it this way the place was huge and we were the only ones in there. Not a good sign. The other spots about a block away on the main street were busy. Probably a better bet.
Once you drive off you’ll drive through customs. They just need to see your passport it was very easy.
The Fairmont
Victoria was a cute little town all along a bay. We were able to easily walk from one end to the other. We stayed at the Fairmont Empress. I’m going to show you a few pictures but I really wasn’t happy with this place. They charged 5 star rates for a 3 star experience. It was very disappointing. I know the outside looks impressive but the rooms were really small, no a/c, and half the hotel was under construction. The service was not up to the standards of a hotel like that.
The tea was in a balcony area that overlooked the temporary check in area, the waiters were like waiters in a diner not a high end restaurant, the menu for tea was nothing special and the quality of the food was C+. Also, very expensive. I’ve had a lot better, a lot of other places. So aside from the poison oak (which by the way just started to show up the morning we left here) this was the only other negative part of the trip. With all that said I would still have gone to Victoria, the gardens were well worth it. I just wouldn’t stay at this hotel or waste money on the tea.
The bay area has mostly hotels and government buildings. On the opposite end from the Fairmont is a little fisherman’s wharf area that is definitely touristy but interesting at the same time. It’s a bunch of floating buildings. Some are places you can stay and some are restaurants and shops. The sea lions swim right up and beg. Cute. Most of the restaurants we passed were very touristy and nothing I’d like.
This was an apartment building along the bay instead of a lawn they had a pond. It was pretty cool.
Now on to the reason we were in Victoria. At Epcot in the Canadian pavilion they have the Frontenac Hotel (which we’ve been too) and Butchart Gardens. My grandmother loved Epcot and really loved those particular gardens. I wanted to see the actual gardens the replica at Epcot is based on. It was spectacular. No matter where you stood or looked every nook and cranny of that place was tended to. The Butchart family built there home there over 100 years ago and had a cement factory near by. They traveled and loved bringing home specimens from their travels. Mrs. Butchart first built a Japanese garden then a formal Italian garden, then a rose garden, then a large lawn so guest could enjoy music on the lawn and picnic, then when the quarry next to the cement factory was exhausted she turned it into a sunken garden which is what the Epcot garden is fashioned after. People are just wandering around silently admiring it all.
If I lived there I would visit this garden every week. We talked to a lady who does and she says the beds change almost daily. The family still owns the house and gardens and run it. They take spectacular care of it.
Vancouver
We left the garden and took the ferry to Vancouver. Here’s where I would have changed things. If I had to do it again I would have gone straight to Seattle so we could have had a couple of extra days there. Vancouver was nice and the Capilano Suspension Bridge was cool but I wish I had seen more of Seattle.
We stayed at the Georgian Court Hotelin Vancouver. Very nice hotel. Didn’t take any pictures. But I would stay there again. It was a good location as well.
The Capilano Suspension Bridgewas built 1889 by George Mackay who owned land on both sides of the river and had a cabin on one side and built the bridge out of hemp rope and cedar planks. It soon become a destination for adventurous friends. In 1914 Edward Mahon built a Tea House and improved the bridge. The bridge has only been rebuilt a handful of time the last time being in 1956 in just 5 days. The bridge is so strong a 75 ton tree fell on it during a storm and it didn’t budge. Now there are sky walks along the cliffs, nature trails, and it’s all done with nature in mind. Using logs and stones instead of plastic and concrete. Very well done.
Dinner was at the Homer Street Café– once again a delicious dinner. Outstanding service. Everyone is just so friendly in that whole area.
We all got fish – steelhead salmon, cod, and trout but apparently their rotisserie chicken which you could see cooking in the open kitchen is what they are famous for.
The next day is was lunch at Small Victory Bakery– just more of the same really good fresh food with great service.
The very kind ER doctor suggested we go to Vig’s for dinner. An Indian restaurant that doesn’t take reservations and you’ll have to wait 2 hours but the bar is fun to watch and Vig personally greets everyone and passes out appetizers while you wait. You felt like you were a guest in his home. The wait staff was outstanding. The food once again delicious. A little spicy though. I did notice if you don’t want to wait just come at 10pm and you’ll get right in. But then you’ll also miss all the fun in the bar.
The mixed drinks were great with names like Sari not Sari
Raw sugar and ghee braised squash with mushrooms – Khoa paranta with tangy tomato-onion chutney
endless naan bread that they just seemed to show up at the table just as we needed it
Garam masala sautéed mushrooms in a porcini cream curry Lamb popsicles in fenugreek cream curry on turmeric and spinach potatoes
Brunch was at Wildebeest before we headed to Seattle. One of the best brunches I’ve ever had.
Wild mushroom and house cured bacon omelet – Croque Madam with greens
And then there was the Dutch Baby – a German oven baked pancake. Holy hell it was good. I’ve heard of them but never had one. It’s lighter than a regular pancake but not eggy like a crepe. It’s very similar to Yorkshire pudding or a popover. Inside was a light layer of raspberry jam, citrus segments, granny smith apples, fresh ricotta, and bourbon barrel aged maple syrup. I will be making this at home.
Seattle
Full of wonderful food we drove to Seattle for the last leg of this trip.
Checked into our hotel – Hotel 1000 downtown Seattle a few blocks from Pike’s Place Market. Beautiful large room with a huge bathroom. Perfect service and priced really well. Next time we go to Seattle I’m staying there.
That night we ate at The Walrus and The Carpenter I use Eater.com to look up cool places to eat when we plan a vacation. It’s really hard to find stuff that isn’t touristy. If you ask anyone at the hotel they tend to send you to what they think a tourist wants instead just the really good local places. This place was on the list at eater.com. Then after looking into it I also saw it featured on Andrew Zimmerns’ show Bizarre Foods (not sure why it was on Bizarre Foods not really very bizarre just really fresh) It’s in a little neighborhood about a 10 min Uber ride from downtown in an old converted building. There’s another restaurant in the front. You walk down a long hallway to the back of the building where Barnacles (their bar) is and The Walrus and The Carpenter. They have an outdoor balcony area on nice days. As with everywhere else exceptionally friendly people. Even in the hippest trendiest places. Also so happy you are there and so ready to make your time there awesome. No reservation, they put our name down and said they’d come get us in the bar. As soon as we walked into the bar someone was helping us, and it was packed with people. The bartender showed us where to hang our jackets and handed us a little plate of Lays chips and asked what he could get us. Table was ready in 30 min so we just had enough time to finish our drinks but they have appetizers in the bar too if the wait is longer.
The kitchen is open so you can see all the activity.
Marinated olives – fresh bread with whipped sea salted butter
Toasted baguette with local honey and black pepper and Freya’s wheel cheese
An assortment of fresh oysters from local bays – Salmon crudo
Artichoke, fresh yogurt, pine nuts – Steak tartar with rye toast
Fried oysters with cilantro aioli
Maple bread pudding with espresso butter sauce and whipped cream – Roasted dates with vanilla oil and salt
Nothing crazy just really really fresh and assembled in an interesting way.
The next morning we had to head to the airport but before we did we managed to stop by Pike’s Place Market, get a piroshky from Piroshky Piroshky – the original is potato and onion, my favorite was the beef and cheese, we also tried the fresh rhubarb and the ham cheese and spinach. All really good. Don’t let the line fool you. It’s out the door but it’s a really tiny place and the line moves really fast.
Also got to stop in the original Starbucks.
And then sadly we headed home. We were really lucky to have had amazing weather while we were there. Not one drop of rain. When we go back I’ll be sure to bring our rain jackets again and this time we’ll see more of Seattle.
What a difference in Savannah the last few years. Last time we were there, maybe 10 years ago, the shopping on Broughton Street was mediocre with a couple of mid level chains. The restaurants were either country, old folky, or touristy. The River area had just been redeveloped but as with every decent size city it was definitely their tourist trap. But now! The shopping is great, lots of great chains like Anthropology, J Crew, and Banana Republic with more coming and even more cool smaller shops like Chocolate by Adam Turoni on Broughton and a new location on Bull (ridiculous and he has fake grass as carpet in an all white store so perfect) 24e (a very cool furniture and housewares store) on Broughton and also on Broughton…
This beautiful shop has unique new and antique items. Their coffee shop has pastries and sandwiches from local bakeries. We went there every day. If I lived in Savannah I would be there all the time. Brought home a long mirror and old wooden box that the sales lady was kind enough to finagle out of the display and call the manager to find out how much to sell them to me for because they were just display pieces. I bought a damn sandwich every day! They were just so delicious. The St Germaine was the best with chicken. They were out of them the other 2 days so I got the charcuterie sandwich with salami – also really really good. The bread was just a perfect baguette.
and the restaurant options, although still limited have grown enough that we ate in an amazing restaurant each day we were there.
I highly recommend visiting eater.com when you are visiting somewhere. They have tons of articles and lists about the local food scene. I found an article from a food writer about Savannah who felt the same way I did about most of the restaurants in Savannah but mentioned 3 new places that were changing everything. Plus a friend recommended 2 more.
This place is a short 15 min drive over to the river, Google Maps will take you on the highway but on our way back it was just as easy and way more scenic to take Derenne to Bull. First of all the atmosphere was just stupid. It was a beautiful crisp winter day the sky was perfect blue, you’re sitting out on a cool slightly hipster dock with a southern flair.
The waitresses know the food and were super friendly. The owner is there cleaning tables and greeting people. As we walked up the chef was at the back door scaling a fish. That’s fresh! So we ordered as much as we could. Hemingway Daiquiris – which aren’t anything like the daiquiris you’re used to.
Hemingway
Good White Rum Grapefruit juice Lime juice Maraschino cherry liquor Garnished with a brandied cherry
We ordered the housemade wild boar sausage on toast with truffle butter – don’t get scared, that’s the fanciest thing they had. And it was so good. The toast was crispy and the sausage had a loose texture with tons of flavor and none of it was gamey. In fact we made such a big deal over it that the chef dropped off an extra tray of it.
The details matter too – everything was served on real trays or plates, no plastic or paper. They used cheap trays you get from the restaurant/kitchen stores and it makes a huge difference.
Fresh grilled fish with a beautifully toasted bun (again, details) radish, pickled red onion and arugula. Crispy fish with creamy, slow cooked, high quality grits. Succotash, roasted potatoes and green beans, and of course collards. The best collards I’ve ever had. Tender and slightly sweet with a little kick.
And we tried one of everything for dessert! All housemade from scratch. It doesn’t have to be fancy, it just has to be made with great fresh ingredients and maybe put a little interesting twist on it.
Key Lime Pie, Chocolate Chip Cookie and Ice Cream sandwich, and Bruleed Bananas with Cookie Crumble and Ice Cream
We didn’t go see it, next time, but while you are out there it’s a short drive to the Bonaventure Cemetery – can’t wait to go next time.
They gutted the front of the old building and left the shell so you are sitting at street level but you can see the walls of the old basement and where the first floor used to be. The architecture was really interesting. Collins is on Bull Street center of Savannah’s historic district. Very hip crowd hanging out there and very crowded on the weekend.
At Collins Quarter they have a lavender mocha that was velvety and rich. Fresh pastries every day. We had the brown sugar banana bread with a mixed berry compote and mascarpone. I know shut up!
Watch out for the biscuits and gravy, way way too spicy for me. As delicious as they look I couldn’t eat it. But if you like spicy you’ll love this.
The waitress recommended the eggs benedict, which is what I should have gotten. Fortunately my friend shared his. And as simple as it was the oatmeal with fig and apricot compote and sprinkled with toasted hazelnuts was so good I made it at home.
For lunch we split the smashed avocado with feta, tomatoes, micro herbs, and a poached egg all on fresh toasted bread and the sandwich of the day which was grilled gruyere with ham and mushroom.
At the end of Whitaker Street on Victory Drive. It’s a converted Ice Factory. Again, details details. They have a little bakery and coffee shop that’s open for breakfast and a main restaurant open for dinner and brunch. We of course visited for all of the above.
The coffee shop is serious. The make their own mocha syrup, in fact he was out when we stopped in so he made some fresh for me. Their baker was trying out bagels for the first time and she nailed it. Perfect crust and not too chewy inside. They also have various croissants and pastries, all buttery and flakey. We had the gruyere and ham croissant and the cranberry danish and Blake tried the bagel. They also sell their croissants at The Paris Market’s coffee shop.
Dinner. Shared the Florence Bread Plate with apple butter and sea salt olive oil and fresh butter. Various types of fresh baked bread. Ate it all. Followed with the bruschetta topped with smoked trout crème fraiche and potato chips and pork belly with romesco and escabeche
I had the Egg Yolk Ravioli with ricotta, mushrooms, brussels, butternut squash, radish, puffed parm, and ham and kale broth. Sorry the pictures are so dark.
Tommy and Blake each had the Painted Hills Sirloin, root veg gratin which was rich and creamy, oyster mushrooms, celery root, and braised collards. Melt in your mouth good.
On Jefferson Street a few blocks off Bay was converted from an old Greyhound Bus Station. They kept 90% of the bus station intact. They did a beautiful job restoring this old building and gave it a really hip new vibe. Of all of the places we ate though this one had a little hint of pretentiousness. It was a little too hipster for me. Lots of buzzing about but the waiter wasn’t that attentive and it took 3 hours for us to eat. The food was delicious and the atmosphere beautiful, the servers are friendly, but.. I don’t know just not quiet my thing.
Again, I apologize for the dark photos but I figured they’d frown on me turning up the lights.
We ordered – roasted beets with buttermilk yogurt and greens. Rainbow carrots with cream cheese, rye, and caraway. Pork shank with greens and a johnny cake. Smoked collards, leek, onion, and shallot.
Dessert we had the Pot de Crème with vanilla, molasses, and candied peanuts. Chocolate Parfait with chocolate pudding, spicy peanuts, peanut butter whipped cream, and chocolate wafer. Sweet Potato Pie with toasted oats, honey, caramel, whipped cream.
The restaurant is pretty touristy. But the tavern in the basement, not the bar at the back of the building but the one in the basement was warm and inviting. Standing in front of the building go down the stairs to the left of the front door. The tavern has this great English tavern vibe in the original basement of this old mansion. Drinks and atmosphere were great.
We had a couple of drinks here. The bartenders were great. Gave us samples of things they were mixing for other people and the menu was fancy but not over the top. The restaurant also called 22 Square looked delicious. Blake had eaten there before. We didn’t get a chance this time but it looks like the perfect place to go for drinks and snacks.
Aside from just walking around, because the homes and gardens are ridiculous. They are inspiring and so well restored. I usually take tons of pictures for ideas for my own yard or home. There are lots of tours of the historic homes. I highly recommend doing that. We toured the Mercer-Williams House, its the house from the movie Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. You only get to see the garden and the first floor. It’s still set up the way Williams restored it in the 1970s and looks lovely but the furnishings aren’t historic and you only see the first floor because the family lives in the rest of the house. The garden was neglected too. I haven’t been on other historic home tours in Savannah so I can’t compare but click here for a list of all the homes you can see.
The River front area is really touristy. We walked along it one night didn’t go in anywhere. The bars were either dirty or very touristy and the shops all sell crap. It’s worth walking down there but there’s nothing really worth staying for.
I always like taking a historic tour of some kind, preferably as soon as we get there. It helps you understand the area and all the buildings you are walking by. There are always walking tours, carriage rides, and bus or trolley tours. Just pick the kind you like the best. Here’s a link for Historic Tours
There are so many options for places to stay. You can book a whole house on AirBNB or VRBO or check into a beautiful Inn or Bed and Breakfast. I would try to get something in the historic area and something that’s close to everything. The historic area isn’t very big so it’s very easy to walk to almost everything. But parking is terrible. So you don’t want to have to constantly be trying to find a parking space. Trust me, walk. And be aware if you park on the street overnight they have signs for what day the streets will be swept but it’s a little confusing. The sign will say Street Sweeping Sat 12am – 4am which means don’t leave your car there Friday night. I know that doesn’t sound confusing now but when you just glance at it you see Saturday but it means Friday. Fortunately, they don’t tow your car they just give you a $25 ticket you can pay online.
When you are looking for a place, look at the rooms. If they only show you the living room or the lobby skip it. You want to see the rooms. Some places will put all the money in the lobby area and the rooms suck. Make sure there’s a picture of the bathroom too. With a house rental sometimes you get an amazing deal and a beautiful home and sometimes its just a regular old house. You have to prioritize what matters to you. Location (do you want to be in the middle of everything or on the water)? Price (the rental homes are usually a great deal a whole house that sleep 8 people – $350 a night / $87.50 per couple)? Size (do you want all your friends or family together)?
Figure out what matters the most and start there. If you want to be close to everything, only need a room for 2 people, and don’t care about the price – go for a 4+ star hotel. If you have a big group with varying budgets and still want to be in the middle of everything go for a rental home. If you want the experience of a historic home go for the rentals, inn or bed and breakfast.
Last little note, the week days were much less crowed. We could get in almost anywhere and had less trouble parking. They clearly have a lot of people who visit for the weekend. It was night and day and we weren’t there during any particular holiday. Plus hotels etc. are usually cheaper during the week.
Ina Garten on the Barefoot Contessa makes cinnamon rolls using puff pastry which is brilliant. Instead of having to wait for the dough to rise like regular cinnamon roll dough you just roll and go. I hate waiting for stuff. After making her sweet rolls I started wondering if you could make the same thing only savory – here you go…
I made these with sausage apple and cheddar but the sky is the limit. I love recipes where you don’t really have to measure anything and you can use whatever you have in your fridge or whatever your theme is or just whatever you feel like eating. I’ll put other ideas at the bottom.
Ingredients
2 packages puff pastry; thawed but very cold 1 lb ground sausage ½ large sweet onion; diced 1 granny smith apple; cored and diced 1 tablespoon dried or fresh thyme 1 tablespoon sorghum or molasses 1 teaspoon cinnamon 3 pats of cold butter ½ cup chopped pecans 2 cups shredded sharp cheddar cheese Non-stick baking spray
Directions
Serves: 12 rolls
Heat the oven to 400° and spray a non-stick muffin tin with baking spray
Cut each pat of butter into ¼ and place each ¼ into a muffin cup; sprinkle with a few pecans
Sauté the onions and sausage in a little olive oil until the sausage is no longer pink
Add the apples and sauté until soft
Add the thyme, sorghum, and cinnamon and stir
Remove the mixture from the heat and let cool completely (if you don’t let it cool it will make the puff pastry all gross and gummy – so let it cool)
Unfold one sheet of puff pastry on a floured surface
Using a rolling pin roll out the pastry to 12” x 11”
Sprinkle the pastry with half the shredded cheese and half the cooled sausage mixture; leave about a 1” strip at the end of the pastry
Roll up the pastry tightly ending with the edge that has nothing sprinkled on it; rest the roll on the seam
Using a serrated knife cut the log in half then each half into 1/3; place each roll cut side down into a muffin cup
Repeat with the other puff pastry and other half of the cheese and sausage mixture
Place the muffin tin in the preheated oven with a cookie sheet under it in case it spills over
Bake at 400° for 30-40 minutes or until each roll is golden brown.
Run a knife around the roll to release it and turn them out while still warm
Serve at room temperature
Some Other Ideas
Italian – mozzarella, olives, salami, with Italian seasoning
French – mushrooms, gruyere, ham, and thyme
Mediterranean – feta, kalamata olives, sundried tomato. Serve it with a tomato and cucumber salad and taziki sauce
Mexican – cheddar, jalapeno, steak, served with a queso and pico de gallo
Southern – fried chicken, pickles, mayo
You get the idea – think of a sandwich or pizza that you like and make it work. Just don’t use anything too wet – like put tomatoes on the side. Make sure you chop everything pretty small so it rolls up well. Add things like olives and sundried tomatoes that have a lot of flavor but keep track and don’t use salt if you have items with salt already in them. Don’t forget some cheeses are pretty salty
Ok so the Biltmore Estate is not the Haunted House at Walt Disney World but from certain angles outside it looks like the most awesome haunted house ever! Inside is pretty cool too but they won’t let you take pictures – damn it.
The Biltmore Estate
That photo is from their website. My photos of the front of the house sucked.
These are the ones I took closer up. They aren’t too bad.
Standing in the patio area in front of the house.
The drive up to the house (sorry did not take pictures I was enjoying the view and forgot) you drive past creeks and fields and through beautiful woods. The landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted who designed Central Park in NYC designed the property for George Vanderbilt. Is seems like just natural woods but he actually designed it all. You drive through a beautiful gate then past the ticket and welcome center and along a 2 mile winding path, every step is the same route taken by Vanderbilt and their guests 120 years ago. They’ve done a beautiful job of keeping the property as it was when it was built and as it was intended.
You can do a self guided tour or take several behind the scenes tours. I recommend renting the audio equipment for the self guided tour. They give you so much info on everything you are looking at. I can’t describe the magnificence of this house. The family was pretty amazing too. They paid their employees NYC wages and paid all their medical expenses. When someone became ill they continued to pay them and held their job for them. They built a village where married employees lived. (the Biltmore Village is still there some of the original homes are restaurants and shops and the rest are now hotels and stores but you can still see where this little village was) There’s just so much info about this family and the estate.
Off the amazing library is a patio covered with a grape vine. From the family photos you can see they spent a lot of time here. The patio over looks a large side yard that at one time had a pool. From this yard you can see the amazing grounds and it leads down to the formal garden and green house.
That gravel area was where the pool was. It originally was like this then they added a pool for their daughter Cornelia. Later it was taken out again to restore it back to the original yard.
The garden was mostly bare from photos it looks like spring is the time to go to see it in full bloom. The trees all had color still and they still had plenty of plantings just no flowers. Inside, the green house was filled with tropical plants.
After touring the house we had Afternoon Tea at the Inn on Biltmore. It was a great way to include a little bit of the Vanderbilt tradition in our visit. I highly recommend arriving a little early and having a drink at the bar and sitting on the terrace to take in the view. Again – no pictures, sorry.
But here’s a picture of the view from our table at tea, very similar to the view from the bar’s terrace.
I looked at the hotels in the Biltmore area – the Grand Bohemian is beautiful, brand new building that looks ancient. The rates are really reasonable. The Inn on Biltmore Estate and the Village Hotel are crazy expensive. $400+ and it doesn’t include admission to the house. Both are so far away (4 miles I think) from the house that you would still have to drive there so I’m not really sure what the perks are. You can rent bikes, go for a horse ride, and do all of the other things on the estate without staying there. The Grand Bohemian is in the Biltmore Village, across the street from the entrance gate to the Biltmore.
This is the Red Stag Grille in the lobby of the Grand Bohemian.
These photos are from Google
There are several B&B’s, hotels, and lofts for rent on Airbnb and VRBO downtown. I don’t recommend the Grove Park Inn. It’s really really dated and not worth the price. It’s about a 15 min drive from downtown to the Biltmore. So stay where you’ll be the most. It’s very easy to drive around the city but hard to park downtown. Although there are parking garages.
The food and bars in Asheville are great. But after a few days it’s kind of hipster overload. When you are planning where you’ll eat I highly recommend mixing in something other then farm to table rustic or you’ll be so over it pretty quickly. Same thing for the craft cocktails. I think we’re about to implode with this stuff. The drinks are getting more and more complicated or really not complicated at all just described in an obnoxiously complicated way. Can I just get a Makers and ginger please.
2 locations – get there early or on a weekday or the line will be out the door. And totally worth it!
Cat head sized fresh made biscuits, a long list of gravies, the gravy of the day was bacon mushroom, a jam and butter bar, and tons of cool options. Top picture is a biscuit with greens, pimento cheese, mushroom bacon gravy, and bacon. The jams were homemade sweet potato butter, peach strudel butter, strawberry jam, and citrus basil jam. Stupid good.
Can’t go to Asheville without going here. And even with all the new places that have opened in the last 10 years it was still on the top of my list. We had breakfast and dinner there this time. And the service is unbelievably genuine southern hospitality.
Breakfast – wheat toast with pimento cheese, fresh tomatoes, and pepper bacon and a sweet potato pancake bigger than the plate with pecan granola on top and sorghum syrup.
Dinner – country ham wontons with a Brussels sprout slaw and the veggie plate with greens, beans and mac and cheese.
They took 3 restaurants and turned them into one very cool rustic farm to table place. We had an afternoon snack at the bar and breakfast. Would love to go back for dinner.
A dark rum, homemade pear ginger beer and soda and one of the local craft beers on tap. Their house made charcuterie, pickles, and local cheese board.
Breakfast – fresh everything. I forgot to take a picture of my house made English muffin with bacon and a sunny side up egg. A friend got the cruffin. A croissant that is baked in a muffin tin with bacon, cheese, and thinly sliced potato and comes with a side of cream cheese and chives. Once again, stupid good. They also had another option with rhubarb jam.
There are tons of options for brunch usually on Saturday and Sunday and every place has their own take on Bloody Mary’s
Right next to Rhubarb. This place was a welcome break from all the hipster rustic-ness of everything else in town. More refined – still had a nod to that whole vibe though.
My pictures are dark and not doing it justice. Braised then pan seared pork shoulder with sweet potato puree and apple sautéed with greens. Smoked butternut squash with goat cheese, golden raisins, pecans, and crispy leeks with a kale currant and pear salad. So yummy.
Some other places that I don’t have pictures for but you could try
They are across the street from Rhubarb – they have a small shop where they sell chocolate bars and ice cream and next to it is the lounge where they sell desserts and drinking chocolate
A local brewing company that also has a great restaurant and full bar. Upstairs is the full restaurant and outside they have fire pits. Downstairs is a limited menu and just beer and wine but you can sit outside (they have heaters when it’s cold) The bar snacks were great. Didn’t try the sandwiches but they also looked great. Definitely want to try them next time.
Fun quiet bar with a cocktail called the Buttercup. As my friend says it’s so good she’s sure it has crack in it. I agree, I was hooked immediately. The upstairs outside patio was really nice.
Every block downtown has a bar or a brewery. There are tons of shops, restaurants, galleries, and antiques. In the Biltmore Village area you have the chain stores like J Crew and William Sonoma.
Their airport is tiny so it’s so easy to get in and out. 20 minutes from downtown too.
DAGNY | the g is silent but I am not 