Vacay: Day 6

Damn, my last vacation post was on July 30th. How did I get so far behind? I only went on vacation for a week but it's taking me forever to talk about it. I hope I can remember all the exciting events that occurred. Aha! I kind of remembered what happened. We went to this awesome go-kart place called Motor World (I think that was the name of it, it might of been Captain Ned's fast paced kart racing). This place had lots of different tracks and go-karts to ride. They had some pretty fast ones, I was whippin' around the turns. I think I can go up against Earnhardt Jr  now.

Amidst the tracks was a small section of games you would find at a fair. There was a particular one that intrigued us. There was a Russian guy with an old style bike. He had lots of prizes to win, such as a PS3, flat screen tv, remote control cars and other cool gizmos. The object was to ride this bike a distance of 8 feet without falling off and you would win. The catch was that the steering was reversed, if you turned the handlebars right, the tire turned right and vice-versa. You were given 3 tries. It seemed easy so I gave it a try. The following video is my first youtube video. Watch it all the way through. Try and listen to the Russian guy, he was very amusing.





I'm convinced if I practiced for about an hour, I could do it. He made it look so easy. I don't think we captured it on video but he brought over a girl (who I think was his sister) to show us that even a girl could do it. We watched 2 other people try to do it, they didn't have any better luck than I did. I'm going to cut this post short. I have a few other videos of that day I want to post but haven't uploaded them up to youtube yet. Also I want to do a review of the place we went for dinner. The next vacay post will be a continuation of this one.

Vacay: Day 5

Before I start I have an announcement or three. You might have received an award and not realized it, go HERE.
If you have not yet voted on the battle of the cereal mascots, go HERE.
And most importantly I have guest posted at Life by Chocolate again with another candy interview, go HERE for that awesomeness.

Onto our regular scheduled programming.

I went on vacation in the beginning of June and I'm only on day 5 of it, man I am slow. I actually have to backtrack to day 3 because I totally forgot to mention something. Nicole and I went buffalo riding on the beach. Can you believe that, they had buffaloes in Virgina at the beach. You probably don't believe it and you shouldn't because I am lying like a cheap rug. We actually went horseback riding on the beach. A bit more believable?

We saw them on Friday when we were walking down the boardwalk and thought it would be cool to try it out. We trekked by the little stable and got the phone number to make an appointment for the next day. I called early on Saturday and made an appointment for 4 o'clock. The guy on the phone emitted the intelligence of Gomer Pyle. I wanted to give us enough time because we had the murder mystery dinner that night. We also had a coupon for $5 off each person for half hour ride.

We arrive a few minutes before 4 to see three people going off for a ride. They took our appointment!! The guy's said that he thought they were us. Ummm, we had an appointment for 2, there were 3 of them and they just walked up and you assumed they were us? Nicole and I were pretty pissed. The guy fumbled through the appointment book and was like "oh, sorry about that." We had to wait a half hour to go for our ride. Since they were douches we got an extra $10 off plus our coupons.

I'll tell ya, I have never ridden a horse before. I've been on a pony twice in my life and those were in my younger days. Riding a horse is not as easy as it seems. Somehow I picked the stubborn horse, his name was Red Bull. Nicole got the big ass horse named King. I think RedBull was tired and didn't want to take another trip across the hot sand. They had to pull him along a few times but he got goin' eventually. One of the employees told me to kick him hard to go fast. I kicked and he bolted, it is a bumpy ride in the sand. I don't know how people ride bareback. It was fun but next time I need to remember to put on suntan lotion.......OUCH!!






I look sexy in a helmet, right?

For day 5 I assume we went back to the beach. I have a hard time peeing in the ocean. What, you don't go #1 in the ocean? I wasn't walking back to the hotel to take a leak when the ocean is right there. If the whales and fishies can do it then so can I. I need to be very still in order to take a piss. The motion of the ocean makes in very difficult. I have to stand in with the water knee level in order to do my business, then I wash off in the water. If you saw me standing there I probably would have a really odd look on my face.

For dinner we decided on Hooters. I had only been to Hooter once in my life and I believe Nicole had never been. We were poppin' her Hooters cherry. I got the spicy jack wings which were tasty but not hot at all. Also after about 8 of them they got a little sickening but I hate wasted food so I forced the last 2 down. I think Nicole got a burger. I have no idea how it was, I'm sure I had a bite but I can't give any opinions on it. I'm sure it was tasty.

I probably shouldn't give a review of the Hooters' girls cuz I will most likely get into trouble. All I will say is that they are "equipped" to work there. You should at least go to Hooters once to at least check it out.

Don't forget to check out my guest post on RawknRobyn's blog Life by Chocolate, click HERE. Show here some love while you are there and follow her if you don't already.

Also if you missed the other vacay posts you can click these: Vacay: Day 1, Vacay: Day 2, Vacay: Day 3, and Vacay: Day 4.

HAPPY FRIDAY!!

Vacay: Day 4

I have been meaning to write this post since last week. I am way behind on my vacation posts but I guess it doesn't matter when I post them as long as I do. I still have four more days to cover after this one. Now on to the show.

We both got sunburned on day 3 of vacation so we decided it would be a good idea not to go to the beach and risk 2nd degree burns. I'm having a brain fart, which is worse 1st degree burns or 3rd degree burns? I think it's 3rd degree.

Instead we decided to got to a magical place for breakfast instead of eating the continental breakfast downstairs in the hotel lobby. What is the name of this magical place you ask? It's a little place called IHOP. Shame on you if you have never experienced the wonders of the delicious IHOP. I was a little apprehensive about going on a Sunday because it's usually jammed packed. However we were going at like 9 in the morning so it wasn't busy yet.

Strangely enough I never get the pancakes at IHOP, I usually go for some french toast or something different. This time was different because I saw something that caught my eye. There was a picture of double blueberry pancakes, it looked so scrumptious I almost ate the menu. I had to have them in my tummy but then I saw that they had strawberry cheesecake pancakes. I had to make a life changing choice; double blueberry or strawberry cheesecake pancakes? Which do you think I chose? Which one would you have chosen? I will let you ponder that for a second, cue Jeopardy theme here.
............
.........
......
....

I had to go with my first instinct here, that's always the safest bet. I declared "sir waiter, I would like to partake in the tasting of these tantalizing blueberry delights" (I didn't actually say that but it would of been funny). I also got home fries with cheddar cheese, fried eggs, bacon and some rye toast without butter. I wanted my toast without butter so I could fashion a bacon and egg sammich (yes I said sammich, got a problem with that?) with just a hint of ketchup and hot sauce. For the life of me I can't remember what Nicole got, I was too mesmerized by my delectable pancakes. I think she got an omelet but I can't be sure. I have never tried crack but I can make an assumption that these blueberry stacks of heaven are as addicting. I urge you to go to your nearest IHOP and prepare your taste buds for a magic ride down delicious lane. I should be getting paid by IHOP for this awesome plug.

The only disappointment came when I learned that they didn't have those loaded home fries that I raved about in my first IHOP review back in March. They also didn't have the new coffees that I had back in March but my disappointment only last a few seconds.

Later that day (after our breakfast had settled) we rented a surrey (a bike with 4 wheels that seats 2-6 people). We found a coupon for buy one hour for $14.99 get second hour free. We cruised up and down the boardwalk. This bike is fun but it is also a lot of exercise, it's not easy peddling this thing. Click on the pics to enlarge them.





It was hot that day. It's a good thing that surrey has a roof. At one point we got some snow cones and found a nice shady spot to enjoy them. Mmmm snow cone juice.

I can't remember what we did for lunch that day but we got a philly cheese steak pizza and some cheese bread from a place that we ordered from last year. Again we had a coupon. We had many coupon books and usually only did or ate something that had a coupon, gotta save money somehow. We had it delivered to the hotel this time. We were foolish enough to drive to the pizzeria last year, who does that?

Last year the pizza was deliciously cheesy. This year it was very greasy and not as good. Frankly, I was a little disappointed. The cheese bread was tasty though. That pizza sat in my stomach like a rock.

I don't want to end this post on a bad note in light of the pizza. I will imagine eating at IHOP to change the mood. Tune in next week for vacay day 5.

Vacay: Day 3

If you missed out on the first two vacation posts click HERE or HERE.

I totally meant to write this post like 3 days ago but I got sidetracked and then I just didn't feel like writing it. It's also hard to recall all the things we did on vacation in chronological order. But I guess that doesn't really matter because you weren't there..... or were you? I don't know what my followers look like, I could have been followed down there. Well Nicole and I weren't molested or murdered so I guess it's all right. Let's get started on day 3.

We went to the beach again that day, well because we were in Virginia Beach, seemed like a logical choice. We didn't rent a cabana, we decided to invest in an umbrella. I manned our camp and Nicole went to pick out an umbrella. She comes back and the thing has a hole in it, so she goes back again. She exchanges it for a bigger one. I dig a hole with my trusty kids shovel that we picked up at the beach shop and reinforced it with some wet sand (I used to work construction, I knew what I was doing).

It turns out to be a really windy day. Our umbrella is only made of plastic and it gets thrown around like a red-headed stepchild (if you are a red-headed stepchild that gets thrown around then I apologize for that remark). It keeps getting flipped inside out and spinning inside the hole. I decide to return this one and upgrade to the cloth umbrella with metal pole and arms, I also pick up an umbrella anchor which the clerk told me I need to combat the wind. I screw in the anchor, fasten the umbrella to it and the wind loses the next several battles. Our umbrella is safe unless there is a hurricane. It was another gorgeous day on the beach and the water was nice and warm again.

Before dinner we decided to take a stroll along the boardwalk and check out the shops. We hit up a place called Jody's, a gourmet popcorn shop, which we went to last year. Besides having delicious popcorn in all sorts of flavors, they let you sample all the popcorn you want so you know that you like it before your purchase. The people working there were very friendly and lots of fun. We knew what we wanted but we wanted to pick it up on the way back so we didn't have to carry it. I don't think they believed us, I think they thought we were just a couple of tourists scoring free popcorn.

When we came back they were so excited and surprised. We had a coupon for Buy one, Get one free so we got Double Cheddar and Chocolate Drizzle, oh so tasty. They have all kinds of flavors; Cheesy Chili, Cinnamon Toast, White Cheddar, Caramel Corn, Kettle Corn and much more. You should check out their WEBSITE and buy a bag, it might be a little pricey but it's gourmet popcorn and well worth it. They have other treats like fudge and other candy but they specialize in popcorn. Damn, I wish I still had some. I finished off my last bag last week.

I can't remember if we got anything else that day but I guess it's not important since I can't remember. For dinner we went to a Murder Mystery Show, I'd never been to one so I was excited. I will give you the quick lowdown because this post is getting rather lengthy. The food wasn't all that great. It was buffet style, there was bbq ribs, fish, chicken and other things which I can't recall. The dessert was a chocolate cake with sprinkles, it was dry and tasted like it was meant for a diabetic.

At least the actual show was entertaining. There were 5 actors if I recall, 4 women and 1 dude. Each of the actors sat at the tables talking to the guests. We were allowed to ask them questions as we ate. Besides the 4 actors that were suspects, the guests turned out to be suspects too. None of them knew it either until the 'sheriff' interrogated them. The 'sheriff' had head shots of celebrities with guests names on them with something written to make them a suspect. It was all really funny, I didn't expect it to be humorous. At the end of the night we had to try and solve the case by writing it down and handing it in. The people who correctly solved it got prizes ranging from booze to t-shirts. All in all it was a fun night. It was a little over priced though, it cost us $80, it was usually $90 per couple but we had a coupon for $10 off. It might have been worth the 80 bucks if the food was better. The food was nothing like the last two places we dined at.

To alleviate our cuisine woes, we decided to get some ice cream at Ben & Jerry's. I can't remember what I got but I remember it being very tasty. That concludes day three of what I remember. Tune into day 4 on ....... I don't actually know what day that will post, just look out for it I guess.

Vacay: Day 2

I left something out of my day one post. On the way to Virginia we had to drive across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge-Tunnel. It is an engineering masterpiece, 20 miles in length and has 2 mile long tunnels. It is known as one of the Seven Engineering Wonders of the Modern World. Water depth along the route range between 25 and 100 feet. I am truly in awe of this bridge. I don't know how they built the tunnels underwater. It is definitely a cool site if you are ever in the area.

Aerial view of one of the tunnels

Lanes split into separate parts before tunnels

I could just do a whole post about this bridge. If you find architecture cool then you should google the bridge and read more on it. It has won awards.

So on our second day of Summer Vacation 2010, Nicole and I hit the beach. Who knew that Virginia Beach had a beach? We didn't have to go far, our hotel was right across the street from the beach, a quick 5 minute walk to get a tan. I'm white as a tan ghost and I burn easily so we rented a cabana at the beach. It's sort of a half tent cave type contraption. We could fit our 2 beach chairs, half our blanket and the cooler in there. Kept us out of the sun and in the shade. It was a good $20 investment.

We ventured in the water soon after we set up camp. The agua was nice and warm, well warm as far as oceans go. We brought boogie boards but there weren't really any decent waves to ride. I was content with body surfing. We stepped on some crabs that may or may not have actually been rocks. It was a beautiful day for the beach and so very relaxing. I started a book that I had been meaning to read, I will probably review it in the last post or after my vacay posts. Five hours at the beach equals no stress. I recommend it.

For dinner we went to Captain George's Seafood Restaurant. It was highly recommended by the locals and rated the #1 seafood buffet in Virginia Beach so I was pretty excited. They had over 70 buffet items. Tons of seafood to choose from, stuffed clams, deviled clams, oysters rockafellar, catfish, flounder,crab lets, mussels, all kinds of shrimp and more. Unfortunately Nicole doesn't eat seafood except for crab legs but there was non seafood items, chicken, ribs and whatnot. I mainly stuck to the seafood because I don't get to eat it that often. I stacked up 2 plates worth and then hit the desserts, I didn't really have room but I was willing to cram something else in my tummy. There were 2 tables of dessert, carrot cake, German chocolate, strawberry shortcake, flan, cookies and much more. I stuffed myself to the brim and couldn't eat another bite. In retrospect I wish that I took my time and ate more seafood. It was delicious and I highly recommend to those of you that eat seafood. I am glad I picked this place. I love food!!

This is pretty much the extent of day 2 or basically just the stuff worth mentioning. For those of you looking for pictures, I will post them in later vacay posts or just do one picture post. I haven't decided yet. Day 3 will probably post tomorrow or Monday.

Vacay: Day 1

I have decided to try and entertain you with my recent trip to Virginia Beach. I am going to have to break up the trip into parts. I think a day-to-day retelling of the events will be best. I really don't know how it's all going to pan out so bear with me. I am going to make it as short and sweet as possible and only tell you the juicy parts. Nicole and I ate out every night so there is definitely going to be an abundant of food reviews. Hopefully I get all the pics that I want to put up, I know how all of you like pictures, if only I could make them pop-up for you. Enough back story, let's get to the meat and potatoes of this thing (mmm potatoes, anyone else hungry?).

Day 1-8: We had a lot of fun. The end. What? Too short? You want more details? Dammit I wasn't prepared for that. Give me a minute to get my thoughts together................. What do I tell you? What do I leave out? Here it goes.

Nicole and I stayed at the Ramada Limited last year when we went to Virginia Beach so we decided to book it again. Last year we had a problem with the micro-fridge, it wasn't in our room like the nice lady on the phone said it would be. Guess what happens this year? Same thing. I call 3 weeks before our trip to make sure that we would have a micro-fridge in our room, the woman on the phone assures me that it will be there. I am not satisfied, I call the hotel again on the way down there and once again someone else tells me that it will be in our room. We get there, go to our room and there is no micro-fridge. We check under the bed, in the shower, on the balcony, nope, screwed again. Pissed off, I go down to the lobby and they tell me that the one we had was broken and had to be removed. The woman offers me a discount. I don't need a discount, I need a micro-fridge (for those of you confused about what a micro-fridge is, it's a mini-fridge with a microwave attached to the top), we have perishables with us (yogurt and cold cuts for the beach). She then tells me that there is only one other room with a micro-fridge but it has two double beds. I tell her to take the fridge out of that room and put it in ours, she complies, all is well, crisis averted. Nothing like starting the trip on a sour note. Luckily that is the only real negative thing that happened on vacation.

Frankly I can't remember what we did until we went out to dinner. I remember taking a short, unsatisfying nap for about 45 minutes. I know what you are thinking, 45 minutes seems like a decent nap but we usually take 2 hour naps so 45 minutes is too short (we spoil ourselves). We go out to dinner to an Italian place called Il Giardino that we fell in love with last year, we liked it so much last year that we went back to back nights. Oh the food is so tasty, describing it to you won't do it justice but I will do it anyway. One of the reasons we went back to VA Beach was because of this restaurant. We were looking forward to dining here again for months. I would mention a dish to Nicole that she got last year and I would need a mop to clean up all the drool on the floor.

We start off our feast with some warm foccacia bread, free with a coupon we found. To further enjoy this exquisite bread, the waiter (Jesse) pours a mix of red pepper and garlic oil on a plate and tops it off with some fresh parmesan cheese. Hold on, I have to wipe some drool off the keyboard. For an appetizer we pounce on some eggplant rotini, just bursting with flavor. Your mom can't make it as good at they can and if she can then send some over to me via UPS. Even the salads we had were to die for, simple yet delicious and displayed rather beautifully on the plate. I'm getting so hungry right now. Now for our entrees, Nicole had the capellini piselli e proscuitto (angel hair, tomato cream sauce, mushrooms, peas, proscuitto ham) and I had the penne al gamberi (penne, shrimp, peas, arribiatta sauce).

My dish was suppose to come with a tomato cream sauce but the waiter had recommended the arribiatta sauce so I had to try it, I like things a little spicy. I wish I was eating these dished right now so I could describe how they taste but it's difficult to put it into words. How about, a masterpiece of flavors. Does that get your mouth salivating? We also got some warm Italian bread to mop up our excess sauce, mmm how I love extra sauce. I'm sure if I was a wine drinker it would of topped the meal off. I believe the bill plus tip came to about $74 but well worth it. I highly recommend this restaurant if you are ever in Virginia Beach. Hell, I recommend a day trip to VA Beach just to go to this place. I would drive 2 hours out of my way for some more foccacia bread. And if you live within 30 miles of this restaurant and you have never been there then shame on you. VA Beach is a 7-8 hour drive for me so I am considering staying the night after my dinner. We were much too full to get dessert but I did have leftovers for the next day, oh how I love restaurant leftovers. The food was amazing but the whole experience is what did it for me. Jesse, our waiter was awesome too. He was very knowledgeable and polite, an all around great guy. This post is dedicated to Jesse the waiter, you earned that tip.

After dinner we pretty much went to sleep. I only got like 3 hours sleep the night before and we were both exhausted from the drive so we hit the hay around 10 pm. My normal bedtime is 7 am because I work overnight so it was actually beneficial that I didn't get a lot of sleep before the trip. I am sure we dreamt of capellini and penne.

Cool obscure fact: 'Dreamt' is the only word in the English Language that ends in 'mt'.

Those were pretty much the events of the first day. More to come.