Philadelphia, The City of "Brotherly Love"

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I wasn't quite sure what to expect.  I don't know much about Philadelphia other than there's a lot of crime and that a lot of history went down in the town.  Why would we pick Philadelphia, you might be wondering...we're here for an event related to Matt's work.  So here we are for two days of leisure, two days of work related events.

On getting here, I was pleasantly surprised.  The city is a lot cleaner than I expected.  The architecture is breathtaking!  There are great restaurants, and the city is just really pretty. We were able to run on this beautiful route along Schuylkill river, the weather was great, and so far we're really getting a lot of mileage in walking around seeing the sights.  We're trying to fit in everything people are recommending, but so far, I'm not totally loving my cheesesteak experiences.  But we're not giving up!  We still have 2 more days, so I'll let you know.  I did have my first Hefeweizen (grapefruit) at Frankford Hall and it was so so good!  And thus far, we're loving the Terminal Market, Frankford Hall, Sabrina's Cafe and the Schuylkill River Trail...definite must trys!  

Thank you Georgia & Tennessee!

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Everything we tried or ate was researched, or came highly recommended.  This day, the King Pop was exceptional and best thing, other than Lucille's Mountaintop Inn & Spa.  We thought lunch at Highland Bakery was our very least favorite.  The drive through Stone Mountain was nice, cost $10.  The actual spot in front of the stone was a little uninteresting when nothing much was going on.  This King Pop thing, I thought seemed like a bad idea, but since it got so many reviews, we decided to try it anyways.  Love loved it!  Simple, but really good, and great quality too.  Overall, fabulous trip, we had a wonderful, much needed, vacation!

Helen, Georgia

Uploaded by shookim on 2014-09-16.

Uploaded by shookim on 2014-09-16.

Fun, relaxing day and end with excellent food at Harvest Habersham, a farm to table restaurant!  Our hotel folks are so awesome...the first day we came in, they had cookies and cake left out for the guest.  The cookies were burnt, but I loved them!  We told the chef and he said the owner had gotten on him about the burnt cookies, but I loved them!  The next time he made cookies, he cooked them longer for me and left them in my room.  How amazing is that?!  Lucille's Mountaintop Inn & Spa was beautiful and had exceptional service, over and beyond outstanding service!

Blueridge, North Georgia

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Beautiful mountaintop views, food that feeds the soul from exceptional service and hospitality, old country, small town, with local wine vineyards, 2 hour spa sessions, and ending the day with a 3 hour relaxing afternoon on the porch swing staring at this beautiful breathtaking scenery...

Hotlanta, Georgia!

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These past days I've been feeling tired and traveling has exacerbated my exhaustion.  We're finally making our way up to the Smoky Mountains tomorrow but for now, this is my Atlanta experience.  I've heard Atlanta is similar to Houston, but I would have to disagree.  I have only had a small glimpse, but it doesn't seem similar to Houston at all, which is what I have heard in the past.  It seems further along, and I love the not so flatness about it.  it just is a much nicer city to look at from what I have experienced.  If you plan to visit Atlanta anytime, do visit the places I posted photos of.  I always do my research and all the places we ate at were really amazing!  I am totally impressed with Atlanta!  Now, I know why they call it Hotlanta!  :)

We thought it was a nice town, we really liked it, but we're really just passing through for our real destination...Smoky Mountains!  Stay tuned!

2014 "Park to Port" Bike Ride benefiting Hermann Park Conservancy

As part of its centennial celebrations, Hermann Park partners with the Port of Houston to host a 20-mile bike ride and afterparty. The route begins in Hermann Park, travels east along Brays Bayou to the Port of Houston, and returns to Hermann park along the same path. There is also an option to turn around at MacGregor Park for a shorter ride.

The post-ride celebration will include music, food, partnerships with local organizations and more.

 

DATE 

Saturday, Sept. 13th, 2014 at 7 a.m.

LOCATION

Hermann Park
6100 Fannin St. 
Houston, TX 77030

WEBSITE
www.hermannpark.org/...

Pax Americana (Montrose)

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We really liked it!  We felt like the food had a lot of depth, was interesting and tasted really good.  We had a great server that helped us navigate the menu.  So, for starters we got the Beef Tartare and Honeydew Melon salad.  Matt and I both thought the Tartare was good, but with the bread, perfect.  It needed it. The honeydew melon was interesting, I would never had thought to grill honeydew melons.  Matt didn't like that the melon skin was still on the melon, so he cut them off, but I liked the crunchy.  I was thinking this salad was going to be small, but it was pretty good size as you can see here.

So far so good, we're excited for the main entrees!  For our entree we got the brisket and lamb dishes.  Our server highly suggested the Lamb, but after tasting both, we both agreed that the brisket dish better, really good actually.  All I have to say is...damn!  But, you have to eat the greens with it.  It's a mixture of green onion, basil, mint, peppers, etc....really good!  

For desserts, by the time we got to the desserts, my allergies started acting up from the wine so I couldn't really taste the desserts, but Matt said the Fritters was his favorite.  I liked the texture of the figs, but I couldn't taste the flavors.  All in all, great, I have to say that brisket dish was so good, it really left an impression on me.  Other than the first bite of fat I had, which I spit out, the rest of it was marvelous!