Labor Day Weekend in Chicago

October 5, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

When it came time to plan our activities for September, we figured we could work around Labor Day and do a small trip somewhere close to Michigan. We bounced a few road trip ideas around and settled on Chicago since I have never been. It’s about a 4 hour drive from Dearborn, Michigan, so not too far but also not too close.

We began our drive on a Saturday morning and arrived in Chicago around 11:30am – we had not accounted for the one hour time difference! Our first stop was Superdawg’s Drive In, which was a recommendation from a coworker. She highly recommended Superdawg’s for a Chicago-style hot dog. It was pretty darn good and I am also highly recommending it!

We hit the Lincoln Park Zoo and Conservatory after a quick lunch since our AirBnB was in the Lincoln Park area. Linking it here for anyone who’s interested because we had such a nice stay there, I feel like I need to tell everyone about it!

The Zoo and Conservatory are both completely free, but you will have to pay for parking if you cannot find street parking. You can probably spend a solid 3-4 hours at the Zoo – there is so much to see!

Our second day in Chicago began with a visit to see the Cloud Gate, or the Bean, in Millennium Park. We tried and failed to take some selfies. Much fun was had.

We then wandered to Grant Park to check out the Buckingham Fountain, which is HUGE! If you’re into fountains, I highly recommend this.

Then we walked some more and got to Museum Campus for a visit to the Shedd Aquarium. Bank of America actually offers free general admission to the Aquarium for the first full weekend of every month, so we took advantage of this. We spent about a solid 3-4 hours in the Aquarium and thoroughly enjoyed our time.

After a brief break, we headed over to the Field Museum, which is a natural history museum. If you’re a fan of totem poles, you’re in for a treat! There is a lot to see at the Field Museum, so plan to spend at least 3-4 hours here.

Dinner that night was one of our only sit-down meals of the trip. We went to The Purple Pig on a recommendation of a friend and had a lovely meal. Definitely get the Uni Toast and the Chocolate Blackout Cake!

Our last day started off with a nice walk along North Avenue Beach, which is a beach along Lake Michigan in the middle of Chicago! The walk was really nice and we wished we had brought our bathing suits!

We ended our trip with lunch at The Little Goat Diner, which was jam packed! We split an order of their Dark Chocolate Crispy Pancakes and a Goat Patty Melt, which were both delicious. Ask for their special condensed milk creamer for your coffee, you won’t regret it!

We had a lovely time in Chicago and I definitely wouldn’t mind going back to check out a whole bunch of other attractions we had missed. Until next time!

Weekend Trips to Michigan

September 9, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

Since the BF lives in Dearborn, I’ve been spending a lot of time in Southeast Michigan lately. Before we started dating, I think I had Michigan as a state I would probably fly or drive by, but wouldn’t visit on my spare time or for vacation. But you know what? It’s slowly growing on me – there is actually quite a lot to do here and a lot of really good food.

At the time of this post, I would’ve spent 6 weekends in Dearborn, Michigan. We usually try to do at least one activity outside each day, although sometimes it just means grabbing lunch and seeing a movie. Most of the credit goes to X since he’s the one who plans our activities!

So what is there to do and eat in the southeast part of Michigan? Read on to find out!

One of the very first places I visited was The Henry Ford, which is Dearborn’s biggest attraction. The Henry Ford is a large indoor and outdoor history museum complex. It consists of the Museum, Greenfield Village, and the Ford Rouge Factory. I have yet to do Greenfield Village, but the Museum and the Factory Tour are both stellar activities. The Museum has a little bit of everything – apparently Henry Ford liked to collect a lot of random items! The Rouge Factory Tour, however, is my favorite. You get to see how a Ford F-150 is made from the beginning to the end. It’s an actual factory that produces F-150’s, so you really get to see everything.

Dearborn is very close to Detroit proper, so a trip to the city is always a good outing for the day. There is a lot to see in Detroit – and even more great places to eat. A visit to the Detroit Institute of Arts is a great way to spend the day. In particular, I quiet liked walking down along the William G. Milliken State Park and Harbor. On a nice day, it’s really pretty place to go for a walk after lunch or brunch!

The Detroit Zoo, which is actually located 2 miles north of Detroit proper in Royal Oak, is another great place to spend a nice day. The Zoo is reasonably priced and very well-kept. The exhibits are pretty big for the animals and there is a lot to see. There are also a lot of picnic areas for people who want to pack a lunch and make a day of it.

Dearborn is also very close to Ann Arbor, home of the University of Michigan. It’s a very cute and quaint college town, with amazing restaurants. I’ve been to Ann Arbor a few times – sometimes just to eat and other times to just walk around. It’s a really cute place to just stroll through the streets. Stop by Zingerman’s Delicatessen for a delicious Reuben sandwich or Frita Batidos (in downtown Ann Arbor) for some delicious Cuban-inspired street food.

The University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Gardens is free to visit and a great place to spend the day for plant lovers – or just people who like looking at pretty things like us! The Gardens includes botanical gardens, natural areas with trails, and several research-quality habitats, which means you can spend a few solid hours here.

DOMODOMO

August 15, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

DOMODOMO, nestled in the heart of Soho, was New York City’s first hand roll bar when it opened in 2015. The restaurant has a very unassuming appearance on the outside but the inside is a completely different story. The inside is meant to look like a restaurant one might find in a Japanese fishing village with wood accents and a long sushi bar countertop. The result is a warm and inviting space, with lots of natural lighting.

I had met a friend for an early dinner at DOMODOMO on a regular Monday night. They were super accommodating when I asked for a bar seat. They actually have two sushi bars – one in the main dining room and another further in the back. We were seated in the back and had a very quiet, intimate dinner before more people started showing up at around 7pm.

We both opted for the Hand Roll Course ($28), which features an edamame starter and your choice of 5 different hand rolls from their list of hand rolls. There are 5 premium options excluded from the list, including uni and lobster.

I opted for:

Salmon

Bay Scallop, which is marinated in Korean style soy

Unagi, smoked eel with chocolate kabayaki sauce

Negi Toro

Blue Crab, with garlic aioli and sautéed onion

My favorite, by far, was the Bay Scallop in Korean style soy. It was so sweet and flavorful – with a tiny kick of heat. My friend also agreed with me that this was her favorite hand roll of the night. I also quite liked the Blue Crab, which was sweet and very subtle. I did not have a single bad hand roll – but next time I’ll probably not do the course and just get Bay Scallop rolls!

I also slid in a side order of Uni Sushi, which at $12 was kind of pricey, but so worth it. The Uni was so creamy and sweet – like sea butter!

We finished the night off by splitting the Green Tea Cheese Cake ($7), which was a rather small portion but so good that neither of us could complain.

Service was attentive and our sushi chefs made sure to pace us accordingly. They never put any hand rolls onto the stone slabs until we had both finished our appetizer and sushi. I’d definitely recommend DOMODOMO – and come back myself for some bay scallop hand rolls!

Cedar Point, Sandusky, Ohio

July 27, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

When it came down to planning the BF’s birthday weekend, I wanted to do something fun and go away for the weekend. Since we only had 2 days and 1 night to spare, it cut down a lot of options. I toyed with the idea of going away to the shore for the weekend, but most B&B’s won’t let you book for only 1 night during the summer season. A co-worker from Michigan clued me into Cedar Point, an amusement park located on a Lake Erie peninsula in Sandusky, Ohio. It’s apparently the, “Roller Coaster Capital of the World”, according to their slogan.

So on a Saturday morning, we piled into the car to drive 2.5 hours out to Sandusky, Ohio. The drive wasn’t too bad – and a lot of it was quite quaint and scenic. We arrived at about 11am and cruised right in with our prepaid online tickets. There is a TON to do at Cedar Point, even if you don’t ride roller coasters (like me). It’s also very kid friendly with Camp Snoopy, Planet Snoopy, and Kiddy Kingdom areas filled with rides.

They have a pretty nice Ferris wheel, the Giant Wheel, which goes up 136 feet. It’s considered one of the tallest wheels in North America. The view from the top of the wheel is quite spectacular.

If you’re not afraid of heights, they also have a tower swinger ride, the WindSeeker, which goes up 300 feet in the air. You’re not allowed any loose items, but it offers THE BEST view in all of the rides at Cedar Point, in my opinion.

The BF went on the Blue Streak, their oldest operating roller coaster, the Raptor, and the Rougarou (pictured below). He was on line for the Top Thrill Dragster, which was the tallest and fastest roller coaster when it opened in 2003 (before being replaced by Kingda Ka at Six Flags as the tallest and 1 Formula Rossa at Ferrari World as the fastest coaster), but then it broke down and wasn’t back up for the rest of the day. It looked like a heart attack waiting to happen to me!

I had pre-purchased a Souvenir Bottle Drink Plan online, which entitles you to free refills on your first day. It was so worth it because we refilled our bottle about 10 times during the entire day! We also split an All-Day Dining Plan, which allows you to get an entrée and a side every 1.5 hours. Since we split the plan, we ate about half a meal every few hours, which ended up being worth it in the long run.

We spent the night at the Farrell House Lodge, which is located in Sunnybrook Trout Club. We were arriving past check-in time, but they were super nice and pre-checked us in and by the time we arrived, our room was ready to go. It’s a super cute B&B close to Cedar Point with very reasonable rates. Our room was clean and comfortable. We met their night manager the next morning when we stopped by for breakfast, which is included! They have an assortment of cereals and pastries but also had hot breakfast made to order. We thoroughly enjoyed our time there and would return if we’re in the area again.

Screen Shot 2017-07-10 at 11.43.59 PM — From http://farrellhouselodge.com/

All in all, I think we had a great weekend at Cedar Point. It was large enough to spend the entire day – but not so large that we felt like we couldn’t do all that we had wanted in one day. I highly recommend it if you’re looking for a fun weekend trip.

A Weekend in D.C.

June 21, 2017June 21, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

When we were discussing our plans for April, we decided that since the BF had two days off for Easter, we could go somewhere and explore. Since his dad lives in Washington D.C., and it was relatively cheap for the both of us to get there (Amtrak for the win!), it made the perfect spot. The last time I had visited D.C., I was probably about eight years old, so I was excited to go back as an adult.

On our first day, we took the Metro over to the National Mall and walked around. I am absolutely obsessed with this gorgeous fountain that is right smack in the middle of the Mall. X tells me that they turn it into an ice skating rink during the winter months.

We then headed over to The Smithsonian Institute – National Museum of Natural History, which is completely free to enter. There are donation boxes all over the museum and you should probably drop something in if you can! Here you will find the elephant from the Night at the Museum movie! I think my favorite was either the Mammal Hall or the Ocean Hall.

After that, we made our way over to the National Air and Space Museum. On the way, you can get a nice snapshot of the United States Capitol as well as the Washington Monument.

The National Air and Space Museum has the world’s largest collection of historic aircraft and spacecraft, which is pretty neat and interesting to look at.

On our second day, we drove over to the United States National Arboretum, which features over 446 acres of trees, scrubs, plants, and flowers. It was a really nice day so we took a very leisurely walk around the grounds. We had visited during Azalea blooming, which was beautiful to see. There is also a very extensive Bonsai Exhibit in the museum – many of them are over a 100 years old.

On our third day, we drove to Virginia to visit the Luray Caverns, which is an underground cavern system with hundreds of stalactites, stalagmites, and columns. The entire trek is about 1.5 miles long and takes about an hour to finish. My favorite part was the Dream Lake which has a mirror-like appearance. The stalactites are reflected in the water, making them look like stalagmites. The water is only about 20 inches deep, but the reflection makes it look a lot deeper.

I didn’t end up taking any food photos – I know, how dare I?! But here are some amazing restaurants that I highly recommend –

Tico DC
Rosa Mexicano
Lebanese Taverna

A Work Trip to Austin, Texas

May 23, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

I’ve been very fortunate to get to travel for work a few times a year. Most recently, I was in Austin, Texas for 4 days and got to explore the city a little bit in between work.

On my first night, I had a lovely dinner at Dai Due, a butcher shop themed restaurant that’s a little bit away from the main downtown area. The combination sounded a bit weird, but their Chicken Liver Mousse with Pickled Green Strawberries, Macerated Strawberries, and Grilled Buttermilk Bread was phenomenal! The creamy liver mousse contrasted very nicely with the tart/sourness of the pickled green strawberries and the sweetness of the macerated strawberries. I think this was my favorite meal of the entire trip.

On the morning of my first full day in Austin, I made the walk over to the State Capitol building just a little after sunrise. The building was quite beautiful in the early morning light and I had a lovely walk around the grounds. The inside of the building was just as impressive. They open every day at 7am and offer free tours as well for visitors.

My first official Austin lunch was at Iron Works BBQ, where I had some amazing brisket that just melts in your mouth. I know it’s not one of the famous BBQ spots where people line up for hours, but it was pretty darn good!

We also made the trek out to the South Congress Bridge to try to catch the bats leaving the bridge for the night. Our hotel gave us the tip of arriving by 7:30pm and going across the bridge to a small grassy area just under the bridge. This was a great idea as we had a great view of the bats coming out. You have to wait about 15-20 minutes after the sun has officially started setting. Then a few bats will come out first, to scope out the situation, and then go back in. Then, if they’re going to come out, they start flying out like confetti being shot out of a confetti machine. It’s truly an incredible sight!

I had a great time in Austin and had some truly amazing food. I can’t rave enough about the meals that I had in Austin – everything was so good! I would love to go back one day to explore some more.

Takashi

May 10, 2017 cookiesandnoodlesLeave a comment

Takashi has been on my list for a very long time. When it came time to pick a restaurant for my birthday dinner, I knew exactly where I was going to go! Takashi, located on Hudson Street in the West Village, is a marriage between Japanese yakiniku and Korean barbeque. A lot of the dishes feature traditional Japanese dishes paired with Korean flavors.

We had reservations for 4 people (they actually only allow reservations for 4+ people) and was seated right away. At 6:30pm, all the tables were full and most of the counter spots were taken as well. They take your jackets and store them in closets so they don’t smell like barbecued meat, which I thought was very nice.

We opted to start with a few shared appetizers and then move onto the yakiniku. Our first appetizer to arrive was their Instagram-famous Niku-Uni ($26), which features raw chuck flap topped with sea urchin and served on top of a shiso leaf and seaweed. I really enjoyed each bite (spoiler, I had 2). The uni was really fresh and creamy, and all the flavors meshed really well together.

We also decided to be adventurous and try the Testicargot ($12), or cow balls cooked escargot-style with garlic shiso butter. I’ve had bull penis as well as turkey balls before and neither of them was a good experience, so I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this one either. It was actually quite pleasant! To be fair, the cow balls were smothered in the garlic shiso butter sauce so you couldn’t really tell what you were eating. But, I did enjoy the texture and taste a lot more.

Our last appetizer was the Stewed Beef Tendon Casserole ($16), which was more stew than casserole. I really enjoyed this dish. The beef tendon was very tender and the stew was extremely flavorful and fragrant. I kind of wish the dish was a little bit bigger because I wanted more beef tendon!

We sampled a variety of meats during the yakiniku phase of our dinner. We ended up trying:

Kobe Kalbi, or short rib ($26)
Kobe Ribeye ($26)
Beef Belly ($20)
The Tongue Experience ($25) with Tan-saki, Tan-suji, and Tan-moto
Sirloin

All of the meats we ordered were really good, but I think our favorite of the night was the Kobe Ribeye, which we ended up placing a second order. Everything tasted really fresh and a lot of the meats practically melted in our mouths (except for the tongue, of course).

They only have one kind of dessert here – Homemade Madagascar Vanilla Soft Serve ($5), which you can add a variety of toppings. I went with the, “I’ll have it with the works” ($10), which has every single topping and your choice of a syrup. It comes with Shiratama (mochi), Kurogoma Kinako (black sesame and soybean flour), and azuki (red beans). I opted for the green tea syrup, which helped to cut the sweetness of the ice cream. It was really, really good and made me think of my time in Japan last year where the soft serve is definitely better than it is here.

Service was attentive and they changed our grill a few times during dinner, which helped prevent the meat from sticking. At most barbeque places I’ve been to, they have to grease the grill. Here they don’t grease it at all, which I guess speaks to the quality of the grill. I did enjoy yakiniku more in Japan, but I think Takashi was definitely my best experience in the US.

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