A New Series

My friend Denise has a wonderful blog, One Lucky Girl, and she has a really cool series that she's started called Strong Women. I'm going to borrow from her idea and put my own twist on it. I'll be doing it on people in my life. Men and women. Children and adults. Just glimpses of them really, but I think I can do this.

Hopefully this will work out. It will get me out there and using my camera again. Which is the main reason for this.

So here's hoping this experiment works out for me.

Food Quest: Waterman's Surfside Grill

So today we decided to wander the beach this morning. We decided to stop for breakfast along the beach, which turned into brunch due to the time. So we stopped at Waterman's Surfside Grill, because it had a number of people on the patio and we figured we could probably get breakfast there. For once we were a bit more adventurous and tried something new. We both got the Lump Crab Omelet. Which was wonderful! They used lots of crab and it wasn't imitation crab either. Their home fries were done properly (crispy on the outside and warm and tender on the inside). You'd think that home fries would be an easy thing, but many restaurants screw it up. And the sticky buns that they make are really good too. In fact we could have probably ordered some of those and coffee and have been fine. But I'm glad we didn't.

Pros:

fantastic food

staff works hard

fresh food

nice view

kid friendly

did I mention great food?

Cons:

VERY busy (so be patient)

Food Quest: 11th Street Tap House Bar & Grill

So over the weekend we went to the beach and came across 11th Street Tap House Bar & Grill and decided to give it a try. We had been walking the board walk and decided that stopping for a bite to eat was a good idea. This was the view that we had from our table. We could have sat on the patio, there's access to the patio from the beach, but I wanted to be in the A/C.

We decided to share an appetizer and got the Surfer Muscle. It was muscles steamed in Ale and garlic, finished with leeks, shallot and a blue cheese cream sauce. Toast points were included.

It was so yummy that I wish I'd had my own order of them so I didn't have to share!

We both had a glass of beer with it, which was very good. I had something that I was told was local while Jim had a Yuengling. I wish I remembered the name of the beer because it went very nicely with the muscles.

For our main course we decided to share a pizza. I think our theme for the meal was sharing. So we ordered the Knarly Pizza. It had diced chicken tossed in their house made BBQ sauce, diced red onion and tons of mozzarella. Very yummy and cheezy!

Pros:

Nice atmosphere

Good Food

Cons:

Staff was sluggish (Hard to get their attention)

Not really child friendly

St. Louis Trip Day Two

So our second day of our baseball vacation we had an evening game, but we went early in order to see batting practice. This is a fantastic baseball town. We got there an hour early, but it seemed like we were running late. lol

Sadly I was surrounded by close quarter people and it was EXTREMELY hot and humid. But our neighbors were pretty cool! I have learned that I prefer aisle seats.

We didn't catch the Cardinals batting practice, but we did manage to see the Reds swing a bit. And of course we could see into the Cardinals dug out from where we were sitting behind home plate. Awesome!!

Of course we HAD to get some shots of the stadium with the Arch in the background. It's just not a trip to St. Louis without at least acknowledging the Arch.

Apparently they were doing a nod to the D.A.R.E program and had a number of vehicles from different areas. Jim and I liked the PT Cruiser that they had painted to look like an old police car. We did see a vehicle from Alton, which is close to where we grew up, and had to cheer for it.

Had to get a picture of Fred Bird pleading to be put on the roster. It was SO funny! And of course we got to actually see them talk with the Umpires.

I know it might seem a bit odd that I have a picture of Ryan headed to bat, but he's wearing my lucky number so I had to have it.

We bought jerseys for this game. This was after visiting my mom and seeing some high school friends for lunch. I got Ryan (13) and Jim got Musial (6). I got 13 because that's my number. Jim got 6 because... Well click on the links and read to find out about this legend. It was a great time. Even if the Cardinals did lose this round.

St. Louis Trip Day One

So over the Memorial Day weekend we decided to do a little baseball trip. The plan was to fly into St. Louis on Monday, catch two Cardinal games and then fly out on Wednesday. Well that was the plan.

We were fortunate enough to purchase a new vehicle before our trip and decided to give my Saturn to Jim's mom. So instead we left Sunday afternoon and drove straight through (well we did stop for a two hour nap) to her house. Jim drove the whole thing! He so rocks.

So after a brief visit with Jim's mom and driving down memory lane checking out our old places. Lots has changed in our old town. We took pictures, but I won't bore them with them. If you went to school with Jim or I and haven't been to B-town in years, just email me and I can send them to you.

So with 2 hours of sleep under our belt we went to Busch Stadium for the first of our 2 Cardinal games. And no I have no idea how we managed it, but some how we did. The first two pictures are of us, of course, in our Cardinal red shirts. The next two are random shots from our seats.

We were along first base line about two rows back. Jim took most of the photos. I loved them. Especially the one of the guy talking to the people in the seats. He actually was giving the kids bubble gum. Gotta love how nice they are out here! And Jim didn't really use the zoom to focus in on them. That's how close we were!

Love the one of the little boy holding on to the ball. He was hoping for an autograph or two. Sadly he didn't get one, but the picture was just so Americana. Don't you think? Of course I got a picture of Ludwick. And no I didn't really zoom in on him.

The game started around three, but there was a rain delay. Like the dingbats we are, we sat out in the rain. As my darling sweetie said, 'We didn't drive 16 hours to be chased off by a little rain.' Gotta love the man! Of course so we were drenched and freezing.

Of course there is the obligatory photo of Albert Pujols. And the gentleman in the yellow shirt was our beer man. He was fantastic! Smart too! Wore knee pads so he never blocked your view of the game. I wish more beer vendors would think of that. And came back at regular intervals. Gone long enough for you to finish your beer, but not so long that you went to go find your own.

Of course the Cardinals won against the Reds. The score?
12-4! What a great way to end an extremely long day for us. So we had to take a photo of Fred Bird celebrating and the scoreboard.

Take Me Out To The Ball Game

So on Sunday we decided to attend a Nationals game. It was a beautiful day. The sun was shining and we still had the rental vehicle. So we figured, why not?

We had fantastic seats! I've never sat this close before. We really had to keep a heads up for any foul balls. And there were quite a few.

Jim had the camera and took the pictures that I've posted. I had to do a few from our seats. Plus the one that the Nationals photographer took.

The Nationals won by a single home run in the tenth inning.

Food Quest: Sandfiddler Cafe

So today I went to Sandfiddler Cafe with my buddy Greta and her little boy. She had taken me there before, but I hadn't blogged about it. It's a small restaurant, but the food is good and the service is quite nice.

Last time we had the turkey sandwiches. It had turkey, apple slices, provolone and apple butter. All served on a chewy bagel. It was fantastic! We both had potato chips. And I don't mean the crispy kind. They were slices of potatoes, fried. Yum! Her son had pancakes.

This time she had the harvest salad with balsamic dressing. It had walnuts, chicken and strawberries on a bed of lettuce with tomatoes, cucumbers and carrots. It looked fantastic. I had the fried chicken salad with honey mustard dressing on it. Her son had pancakes again. We shared an order of potato chips as well.

The good thing about this is it's kid friendly. They supply crayons and coloring sheets for kids. Which makes it nice so you can have a conversation without constant interruption, if you're lucky.

Pros:

Great food

Kid friendly

Nice atmosphere

Good service

Cons:

Location (it can be hard to find)

Space (it fills up quickly at lunch time)