Tuesday, August 27, 2013

Mountain Cabin Weekend

This past weekend we spent a relaxing three days with David's family at a cabin on Lake Nottely near Blairsville, Georgia. It's always nice to get away from the city and spend some time in the mountains. We saw a bear, caught some fish, swam and kayaked, and ate way too much food. We hope to make this an annual tradition!

View from the main room of the cabin
David's parents kayaking
A deer in the yard
Lake Nottely
Floating on the lake
Feeding some ducks
Scorpion we found
The ginormous "cabin" we stayed in!
Lake Nottely
David by Helton Creek
Lower Helton Creek Falls
Upper Helton Creek Falls
Foggy morning on Lake Nottely
Cornbread!
Mmm, home-made peach cobbler!
Ahh, nature
Paul caught a fish! A little one
Beer from South Carolina
Paul caught a fish at night, too!
We finished two puzzles - summer and winter
Obviously we stopped at Booger Hollow


Wednesday, July 17, 2013

The True North Strong and Free

Ahhh, Canada. Land of beavers, maple syrup, moose, snow, loonies and toonies. Oh, and also home of Toronto, with awesome neighborhoods, great beer, tasty food, and friendly people. This past weekend I took a quick trip to America's hat to visit with friends, ride some coasters, and enjoy summer on the 44th parallel.

What better course of action shortly after landing than getting some local beer? We went to the Indie Alehouse, which had awesome beer and food. My IPA was fantastic. We made a quick stop at Bellwoods Brewery for another beer before bed.

Awesome beer at Indie Ale House
Drinking beer al fresco at Bellwoods Brewery

On Saturday we had a nice easy-going day, with breakfast, a quick driving tour around Mississauga, a stroll around the Port Credit neighborhood, yummy Pakistani roti and mangos, and a trip to the Distillery District. At the Mill St Brewery I fulfilled the requirement to eat poutine while visiting Canada. I also bought some awesome chocolate from Soma.

Two crazy condo towers in downtown Mississauga
Strolling in Port Credit, where the Credit River flows into Lake Ontario
So patriotic!
The remains of the roti
Someone broke down in the distillery district
Mmm, beer...
Cheers!
Liz and Nav are in awe of their charcuterie
Another IPA? Yes please
Liz's dog Parker. I think she remembered me!
Me with Parker in 2006 on Liz's Ikea chair

DORK ALERT! I usually don't give  much detail about my amusement park visits on this blog, but I want to share my thoughts on a few of Canada's Wonderland's rides. So skip this part if you're not a roller coaster fan.

I had an awesome time at the park with Brad, Andrew, and Jason. We bought Fast Lane Plus wristbands, which allowed us to skip the lines on most of the rides in the park. That gave us plenty of time to ride everything, have multiple rides on our favorites, and even time to leave the park for lunch. I highly recommend Fast Lane Plus if you're visiting the park on even a slightly busy day. My thoughts on a few of the coasters:

Leviathan - This monster coaster is tall, fast, and fun. It's easily my favorite B&M hypercoaster. The first drop is incredible, and the third hill, which is a twisting bunny hop, is awesome. We took full advantage of our wristbands and rode this sucker about 7 times in the last hour before the park closed. I still prefer Millennium Force, but Leviathan is a world-class coaster and makes my top 10 steel coasters.

Behemoth - Another good B&M hyperoaster. It may seem odd that the park has both Behemoth and Leviathan, but they're really quite different rides. I liked Behemoth a lot, but I prefer some other B&M hypers, like Goliath at Six Flags over Georgia and Nitro at Six Flags Great Adventure. It's still a great ride, with some good airtime and a powerful turn-around.

Vortex - This is the best Arrow suspended coaster I've been on. It's fast, intense, and has some insane swinging action (even in the final brakes). It really makes me wish I had the chance to ride Eagle's Fortress at Everland before it closed.

Skyrider - Ahh, Togo stand-up coasters. In Mitch's steel coaster poll, Skyrider ranks 316 out of only 365 entries, putting it almost in the bottom tenth. It has uncomfortable restraints, slow loading procedures, and a few jarring turns. But here's the thing - I love this ride. It's fantastic. The airtime on the two hills is phenomenal, the loop is intense and smooth, and the final bunny hops are insane. If it weren't for the bizarre rib-cage restraints and the roughness encountered in the helix and final turn, this honestly could be a top 10 coaster for me. The airtime is just *that good*. I'm not sure why the other Togo standups (for instance, at King's Dominion) aren't as good. So if you visit Wonderland, give Skyrider a chance, and ride in the front row!

Overall Canada's Wonderland is one of the best parks in the Cedar Fair chain. They could use a good woodie or a launched looper to complete their collection, but it's already a well-rounded park with something for everyone.

Front entrance of the park
Andrew and Brad in front of the mountain and fountains 
Snoopy!
Leviathan flies past the parking lot
Behemoth's beautiful parabolic hills
Swings!
Leviathan has a pretty cool sign
Fountains at night

I hope to visit Toronto again soon with David. Liz and Nav were awesome hosts, and it truly is one of North America's great cities. In conclusion, Canadian accents are adorable.

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Eating our Way Around the Bay

San Francisco is known for its foodie scene, and we were not disappointed! Luckily there were plenty of hills and parks to walk around to burn off some of the immense number of calories we consumed. Let the feast begin:

4th of July BBQ at Elaine's Uncle's house. Complete with a patriotic cheesecake!
Cardamom and beet ice cream sandwich with rye cookie from Bar Tartine
Rose and Christian enjoying delicious Bi-rite ice cream
Tamales at Oakland Art Murmur with Theresa, Elaine, and Jon
Tantanmen Ramen with ground pork belly, green beans and bok choy from Ramen Shop
Fresh California peaches at the Oakland farmer's market
Dim sum in Oakland Chinatown
Ready to steam!
Crab, lobster, shrimp, clams... a seafood feast at Anthony's house
Lao food at Vientian Cafe
Enjoying cheese and baguette in Napa
Champagne tasting in Napa
Trying to be appropriately pretentious
Leg of lamb, pork chop, boudin and croque monsieur at Bouchon in Napa
Pastries at Bouchon Bakery
Beer tasting at Napa Smith Brewery.  Taste the rainbow!
Chinese pastries in Oakland Chinatown
The largest burrito in California - look how tiny the avocados are in comparison!