Review: Emily's Pancake House

While doing an errand in Waukegan, I had breakfast at Emily's on Green Bay. Friendly staff.

I ordered Cinnamon Raisin French Toast, bacon and orange juice. The orange juice tasted fresh squeezed The bacon was okay.

I wasn't that hungry and on a diet so I was surprised when the waitress put a plate with 4 pieces of toast in front of me. I was a little concerned about raisins and maple syrup. The Cinnamon Raisin French Toast was very good.

I will give updates when I have the three pieces I brought home.

UPDATE: Reheated wasn't as good. It was okay.

Review: Thanksgiving at King’s Wharf

Excellent choice for Thanksgiving.
We arrived at 2pm. It was a few minutes wait while two other parties got seated. We had to go down several small sets of stairs then up again.

For Thanksgiving, they had two carving stations for turkey and roast beef. They had a lot of the traditional favorites: mashed potatoes, dressing etc. But they also had chinese and Italian dishes. For the kids, they had tater tots, pizza and chicken nuggets. And an amazing dessert selection.

I just had some mashed potatoes, dressing,turkey and roast beef. They were all excellent. We are planning to comeback next year.

Of course, the best part was spending time with relatives.

Review: Cracker Barrel (Kenosha)

While heading home from Milwaukee, I was starting to get hungry. I saw the Cracker Barrel sign and decided to give it a try.

For those that haven't gone to a Cracker Barrel before, you first enter their country store. The entrance to the restaurant is hidden in one of the back corners of the store.

Even with it being around 12:30pm, the waiter brought the breakfast and lunch menus. And I wasn't that hungry, I just ordered toast and turkey bacon. As since it was cold out, I ordered hot chocolate.

The toast with grape jelly was ordinary but hit the spot. I really didn't like the taste of the bacon. Just a personal preference. The hot chocolate was weak for the chocolate taste.

Architecture of the Milwaukee Art Museum

MAM always has interesting art exhibits but I like the futuristic Quadracci Pavilion created by Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. This video gives you a tour of that portion of the museum.

Reiman Aquarium at Discovery World

I have visited to Milwaukee Art Museum several times. I had seen Discovery World building and wondered what it was all about.

This visit to MAM I decided to check out Discovery World. This video is just about the aquarium end of Discovery World. It is not large but interesting.

Mitchell Park Domes - Falling into the 50s

#fallcolors #mitchelparkdomes #milwaukee

I arrived at the domes before opening. I wondered why there was a lot of people rushing to the domes. It turns out that they are holding a farmers market every Saturday until April. As I was leaving, I tried a sausage roll. It was very good but cold.

Today the theme of the dome was "Falling into the 50s". They had a a great red and white ’55 Chevy 210 hardtop.

The fall colors in the rest of Mitchell Park was very beautiful,

Review: Buffalo Wild Wings (Waukegan)

I was in Waukegan, IL to transfer the title of my parent's home to the new owner.
Before the transfer, I was looking for the Officemax store and saw BWW. I decided to give it a try. As I entered, there were a lot of people waiting (friday 12:30pm). BWW is a sports bar. dark and noisy. Many TVs for watching games.

I asked the guy how long a wait. He sent me back to the bar area. I took a seat at the only low (regular) table as the waitress quickly appeared. My order of naked tenders and fries came quickly. I was concerned the tenders seemed to be sitting in a pool of greasy but they were good. nice and flavorful. As I am dieting, I had planned to only eat 6 (3 for sauce, 3 without) but it was hard to stop at just 6. I ordered the mild sauce. It reminded me of ranch dressing. I didn't like it on the fries.

If you like sports bars, BWW would be a good choice.

Review: Harold's Chicken #41

Harold's #41 has a funky urban loft look. Friendly staff. Ordered 2 fried breast. Nice flavorful coating but would be on bottom half on my top ten. Fries were average. Give it a try.

Review: Longman & Eagle (Logan Square - Chicago)

L&E is in a nondescript building. The front bar and dining area is dark but the back dining area is nice and airy.

I ordered Toast with Housemade Preserves & Whipped Butter and Housemade Breakfast Sausage. This toast was not your usually store bought bread. It was very tasty as was the sausage.

Review: Edzo's Burgers (Lincoln Park)

On the way home from work, I stopped at Edzo's Burgers in Lincoln Park (Chicago). It has a couple tables and counter stools. Very friendly staff.

I ordered a single burger, garlic fries and a chocolate shake. Since not all the shake fit in the paper cup, I was given the extra to drink while I waited. Every thing was good but the garlic butter made the fries look wet and very greasy.

San Antonio riverwalk boat tour

While in San Antonio attending LoneStarCon 3, I took the boat tour from the Rivercenter Mall. I enjoyed it very much but sit next to the driver looking out. There is a speaker there so I had the driver's talk blasting in my ear the entire tour.

Review: Hooters (San Antonio)

While attending LoneStarCon 3, I decided to try Hooters. I went to the one in the Riverside Mall.

I went on Friday around 5:30pm. It was not crowded. The Hooters gals spent most of the time grouped around the bar.

I ordered the Western BBQ Burger and fries. The burger was great. And normally, I try to limit my fries eating to 4 or 5. These were great and end up eating most of them.

I enjoyed the meal and watching the gals so I went for lunch the next day. This time it was crowded. I had chicken fingers which were average. And I had no trouble limiting the number of fries to 4 or 5 - bleah.

Review: Chart House (Tower of the Americas)

Since I was coming to San Antonio to attend LoneStarCon3, a scifi convention, I made an online reseration at 5:30pm Friday. Got there at 5-5:15pm and checked in at the ground floor desk. Took the elevator and was promptly seated. Not crowded at this time. Had two nice friendly servers. The prime rib was very good. The mashed potatoes were average. The crab tater tots were good but more crab tasting then I personally liked. The view is what you pay for. Motion was a little distracting. Worth a visit.

The Alamo

While attending LoneStarCon 3, the 71st World's Science Fiction convention. This morning I went a visited the Alamo

Review: Fuddrukkers (Highland Park)

My nephew and his girlfriend came into town. My brother and I met them a Fudrukkers for lunch. I had my buffalo burger picked out. Everyone else could make up their mind.

A couple months earlier, I had a buffalo steak. It had a different taste than a regular steak. I liked the burger but I couldn't taste a difference between a beef burger and the more expensive buffalo burger. The fries were very good.

Review: Moab Brewery

Oops. I just found these pictures on my Iphone.

Back in April, I went the the Moab Brewery for lunch. It is in a shopping center on the south side of Moab. As I crossed the parking lot, there was a bunch of people going in before me. I got a table near the front right away.

I ordered just burger and fries. The staff was friendly. Service time was good. The burger and fries were good not outstanding.

Next to the front door is their retail store. In addition shirts and stuff,the retail store sells gelato. I ordered a hand packed pint with two flavors: cinnamon and chocolate. When the nice lady filled the Styrofoam container, she overfilled it. When I squeezed the lid tight, excess flowed out. It quick melted making a sticky mess. But the gelato was great.

Review: TGI Fridays (Rosemont, IL)

Friday, I met my sister and brother for an early dinner. My sister was flying home from Ohare. Being close to Ohare, I picked the TGI Friday in Rosemont, IL.

The staff was nice. The service was a little slow.

My brother and sister had the Parmesan-Crusted Chicken. They enjoyed it.

I had the Tennessee BBQ Pulled Pork Sandwich with freshly made chips. I liked the sandwich. I was going to take half home for another meal but I ended up eating it all. My only issue is the cajun spiced onion strings on the sandwich. I couldn’t taste any cajun flavor.

The chips were great except some were wet soggy.

Colorado National Monument (Grand Junction, Co)

Colorado National Monument (locally referred to as The Monument) is a part of the National Park Service near the city of Grand Junction, Colorado. Spectacular canyons cut deep into sandstone and even granite--gneiss--schist rock formations, in some areas.

On April 24th, I got up early and sadly left the Red Cliffs Lodge for Grand Junction, Co. I drove past the west entrance of the Colorado NM for the east entrance.

I wanted to drive the Rim Rock Road so I was on the cliff side of the road. It made accessing the overlooks easier but it also ended up making me extremely nervous. At times, the cliff edge was only three or four feet from the edge of the road.

At one point, I heard my new camera sliding. I leaned over to grab it but I also turned the steering wheel to the right. Happily, there were sand and bushes next to me at that point.

While viewing the road below at an overlook beyond the visitor's center, I turned to watch the UPS truck drive by towards the visitor's center. I wondered how many times they had travelled the road below me and behind me.

Review: Red Cliffs Lodge Restaurant

While staying the night at the incredible Red Cliffs Lodge, I had dinner at their restaurant.

The friendly staff gave me a table next to the picture window. While reading the menu, I also stared out the window at the Colorado River. I was imagining John Wayne making a movie in the scenery before me and how real cowboys traveled along this river. My dinner choice is easy. I ordered a Buffalo Steak.

As I ate the steak, I thought about the difference in an wild west cowboy ate his buffalo steak and my eating a steak in a comfortable restaurant.

The fresh dinner rolls were good. The fries were okay, The Buffalo steak tasted like a really good steak.

Excellent choice for dinner if you are in the Moab area.

Red Cliffs Lodge (Moab Ut)

In researching hotels for my trip to the Moab, Ut area, I came across the Red Cliffs Lodge. I couldn't afford staying for my entire trip. So on April 23rd, I headed for the Red Cliffs Lodge for the night. The staff was friendly and helpful. My room was like many hotel rooms with a little kitchenette. Except it had rustic wooden walls, split level and a porch with an incredible view of the Colorado River.

I had to do some work, I setup my laptop on the table on the porch. Got the wifi working. I was all set to do some work while viewing the Colorado River but rats I couldn't get a connection to my office mainframe. Oh, well! I tried.

The lodge is a location that was used by many westerns like John Wayne's movie "Rawhide".
Website: Red Cliffs Lodge

Hole N the Rock (Moab, UT)

Albert Christensen built his home by digging into the side of a big rock. Now it is a funky tourist trap south of Moab,UT.

In researching the Moab area for my trip. I came across the Hole N the Rock. I added it to my list on things to do.

On the morning of April 23rd, I headed Hole N the Rock. It was an interesting place to visit. So if you are heading south from Moab or have an extra hour or two, visit this funky tourist trap.

Canyonlands National Park - Island in the Sky Moab, UT)

Canyonlands National Park is a United States National Park that is located in Utah's Canyon Country. The small town of Moab is the gateway to this and the nearby Arches National Park. It is divided into three districts not connected by roads interior to the park: the Island in the Sky, the Needles, and the Maze (including Horseshoe Canyon). The Island in the Sky offers sweeping vistas over the lower two districts.

On April 22nd after visiting DeadHorse, I continued onto Canyonlands. I went to Grand View Point Overlook. It was well the drive.

Note: Radio reception is very spotty.

Deadhorse Point State Park (Moab, UT)

Dead Horse Point State Park is a state park of Utah in the United States, featuring a dramatic overlook of the Colorado River and Canyonlands National Park. The park is so named because of its use as a natural corral by cowboys in the 19th century. The "dead horse" part of the name is that the corral was abandoned, but the horses did not leave the corral, even after the gate was left open, and died there.
On April 22nd, I headed for Deadhorse. Google map showed shorter route but a closer look showed most is an off road vehicle road.

Review: Branding Iron (Moab,UT)

After visiting the funky tourist trap Hole N the Rock, I noticed I was almost out of gas. As I filled up, I saw the sign for the Branding Iron. Web said it was only open for dinner but was opened for lunch.

The staff was friendly. I ordered deep fried chicken tenders and fries. Fries were good but nothing special. The fried chicken was very good.

Review: Pancake Haus (Moab, UT)

Just as the Moab area is popular with moutain biker and hikers, the Pancake Haus is a popular place for them to fuel up for the day.

I just ordered short stack of pancakes and bacon. The bacon was nice and crisp not greasy. The pancakes were good but on the heavy filling side.

Arches, NP (Moab, UT)

Arches National Park is a U.S. National Park in eastern Utah. It is known for preserving over 2000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations.

Early on Sunday April 25th, I headed to Arches. Just past the entrance station is the visitor center. Then you start climbing the side of the ridge so you can get to the main part of the park which is on the other side of the ridge.

To see the arches you need to drive a long time.

I headed to Delicate Arch. There is a view area near the parking lot.The arch from there is like the size of a cherrio. In order to get a good look at it you need to hike uphill about a 1 1/2 miles.

Review: Strayhorn Grill (Loma, CO)

My flight got into Grand Junction around dinner time. I didn’t want to eat fast food before traveling to Moab.

I had used google map to check places and their reviews.

Strayhorn Grill had nice reviews and was close to I-70 in Loma. It is attached to the Western Slope Cattleman’s Livestock Auction House. For dinner, it is only open friday and saturday.

The staff was very friendly. It is a favorite with the local rancher families. The prime rib was very good.