Sigo Journeys-- Where to Next?

I love fall. It is my ultimate favorite season of the year. I love to witness the changing of the leaves to a myriad of undefinable colors, sipping apple cider out of a thermos, and picking out decorative pumpkins. And nothing says "fall" more than the start of the college football season. This weekend was Purdue's first game of the season. We were excited.

We arrived early and had lunch at Triple XXX, a W Lafayette tradition. It was also featured on the FoodNetwork: Diners, Drive Ins, and Dives. I think this was considered one of the diners (or maybe a dive)! But we love it. The food is outstanding. It kind of reminds me of Camellia Grill in New Orleans. Counter-seating only in a narrow space. But Camellia servers are livelier: "Word!" You pay at a cashier "the Godfather" at the door when you have just filled yourself up with a greasy burger and fries. But it is totally worth it!

We then walked around the stadium looking for the commemorative brick that we inscribed. We found it in section G.

This was also the first year that we had season club seats, so I was happy to not be sitting on bleacher seats where people are inviting friends from other sections to join them: "No, we got room! Come on over! Don't mind my big coat that is covering my big beer gut. Just squeeze in!" We had actual seats with our own cup holders. Very rare at a college stadium. Our aisle seats were on the 30 yard line. I want to keep these seats until we are too old and weak to go to games!

Purdue beat N Colorado in a narrower margin than anticipated: 32-10.

Don't get me wrong. I love professional football too. E loves the Colts and the Saints. He grew up supporting the Bears until the Colts came to Indy. Now he just likes the Bears because Kyle Orton is the QB. He was a former Boilermaker. We decided to also attend the Colts' first game at their new stadium. Unfortunately, they were playing the Bears!

In fact, the Bears stayed in our hotel. We saw John Madden arrive on his luxury motor coach bus "The Madden Cruiser." Apparently, John has not boarded a plane since 1979, but crisscrosses the nation in an $800,000, 45-foot luxury coach fitted with everything from sauna to gourmet galley. I was standing outside the hotel waiting for the valet and someone gets off this HUGE bus and looks straight at me. I was like: "hmmm, he looks familiar!" When the Bears arrive I have no idea who any of the players are. They are all dressed in suits and look very "non-football player-ish" (I know that is not a word). A woman next to me hugs this guy in a suit. Turns out, he is the Bears' coach, Lovie Smith.

We had dinner that night at Harry & Izzy's, the sister restaurant to St Elmo's Steakhouse, which is usually ranked as one of the top steakhouses in the nation. We could not get a reservation there-- I will find out why later. The restaurants are famous for their steak (duh) and shrimp cocktail, which is accompanied with fiery ( AKA atomic) cocktail sauce full of fresh horseradish. Our eyes were watering, but it was sooooo yummy. We also shared a bone in ribeye and their spaghetti. On the way back to the hotel, we passed St Elmos where there were kids outside with books awaiting player autographs.

Lucas Oil stadium was gorgeous. It holds 63,000 and has a retractable roof. But whatever you do, don't call it "The Luke"! "This is a big deal to us," Lucas said. "We'd prefer people call it Lucas Oil Stadium, but call it anything but The Luke. What people are doing by calling it that is doing one of my competitors a multimillion-dollar favor." He is referring to one of his company's competitors is Russianowned, Lukoil, which is making a big push in North America. Unfortunately, Wikipedia already dubbed it "the Luke" which appeared to be retracted at the time of writing this blog.

Orton's comeback was a good one. But it was bittersweet since the Colts lost.

After 21 wonderful years in Carmel, the Masters of Food and Wine has moved to Mendoza, Argentina. The Pebble Beach Food & Wine event attempted to fill the void. This was the first year for the event. Over 32 renowned chefs (including Thomas Keller of the French Laundry, Todd English, Michael Mina and Charlie Trotter) and more than 200 wineries participated in the event. We attended the Lexus Grand Tasting event on Saturday. It was a perfect day in Carmel. While sampling one of the dishes, a camera man came over and requested that we “look like we were enjoying the food;” he wanted to shoot some footage of us eating. How many times can you smile and nod when you are eating? We enjoyed many glasses of wine, and delicious food served by these famous chefs. Ming Tsai’s dish was my favorite. Organic honey from a local farm was given to us as parting gifts. The event was well put together for being the inaugural event. It was a wonderful experience.

Phil’s Fishmarket was featured in FoodNetwork’s Road Tasted. Phil’s is a fishmarket with an adjacent restaurant which is always packed. I ordered the cioppino, which is also sold by the bucket— or you can bring in your own pot. E had the fish and chips. Everything tasted so fresh. My favorite cioppino is still from Tadich--see San Francisco entry.

We drove along the coast in the morning, and stopped at Rocky Point for brunch.

Another last minute trip. Purdue made it to the 2nd round, after beating Baylor. It was a bittersweet victory, since E’s friend Marc was rooting for Baylor. Marc & Kristy are shown in the 7/07 trip to Chicago. And you will see them in 5/08 when we are headed to San Diego with them. It was a great reason to go back to DC. We were here in 2006 on our baseball tour of Cleveland, Philly, Pittsburgh and DC.
This just happened to be the weekend right before the Cherry Blossom Festival. The blooming of the cherry trees around the Jefferson Memorial on the Tidal Basin signal the coming of Spring. The famous trees were a gift from Japan in 1912. Unfortunately, I am not Horticulturalist Robert DeFeo, so exactly when the buds will open is not easily predictable. Even though we were there the weekend before the festival, the blossoms were still not fully bloomed. It is supposed to be spectacular sight.

Purdue was playing Ohio State. It was a decent game and a nailbiter till the finish. Unfortunately, Purdue lost.

This was our first trip in 2008.

Fri, 1/11/08- We arrived in Indianapolis at 11:00 PM.

Sat, 1/12/08- We headed to West Lafayette. We stopped for lunch at Triple XXX Family Restaurant (named after the named after Triple XXX Root Beer), Indiana's first drive in. It was featured on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives on the Food Network. The restaurant has entirely bar-stool seating at a counter that winds around the restaurant. The burgers are named after Purdue football players and are made from 100% ground sirloin. E had The Boilermaker Pete and I had the The Bernie Flowers All-Pro, accompanied by fried and onions rings.

We walked to the basketball stadium where Purdue was playing the Ohio Buckeyes. The Boilermakers beat the Buckeyes 75-68. It was my first basketball game in a college stadium.

We headed back to Indy to celebrate at Mo's Steakhouse. We had the scallops wrapped in pancetta and splurged on the Surf & Turf, which consisted of their signature dish-- the 20 oz rib eye and an Australian lobster tail.

Sun, 1/13/08- The Westin was connected to the RCA Dome, so it was very convenient to get to the stadium, especially since it was cold and snowing. We were definitely expecting the Colts to whip the Chargers-- it was a nail biter towards the end. But the Colts couldn't pull through and the Chargers defeated the Colts 28-24. Next year, the Colts will be in the new Lucas Oil stadium. Can't wait to experience it!

London, thou are the flower of cities all!
~ William Dunbar

It was a last minute trip to London. E was going there for work for a week. Midweek, he determined that he needed to stay until the next Wednesday, and suggested I fly up for the weekend. We used miles to book my flight, leaving that Thursday night.

Fri, 10/26: I arrived in London on Friday morning, getting to the Park Lane Hotel at around noon.

I got a crayfish & rocket sandwich and mushroom risotto soup at Pret, before heading to Leicester Square to see what half price theater tickets were available for that night. E really wanted to see Billy Elliott, but it was sold out for the entire weekend. Based on the recommendation of the sales agent (and a couple ahead of me that purchased four tickets), I settled on We Will Rock You, a musical comprised of Queen songs. I then headed to Harrods in Knightbridge.

Their Food Halls comprised of multiple rooms that each had different offerings from a patisserie to a seafood and oyster bar. I got a brownie and crème brulee to take away. I went back to the hotel and took an almost three hour nap, resting up for the upcoming weekend.

We Will Rock You began at 7:30 PM. The musical was written by English comedian and author Ben Elton in collaboration with Queen members Brian May and Roger Taylor. It was rather an enjoyable musical, with various generations of attendees singing along to the music, from ages 10 to 60. It felt like we were at a Queen concert, complete with arms waving in the air. It was entertaining just people watching. The voices of the performers we so amazing, being able compete with a soundtrack in its quality.

Sat, 10/27: We decided to return to Harrods to have lunch. We headed directly to Harry Morgan’s, a “Kosher style” deli situated in the boucher (butchery) area of the Food Halls.

The bar stools were packed yesterday when I stopped by, but we were able to grab two stools. Henry Morgan’s chicken noodle soup was voted best in London, so I had to order that. E got a chicken special sandwich which consisted of chicken, avocado, carmelised onions, and sour cream. It was served on garlic French-type bread accompanied by white cabbage salad (kind of like vinaigrette cole slaw with rye seeds) and a pickle. The chicken soup was served in a large bowl (similar to a pho bowl) and was quite brothy-- with a wonderful flavor. The noodles reminded me to egg noodles in the shape of spaghetti. I washed it down with a glass of Herrod’s champagne. It could only be best described as a decadent meal for the working class-- I mean who has champagne with chicken noodle soup on a bar stool? The entire experience was very enjoyable for a pricey 40 pounds, or $80. We skipped to the patisserie room and E got a chocolate chip cookie and I got a fruit tart—take away.

We needed a walk after all that good food, so we headed to Waterloo to begin the “heart walk” which would take us past many of the wonderful and historic sights of London, including: the Eye, over Kensington Bridge, the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St James Park, Trafalgar Square, and ending at Leicester Square. It was a nice brisk day for a walk.

We went back to the Park Lane to relax and gear up for the Purdue game. We have a little gadget called the Slingbox that redirects the signal from our cable box in our home in the US to our laptop anywhere in the world! It allows us to watch all of our cable TV shows as well as operate our Tivo remote to record and watch shows as if we were at home. We love it! To accompany the game, I ordered afternoon tea service complete with scones, French pastries, assorted finger sandwiches, jam, marmalade, clotted cream, butter and peppermint tea. (What a very “civilized” way to watch the game sipping peppermint tea.) We saw Purdue beat Northwestern at our Homecoming game. It was a sweet victory.

We went to a late dinner at a neighborhood bar, Henry’s (E likes to pronounce it Anh-Rees) Café and Bar for dinner. E got the fish and chips, which we swear was an entire half of a fish) and I got the Thai chicken curry. For a bar, Henry’s offered a great place for ambiance and food. The bar was back splashed in a red crimson paint, with framed mirrors on the wall and stained glass windows on the ceilings. E commented that based on our surroundings, we could not immediately tell that we were sitting in a bar in London instead of someplace in the US. And in fact, I couldn’t.

Sun, 10/28: It was my last day in London and I was growing quite sad. We headed out to Convent Garden adjacent to the Soho area, a neighborhood that we haven’t spent any time. It was an enchanting area, with little corner pubs and a marketplace that sold everything from luggage to custom made rocks?!

We headed to the game at around 2:30 PM. Kickoff was at 5:00 PM. The underground journey took only 35 minutes, and the train was slowly getting filled with football fans. The fan base was very diverse, probably around a 70/30 ratio of British to American fans were present. Though you could probably not call it until they spoke. Many folks who I thought were Americans wearing their favorite team’s football jerseys from the Saints to the Steelers were speaking with British accents.

The game was being held at Wembley Stadium. It opened just this year in March. With 90,000 seats the stadium has the second largest capacity in Europe, and the largest in the world with every seat under cover. The stadium is also the most expensive stadium ever built.

The Miami Dolphins were playing the NY Giants during a Dolphins home game week. It is the first time that a regular season game has been held outside of the US. The field was painted as if it were a home game at home, with “Dolphins” painted on the end zones.

It was a good game, though low scoring game-- the Giants beat the Dolphins 13-10.

We have been to London previously, and I think that it was most enjoyable this occasion as I think it felt more leisurely. My fondness for the London has grown and we look forward to another trip back…Cheers!

Fri, 10/12: We landed in Chicago at 8 PM and headed in the direction of Ann Arbor. Purdue was playing Michigan at noon tomorrow, so we wanted to get some ground tonight. We stopped in Battle Creek for the night.

Sat, 10/13: After a short hour, we arrived in Ann Arbor. It was a quaint little mid-west town; we parked in a little neighborhood adjacent to the stadium. The game was disappointing; we left at the beginning of the third quarter, to begin our long four hour journey back to Chicago. We listened to the game on the radio, confirming that our Boilermakers lost to the mighty Victors...

vs Michigan
L, 48-21

We wanted to try out Harry Caray's new seafood restaurant: Holy Mackerel! E got the sea bass, interestingly prepared with an Asian flair, complete with sticky rice. I ordered the seafood cioppino. E enjoyed his fish, which was prepared with a nice but tender crust. I was less than impressed with my cioppino, which was more like a tomato sauce with seafood in it, rather than the traditional stew (similar to a boullabaisse.) I was looking forward to a more authentic cioppino (I mean, why put it on the menu?) and was highly disappointed, though the seafood itself was good.

Sun, 10/14: After getting 90 minute massages at the local Massage Envy (I love that franchise!), we headed to Haray Carays. We got a quick bite and got to see some of the Bears game before heading home.

This wound up being a 24 hour turnaround trip for us... Faithful to the Boikermakers, we "Gotta support the Team!"-- Puddy from Seinfeld

Sat, 10/6: We arrived in Chicago on Saturday mid-morning. We ventured to downtown Chicago to partake in one of our best loved traditions-- Portillos.

We headed to Indiana to visit E's grandparents for a bit before the game. Purdue was playing Ohio State that evening. A local joint was the toast of the town for steak: Solly's. (This "town" is in Indiana with a population of less than 200 people). We have enjoyed many a wonderful steak, so my expectations on a "good steak" may have been rather lofty. We came in to an empty restaurant (given it was 4:30 PM) that had table tents indicating the reserved tables for the night. Almost every table had a tent on it. We didn't make reservations. Again, given that it was before 5 PM, Solly's was able to seat us. The relish tray was a nice touch. I was able to munch on radishes and their famous dressing- some sort of French dressing. It was rather yummy, and I reckon many people think so since they sell bottles and bottles of it and the recipe has been under wraps for 30 years. But granny whispered that she got the recipe from an old employee and offered to email it to me. The steak looked like it was cooked on a kitchen frying pan, with no grill marks whatsoever, but it came with the requisite marker that indicated the doneness level that we had ordered. It was a decent steak and probably the best choice for the location.

We headed out to West Lafayette. Kickoff was at 8 PM. We expected to lose and were expected to lose by the media. Ohio State was #4 and were a newly ranked #23. It was supposed to be a Black Out game where every Purdue fan was supposed to wear black. Unfortunately, not every Purdue fan was participating. Ohio's fan base was in bright red and they could be seen peppered throughout the stands, and of course the visiting team's stands were in loyal red. It was a painful game and we wound up losing to the Buckeyes.

vs. Ohio State
L, 23-7

It's Fall. Fall means college football. At least in my household. My husband is a former Boilermaker. I don't think that 99% of America knows what a Boilermaker is or how Purdue adopted the mascot:

The year was 1891.
A college known for its proud heritage for educating the
sons and daughters of the working class began to dominate
opponents in football. After a 44-0 thrashing of Wabash
College, one Crawfordsville newspaper lashed out at the
"Herculean wearers of the black and old gold." A headline
writer provided inspiration for a most unique nickname.

Beneath the headline "Slaughter of Innocents," the paper told
of the injustice visited upon the "light though plucky" Wabash
squad. Never intended as a compliment, the insult appealed to
students of the day.

Fri, 9/28: We arrived in Chicago on Friday night and headed to Gene & Jude's (Jude's) a hot spot for hot dogs. The line was not as bad as Pink's in LA, but there was a line nevertheless at this joint in the middle of the burbs. Jude's menu was slim: hot dogs and tamales. There was no "Chicago" style. Just the basic dog.

The dog was served with french fries piled on top of the dog and individually wrapped. It was a good dog. E even liked it more than Pinks!

Sat, 9/29: We headed out to West Lafayette. Kickoff was at noon. It was a great game! We beat the Irish!

vs. Notre Dame
W, 33-19

We had dinner back in Chicago at Harray Caray's to celebrate the win! It's E's favorite place for steak. My favorite place for a great steak is Charlie's in Orlando. Harry Caray's offers a great Kansas City Strip-- a wonderful meal, served alongside some great pasta.

Sun, 9/30: I had been craving Stanley's Kitchen and Tap all week! It is a bar that serves up a mighty hearty brunch of fried chicken, mac & cheese, caesar salad, and of course other traditional brunch fare-- not for the weak stomach or light of heart. Stanley's also offers a huge bloody mary bar complete with anything you could want in your concoction. The ice and vodka are doled out by the bartender and served in a gigantic plastic cup. Then you go to the bar and mix up your favorite combination. It was a highly caloric meal. I need Stanley's brunch at least twice a year....

Perhaps the Las Vegas wedding industry achieved its peak operational efficiency between 9 p.m. and midnight of August 26, 1965, an otherwise unremarkable Thursday that happened to be, by presidential order, the last day on which anyone could improve his draft status merely by getting married.
~ Slouching Towards Bethlehem, Joan Didion

Las Vegas was a destination wedding location for my friends Kayla and Milton. It was a nice excuse to get away, especially falling on Labor Day weekend. We love Vegas for all it has to offer (E enjoys the gambling more than I do). It is always nice to savor a wonderful meal and see a Broadway show, all while enjoying the dynamic surroundings.

Sat, 9/1: We arrived in Vegas in the morning and headed to Red Rock Canyon. Red Rock is located just a few miles west of Las Vegas and encompasses 197,000 acres within the Mojave Desert.

The Red Rock area was located under a deep ocean basin during the Paleozoic Era 600 million years ago. The decaying ocean and marine life formed sediments up to 9,000 feet thick at the seafloor. This sediment eventually formed into limestone.

It was an amazing sight. The drive is a one-way loop road that is 13 miles long. It was a great way to get a glimpse of history right outside the Las Vegas Strip.

After getting 90 minute massages at the local Massage Envy (I love that franchise!), we drove towards the Strip. The Flamingo hotel just upgraded some floors to include the new GO room. It is a truly decadent room that was decorated in the colors of hot pink and brown (think of Neopolitan ice cream.) The bathroom even had a in-mirror TV where we could watch television while showering! Our room overlooked the Bellagio fountains and we were able to get a wonderful view of the water show, especially at night.

Always in the mood for a good steak, we heard about a Las Vegas favorite: The Steakhouse. It has been voted Best Steakhouse for many years. We were thinking it would be located on the Strip in a new, upscale resort. Surprisingly, it is in Circus Circus. Our overall experience at the Steakhouse was wonderful. We were happy that we made reservations, because the place was packed with what appeared to be locals. What a great find.

We had 8 PM show tickets to "The Producers." Tony Danza would be taking on the role of Max Bialystock. The show was shortened slightly for the Las Vegas stage, but it was definitely not noticeable, and we enjoyed the show. It was definitely not a show that showcased the performers' voices like "Phantom," but the plot line was clever. I could take or leave Tony Danza as Max. Unlike when we saw "Chicago" in London, where Brooke Shields played Roxie Hart. Her voice was great, and rivaled some of the other performers.

Sun, 9/2
E has never had an In-N-Out burger, so I decided to initiate him into the club. We had tried to go once when we were in Arizona, but the one chance we got to head out there, the place was closed! So we trekked out again to try our chances. In-N-Out's "thing" is that nothing is ever frozen (neither the patties or fries) and everything is prepared fresh. E agreed that it was a great burger. For me, it brought back some great memories from when I was at Andersen. It was definitely worth the trip!

The wedding was held at Caesar's Palace, with the reception at Joe's. The ceremony was beautiful and we were so happy for our friends. I shed some tear several times during the night.

Mon, 9/3
It was our last day in Vegas and we just wanted to veg. We enjoyed our dinner so much last night, that we decided to head back there for another round! We enjoyed some of their famous stone crab claws! Afterwards, we partook in some gaming before heading home...