Eating Out

Dining Out

Last night we went to dinner at Outback because we had received a coupon in the mail to buy one Special Summer Adventures entrée for $9.95 and get the second one free. I added a Coke to drink (actually required for the coupon to be valid) and we split a Caesar’s Salad. Total with tip $19.

Tonight we went out to dinner at Ryan’s for the MMC’s monthly meeting. We had a coupon to buy one Mega Bar (AKA: Stupefying Buffet) and get the second free. I added a sweet tea and our total with tip came to $14.43.

With the food and overall dining experience, the Outback dinner out was worth $35, the Ryan’s meal was barely worth $10.

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Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 380

Full Day

Not Easy Being GreenThis morning we did get to the WNC Nature Center and it was interesting destination. I’m sure they are doing good work, but it came off as more of a minor league zoo and is mostly aimed at kids. We left Edward Scissorhands (Allen) at the town home so he could prune, trim and shape the landscaping, while Diane, Donna and I took a pleasant drive north to Asheville and then to the east side of town via the Blueridge Parkway.

There were three caches within a 1/4 mile of the nature center, so after we had our fill of wild animals in captivity, we went out looking for captive containers in the wild. The first one was spotted by Donna as it hovered right over my head in a tree I was standing near. The second one we only gave a half hearted attempt at because it was supposed to be at the edge of a small stream in a small park, but to get to it you had to fight through a large patch of plants with large thorns on them. The third was near a soccer field in the same park, but there was a broom less game of Quidditch taking place, so we didn’t even leave the car.

Lunch was back in Hendersonville at West First wood fired pizza. After eating lunch we went back to the Stricker Mountain Home and packed our bags. We were vacating the place so Allen’s sister and her husband from Charlotte could spend Saturday night in the guest room.

We are back home and while it was fun to see their new place and visit with my sister and Allen, there is no place like home.

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Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 315

Chimney Rock

Chimney RockSpent most of the day with sister Diane and husband Allen.

We started the day at Chimney Rock Park where we spent about 3 hours walking up, around and about on the trails and stairs there. Lunch was on the outside deck at a small Mexican place in the neighboring town of Lake Lure where Donna and I had eaten a couple years ago on a fall leaf peeping expedition. It was as good as we remembered it.

From there we made another run to their now revealed secret hideaway. We drove around, got a tour of a model home where the decorating budget was probably more than the cost of our home in Aiken. Allan then took a look at a different lot and spent several minutes talking to the developer’s son trying to work a deal.

After a two hour break for afternoon naps we went back into downtown Hendersonville to see the end of the big plant & flower show and get some dinner. Two words: West First. Best pizza since, well, ever.

Between yesterday and today we are 6 for 6 in geocaches. Five of which Diane & Allen have done with us (we may have converts on our hands.) Tomorrow on the trip home we may do a few, weather permitting.

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Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 209

Denver, CO

1344 miles from home.

That is the hotel across the street from where we are staying taken from our 6th floor room. We did some laundry, watched some TV and relaxed a lot, but we did also get out today and do some geocaching within a 10 mile radius of the hotel. We found seven of eight caches and probably would have found all of them, but it was a cloudy, chilly day and our hearts just weren’t into it. This brought our total for the vacation to 48 found, 7 missed (although that may rise as we plan on trying a couple on the way home from the airport tomorrow.

To streamline tomorrow morning’s early flight process we turned in the rental car this afternoon. Total mileage driven in the slightly more than 14 days in our possession was 3,593 or an average of 256 miles a day. Which seems sort of poetic as the total bill for all those miles was $256.

I didn’t log the Rental Car Travel Bug into all the caches we found but try and get enough so you could get an outline of the trip. See the map for a look.

Of the sixteen nights on the road there were 6 spent in Bed & Breakfasts, the rest were various hotels. Three of those were HIE (mmm…cinnamon buns), 2 plain Holiday Inns, these two in a Courtyard and then some other random chains.

Vacations are great, but we are ready to be getting home (not necessarily to go back to work.) We had lunch before the last couple of caches today and are now so tired of eating out that we decided to go to some place really different, McDonald’s. Almost looking forward to making a meal out of Kraft Macaroni & Cheese.

Title Wanted

This photo was taken by Donna as I wound my way up the many switchbacks to the entrance to Black Rock Mountain State Park yesterday.

Not satisfied with driving over 400 miles on Saturday we decided to drive 60 miles (one way) for lunch today. We met Donna’s cousin Laurie in Columbia at California Dreaming where we caught each other up on the doings of the respective branches of the family tree. We rode to there with the top up because we took the interstate, but on the way home it was down because we traveled the two lane back roads on the another perfect autumn afternoon.

We finished watching the last 3 episodes of Mad Men tonight and now have to wait until July of ’09 for new shows…

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Miata Top Transitions since 10/24/08: 18

Laissez Les Bon Temps Roulez

We took this afternoon off and had intended to go home and eat lunch before heading out, but didn’t make it, we ended up eating at Popeyes. Longtime readers will know that Popeyes and the Bogardi have a checkered past and will wonder just what the heck we were doing there again considering our history there. The rest of you will now be able to ask that question the next time we eat there, which will probably be during a weak moment several months from now.

It was 11:45 and before the lunch crowd so I walked right up and placed an order. We decided to split a #9 meal, popcorn shrimp with 3 catfish strips, dirty rice, a biscuit and a medium drink. Donna filled the drink and found a table while I waited near the counter for our lunch. There was already someone there waiting for his lunch and soon we were joined by a number of other diners as the order takers were more efficient than the order makers. Well, really, order maker because there was only one of him.

If you ordered chicken you were in luck because that was ready, but as usual, anything else needed to be cooked. I could see our order half filled sitting there with the rice and shrimp as we waited on the catfish. Donna by this time had joined all of us near the counter to chat up the poor guy who was waiting when we walked in and still was. Turns out he was waiting on a couple of po’boys. After about 6-7 minutes more his sandwiches were done and the lady tossed an apple pie in his bag for having to wait so long.

We were next and she put a couple of pies on our tray too, but tried to hand us red beans & rice instead of dirty rice. She corrected that and we headed for a table. Once seated Donna had to go back up to get some of the promised tartar sauce and an extra spork for the rice. Wasn’t until we were done that we realized we didn’t get a biscuit either. By then we didn’t want it either. We split one of the apple pie things and gave the second one away to a fellow sitting behind us.

Dinner was also Naw’lins style but a much nicer experience. Then again we have never had a bad meal at Razzo’s in Concord, NC. Donna had a shrimp po’boy and I had my favorite Andouille/Red Beanz ‘N’ Rice. I wish this place was closer to Aiken as I’d like to eat here once a week or so. Probably get old after a while, but I’d like to find out how long that would take. Tomorrow we will drop in at Razzoo’s again to pick up an order of Rat Toes to go. There is someone back in Aiken (Hi Mark) who would be very unhappy If I didn’t bring him back some.

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