VACATION OVER... ) :

Hi Everyone! Christine is back in NY! It was a long needed vacation, considering I Haven't been away with the hubs in over 5 years but it was also extremely tiring. Although I wasn't the one driving, even just sitting there for THREE whole days without a night's rest was tiring and aggravating. I'm glad I did it but I don't think I'll be doing it ever again. Thank GOD we flew back home. So here's the jist of where I was headed, where I actually went to and where we didn't make it - along with all the yummy spots as well as all the not so yummies...

We first went to Thurmond, NC to visit my hub's aunt and uncle. Ever watch a scary movie where sisters marry brothers, people are dressed in jean overalls, straw hats and carry gun around, houses are located in cow fields - without an ASIAN in sight? This was the place! We stayed for a couple of hours and left before the sun went down. Then we were off to Georgia. Took us about 5 hours to reach the Vortex Bar and Grill in Georgia. We did NOT eat here b/c when we got there, the server told us that he JUST called last call 2 min. ago. Can I just say that I almost attacked the man?? I felt like telling him that I DROVE over 10 hours to get there! ARGH! We skipped Tom's BBQ in TN b/c we figured we'd get there at 2AM and they wouldn't be open so we skipped that place and headed straight for New Orleans Acme Oyster House.


We ordered the andouille sausage, which I could've done without but Boobserella loved it...


The baked oysters were AWESOME... Could've ate JUST this X10.



Then we ordered the mixed fried seafood po boy, which... wasn't so good. The roll was old and cold.. and they didn't put enough sauce so it was all dry and bleh...




The fried catfish was good at best. Boobserella loved it.


Walked straight back to the car and headed for Salt Lick in TX. Anyone who is looking to visit this place, I'm sorry but DON'T. Man Vs. Food and Guy Fieri doesn't mention that this place is a hike and a half to get to - not to mention that it's hard to find. And another tip - go in the daytime b/c there are NO lights during nightfall... The food was... good.. I suppose. Definitely not worth the drive. They also didn't have pulled pork or mac and cheese so I was a little disappointed.

When we left New Orleans and entered TX, it looked somewhat like this...



which turned to THIS...



When we FINALLY got there, they were about to close but were nice enough to let us sit and have a meal when we told them we drove all the way from NY..



We ordered the brisket, which was fairly tender, the beef ribs, which were very good and the sausage - VERY good but a bit salty. We ordered a side of bbq beans, cole slaw and potato salad - sides were all good. The dishes also came with 2 sauces, which the waiter poured all over my crotch.. -_-






We IMMEDIATELY scarfed the food down and skipped New Mexico and headed straight for the Heart Attack Grill in AZ.

Menu was fairly small - you order from different bypasses - single, double, triple, etc.


And yes, they forced everyone to wear hospital wristbands and clothing...






Of course I had to take a picture of the famous nurse waitresses.



I ordered the single bypass and Boobserella ordered the double. Fries were unlimited and yes, EVERYTHING was cooked in LARD...




Since we were so close to Las Vegas, we decided to leave Muscle Beach for another day and head straight to SIN CITY...

The first place we ate at on our list was BURGER BAR in MANDALAY BAY. The chef was Hubert Keller so the food had to be good.. and GOOD it was! They had a list of different types of meat and condiments you can put on your burger and then a list of different buns. I got the angus beef with provolone (I think) and portabello mushrooms on a toasted onion bun. SO good.



We ordered a side of onion rings and sweet potato fries. Sweet Potato Fries were as good as it would get and onio rings were yummy. ( :




For our first fancy dinner, we've always wanted to try Mesa Grill (Bobby Flay's Restaurant)
Lord knows I adore Bobby Flay but I was a bit disappointed... Sorry Bobby.

Decor was lovely..


We ordered the grilled octopus salad for an appetizer. Octopus was very tender but not enough of it...




Boobserella had the tuna steak. Tuna was cooked perfectly, although there were a total of 5 bites - and it sat on 3 tablespoons of cous cous...



I ordered the grouper, which was bland... and small. It sat on a couple of cherry tomatoes. I think the best part of my dish was the crispy squash blossom, which was deep fried and filled with some kind of cream cheese.



We went to see KA afterwards (which was AWESOME) and then went to the diner...

The next morning, we decided to try Hash House a Go Go. Rachael Ray, Guy Fieri and Adam from Man vs. Food all raved about this place and good it was! HUGE portions and the quality of - - even the eggs were awesome.

I got the belgium waffles and Boobserella got ONE pancake that was bigger than a medium pizza.






We later went another time and got the french toast, which automatically came with grilled bananas.



We also ate at Pink Taco in the Hard Rock Hotel, which was very good and fairly priced.

Boobserella decided he wanted to be "healthy" and got the salmon, which came with mashed potatoes and some vegies. It was good ( :




*I* on the other hand wanted the STEAK. That came with an enchilada filled with cheese and shredded chicken and some guacamole. Yummm...




Me and the hubs were walking around on the strip when I noticed this amazing cake shop! It's called the Amore Pattiserie by the Mandarin Oriental. It almost looks like a jewelry store. Something on the lines of what I'd like my future store to look like. Since it was so late, the store was closed - so I went again in the morning but didn't want to bother the pastry chef. Would've loved to meet him.










For our last dinner, I wanted to try Firefly Tapas. We were quickly seated and given menus and bread but no one came to take our order! 30 min. went by and the final straw was when 5 others were seated and we saw THEIR order taken immediately! We were so mad, we just got our stuff and left. We were both pondering where we could eat at such a late hour when we saw RUTH CHRIS - OPENED UNTIL 3AM. We quickly ran over and boyyyy was it the best steak I've had! So glad we went there...

We had fried calamari with a thai sauce as an appetizer...





Then Boobserella got the strip steak and I had the filet mignon which were both cooked to a perfect medium rare and OH SO TENDER...





And that's a wrap! We FLEW back to NY thank god... and I'm back to making cakes! ^_^