U.S. Cities – Page 5 – thosecoolkims

Our First Family Vacation!

We did it – we embarked on our first family vacation and it was a complete success! Sure, we had to bring quite a bit more stuff than we’re usually used to, and yes – our mornings started lot earlier than trips in our past, but we did it (and can’t wait to do it again).

Ed has to visit Michigan very frequently on work trips, and its always a really long week of him being away while Ruby and I stay at home. Since we’ve got so many frequent flyer miles on the books, and I happen to have a ton of family back there, we decided to tag along with Ed on his most recent business trip. Of course, we’ve been anxious to see how Ruby would do traveling, and we were anxious to get her started since lots of travel is definitely what we envision for our family as time goes on! I also was eager to show Ed a different side of Michigan that what he’s used to. This trip ended up being a total blast, and we got lots of bonding time in with very special family.

Ed had never seen the red barns and silos as you drive outside of the Detroit Metro area … it was a sight that never got old to me, and one that definitely made us feel very far from home … This was on Highway 12 on our way out to Tecumseh and Deerfield to visit my cousins:

We stayed in Ann Arbor for the week, which is a pretty awesome place. Californians may scoff at “awesome” and “Michigan” in the same sentence, but honestly – its a charming town. Of course, with U of M there, there’s a vibrant young feel in town, and there’s a very cool vibe. Most importantly – there are fantastic places to eat!

Foodie Highlights:
Frita Batidos – This is one hip spot! “Frita” is a Cuban burger (usually chorizo) with shoestring fries and an egg on top, “Batidos” are Cuban style milkshakes. Basically, it means DELICIOUS. Its owned by a past Top Chef contestant, and it’s not only yummy, but gorgeous inside & out. You have to look at the photos here.

This was my Fish Frita with a Mocha Batido:

Zingerman’s Roadhouse & Zingerman’s Delicatessen – Zingerman’s is an institution in Ann Arbor! The Roadhouse features “Really Good American Food”, the deli has the most amazing sandwiches and pickles you could ever imagine, and Zingerman’s even has a Creamery where they make their own gelato and cheeses, a Bakery with fantastic breads and pastry and a Coffeehouse, too. We found out that if you hit all 5 Zingerman’s locations within a 24-hr. period, you could get a T-Shirt. You knew these foodies were up for the challenge! We had a lovely dinner at the Roadhouse, lunch at the Deli, picked up coffee to take home, a loaf of bread for the BBQ were going to that evening, and treated ourselves to a scoop of gelato – Mission Accomplished! We were too busy eating to take a picture, but here is one we found on the web with the line out the door at the deli. Yep – the sandwiches are that good. We waited in one of those lines, too!

Tony Packo’s (Toledo, Ohio) – We squeezed in a trip to Toledo because it’s where my Grandma & Grandpa lived, where my Dad grew up, and where the first house my parents bought and my brother & I lived in until we moved to California. My mom knows how much Ed & I love Cabbage Rolls, so she said we had to go to Tony Packo’s! What was even better was when we told anyone that we were going to TP’s, EVERYBODY had an enthusiastic thing to say about it! We are super glad we made the effort … Tony Packo’s is legit! We had cabbage rolls, paprikas dumplings and fried pickles!

Me, very excited about my Cabbage Roll

Artistic Highlights:
Also while in Michigan, we wanted to check out the Heidelberg Project, which is an art installation in Detroit that is almost too crazy to even describe here. So much of Detroit is in shambles – abandoned burned-out houses are everywhere. But the houses on Heidelberg Street have been transformed into something pretty surreal.

For a complete album of our visit to The Heidelberg Project, click here.

Toledo Highlights
As mentioned earlier, we also fit a day trip in to Toledo to stop by a few sentimental places. First on the list was the Toledo Zoo. There is an elephant statue at the zoo that is quite a legend in my family – there are pictures of my dad and Aunt Barbara sitting on it when they were kids, a picture of me & brother and cousins on it when we were kids … so of course, we had to get a picture of Ruby sitting on it, too!
Here we are, continuing tradition:

And, here I am – just about 30 years later!

We also drove by the house my Grandpa and my Dad grew up in on Ogden Avenue in Toledo:

And the house I lived in from when I was about 1-3 yrs old on Somerset:

Family Highlights
There are just so many wonderful memories with family through the course of this trip that its hard to fit them all in here. Here are just a few photos of some great times!

On our visit with my dad’s cousins, Wes & Brenda, Ruby got her 1st private concert. She was fascinated by Wes playing the guitar and singing to her!

We got a chance to catch up with cousins Kaily & Carolyn and Carolyn’s daughters, Sahra & Parisa, for a very tasty (and gluttonous!) dinner at Sweet Lorraines.

While out at The Facey’s house on Lake Erie for a mini Facey Family reunion, Ruby put her feet in the waters of a Great Lake for the 1st time!

Getting together with lots of Facey’s!

We got to visit with Kay the Cuz and Dave at JaDo Campground – the Rickard Reunion has been held here for the past few years. It was a very special visit!

Staying with my cousin Rachel and her family was really awesome. We had such a great time with Rachel & Brian and it was so awesome that Ruby could play with their son, Jack!

Ruby & Jack chillin’ at the Zoo!

Finally, some may think this is morbid, but I thought it was really important to take Ruby to the place where my grandparents are buried. I was extremely close to Grandma who passed away in 1999, and I still miss her everyday. So much of my childhood involved my grandma (unfortunately, the rest of my grandparents died way too young for me to really know them) and I wish she could see Ruby, and of course, meet Ed. We stopped by to pay respects, and Ruby got to “meet” her.

There’s just so much more, so please visit the album and see more pictures here!

Foodcation Highlights

Okay, so this is sooo belated, but if we don’t stop posting around here with nothing but Baby updates, people are going to revoke our thosecoolkims license. So, here are a few highlights from the epic FOODCATION we took with Brittany & Wade to celebrate Wade’s 40th Birthday! 2 days in Wine Country, 2 days in San Francisco, and many, many Michelin-star restaurants!

While every single meal we had was simply fantastic – both Ed & I probably agree that our meal at Ad Hoc was the most special somehow. Being that it was one of Thomas Keller’s restaurants makes it very special on its own, but the concept of the place was so warm and inviting. As described on the Ad Hoc website:

The building at 6476 Washington Street was originally intended to be a very different type of restaurant. While we were designing it we thought we’d experiment by opening a temporary restaurant and calling it Ad Hoc, which literally means, “for this purpose.” The idea for Ad Hoc was simple – 5 days a week we’d offer a 4 course family style menu that changed each day, accompanied by a small, accessible wine list in a casual setting reminiscent of home.

Casual and reminiscent of home is exactly what it was. We felt right at home as the servers brought out plates and plates of family-style food. As there is no menu, you literally just get whatever is being served that evening. We really lucked out! Our night was Surf-n-Turf night! Check out all of this meat and lobster!

Also what made things very special is that Thomas Keller has his garden directly across the street from his three restaurants on the street. We literally saw chefs outdoors, picking ingredients from the ground, and going right back into the kitchen to serve them. Our first course at Ad Hoc was a salad served with all produce from the garden! It was amazing to eat something so fresh & natural – it was definitely much more special than a usual salad! We walked the grounds after our meal reveling at each thing we saw growing that we had eaten just hours before!

Yes, we ate plenty of these Fava Beans!

Look, there’s a chef out picking from the garden!

Another very special meal was at Redd. Redd is the very best in “California Cuisine”. A sleek modern setting, a very fun and varied menu and the perfect afternoon to dine al fresco made this a wonderful lunch! Brittany is modeling her gorgeous plate of Pot Roast and I am thrilled with my mini Chinese-style Pork Buns!

Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to wine country without a wine tasting! Here is Ed looking dapper at Terra Valentine vineyards!

We finished off our time in Napa at Thomas Keller’s other restaurant, Bouchon.

It was very french – I ordered the Poulet Roti …

… and we all indulged in this gluttonous seafood platter!

Leaving Napa was difficult to do, but fortunately we had a lunch at The Slanted Door to look forward to! The Slanted Door has the very best in Asian Fusion cuisine! It was the best I think we’ve ever had!

It was a legendary meal, we just kept ordering food, and they kept bringing out other things they thought we’d enjoy. We felt like rockstars throughout the meal. We can’t wait to return!!!

Beautiful sashimi for everyone but the pregnant girl :(

More oysters for Wade & Ed

Later that evening, we celebrated Ed’s birthday the way he wanted to celebrate it – at an East German restaurant! Everyone knows Ed’s obsession with all things German, but Walzwerk was special because it contained all of the old-school East German communist kitsch that Ed can’t get enough of! The posters, the dishes … everything about the place made you feel like you were in Berlin, circa sometime in the late 60s-early 70s. Anything for the birthday boy!
Ed and his giant plate of Jaegerschnitzel!

My giant plate of traditional schnitzel!

Old posters

The whole gang!

Another foodie stop in SF is none other than the Bi-Rite Creamery.

It just so happened we weren’t far from there after dinner at Walzwerk, so we headed over to try out some of their famous flavors! At Bi-Rite, they’re known for unusual ice cream such as Salted Caramel, Honey Lavender, Balsamic Strawberry and Earl Grey! There was a line wrapped around the corner when we arrived! Being the ice cream enthusiast I am, I wish I could’ve tried them all, but I went with the Salted Caramel and the Malted Vanilla with Peanut Brittle. YUM!

The finale was the big dinner at Hubert Keller‘s restaurant, Fleur de Lys for Wade’s actual 40th birthday. We are all big fans of Chef Keller – he’s been seen a lot as a guest judge on Top Chef, and he also was a finalist in Top Chef Masters.

This was a pretty fancy place, and needless to say, it was a little too fancy for me to bust out my camera at the table! So, there’s not any pics. We had a 4-course menu, and everything from the presentation, to the service, to the food was spectacular. Unfortunately, it doesn’t bode well for blogging purposes – but it was an experience that just can’t be explained! We are grateful to have gone and will remember it as a very special evening always!

I think this wraps up our highlights! We didn’t eat for about a week afterwards, but it was absolutely worth every bite!

The Great FOODCATION of 2010!

About 6 months ago, we were having dinner with our dearest friends, The Hammonds, and we were talking about Wade’s big 40th Birthday that was coming up this year. Wade and his talents are no stranger to our blog – not only is he one of our fellow 4 Foodies, he’s also a self-taught gourmet chef who has prepared many amazing meals for us! (Check out his incredible skills on the Summer Tasting Menu he prepared, as well as Brittany’s Birthday Truffle Dinner!) He came to the conclusion that there was no better way to bring in his 40th year than to head up north to both Napa & San Francisco to eat at some of the best Michelin-star rated restaurants possible! Lucky for us – we were invited! We happily accepted and thus began the planning for a most epic adventure – The Great FOODCATION of 2010.

Wade planned out a great itinerary … here are the places we’ll be visiting:

Monday 5/10 – Napa/Yountville
Dinner: Ad Hoc (Chef Thomas Keller)

Tuesday 5/11 – Napa/Yountville
Lunch: Redd
Terra Valentine Winery (Tour & Tasting)
Dinner: Bouchon (Chef Thomas Keller)

Wednesday 5/12 – San Francisco
Lunch: The Slanted Door
Dinner: Walzwerk (Ed’s Birthday Dinner request – East German cuisine)

Thursday 5/13 – San Francisco – Wade’s 40th Birthday!
Lunch: Boulevard
Ferry Building (For Snacks)
Dinner: Fleur De Lys (Chef Hubert Keller)

Friday 5/14 – San Francisco
Lunch: Luce

As you can see, this is no regular vacation! Ed and I decided this is the last time in a long, long time we’ll be able to do something this decadent, so we’re going for it!

Our first two days will be spent at the Glen Ellen Inn, which turned out to be super awesome! For just $129/night, we got hooked up with an incredible room! Here are a few photos of our “Secret Cottage” we borrowed from their website:

We are settled and comfy and will tell you all about the amazing dinner we had at Ad Hoc tonight very soon!

Southwest Road Trip Day 6: Arcosanti, Alice Cooperstown, and Taliesin West

PhoenixPostcard

After Holbrook, our travels took us out of Northern Arizona for good and southward into the Phoenix area for some classic Ed and Carrie city slickin’. Leave it us to fit that into this fairly rustic trip!

Actually, the Phoenix area served as one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s two home bases, so there are definitely some architecturally significant things here. Heading south into Phoenix, we stopped off at Arcosanti, a vision of a future community designed by Paolo Soleri, a onetime student of Wright, and under construction since 1970.

It’s supposed to explore alternatives to urban sprawl and minimize impact on its natural surroundings. We didn’t have time to wait until the next scheduled tour (they don’t let you wander the grounds) so we unfortunately didn’t get to see most of it. Too bad, as its 1970’s vision-of-the-future look is intriguing! Here’s the visitor center building and us enjoying a cup of coffee within its circular windows.

Next, it was off to lunch. We drove straight into downtown Phoenix to eat at Cooperstown, Alice Cooper’s sports bar and restaurant. Sports bars aren’t usually where you’ll find us, but as this was Alice Cooper’s sports bar, we had to see – and eat – it for ourselves.

I’d say it’s like Hard Rock Cafe meets ESPN Zone. But the place doesn’t take itself seriously, and this is what makes Cooperstown pretty funny. I mean, check these out!

Afterward, we headed off to nearby Scottsdale to see Taliesin West, Frank Lloyd Wright’s winter home and studio. One of the most influential architects of the last century, Frank Lloyd Wright’s work and principles continue to influence and inspire architecture today. Construction on Taliesin West began in the 1930s, which shows just how visionary Wright was.

The living room was my favorite part of the house:

Imagine working in that studio!

Definitely encapsulates a lot of Wright’s out-of-the-box way of thinking:

This was definitely one the trip’s highs up to that point – we can’t help it, but we love this stuff! The day ended with a first class dinner at Asia de Cuba, the restaurant at the Mondrian hotel. It was for sure quite a contrast with the prior night in Holbrook, to say the least!

Southwest Road Trip Day 5: Painted Desert, Petrified Forest & Route 66

PaintDesertpstcrd01

Leaving Sedona was bittersweet for us – we were anxious to see more of the kitschy Americana ahead that we had planned for the trip, but Sedona ended up being so majestic that it was hard to tear away from the laid-back vibe there! But it was time to go, and this day it was back to Route 66 for awhile, where we’d end up in the furthest eastern destination of the trip – Holbrook, AZ – where we’d finally sleep in a teepee at The Wigwam Motel!

Route 66 Roadside Town #5: WINSLOW
First things first, we had to make a brief stop to pay homage to the town mentioned in The Eagles’ song, Take It Easy …

“Well, I’m a standing on a corner, in Winslow, Arizona
And such a fine sight to see …”

So as you can see in the photo, we aren’t the only ones to go to Winslow for this specific reason … :) Unfortunately, this is about it for Winslow. Aside from the eagle cleverly perched from the painted window sill above, and the reflection of the flatbed truck painted on the wall … that’s about all there is to do there!

PAINTED DESERT/PETRIFIED FOREST

We kept driving on east to get to the Painted Desert & Petrified Forest. When we arrived, it was apparent that this was quite the stop back in the late 50s/early 60s … Neutra-esque buildings in the National Park and the visitor center made of brick just oozed the boom and enthusiasm of the road-trippers during the middle of the century. It was definitely something we had trouble capturing ourselves, being novice photographers – but we sure did try, though! Eventually, we told ourselves that we won’t obsess about trying to capture the moment, and instead just absorb it. Here are a few shots:

Route 66 Roadside Town #6: HOLBROOK

So, there was a lot of hype when it came to Holbrook – afterall, this was where we’d be staying at The Wigwam Motel! You can’t get more road trip kitsch than sleeping in a cement teepee, so we were pretty excited. So what if all the Yelp reviews said the guy running things these days is a weird Norman Bates type, or that one guest had a drunk Navajo indian knock on their door in the middle of the night asking for change – it didn’t really matter to us, as long as we could get a reservation! So off we went to see what was in store for us!

Things looked pretty good at the beginning – they had old cars parked outside to make it look like the old days, and the teepees looked really fun and cartoonish in person! (This was ours, #10)

Even though the hotel manager was just as weird as expected, we were still a little creeped out, but we decided to have a look inside to see what it looked like. We know you have been waiting, so here is the completely UN-authentic, average and extremely drab interior in all its glory!

No matter, we weren’t there for the interior, just the experience, so we kept our spirits high. However, as sad as we are to say these words out loud – Holbrook is one freaky town!!! Unfortunately, Holbrook is the prime example of how these Route 66 towns completely died after the freeways were built. This sad little town, which was once bustling with activity and enthusiasm due to The Mother Road, has been forgotten. Modern times are harsh in Holbrook – things are so dreary and unkempt that the deterioration is unforgiving on these huge pockets of kitsch. The people of the town are clearly struggling. We won’t go into too much detail, but we’ll just say we have a number of stories about various individuals we saw in town. Strange Rangers! The only way I can even describe it is that being in Holbrook was like being in a David Lynch movie.

We walked down to Butterfield, a SUPER kitschy looking restaurant next door to the Wigwam that looked promising, but despite the RAD windows with fake people silhouettes (see below!), it was 100% weird. We’ll chalk it up to yet ANOTHER EXPERIENCE!!!

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We want to leave our last memories of Holbrook on a positive note, so here are a few pics in honor of the real kitschy gems in town. Holbrook – we know you must’ve been quite something back in the day!

(The Twin Arrows Trading Post was just outside of Holbrook – on your way into town from the west. We passed by it several times, and it was just too cool not to post!)