We usually don't do too much for the 4th of July but my family was going to be up in Portland Maine so we joined in on the fun!

We had a reservation at the pet-friendly Hilton Garden Inn Portland Airport hotel. Check-in was friendly and easy. We met up with the rest of our group and enjoyed a couple of cocktails on the patio and chatted with another guest. Our room was clean and in a good location however it did have a bit of a mildew smell. My parent's room on the 2nd floor was fine but my sister's room had a similar smell so I don't know if it's just older air conditioners or something about the 1st floor.

For dinner, we drove and parked in town and decided to eat at Solo Italiano. We ordered a bunch of plates and ate family style. The octopus could have been a little more charred for my taste but everything else was delicious. Our steak dish was the highlight thanks to the tenderness and flavor. 

The next morning we went into town for breakfast. We ordered juices from Blake Orchard Juicery. Then I made my way to The Holy Donut for a couple of vegan donuts!

After breakfast, we met up with my parents and went for a ride to Portland Head Lighthouse. On the way back to Portland we stopped into the hotel to check out of our room and move our stuff into my parent's room so we could hang out for a couple more hours. In Portland, we did some shopping and enjoyed lunch at the Flatbread Company. Their patio has great views and is pet-friendly! My vegan pizza and lemonade were definitely satisfying!

After lunch, the three of us hopped in the car and made our way home!  

We were heading north to visit College of the Atlantic since Porscha is a rising senior. Along the way, we decided to stop in Portsmouth NH for dinner.

We lucked out and got a table at Cava Restaurant without a reservation. We were seated downstairs which is actually my preferred area. We ordered dark chocolate bocadillos, pineapple, patatas bravas, artichoke hearts, empanadas, char-grilled baby octopus, short rib, and serrano ham croquetas. 

It had been a long time since we visited the restaurant and I'm thrilled to report the food was just as amazing as I remembered. The best dishes were the short ribs, patatas bravas (I love the addition of fresh herbs), and the chocolate bocadillo. 

We'll definitely return in the future. Continuing on our journey we stayed at the Hampton Inn Bangor. Unfortunately, I made a mistake and I meant to book the Hilton Garden Inn next door but didn't. Our separate bedroom room ended up being one small room with a king bed and a sleeper sofa next to it. The hotel was clean but unremarkable and offered a loud air conditioning unit. ​

The next morning we drove into Bar Harbor for breakfast before visiting the college. 

At Thrive we ordered a classic egg sandwich, a thrive egg sandwich (dairy-free with tempeh bacon) and the best meal of our breakfast was the hearty parfait. The hearty parfait was with coconut milk yogurt, gluten-free granola, banana, roasted cinnamon sweet potatoes, peanut butter, honey, and hemp seeds. It was outstanding!

Touring the College of the Atlantic was very cool! We loved their philosophy and campus and if I was heading into college again I would love to attend!

For lunch, we visited Bar Harbor Lobster Company again. We ordered our usual painkillers, shrimp, lobster roll and Porscha enjoyed the Banh Mi.   ​

Before heading home, we shopped a bit in Bar Harbor and took a drive through Acadia National Park. Our last stop for the day was up to the top of Cadillac Mountain for some pictures on this beautiful day!

June 2019
​Greg and I have been going to Lamb Jam for the past couple of years and my sister and brother in law have been going since it began in Boston.

Lamb Jam is one of the best foodie events in Boston. You have great restaurants competing for the best lamb dishes, games, vendors, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages. 

For the most part, this years event was enjoyable. I wasn't thrilled with the venue though. The Innovation and Design Building was too small for the number of tickets sold. The outside area was always packed, and the inside area had long lines and hardly anywhere to stand and enjoy the dishes. 

​My absolute favorite dish was from La Brasa Restaurant. North Star Sheep Farm braised lamb dumplings with coconut, peanut sauce, and molasses. The dish was tender with a little texture from the coconut and pomegranate seeds. The flavors were bold and satisfying!

Even though this event wasn't as good as the year before we will definitely attend again in 2020!  ​

Porscha and I were looking to spend a nice day together in Boston and we chose a visit to the Museum of Fine Art. 

We started our time at the Japanese Gardens. I always forgot to stop in here and I was so happy we did! 
From there we headed to the top of the museum to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit. This was one of the best exhibits I've seen of her work. From the paintings to the clothes I loved every piece!

Before leaving, we stopped into Toulouse-Lautrec and the Stars of Paris. The exhibit was definitely enjoyable but I wish we would have stopped there first and saved the best (Frida Kahlo) for last.

A few blocks walk and we were inside the Isabella Stewart Gardener Museum. While the museum is small it's more than impressive. The history, architecture, and collections are incredible. You also can't forget the mystery behind the 3 stolen paintings!

We couldn't help ourselves when it came to craving something sweet! We drove over to the seaport district and followed the delicious scent into Taiyaki. I'm glad I brought some Lactaid with me because I couldn't help myself from ordering items that contained dairy.

I ordered the Taiyaki waffle cone, custard, vanilla ice cream, sprinkles, and mochi. Be warned it melts quickly in the warm waffle cone but it is a messy delicious dessert! I can't wait to go again!

June 2019
​For Father's day our family met up at The Ugly Mug Diner in Salem MA. We were a party of  9 and to get a table together we arrived very early. 

We all ordered our meals and after a short wait our server came out to tell us that half of our meals were ready but that the restaurant lost power or gas and couldn't finish the rest of the food. We were happy to compromise and we shared the food that was ready and hoped that they could get back up and running to finish our order.

Unfortunately, a few other tables ended up leaving as their ordered weren't started yet. 

Between our servers father and my brother in law they were able to figure out the problem and get the restaurant back in business. The way the staff handled this situation was terrific and that alone would bring me back here. 

Now on to the food...everything we ordered was good from eggs and potatoes to huevos rancheros. The star of the meal was definitely my order. It's not dairy free but the This Ain't No Chicken and Waffles is outstanding! A perfect waffle, duck confit, candied pecans, and a maple bourbon drizzle is the perfect combination of sweet and savory!

June 2019
We met up with our friends and their kids and had an incredible time playing at Martin's Park in honor of Martin Richard. The park is in the seaport district and is a kids dream park!

After play time we gave Bartaco a try for lunch. We ordered pineapples, cucumbers, and tortilla chips with salsa to start. The chips were okay, the pineapples were sweet, but the cucumbers were too salty. For tacos we tried the tuna tatako, pork belly, and roasted duck. Unfortunately, almost everything was too salty again.

I think it'll be our first and only time at Bartaco. 

We said goodbye to our friends and were heading back to our car when we noticed that a Tall Ship from Columbia was nearby and welcoming people aboard for tours. The ARC Gloria is a beautiful ship with a warm and welcoming crew. We went below deck as part of the tour but I instantly could feel the ships movement and needed to be out on deck again!

We spent a few more minutes wandering the ship taking photographs before we disembarked and made our way home. 

June 2019
We were a party of 3 with a reservation for dinner at Whaling in Oklahoma. The staff seated us right away and were wonderful with helping us turn down the AC since our table basically felt like we were in the Arctic. 

We definitely over-ordered but when we're trying somewhere new we like to get a complete feel of the restaurant. The fried artichokes with yuzu were outstanding! We also ordered charred snap peas, spring lamb dumplings, chicken breast robata, kurobuta sausages, crispy skin (that wasn't so crispy), meatball and egg yolk, spicy rice cakes, and I believe it was turkey leg. 

Everything was well seasoned and served hot. I can't wait to return!

June 2019

Our usual early morning drop off of Fred at my parents went off without a hitch! Unfortunately, the drive to Brooklyn had us searching for a car wash because a car splashed mine with some roadkill. 

We arrived at Five Points Fest and made our way inside without a wait. We checked out the outside area first. We watched some live painting, looked at merchandise, and enjoyed some lunch from Korilla food truck. 

Inside we visited a variety of stalls including Martian Toys. Both Greg and I ended up coming home with a bunch of blank vinyl toys to customize. 

Our next stop was to check into our usual spot in NYC the Millenium One UN by Hilton. Our 1 bedroom suite was large, clean, and offered a great view. This hotel is consistently good! We have never had a problem with the staff, valet, or rooms!

After our long car rides we wanted to get out and stretch our legs so we walked around a while and popped into Grand Central Terminal. We stopped at STK (a restaurant we previously enjoyed in Orlando) for some cocktails and small bites.

We knew going into the trip we wanted to keep things casual since we had been traveling so much. With that in mind we opted to go to Momosan for sake, crispy pig ears and ramen. I don't know if it was because it was a weekend, a bad batch or what but I wasn't thrilled that the noodles appeared to be shortened in length or cut. I missed being able to have a good slurp!

May 2019
​For our annual family Bar Harbor trip we booked a 4 bedroom house from someone we've previously rented from. All together we were 8 adults, 2 dogs, and a baby and the house was perfect for us. The house offered a large kitchen, dining room, living room, fireplace, bedrooms, and upstairs seating area, and 2 bathrooms. The house was clean, well maintained, had a terrific exterior property, a great location and I especially loved all the little touches for organizing the house.

For dinner, we had a reservation at Cafe This Way. Cafe This Way offers an eclectic menu with something for everyone! We were seated right away and our server was terrific with allergies, dislikes, and suggestions. When we're together we always order a lot of food! We had 3 or 4 appetizers plus everyone's entrees. With my dairy allergy I was pretty limited but the grilled shrimp appetizer was tasty with a variety of dipping sauces. My entree of bibimbap was good but the gochujang sauce was more heat than flavor.

In the middle of the night, most of us got up, layered on clothes, and braved the cold up on Cadillac Mountain to see the beautiful sunrise.

There was already a good crowd gathered when we arrived and the crowds kept arriving. My sister, brother in law, and I huddled behind a boulder to try to shelter us from the wind, my dad wandered about, and my mother sat in the car with the baby. The sunrise and views of Bar Harbor and the ocean were amazing.

We came back to the house and went back to bed for a bit. For breakfast the whole party got ready and started to leave the house. Across the street we couldn't believe our luck but there was a gorgeous Bald Eagle resting on a tree. During our stay, we continued to see him along with other birds.

We used to have terrific breakfasts at 2 Cats Restaurant. Unfortunately, that wasn't going to be the case during this trip. I put our name in for a table and we had a 45 minute wait which we were fine with. When our name got called the 9 of us got seated a table that was meant for 6 people. We ordered our drinks and food right away however we had easily an hour wait for our food. There wasn't an apology given, there wasn't an excuse given, and for some reason they even served a guy who came in a long time after us because he was in a rush! The food was fine but the bad service and extreme wait times have us not returning in the future. Side note: Before we went on our trip I noticed online that the property is up for sale and I don't know if that influenced the service.

After breakfast, Greg and I took advantage of the sunlight and slightly warmer temperature and went hiking. Acadia National Park was extremely busy today and so parking was limited and the trails were full. We did manage to take some less exciting trails which was fine because we were still our enjoying nature and the fresh air!

Our party made reservations at one of our favorite restaurants in Bar Harbor; Havana. We were seated right away and near our usual table. We ordered cocktails, an assortment of appetizers, and entrees galore! A couple of our favorite dishes for appetizers are mushroom spring rolls, mixed grill and the proveleta. For entrees, my two favorite dishes are the seafood paella (all though on this visit it was overly salted) and the lobster moqueca which is seafood in a savory coconut broth. 

After dinner I popped into CJ's Big Dipper for some of their incredible dairy free ice cream. The soy based vanilla and raspberry and the chocolate peanut butter are outstanding!

. The next day we continued our sightseeing in Acadia National Park and took a drive up Cadillac Mountain. For lunch we visited Bar Harbor Lobster Company. 

We thoroughly enjoyed a couple of Painkillers (coconut, orange juice, pineapple juice, rum, and nutmeg) along with some hot honey shrimp skewers. 

Our entrees arrived shortly after we finished the shrimp and I enjoyed a crab roll with chips while Greg enjoyed a lobster roll with chips. 

In the afternoon, we tried to sit on the deck of our house with the dogs and a glass of wine however the pollen was all too much for us. 

My parents stayed in with the baby while the rest of us enjoyed dinner at McKay's Public House. For appetizers we enjoyed bacon wrapped scallops, a grape leaves special. My duck breast entree was good all though it was a little on the cold side.