Around the State (and what we ate) - A Florida road trip report-COMPLETE 9/23

[mickey916]

Back to the Fun on May 3​

After securing our window with plastic wrap and attempting to get as much glass out of the car as possible, we checked out of the Fairfield Inn & Suites Riverview and decided to go on a quest for donuts. I thought we had seen a review by Off Our Couch of a place called Dough with brownie stuffed donuts in Tampa. So, we headed there. Boy does plastic wrap on your window make a lot of noise on the highway! Pretty glad it was only going to be one day and not a whole week!

We arrived at Dough to find that they only had regular type donuts, nothing "stuffed". We ordered a cookies & cream donut and peanut butter brownie (in essence we had a deconstructed brownie stuffed donut, LOL). Here's the photos from when we ate them in a park later.



This was fine. Nothing really out of the ordinary.



This was delicious! A fudgy peanut butter delight!

A friend had suggested we check out Tarpon Springs and said they had the best Greek food so we made the drive over to Tarpon Springs. We ended up stopping at Mykonos Tarpon Springs. Our meal started with fresh bread.



This was a nice crusty piece of bread.

To start we ordered Greek oven fries.

These were not good. There was no seasoning on them whatsoever. These just weren't worth the money. I'm not sure what made them Greek, other than they were in a Greek restaurant.

I ordered a Greek salad with grilled chicken. The grilled chicken came out on a separate plate.

The chicken wasn't particularly seasoned well and a bit dried out but there was a lot of it!

Here's my salad:

This was just okay. The feta cheese was good. The vegetables weren't particularly fresh tasting.

My DH ordered a chicken souvlaki pita.

He wasn't impressed with this either and the tzatziki sauce gave him a stomachache later.

So, overall Mykonos was a miss for us. The Greek food we had at the Acropolis in Ybor was far superior.

After lunch we drove around a bit to find some parking and maybe walk around Tarpon Springs but it was really crowded and parking was very expensive so we headed on.

Our eventual destination was Sarasota so as we headed South we looked for a park to get some steps in. We found DeSoto National Park in Bradenton (that's where we ate our donut and brownie for dessert).



We saw a dolphin swimming off the shore.


What a gorgeous park! We enjoyed walking around all the paths and wished we actually had more time to spend there before it closed for the day.

After the park closed, we headed to Sarasota to check in for one night at the Courtyard Sarasota. Then, we met my brother, his wife, their oldest daughter, his in-laws, and my parents for dinner at Wicked Cantina.

We were still pretty full from lunch and our treats so DH and I shared a chicken fajita platter.



We enjoyed this very much and it was great catching up with my brother's family and his in-laws.

Up next...fixing the window, a walk, graduation and then heading to Orlando!

 

[mickey916]

May 4 - Graduation & then finally in Orlando ​

At 7:30 in the morning I received a call from the Glass America technician that he was on his way to the Courtyard Sarasota. The technician arrived just before 8:00 and got right to work. He did an incredible job. He took the time to vacuum the glass out of the door and made sure everything worked properly. He was extremely courteous and professional. I can't recommend Glass America enough. They were a lifesaver on this trip.

After the technician departed, we headed to Publix to pick up some apple streusel and yogurt with berries for breakfast. We only had the morning free as graduation was at 3:30 and my SIL wanted to leave by 1:30 to get good parking and seats. We decided to get our steps by making a quick trip back to DeSoto park. Such a beautiful area.



We had requested a late check out at the Courtyard so we could get ready for the graduation and they happily gave us one, such a difference from the Fairfield Inn. We went back to the hotel had pbjs for lunch, showered, dressed up and then went to pick up my parents who were staying at the Art Ovation hotel (too ritzy for our wallets).

We drove to the Bradenton Area Convention Center for graduation, parked, and sat in the bleachers as we waited for graduation to start in over an hour. It was actually a nice time to visit with my brother and his family. Graduation was very nice. The student speaker, a photography major named Jesse, was phenomenal. That kid is going places. The commencement speaker was the CEO of Universal Destinations and Experiences, Mark Woodbury. He was very interesting but was kinda upstaged by the student speaker. He even said "he's a tough act to follow". That was no lie.

After graduation we went for a celebratory dinner at Caragiulos Italian, which was the first restaurant my brother had taken my niece to when they arrived at Ringling so many years prior. We started with some shared avocado bruschetta and calamari fritto misto (I didn't get pictures). Both were excellent.

I ordered PACCHERI PASOLINI: roasted chicken + gorgonzola cream + oven-dried tomatoes


This was excellent. The sauce was creamy and delicious. The pasta was well cooked.

My DH ordered his standby chicken parmigiana.



He also really enjoyed his dish.

For dessert I shared COFFEE & DONUTS crispy zeppoli fritters + espresso gelato + nutella cream with my brother.



This was very good but definitely a shareable dessert.

My DH ordered guava cheesecake that was a special for the night.



He thought this had very nice flavor as well.

After dessert, we dropped my parents back at the Art Ovation Hotel and started our drive to the Towneplace Suites, Flamingo Crossing. I originally purchased our reservations through Undercover Tourist for May 4-6 and then at some point decided to add May 6-7 so I purchased another night through Undercover Tourist. I called earlier in the day on May 4 to let Towneplace Suites know that we would be arriving very late. I let them know we had two back to back reservations and asked them to put us in a room for May 4-6 that we wouldn't have to check-out/check-in for May 6-7. The front desk person said that wouldn't be an issue.

We ended up leaving the dinner so late that I realized we would be checking in pretty close to midnight. So, as we drove I called Towneplace Suites again just to confirm that we were coming. When I called, this front desk person said they had no reservation in my name. I explained I had called earlier in the day and I had one then. This person kept asking for a confirmation number. All I had was my UT confirmation number which the woman said wouldn't work. She told me "Well you probably have a reservation if they found it earlier but we can check once you arrive." I really didn't want to arrive at midnight to find out we had no place to stay. What she should have said was "and even if you don't we can still give you a room"....but she didn't say that.

I was stressing out. By this point, UT service was closed for the day but there was an "emergency line" to call. So, I called that number and got a message saying "your call will be returned tomorrow morning during normal office hours." So much for "emergency line". I quickly looked on the Marriott app and saw that there were rooms still at the Springhill Suites in the same plaza so worst case we'd have to switch there.

We arrived to Towneplace Suite Flamingo Crossings and there was a man and woman at the front desk. I decided to avoid the woman since it was a woman who couldn't find our reservation and went to the man. The man asked our last name and pulled the reservation up right away. So, I'm not really sure what the problem was earlier. So weird. We were given a room on the 5th floor but he said to us (curiously), "If you have a problem with the room I'm here all night"...that's odd, I thought, but it all became very clear.

We got up to the room, which was a king bed handicapped accessible room for some reason. My DH needed a few more steps (it wasn't quite midnight). He left as I went into the bathroom to get ready for bed. He returned a few minutes later, opened the bathroom door and said "what is that noise?" I came out of the bathroom and the A/C was so loud we couldn't even hear each other without yelling. It was like a jet engine in the room. There was no way we could have that A/C on and think let alone sleep. My DH called the front desk on speakerphone and said "I'm not sure if you can hear this but there's something wrong. Can you send someone to fix it or can we have another room?" The front deskperson said "that's the only king bed room we have but I can put you in a two queen room". We accepted, re-packed all our things, and moved a couple doors down. Now the front desk person's comment makes sense. He had to know he was putting us in the jet engine room but it must have been the only king bed room left. I can't imagine they'd ever put anyone in that room. It was beyond loud. I wish I remembered the room number so I could avoid it on future trips.

Whew...it took some doing but we were finally in Orlando!

 

[mickey916]

May 5 - Back in Our Happy Place​

After 26 days on the road, we were finally in Orlando! I can't fully express how relieved we were to be able to spend a few days around Disney. I honestly believed that somewhere along our adventures we'd find a place we "liked better" but we were both so happy to be in Orlando! I've always been the Disney fan but ever since our April 2022 trip, my DH has become one as well. He kept saying, "it's so nice to be here!"


Since we had already visited the parks on three separate vacations in 2022, we decided this would be a non-park visit.
We started with our traditional first stop, POFQ for beignets. This time we tried the strawberry sauce (we usually get chocolate and caramel).


Just as hot, soft, and delicious as always! We liked the strawberry sauce but I do think I prefer the caramel. We walked around the Port Orleans resorts enjoying the sights and sounds.

We headed over to Disney Springs to find there was no virtual wait for Gideon's so we waited in the regular line for about 20 minutes. I had checked the "cake schedule" on Gideon's Instagram page so I knew our options were chocolate peanut butter cup, rainbow cake, and Pipistrello cake.


We had such a hard time deciding that we decided to buy both of the chocolate ones!

It was lunchtime, so we had to eat our lunch first before we could indulge in dessert. We decided to try a "new to us restaurant", D-Luxe Burger. We wanted to save room for cake so we chose to share a burger and fries.

We ordered the El Diablo burger: Chorizo and Signature Blend Beef Patty, Fried Banana Peppers, Pepper Jack, Lettuce, Tomato, Grilled Onion, and Chipotle Mayonnaise.



This was very tasty! We thought it had great flavor and just enough heat.

We also shared a large order of fries.


These were also very good! We will definitely give D-Luxe Burger another visit some time.

Finally, it was time for dessert. First, the Pipistrello cake: Chocolate Cake. Cinnamon Sugar Buttercream. Butter Crumbs.



This is absolute heaven! We could not get over how delicious this was. As we were eating it my DH said, "this is the best cake I've ever had in my life."

The other one was our usual favorite, the chocolate peanut butter cup cake.



As we ate this one, my DH said, "okay, THIS is the best cake I've ever had...actually it's impossible to pick a favorite!"

We resisted the temptation to eat both of these in their entirety in one sitting and actually enjoyed them two more days. We are definitely in the camp of Gideon's cake is better than their cookies.

We spent the rest of the day walking around Disney Springs until it was time to head to dinner. I had made an ADR for Boatwrights with the expectation of trying the French Onion Soup and the Taste of the Bayou.

Our meal started with their delicious corn bread.


We then each had a bowl of French onion soup.



This was delicious! It was hot and cheesy, full of beefy onion flavor. We think this one is better than the one we had at Steakhouse 71.

We were so full from our eating day but really wanted to try the Taste of the Bayou: Hickory-smoked Pork Ribs, Crispy Cajun Chicken, Smoked Sausage, Barbecued Beef Brisket, Mashed Potatoes, Mac & Cheese, Roasted Corn with Cajun Butter, and Seasonal Vegetables. This is an "all you care to enjoy" platter but we both knew we weren't going to need any refills. We asked if it was possible to share it, with the understanding it would no longer be "all you care to enjoy". The server said we could and we could get refills of any items we wanted but would have to pay for them a la carte.

This is my half:


We really enjoyed all of this (with the exception of the corn that was overcooked). Everything had great flavor. We didn't order any refills. We were far too full.

This is our second meal at Boatwrights that did not disappoint! Last time we had the jambalaya, boudin balls, and mardi gras fritters so we've tried most of the menu and enjoyed it all!

We retired early to our hotel to make up for the late night of travel the night before.

Up next...returning to a favorite breakfast.

 

[DisneyHardin]

I'm going to be so sad when your trip report is over and I don't have your delicious food reports to look forward to every couple days!!!

 

[mickey916]

I'm going to be so sad when your trip report is over and I don't have your delicious food reports to look forward to every couple days!!!

Oh thank you! I'm going to be sad when it's over too! I could do one about our South Dakota trip we took in June but sadly there weren't too many delicious foods there, LOL.

 

[JaxDad]

Oh thank you! I'm going to be sad when it's over too! I could do one about our South Dakota trip we took in June but sadly there weren't too many delicious foods there, LOL.

We had some great meals in South Dakota. Skogen Kitchen in Custer is among the best restaurants I’ve ever visited.

Thanks for the fun trip/food report!

 

[mickey916]

We had some great meals in South Dakota. Skogen Kitchen in Custer is among the best restaurants I’ve ever visited.

Thanks for the fun trip/food report!

Hmmm...didn't eat there. We tried very hard to read reviews and find good meals but we weren't very successful.

 

[mickey916]

May 6 - A Day of Disney Transportation​

We started the day with returning to a favorite breakfast spot, the Ale & Compass. We drove to the Yacht Club and checked in for our 7:45 ADR. We were seated rather promptly at a table for two that was about a foot away from another couple. It was very apparent that they were annoyed by us invading their space. It was really uncomfortable. They instantly stopped talking as we were seated and never said a word the rest of the time. Soon a father and daughter were seated on the other side of us a foot away, but they didn't seem to mind. I don't know why restaurants do that. Why not seat every other table and then fill in the empty spots later? This would at least stagger how long people were next to each other.

We headed up to the buffet as we waited for our entrees. Here's my plate:
The overnight oats and fresh fruit were delicious. The "warm cinnamon roll" was not warm and a little dry. The chocolate chip muffin and apple cinnamon bread were pretty standard.

My DH's plate:

He liked the apple cinnamon bread. He agreed that the cinnamon rolls weren't particularly good and the croissant was fresh but nothing special.

For our entrees, we decided to order the salted caramel apple French toast which was my husband's favorite last time.

This just didn't seem as good as last time. There wasn't enough apple filling and the bread seemed much thinner. Last time it was thick and fluffy with tons of filling.

We also ordered the dark chocolate waffles, a new item for us that we've been eager to try.


These were just okay as well. We felt like they were pretty basic chocolate waffles and a little dry. They needed more cherry compote. There was really only one cherry on each waffle.

So overall our Ale & Compass breakfast was just not as amazing as last time. Perhaps the scowls we received from the couple sitting next to us affected our dining experience but it just didn't seem as good this time.

We had wanted to ride the skyliner but when we parked the parking guard warned us that we could only stay as long as it took to eat. I mentioned I thought we had 3 hours and he said no we couldn't stay after our meal. There was a convention and we might be towed. We figured we had a little time after our meal so we decided to walk off our breakfast by walking around the Boardwalk, over to Epcot and back. We then drove to Disney Springs and walked around there for a bit.

Then, we took a bus from Disney Springs to the Riviera so we could explore that area and ride the skyliner. We walked around the Riviera and over to the Caribbean Beach. We then took the skyliner to the Art of Animation resort and walked around there for a bit. Next, we rode the skyliner to Epcot and Hollywood Studios.



From Hollywood Studios, we took a bus to the Polynesian Resort and walked around there as well. We rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian and then took the boat to the Magic Kingdom, as the walkway to the Magic Kingdom was closed due to construction. From there we took the monorail to the TTC and then the monorail to Epcot and back to the TTC. We then took the ferry to the Magic Kingdom and the boat to the Wilderness Lodge. We walked around the Wilderness Lodge for a while and even got to see the "old faithful".


We rode the boat back to the Magic Kingdom then walked over to the Contemporary. We explored the Contemporary for a bit and then rode the monorail to the Polynesian.

Here's where we hit a snag but it all worked out eventually. We had wanted to dine at 'Ohana but because we weren't staying on property, at the 60 day mark there were no ADRs available. I immediately set up TouringPlans and Stakeout alerts for both May 5 and May 6. I never received any notifications (except for the day before but only for 9:00 pm or later ADRs). We didn't want to eat that late. I had heard that walk-ups were sometimes available so we decided to give that a shot. We arrived at the Poly at 3:45 and I went into the MDE app. The app said "a walk-up is available for your party size in 10 minutes". "Great!" I thought and followed the prompts to sign up. I noticed then that it thought we were a party of 4 for some reason. I backed out and changed our party size to 2. The app then said "no availability". So, I changed it back to 4 and it said "10 minute wait". Knowing that when you make a regular ADR they don't mind if fewer people show up, I decided to book us for 4 people....apparently that's a no-no for walk-ups (lesson learned).

I got notified our table was available and went to the hostess stand. She said "there's four of you?" I said "No just two." She responded that the table was for four people not two so I would have to wait while they "adjusted the system" and it would be about 15 minutes. 45 minutes later no one called us. I checked backed in and they said it would be a bit longer. We really wanted to eat at 'Ohana so we decided just to be patient and hope eventually they let us in. There was one CM who kept apologizing and was super nice. She wasn't the head CM though for seating people and the woman who was didn't seem happy with us "gaming the system" as apparently we had done unknowingly. I think the nice CM finally just took pity on us and brought us to a table for three. Kinda crazy that they didn't want any parties smaller than 4 when there were plenty of empty tables available....a money grab in my opinion.

Up next...dinner at 'Ohana, was it worth it?

 

[mickey916]

5/6 Dinner at 'Ohana - Worth the Wait?
​

After waiting just over an hour, we were finally seated at a three-top table. Our server promptly brought over the Signature 'Ohana bread and Mixed Greens Salad with Citrus Vinaigrette.



I love this bread. It is warm with a hint of pineapple and coconut. So good!



We really enjoy this salad too. The citrus vinaigrette has delicious flavor and the vegetables are fresh and crispy. It's important however NOT to fill up on salad (too many other great items needing the stomach space).

Our server then quickly brought out our skillet of sides: 'Ohana noodles, coriander chicken wings, pork dumplings, and roasted vegetables.



These were all absolutely delicious as always. We both love the noodles with their sweet sauce. My DH's favorite are the pork dumplings and I love the chicken wings. My DH isn't a "meat on a bone" fan but he even thought the wings were outstanding this time around. The vegetable stir-fry was an improvement over the broccolini that we had in May and December.

Ten minutes later our server brought the shrimp, steak, and chicken thighs.



The shrimp are well-seasoned and very fresh tasting. I very much enjoyed all of them. My DH isn't a shrimp fan so these are usually all mine!



The steak tips are always a mixed bag. Some are fork tender and others are really tough. My DH got one that was very difficult to chew. I suggested he try another one and that one was perfect. Rule of thumb: don't waste your time chewing a tough one, just get another one. The ones that are tender are flavorful and perfect bits of beef.



The grilled chicken with chimichurri sauce were also excellent. The chicken is tender and well cooked and I love the chimichurri sauce. So good!

We were quite full so we didn't ask for any refills (although it was tempting to get more noodles, wings and dumplings). This was a lot of food for two people so we were "good" and didn't get more.

Our server then brought out dessert: 'Ohana Bread Pudding and a Rice Krispie treat (first time anyone has given us that).



This was the best serving of 'Ohana bread pudding we've had in our past three visits. It was a huge portion, warm and simply amazing.



We packed this up and ate it a couple days later. It was very good for a rice krispie treat.

Overall, this meal once again was excellent. Service was attentive. The food came out very promptly and was hot and plentiful. This is hands down our favorite restaurant on property. I know there's a lot of mixed reviews but we have been three times in the past year and all three times were fantastic. We will definitely attempt to book this every time we are in Orlando (but now we know better than to do a walk-up for 4 when there's only 2 of us).

This is always a great way to begin or end a stay in Orlando. Sadly for us, this was the end of our time there.

Up next...travelling to Savannah and meeting up with Mom & Dad again.

 

[footballmouse]

I really look forward to this trip report!

 

[mickey916]

I really look forward to this trip report!

Aw...thank you! That makes me happy!

 

[mickey916]

May 7 - Travel day to Savannah
​

This will be a quick update as I realized I have no photos at all from this date. I guess that tells you how memorable it was!

We started with the breakfast provided by Towneplace Suites. We usually skip this breakfast, as we are always heading somewhere on property but it was surprisingly good. There were tons of options but we opted just to get bagels. We checked out and headed for Savannah. We stopped at a small Veterans Memorial Park for a picnic lunch of pbj sandwiches along the way.

We arrived in Savannah and got our steps by walking along the Riverwalk. It was a nice area of restaurants and bars and there was a lot of opportunities for people watching.

As a side note, my parents had left Sarasota the day after we did and went to visit some friends in the Fort Myers area. They were now on their way home and texted us to see where we were. We told them we were spending the night in Savannah and they said they were too. They asked where we were staying and booked the room next door to ours at the Courtyard Savannah Airport.

Nearby was a Texas Roadhouse so we suggested we meet there for dinner. At 5:00 there was a two hour wait for a table so we opted instead to go to a Metro Diner nearby. DH and I were craving the chicken tender salad from the Texas Roadhouse so we ordered that off the diner menu. It wasn't as good (and I forgot to take a picture). I don't remember what my parents ate but it was all just okay, nothing great.

DH and I saw there was a Rita's Italian Ice listed nearby so we headed to that location only to discover it was out of business. We opted for a puppy chow blizzard at a Dairy Queen. The young man serving us somehow didn't do it correctly and the whole cup was just dripping with melted ice cream down the sides. Definitely not a great dining day.

We returned to the hotel to discover the entire corridor we were on reeked of weed. The gentleman next door to us proceeded to smoke it all night long. It seeped into our room and also into my parent's room on the opposite side of us.

The front desk person also didn't appear to want to deal with us much when we checked in so we knew it wasn't worth mentioning the weed smoking issue. We didn't think at first it would get into our rooms but it did.

It wasn't a great stay to say the least. 0 for 2 at hotels my parents stayed at with us! Overall our Savannah stay was not a great one but we really didn't spend much time doing any touristy stuff.

Up next...a much better day as we made our way to Charlotte, North Carolina.

 

[mickey916]

5/8 - Making Our Way to Charlotte
​

After our restless night of being woken up with weed smell, we walked over to the nearby iHop and joined my parents for breakfast. Our waitress was very attentive and friendly (we were the only ones in the restaurant). I ordered the Belgian waffle combo and my DH ordered the French toast. Once again I neglected to take pictures but we both enjoyed our meals. Hot, fresh and tasty. We checked out of the hotel, said good-bye to my parents, and headed on the backroads to Charlotte, NC.

At lunchtime we stopped at a park called Bear Creek Park in Lancaster, South Carolina for a picnic lunch of pbj sandwiches. It was a nice little park with quite a few people fishing. Eventually we reached our hotel on the outskirts of Charlotte, the Fairfield Inn & Suites, Charlotte Matthew. We checked in to the hotel and then walked Freedom Park in Charlotte to get our steps. This is a beautiful park with walking paths, playgrounds, and a reflective pool. It was a great place to walk after our long drive.

We knew all along where we wanted to eat dinner, the Village Tavern, Charlotte, after our great experience in Pembroke Pines. We had hoped to order the Thai Chicken Nachos again, however they weren't on this menu.

We started instead with sharing an order of spring rolls with three dipping sauces: sweet & sour, soy, and hot mustard.


These were very good. My DH preferred the sweet & sour sauce and I preferred the hot mustard. No surprises there.

We told our server that we wanted to share a cobb salad and also share the chicken Thai salad. She brought each of our salads out on separate plates. Service was excellent at this location as well.

Here is my half of the Cobb salad.


This was just as good as we remembered it.

Here is my half of the chicken thai salad:


This was also absolutely delicious. We enjoyed this trip to the Village Tavern just as much as the one in Pembroke Pines (but the Thai chicken nachos at Pembroke Pines was the best dish overall).

Still yearning for a Rita's custard, after being disappointed the night before, we found a Rita's nearby. We didn't get an Italian ice, opting instead just for a twist.

​

Always creamy and delicious!

We headed back to the hotel for an early night, eager to get up the next morning to explore the NASCAR side of Charlotte.

Up next...an incredible day of NASCAR sights!

 

[mickey916]

I'm Back - 5/9 An Awesome Day in Charlotte​

I had this whole post written a couple weeks ago and as I was proofing it something happened and it vanished. Then, we were busy with our DS-25 on vacation in NH so I just haven't had a chance to write it all again. So here goes (again):

We started our morning with bagels from the breakfast offerings at the Fairfield Inn, Charlotte Matthews. We had planned to tour the NASCAR Hall of Fame but unfortunately it is not open on Tuesdays. Instead, I booked us a tour of the Charlotte Motor Speedway. We had some time to kill before our tour so we drove around to find some of the NASCAR team headquarters. Our first stop was at RFK (Roush-Fenway-Keselowski) and as we drove past we could see them practicing pit stops. It was really cool to see.

We then went to the Charlotte Speedway to check in for our tour. Our tour guide informed us that we were to be the only people on the tour. He had us fill out waivers and then we boarded a Ford Econoline van. He took us first out to the dragstrip. He drove to the starting lights and counted down. He then floored it and we sped down the drag strip in our van. I think we hit at least 80 mph. He then drove us over to the dirt track before taking us to the speedway.


At the Speedway, he showed us VIP seating areas, the pit stalls, the garages, and the winner's circle. There was a Ford Driving School out on the track and it was interesting to see the various people driving. The tour guide asked us if we minded waiting a little because as soon as the driving school ended, he could take us out onto the track. Of course we were willing to wait! He drove us out onto the track and then proceeded to drive 90 miles an hour around the track (in a Ford van no less), telling us all kinds of information about what drivers experience as they race. It was scary but so cool! I guess I know why we had to sign waivers! This tour guide was excellent. He was so knowledgeable and passionate about NASCAR, the history of the track, and Bruton Smith (the original owner). This tour was far more exciting and in-depth compared to our Daytona track tour. I'm sure some of it had to do with being the only ones on our tour but this was phenomenal!

As we finished our tour it was close to lunch time and our tour guide suggested we dine at the Speedway Club overlooking the track. We were only dressed in t-shirts and shorts but he said they are not too strict about dress codes during lunchtime. We took his advice and headed up to the restaurant. Here is the view from our table:



We were brought a basket of cheddar biscuits to start. These were warm and tasty.



We decided to order two entrees to share. First, we ordered the aptly named Chicken Sandwich: grilled chicken breast, pesto mayo, mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomato and onion on a toasted pretzel roll.



This was very good. The chicken was moist and had nice grill marks. The fresh mozzarella and pesto gave it great flavor.

Secondly, we ordered the also uniquely named Pub Burger: Brasstown grass-fed beef with Swiss cheese, bacon, fried onion straws, lettuce, tomato and house-made pickles on a toasted pretzel roll.



This was an excellent burger. Cooked perfectly and well seasoned. Overall we really enjoyed our meal and it was cool to dine overlooking the track.

After lunch we toured the Henrick motor sports museum and then went to a visitor's center recommended by our tour guide that had booklets detailing the various team's garage locations and visiting hours. We ended up visiting Gibbs, Penski, KBM (Kyle Busch), Junior Motorsports, and Front Row Motorsports. Pictures weren't allowed at many of the locations but we got to see them working on their cars for the upcoming Darlington race. Here's photos from Penski who allowed photos from their overlook.





It was incredible to see how spotless all the garages were! We ran out of time but look forward to visiting more teams on a future trip.

We still needed steps so we went to Jetton Park in Cornelius, NC around Lake Norman. It was a beautiful area for a walk. Since we were still pretty full from lunch we had a quick picnic of pbj sandwiches at a picnic table in the park. DH had a friend who was eyeing his sandwich.

​

After our walk we headed back to the Fairfield Inn & Suites Charlotte Matthews and decided to stop by Chili's Bar & Grill next door for dessert. We waited a while for our server to come over to take our order only to be told that they were out of the skillet chocolate chip cookie. Nothing else appealed to us so we thanked our server and walked back to the hotel.

Overall this Fairfield Inn & Suites at Charlotte Matthews was clean and quiet but we weren't thrilled with the neighborhood. It was a bit too far on the outskirts. Next time we'll stay a bit closer to Charlotte proper. We loved our time in Charlotte and hope to spend more time there on a future trip.

Up next...Charlottesville, VA

 

[mickey916]

5/10 - Traveling to Charlottesville, VA​

After a breakfast of bagels and Frootloops from the Fairfield Inn breakfast offerings, we checked out and started our drive to Charlottesville, VA. We took back roads as much as possible and along the way we stopped for a picnic lunch and a walk at the County Wide Park in Rustburg, VA. It was a very nice walk around a meadow. We were the only people there. After our walk we tried the new Frozen Coke from McDonald's (no picture unfortunately but I'm sure you can envision it). It was pretty good and refreshing after a warm walk.

Eventually we checked into the Courtyard Charlottesville. This was a very nicely appointed hotel in a great location. We still needed steps after a day of driving so we went to the Ivy Creek Park. This was a beautiful park with forested trails.

My DH was craving Texas Roadhouse again and there was one not too far from the hotel. He ordered his usual Critter Salad with honey mustard dressing.


He enjoyed this as always and especially enjoyed the rolls with cinnamon butter.

I decided to go a different direction and ordered the barbecue chicken with sweet potato.


It doesn't look like much on the plate but it was quite tasty and hit the spot.

We didn't see anything we wanted to try for dessert so we decided to pick up some Ben & Jerry's chocolate caramel cookie dough ice cream and brownies at the local supermarket. We also picked something up for breakfast the next morning, since the Courtyard doesn't include breakfast (more on that in the next post).

Here's my bowl of ice cream in the hotel room:


Here's my amazing story about this photo: After I took it, I picked up the bowl and somehow it fell out of my hands, did a complete flip and landed right side up on the table. Not a drop was spilled! I have no idea how that happened but it could've been a huge mess (and a disappointing end to dessert). My DH was quite impressed with my magic trick!

 

[mickey916]

5/11 - One Last Stop Before the Drive Home​

As I mentioned in the previous post, when we were at the Food Lion the night before picking up ice cream and brownies, we also picked up something for breakfast. We scoured the bakery area for something interesting and found chocolate babka. Neither of us have ever had babka or even knew what it was. The only way we even heard about babka was from a Seinfeld episode, LOL. We decided to give it a try.

Top view:


Sliced view:


This was absolutely delicious! It was a cross between a bread and a pastry. It had tons of chocolate flavor and the breading part wasn't dried out at all. Babka - where have you been all our lives?

After our phenomenal breakfast, we checked out of the Courtyard Charlottesville and hit the road to drive to Lancaster, PA. Along the way we had a couple of pretzel rods for lunch, saving room for our anticipated dinner.

We arrived in Lancaster in time to stop by the Strasburg Railroad. Our DS-25 is a huge steam engine fan whose hobby is to post YouTube videos of various steam engines. As a result, we have been to Strasburg many times. It is always a great stop. We took this picture for him since he wasn't with us.



We then drove to Lititz to get some steps in Lititz Springs Park (and also get some Wilbur buds at Wilbur's Chocolates, another tradition on our Pennsylvania visits). Wilbur's Chocolates sell excellent handcrafted chocolates that we have been purchasing for years. In 2016 however they closed the factory and opened a new gift shop across the street. We feel like the chocolate is still good but just not the same for some reason.

After getting our steps, we headed to dinner at Shady Maple Smorgasbord. We discovered this restaurant years ago when the boys were young and we were visiting Hershey Park and Strasburg. It is a must do for us every time we are in the area. This is a massive Pennsylvania Dutch cooking buffet. Nate from Paging Mr. Morrow has a couple of great YouTube videos on it, if you want a better perspective. The food is always plentiful, varied, fresh, hot and delicious. They have their standard offerings every night but then each night also has a specific theme with specialty offerings. We were there on a Thursday which is Wing/Rib night and the cheapest night at $21.99 per person.

Here's my first plate:


Ribs, teriyaki wing, fried chicken, stuffing, mac n cheese, pot roast and buffalo wing. Everything was just delicious! If I had to pick a favorite from this dish it's the pot roast and fried chicken.

Here's my DH's first plate:


Mashed potato, stuffing, pot roast, turkey, mac n cheese, corn casserole, chicken cutlet, raspberry bread. His favorite thing is always the raspberry bread.

Here's my second plate:


Honey-mustard wing, corn bread, buttered noodles, pot roast, Thai chili wing, mushrooms, and beef brisket. The beef brisket was so tender and flavorful! If I had more room I would have gotten another slice. So good! Best thing I had all night.

I didn't get a picture of my DH's second plate but it was mostly fried chicken, mashed potatoes and raspberry bread. He also ate his dessert before I could take a picture. He had a couple slices of pie, coconut cream and apple I believe.

I got a half whoopie pie. It was pretty standard.


I also got a piece of coconut cake.


This was extremely good! The cake was very light. The frosting had a marshmallow flavor and light texture with lots of toasted coconut. Yum!

Overall it was another great meal. My DH puts this restaurant high on his list of all-time favorite restaurants. In fact we're already planning next year's trip and initially weren't planning on a stop in Lancaster but added it back in just to go here! (We also really love the area).

After dinner we drove to the Fairfield Inn & Suites Lancaster. As I mentioned we've been to this area on many vacations while the kids were growing up. We have always visited in July and August on summer break. This is our first time visiting in the spring. It was so surprising to us to see barren farms. We are so used to miles of cornfields that it just never dawned on us that it only looks that way in the summer! It was very weird how different everything looked.



Lancaster PA is just such a beautiful area. We always wish we could stay a little longer. As we checked into the Fairfield Inn, the front desk person told us this was going to be the best one we ever stayed in. It wasn't. It was very clean and seemed pretty new but the sound-proofing wasn't great. We could hear our neighbors and the road. Also the shower didn't work well. It wasn't a bad stay for sure but definitely not the best.

We awoke the next morning and had breakfast which included the rest of the babka and a danish from the breakfast offerings. We then packed up one last time and drove home to Massachusetts, thereby concluding our 2023 road trip.

Up next...overall thoughts and stats.

 

[GSDGlitter]

Hey, you were in my neck of the woods. Much like best cheesesteak, the Wilbur buds vs. Hershey kisses debate is delicious and frequent. I do agree that the experience has changed even if the taste has not. We love the Lancaster area and Shady Maple. If you haven't checked out the market, it's a fun experience!

 

[mickey916]

Hey, you were in my neck of the woods. Much like best cheesesteak, the Wilbur buds vs. Hershey kisses debate is delicious and frequent. I do agree that the experience has changed even if the taste has not. We love the Lancaster area and Shady Maple. If you haven't checked out the market, it's a fun experience!

I think we fall in the Wilbur buds camp but we'll never say no to a Hershey kiss either! What is the market? Definitely never done that. Next year we are staying a couple nights in Lancaster on the way home because this year felt too rushed (and we want to go to Shady Maple but they're closed on Sundays so we have to stay an extra day).

 

[GSDGlitter]

I think we fall in the Wilbur buds camp but we'll never say no to a Hershey kiss either! What is the market? Definitely never done that. Next year we are staying a couple nights in Lancaster on the way home because this year felt too rushed (and we want to go to Shady Maple but they're closed on Sundays so we have to stay an extra day).

I think Shady Maple refers to it as a Farm Market but it's essentially a grocery store - the bakery alone is worth the visit!

 

[mickey916]

I think Shady Maple refers to it as a Farm Market but it's essentially a grocery store - the bakery alone is worth the visit!

Oh my goodness! How have we missed this???? Definitely on the list for 2024!