My first wedding anniversary was on March 26, so my husband and I decided to spend the weekend together in Fredericksburg, Texas to celebrate. It’s a historic town originally settled by German immigrants, and it’s just over 70 miles from both Austin and San Antonio.

I’ve lived in Texas my whole life, but had never been to Fredericksburg. I always had the impression it was a boring small town where grannies went to buy antiques. But I started to hear great things from friends who went there on day trips or for a weekend, and it’s been receiving acclaim for the flourishing Fredericksburg Wine Road 290 (a trail of 10 local wineries).

Fredericksburg for 20somethings

My friend Jeff Jung from Career Break Secrets grew up here, and he connected me with Mary Ann McClain, the Communications Manager at the Convention and Visitors Bureau. I told her about my apprehensions, and she assured me that Fredericksburg has plenty to offer 20somethings. “I think your earlier perception of Fredericksburg is what it once was,” she told me via email. “Today, people love to come because Fredericksburg has evolved into one of Texas’ top destinations through its location (gorgeous scenery), great shopping, romantic B&Bs/guesthouses/inns (over 370), through the quality of the 70+ restaurants here, from an explosion of wineries, and due to our emerging art scene.  There’s just a creative vibe here, drawing artists and enabling more galleries to display here. It’s also very relaxing and fun.”

She said there are also hundreds of festivals and events in Fredericksburg each year, plus outdoor activities and entertainment geared toward my age group. “Active 20somethings might enjoy hiking or rappelling Enchanted Rock, or perhaps cycling of scenic roadways. During the spring, these roadways and surrounding fields are sprinkled with color from wildflowers that grow rampantly here,” she says.  Additionally, “Luckenbach Texas is an eclectic place; it’s very laid back and there’s usually live music playing, and a chicken or two or four wandering around.  Speaking of live music, several places in town are great for that, including Ausländer Restaurant & Biergarten, Hondos on Main, Crossroads Steakhouse & Saloon, and Silver Creek Beer Garden & Grill.”

Now for our itinerary, which I highly recommend if you only have two nights and don’t want to be scrambling the whole time. We had a lovely time and definitely plan to go back!

Accommodations

We arrived in Fredericksburg at 3 p.m. on a Friday, which turned out to be perfect. We went straight to Absolute Charm, a company that handles reservations for hundreds of local lodgings (rather than having hotel chains, Fredericksburg has hundreds of independent B&Bs and inns–they have so much character!). We picked up the keys to our place–The Carriage House at Along Shady Creek. I chose it because it’s a few blocks from Main Street, but on a quiet residential street. It was also quite affordable (less than $200/night) and has great amenities.

We had the entire second floor of the carriage house, which is next to a residential home. The space is more like a vacation rental than a B&B, as it has a kitchenette, and they gave us a gift card for breakfast at a selection of local restaurants instead of serving any. It is cozy and very private. It has a Jacuzzi bath tub large enough for four people! I also loved that there was a spacious living room with a flat-screen TV, DVD player, and electric fireplace.

It backs up to a creek and is home to a colony of vocal ducks. We had a private patio overlooking the creek, and I loved sitting out there reading in the mornings while I waited for my husband to wake up. There was also some outdoor seating outside by the creek. They had recently added an outdoor hot tub, though we didn’t end up using it.

Our deck overlooking the creek

The resident ducks. That tall fellow was the ringleader, and he was LOUD.

Bryan wanted to pet a duck, but they were not having it.

Friday

Visitor Information Center

After checking in and putting our bags down, we went to the Visitor Information Center. They have really friendly staffers and endless stacks of maps and brochures about local attractions, events, and day trips. I highly recommend stopping by if you want to learn more about the town or get insider tips on what to do and where to eat. It’s in the center of town, just a block behind Main Street.

Pacific War Museum

Our first stop was the main building of the Pacific War Museum since it’s right down the street from the Visitor’s Center. You can see my husband standing in front of it below, where there is a full-sized ship protruding from the ground. The museum tells the full history of what led up to World War II with artifacts, written displays, timelines, and videos.

The place was a maze just teeming with information, and while I did start to get bored after about an hour, my history-obsessed husband was enthralled. Though I was captured by the Pearl Harbor exhibit, which puts you in a dark room with an submarine and eerie submarine sounds, and it plays a series of videos and audio that tell the gripping story of that day. The museum had several full-sized planes, tanks, and guns. Down the road is a reconstructed combat zone, which offers tours every hour. There’s another museum in the complex that is dedicated to the history of Admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who was from Fredericksburg. Your museum ticket gives you access to all of these.

An American military plane in the Pacific War Museum

A Japanese gun at the Pacific War Museum

A piece of the original USS Arizona from Pearl Harbor

Explore Main Street

Main Street is where most of the action happens in Fredericksburg. It has many restaurants (some serve German food) and shops. There’s also a pioneer museum and several venues that offer live music at night.

The town has over 150 shops, many of which are on this strip. I had the misconception before coming here that they would all be dusty antique shops or Western wear stores. While there were certainly some of those, I was happily surprised to find many chic clothing boutiques, fun candy stores, a modern pet accessory store (I wanted everything in there, including one of the employees’ puppy teacup chihuahua, who chills out there), cute wine tasting shops, and book stores.

We couldn’t get enough of Rustlin’ Robs, a shop with aisles and aisles of canned nut butters, salsas, peppers, jams, sauces, dressings, and other yummies. They had bowls of crackers and an open jar of just about everything in there, so you could stuff your face for free while exploring all of these amazing local offerings. I bought a jar of apple butter; it was my first time to try the stuff, and I’m in love.

Main Street

Chocolate-covered pickles, bacon, and jalapenos at Lone Star Candy Bar

Boots at Something for Men, a shop on Main Street

Peanut butters at Rustlin' Robs

Rows and rows of nut butters at Rustlin' Robs

Vinegars at Rustlin' Robs

Dinner at The Cabernet Grill

This restaurant came highly recommended to me by a seasoned Fredericksburg traveler, and it had excellent reviews online, so we gave it a try for dinner. The service was a wee bit slow, but it’s a small town, and oh boy, the food was amazing. The menu was diverse and infused with Texas flavor. It was also very reasonably priced for the quality and creativity. The wine list is enormous, with many wines from local vineyards.

Warm goat cheese with garlic and sun-dried tomatoes

Jalepeno-stuffed, bacon-wrapped quail with grits and green beans

Trout stuffed with asiago cheese and bacon with maple chipotle sweet potatoes and green beans

Saturday

The Sunset Grill

The next morning, we were slow to rise and stopped by The Sunset Grill for brunch at 11 since it was one of the places where our breakfast gift card could be redeemed. My husband had a regular ol’ omelet, but we were about to go wine tasting and I needed some real food in my stomach, so I had a colorful crab cake salad with mango vinaigrette. So fresh and tasty! Everything else we saw come out of the kitchen looked great. The restaurant is extremely casual and very affordable. Perfect for a quick breakfast or lunch.

Messina Hof Winery

From Fredericksburg, hop on Highway 290, also known as the Wine Road. There are 10 wineries just a short drive away. I’m not a big drinker, and I’ve never liked wine, but I decided to do some tastings and see if I could find one I fancied.

Messina Hof is a new winery in the Hill Country; their home base is in Bryan, Texas, but they opened this location last year as a tasting room. It’s housed in a gorgeous villa. The inside has two bars for tasting, plus an outdoor patio where you can enjoy a glass. It was recommended to me as a place to go since it’s less crowded than some of the larger vineyards (ie. Becker and Grape Greek).

Here’s how it works: You pay $10 and get a wine glass with their emblem on it that you get to keep, plus five wooden tokens. They give you a menu of their offerings and a chart that lets you rate the ones you try. You tell the bartender which one you want to sample, he pours it in your glass, and you drop a token in the jar. Each pour was enough for many sips, so my husband and I tried all of each others’ wines so that we could sample 10 total. I was shocked to discover that I liked the rosé and the sangria–they were very sweet, tasty, and easy to drink. I was so excited and bought a bottle of each. They were very reasonably priced (both less than $15).

Messina Hof Winery in Fredericksburg, TX

One section of the Messina Hof Winery tasting room

Becker Vineyards

While we were already out on the wine trail, we decided to go to a second vineyard. Becker Vineyards is in Stonewall, and it’s one of the largest wineries in the area. We were warned that it could get uncomfortably crowded, and packed it was. Inside, it was hard to get the attention of the bartenders, and some of the other patrons were pushy. But the outside area was beautiful; people were picnicking, napping on the grass, playing with dogs, and a band was playing live music. The vineyard did an event with free pasta earlier in the day; they often have cool events like that.

The tasting worked the same way here; $10 per person, and you keep the wine glass. You get six tastings here, and since we shared, we got to try a total of 12 wines. I wasn’t wild about any of them, but it was still a fun experience, and my husband really liked the pinot grigio and Riesling. By that point, I was a wee bit tipsy, so it was time to go back to our place and take it easy until dinner. Note that several companies offer winery tours that take you around in vans from place to place so you don’t have to drive after trying a few too many wines.

Becker Vineyards in Stonewall, Texas

Becker Vineyards tasting room

Movie and nap

We found a Redbox at the local HEB and indulged in a lazy afternoon until dinner. Hey, it’s vacation!

Dinner at Navajo Grill

I’m reluctant to mention this place. A foodie I respect recommended it, and it had very positive ratings on TripAdvisor and Yelp, so we gave it a try. While the food was delicious, the service was horrendous. Truly some of the worst customer service I’ve ever experienced at a restaurant. It was especially upsetting since the dishes were around $30 a plate. Based on all of the good reviews, I have to think that they were just very understaffed or having a very unusual night. The main thing I liked was that my salmon was served with seared pumpkin in a sweet honey balsamic sauce. I’ve never had pumpkin that way before, and it was very good.

Filet mignon with sweet potato and green beans

Salmon with honey balsalmic sauce and pumpkin

 Sunday

 Amish Market

We woke up late and had some time to kill before lunch. This store was on the quiet part of Main Street near where we were staying, and I wanted to go poke around. I was disappointed to learn from the shopkeeper that there are actually no Amish people in Fredericksburg; the store imports their Amish goods from places like Pennsylvania and Ohio. But the good news is that everything there is genuinely Amish. There were Amish cookbooks, noodles, wooden cooking utensils, syrups and molasses, candies, and knickknacks. We left with some tasty Amish cheese.

Amish furniture and buggy

Fredericksburg Brewery

Mary Ann said visiting this brewpub is a must, so we had lunch here on our final day. Texas alcohol laws are very strange; if you make beer, you can sell it locally through a distributor, but you can’t sell it from your own brewery. So what Fredericksburg Brewery does is sell the beer only on-site; this means they don’t have a distributor so you can’t buy it anywhere else, but you can enjoy the heck out of it while you’re there.

My husband ordered the beer flight, which gives you 4 ounces of each of their freshly-brewed beers. It’s served in order from light to dark, and while I’m not really a beer drinker, I enjoyed watching him taste and critique them. He fell in love with the Enchanted Rock red ale. If you like one, you can buy a big jug of it for $18 to take home (I can’t remember exactly how much it holds). The friendly waitress said if you come back and bring the jug with you, a refill is only $12. Amazing! The food was your average American fare–not spectacular, but certainly good. It was really neat to eat with the brewery tanks out in full view.

Beer flight at Fredericksberg Brewery

Bryan's philly sandwich with sweet potato fries at Fredericksburg Brewery

My beef fajita salad at Fredericksburg Brewery

Me with a jug of beer at Fredericksberg Brewery

Phew! We definitely plan to go back so we can visit some of the other wineries and try some of the other restaurants that were highly recommended. Have you ever been to Fredericksburg?

For Those in the Dark: What are Gluten and Celiac Disease?
Gluten is a sneaky type of protein that hides in wheat, barley, rye, and their derivatives. It’s also in some oats due to cross-contamination. Seems easy to just avoid those things, right? Unfortunately, gluten is hidden in countless processed foods. It lurks in salad dressings, breading, soups, marinades, processed meats, energy bars, soy sauce, beer, and many other unsuspecting places.

According to Celiac Disease Foundation, one in 133 people in the United States suffer from celiac disease, a permanent autoimmune condition triggered when gluten is ingested (it is not an allergy). The villi in the intestines are damaged from gluten and can lead to malabsoroption and other serious health problems. Any amount of gluten is very harmful for sufferers. The CDF says the cause for the disease is still a mystery, but there is a hereditary component. The most common symptoms are GI-related, though they can run the gamut. It’s not uncommon to be misdiagnosed for a long time.

My Story
I’ve had digestive problems for years. My celiac blood test was negative, so I continued to eat bread, pasta, and other gluten-infused food. And I continued to feel like crap.

I began seeing a holistic nutritionist years ago, and she was certain I had gluten sensitivity if not celiac, especially since false negatives are common. But after dabbling with eating gluten-free, I didn’t see immediate relief, so I gave up. Fast forward to now. I’ve been reading in so many places that science is learning that some (perhaps many) people have an intolerance or sensitivity to gluten. They don’t have the autoimmune response that celiacs do, but have other unpleasant reactions such as headaches, joint aches, terrible seasonal allergies, and/or GI issues. I know people whose long-time health issues resolved after cutting out gluten.

Eating gluten-free is an all or nothing thing, and I realized I hadn’t been consistent enough to see results. Recently I’ve become almost fully gluten-free. My digestion isn’t fixed, but has improved. It’s also forcing me to eat more whole foods since gluten isn’t in veggies, fruits, nuts, or unprocessed meats–an unexpected benefit.

Help for Gluten-Free Travelers
You can cook proper food at home, and GF snacks are easy, but I realized that eating meals while traveling posed a huge challenge. What if I go somewhere where nobody knows what gluten is? How do I explain that I need to eat gluten-free in a country where I don’t speak the language? When recently Googling for help, I found Triumph Dining, a company that specializes in products that help gluten-free travelers. Hallelujah!

They sell guidebooks that that help consumers find gluten-free-friendly restaurants and grocery products across America, in addition to wallet-sized cards that communicate your needs when you’re at a restaurant. Just hand them to your waiter, and they’ll quickly understand what you can’t eat. They offer a pack of 50 disposable dining cards with the front in English and the back in Spanish for $8.95. I was excited to find out that they also sell a pack of laminated gluten-free dining cards in 10 different languages for $18.95.

I contacted the company and asked if they could give me some travel tips for gluten-free folks, and they not only said yes, but gave me a pack of the multiple language dining cards to check out on my own. Keep reading for my interview with Dave Morris from the company.

Gluten-free dining cards

My Review
The first thing I noticed when I opened up my pack of cards is that there is an extra sheet that offers valuable tips for using the cards. The tips may seem obvious to some, but not for a total newbie. They include presenting a card to the hostess before you sit to make sure they can accommodate you, avoiding peak rush hours in order to get more attention, and trying to frequent owner-operated restaurants.

These sturdy cards come in English, Chinese, French, Greek, Indian, Italian, Japanese, Spanish (Mexican), Thai, and Vietnamese. Each one also has one side in English, so you’re able to see what it says. They are small and portable, so you can slip them in your wallet and pull them out when you’re ready to order food. You see to the right where I kept one card unfolded (this is how they are delivered) and one folded up into wallet-sized. Each card is labeled with the cuisine.

Rather than being identical, the cards are tailored to regional cuisine; for example, the one in Spanish says that flour tortillas aren’t permitted, and the one in Japanese indicates that soy sauce and imitation crab cannot be eaten. The cards also contain an important note about cross-contamination. You don’t only have to use these for travel–you can also use them when eating ethnic cuisine in your own city. You bet I’ll be using these on my upcoming trips. They solve one of the biggest problems for gluten-free travelers, and I’m so pleased that they are available in so many languages!

Interview with Dave Morris from Triumph Dining
Dave Morris kindly took the time to offer some tips for gluten-free travel.

Maiden Voyage: Why did Triumph Dining choose to make gluten-free dining guides and dining cards?
Dave Morris: We originally developed our Dining Cards to help people enjoying eating out safely at ethnic restaurants. We are a bit surprised at how many people also bring them to other countries when they travel. We are rather proud of the fact that we have sold over 125,000 cards so far and are excited that they are now available for Android smart phones and are coming out for the iPhone/iPad.

MV: Is it common for gluten-free newbies to struggle with what to eat when traveling?
DM: Without a doubt–typically because they do not have much experience in communicating their needs to the serving staff.

MV: How can travelers communicate that they need gluten-free food when they are somewhere with a strong language barrier?
DM: Our Dining Cards are a great start. Another idea is to have the concierge at your hotel recommend a restaurant and call ahead on your behalf. Since they have a long term relationship with the restaurants, they have that much more of incentive to make sure that your needs are met.

MV: Are there certain states or countries that you’ve found to be especially GF-friendly? And are there any that are particularly challenging for gluten-free travelers?
DM: Italy is certainly a great one. Most of our customers find that the more first-world a county is, the better suited for their dietary restrictions they are, and the more third-world, the less prepared they are.

MV: Do you recommend any GF blogs for newbies?
DM: We are partial to our blog, which is updated at least three times a week with pertinent content for people living gluten-free. Brittany Angell at Real Sustenance and Iris Higgins at The Daily Dietribe are wonderful.

MV: Any other thoughts or tips on surviving world travel as a GF eater?
DM: Be adventurous and enjoy your travels. Be prepared and flexible, and when in doubt, enjoy the scenery and enjoy a snack you have brought with you. Don’t let this get in the way of having a memorable time.

More Gluten-Free Travel Resources:

• Travel Tips from Gluten-Free Diva
• About.com’s Gluten-Free Travel Tips
• Sure Foods Living’s Travel Tips
• Gluten-Free Globetrotter

Do you or anyone else you know eat gluten-free? What travel tips have you learned?

I’m a picky eater and don’t like beans, so when I went to Costa Rica last fall, I was worried that I’d be stuck eating beans and rice all the time. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised.

Before heading off to Peace Retreat in Playa Negra, I went to Tamarindo for a few nights and stayed at Hotel Jardin del Eden. One evening it was extremely rainy, so I decided to make things easy and grab a bite to eat at the hotel’s open-air restaurant. I was skeptical, but it turned out to be my favorite meal during my stay in the country:

It is a filet of sea bass steamed in a banana leaf on a bed of basil pesto, topped with grilled veggies. It also gave it a tropical feel! Since the fish was steamed in the leaf, it stayed tender and moist. The veggies were crisp. Despite looking creamy, the pesto sauce tasted light and fresh. I loved that the dish was so colorful and artfully plated.

I’m hungry again every time I look at this! What’s your favorite Costa Rican dish?

This post is supported by Thomson.co.uk. Some of the most popular getaways this year are activity and sport adventures to far-flung destinations – don’t wait to book your holidays in 2012!

In August, my husband and I went to Seattle, Vancouver, and Whistler for our delayed honeymoon. We enjoyed exploring Seattle’s Pike Place Market, but it was chaotic. The hallways were so packed with people shoving in every direction, so it was hard to see everything we wanted to.

When we moved on to Vancouver, some people had suggested we check out Granville Island. It’s a tiny 37-acre island in downtown Vancouver that you can get to from a short ferry ride on a tiny boat. In addition to having restaurants, bars, antique and art galleries, and entertainment venues, it has a very popular public market. It is similar to Pike Place Market, but smaller, more navigable, and far less crowded. Merchants sell a variety of seafood, fresh flowers, produce, cheese, desserts, homemade pasta, and more.

According to Tourism Vancouver, the island was an industrial workplace in the 1880s. In the 1970s, urban planners decided they could do some magical things with it. It’s now home to 300 businesses, and 10.5 million visitors go there each year.

Here are some of my favorite photos I took at Granville Island’s Public Market..

]]> http://maiden-voyage-travel.com/photo-essay-granville-island-public-market-in-vancouver-2/feed/ 14 http://maiden-voyage-travel.com/backpacker-recipe-easiest-spaghetti-and-broccoli-ever/ http://maiden-voyage-travel.com/backpacker-recipe-easiest-spaghetti-and-broccoli-ever/#comments Fri, 21 Oct 2011 16:48:09 +0000 Emily http://maiden-voyage-travel.com/?p=3880

HostelBookers.com has put a call out for recipes that backpackers can easily cook at a hostel. The best will be published in a recipe guide for hostels.

Here is my entry. It’s a recipe I made all throughout college when I hardly had any space or time (and sometimes still do!). It’s the easiest spaghetti ever. Reynold’s (the company that makes the Zip-Lock bags) has steamer bags that allow you to add in raw veggies or meats, a splash of water, and steam them in the microwave. I only discovered them recently, but I steam broccoli in them all the time now. It literally takes 90 seconds to freshly steam half a bag of raw broccoli. Kind of amazing. I’m including that if you want to have something with your spaghetti. Salad also goes great with it!

Ingredients:

• 1 box of pasta
• 1 can of tomato basil pasta sauce
• 1 pack (~lb.) of ground turkey or beef (I use turkey–much leaner and still tastes great)
• Raw broccoli

Steps:

1. Boil a pot of water and toss in the pasta.
2. Take a package of ground turkey and dump it all on a sauté pan on medium heat. Sauté until almost fully cooked. I don’t even use oil–the meat usually has enough juice–but feel free to add a dash of olive oil if it’s sticking.
3. Pour the entire can of tomato sauce into the sauté pan and mix thoroughly with the meat. Turn down heat and let simmer.
4. While the pasta is cooking and sauce is simmering, take a Reynold’s steamer bag and put in some fresh broccoli. Add a tablespoon of water and steam in the microwave (the time it takes to cook will be on the bag–it depends on whether you fill the bag up half-way or full).
5. Drain pasta and combine with sauce. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese, if desired. You can toss the broccoli in or have it on the side.

A message from our partners: Traveling to Italy for an event? Learn about sala riunioni (meeting rooms) and matrimoni sale (wedding halls).

Earlier this month, I went to Savannah, Georgia for the first time for a wedding. I live in Texas, and while people here definitely have Southern hospitality, we aren’t quite “the South.” New Orleans is the closest I’ve gotten to it, and both Savannah and New Orleans ended up really reminding me of each other. It had true Southern charm and made me wish we had more time to explore.

It was a pathetically quick two-night trip. We arrived late on a Friday night and flew out at the crack of dawn on a Sunday. But the wedding was on a Saturday night, giving us the afternoon to explore the city’s Historic District. We stayed at the Four Points by Sheraton at the edge of the Historic District; it was very affordable, very nice and clean, and a pretty short walk to great bars and restaurants. It wasn’t as central as some of the other hotels, but it was just fine.

I enjoyed Savannah’s ornate architecture and incredible American history. We kept stumbling upon plaques that told of the events that took place in the city. In certain areas, I felt like I was transported back in time. Many of the beautiful older homes are now B&Bs, and while I really wanted to stay at one, the group rate at the hotel was just too good. Next time, I definitely plan to stay in one of these historic inns.

I was told by several people before I went that Savannah was known for its wide streets shaded by large, mossy trees. It was more beautiful than I could have imagined:

I found out when I got there that the Historic District was filled with squares. Every few streets, there is a massive square that stretches several blocks. They all featured large, old trees and massive historic monuments.

I took this in Madison Square (named for the president), which has this beautiful monument to William Jasper, a man from Savannah who was a sergeant in the Revolutionary War:

The architecture of the homes in the Historic District was very regal and detailed, and reminded me a lot of New Orleans:

The couple we were there to see get married recommended checking out Forsyth Park, which has a famous fountain in the middle of it. If you keep going, you pass by acres of grassy lawns and more historical monuments. With its long walkways, shady trees, and massive fountain, the park looked like something from a love story. In fact, I took a photo for a couple who said they got engaged right there exactly five years ago! I couldn’t pass up getting a photo of me and my husband in front of the fountain:

I also saw some fun street art in the city:

And let’s not forget the Southern food. We were in Savannah so briefly that we hardly had any meals there, but we had a fabulous dinner at The Olde Pink House. It’s where the wedding reception was held, though several people on Twitter actually recommended it to me as a place to eat before they found out I was already going there for the wedding! It’s a gorgeous old mansion with a very elegant, stately feel, and massive amounts of history took place in it. The appetizers were mini crab cakes, beef tenderloin crostini, fried green tomatoes, and I think the last one was friend macaroni and cheese with jalepeno poppers. For my entree, I had a fabulously moist pork tenderloin with sweet potatoes and collard greens. My husband had one of the most famous Southern dishes around: shrimp and grits (pictured below). All of the staff there were so friendly and funny (we were at a table full of people from the Northeast, and they just couldn’t get over how hospitable people were in the South). They also served dessert to the guests instead of a wedding cake, and my chocolate torte with graham cracker crust was just sinful. We left blissfully stuffed.

My recent post about dining out in Seattle was a hit on Twitter, so I decided to follow up with my tales of dining in Vancouver on the same trip. I went on my delayed honeymoon to Seattle, Vancouver, and Whistler during the first week of August, and after all of the dining out we did, let’s just say it’s a very good thing we did miles of walking every day!

Cactus Club Cafe

Our concierge at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver recommended this to us as a casual lunch spot downtown. It was chic and had many sharply-dressed patrons, but we were wearing casual clothes and fit in just fine. We sat on the outdoor patio, which is a great spot for people-watching, especially of the well-dressed businessmen and women. I had the Raincoast Salad, with mixed greens, sugared pecans, strawberries, feta, and lemon-thyme vinegarette. It was supposed to come with grilled chicken, but I changed it to grilled salmon, which was moist and delicious. My husband got “The Burger”—their signature cheeseburger with fries–and said it was delish.

Pacifico Pizzeria & Ristorante

We were craving Italian but wanted something somewhat affordable and casual. I found Pacifico on Yelp, and I’m so glad we went! They have small plate and large plate options, which I loved–as a small woman, I can never normally finish restaurant entrees and hate overpaying for them. It was great being able to pay less for a smaller plate (though I still couldn’t finish it!). They had several types of foccacia available as a starter; I got the focaccia with goat cheese and arugula. I wasn’t sure if I would like it since arugula can be bitter, but it was great. For my entree, I ordered the pesto pasta and added shrimp. The waitress asked what type of pasta I wanted, and I wasn’t sure. She suggested the gnocchi and said it would complement the fresh pesto very nicely. I didn’t even consider gnocchi but went with it, and she was so right. The soft and puffy gnocchi, the flavorful pesto (not too basily), the perfectly-cooked shrimp, and grated Parmesan on top were the perfect combination. I squeezed the lemon wedge on the side with it, and it made it even better. My husband stole a few bites and agreed that it was fantastic.

He got the pasta with clams and shrimp, and he devoured it. We ended up spending more than we planned to (because of the appetizer and me adding shrimp), but the food was perfect, the ambiance was nice and quiet, and the waitress was so friendly and knowledgeable.

Kamei Royale

Another great find from Yelp! It was actually directly across the street from our hotel. I started with edamame, which was lukewarm—a little disappointing. But I followed up with miso soup, which was delicious, with just enough tofu and seaweed. We then ordered the salmon and cheese gyoza, which are deep-fried dumplings stuffed with baked B.C. salmon and yellow cheese (perhaps cheddar?). I had never heard of this before, and it was unusual but very flavorful. For his entrée, my husband got California rolls. For my entrée, I ordered the pork gyoza with sticky white rice (I have a dumpling obsession). I asked them to steam them instead of pan-fry them, and they were more than happy to. It took a bit longer, and they were very apologetic, but I didn’t mind. It was worth it. They were nice and sticky and moist, with great flavor.

Cupcakes!

We passed by this cute pink shop a few times. I checked it out on Yelp, and it had very mediocre reviews. People said they had made better cupcakes themselves at home. But one afternoon we were craving something sweet and decided to give it a shot anyway. We got a chocolate cupcake with mint icing, a vanilla cupcake with strawberry icing, a chocolate cupcake with vanilla icing, and a Nutella cupcake. They weren’t the best cupcakes we’d ever had, but they were pretty darn good and hit the spot.

Don Guacamole’s

This was a recommendation from my friend Natalie, the lovely Canadian behind the travel blog Near Afar. Everything was presented beautifully–even the free starter chips (second photo). We ordered the guacamole as an appetizer, which was cleverly served in a large martini glass. Being from Texas, we’re extraordinarily picky about our guac, and it had perfect chunky texture and flavor. I ordered the grilled steak quesadilla, which used only white cheese. It was different from what I was used to, but really gooey, tender, and delicious. My husband got alambre, which is a dish similar to fajitas, and was very happy with it. We were initially skeptical about Mexican food in Canada, and we were very pleasantly surprised how wonderful it was here.

Fairmont Hotel Vancouver

The afternoon tea at the Fairmont Hotel Vancouver is quite the experience. I ordered the peppermint tea, which was piping hot and full of delicious mint flavor. The tiered trays of finger sandwiches and treats was just sinful. I couldn’t finish anywhere near the amount served, so I took some back to the room with me, which is where I took the picture below. The scone below is one of the best I’ve ever had–so flaky and sweet. The chef’s recipe is a secret. Also pictured below are lemon treats, blueberry cheesecake, and a mini eclair. You can read more about my experience at afternoon tea here.

Other meals

I spaced out and forgot to take pictures of a few of my meals. Here’s what we had:

The Keg
We ate lunch really late one day, so in the evening we only wanted a small meal. We stopped at this posh restaurant and bar. It was dimly lit with modern furniture. We ordered the baked goat cheese, which was coated in crushed almonds and served with a tomato basil salsa of sorts (had a balsamic taste). It was served with crunchy crostini and was oh so good. I ordered the spinach salad, which came with top-notch crumbled blue cheese, cranberries, mandarin oranges, pecans, and a wine-based vinaigrette. It hit the spot and was very flavorful. I only found out later that the restaurant was a chain–it didn’t feel like one at all!

Café Crepe
We wanted a late-night snack, and this creperie was right around the corner from our hotel. I ordered dark chocolate with whipped cream. It was really just a crepe with a little melted dark chocolate in the middle (would have preferred a little more chocolate—it was so bready). They gave me a separate cup of whipped cream to dip it in. It wasn’t amazing, but it was a good cheap treat. The husband got one with Nutella and bananas that he said was yummy.

Sandwich Plus
I searched on Yelp for a while for a cheap sandwich spot downtown other than Subway, and this one got rave reviews. It’s located in a strange little food court with mini-restaurants of Indian, Italian, Mexican, Chinese, Japanese, Greek cuisine and more. After walking in, I wondered if it was really a good idea to eat here, but we stuck with it. The line took forever since there was just one little old lady making sandwiches, though it was worth it. We got the roast turkey sandwiches, and rather than using deli meat, they use real roasted turkey, like the kind you would eat at Thanksgiving. You can choose from dark meat, white meat, or mixed. She literally piled it on by the handful. You can add cranberry sauce, too, in addition to many other fresh ingredients. Instead of cranberry sauce, I added avocado and cheese. Between the two of us, it cost less than $15. The sandwiches were fresh and filling (I couldn’t finish mine).

After several nights in Vancouver, we rented a car and went to Whistler, where we had a few other fabulous meals (that I also forgot to take pictures of). It’s a beautiful two-hour ride, but if you prefer not to drive there yourself, there are plenty of Canada tours that can take you by bus. Not everyone is into them, but sightseeing tours make it easy to get from point A to point B and teach you about the area.

My husband is in law school, so we don’t get to go out to nice dinners very often. On our delayed honeymoon in Seattle and Vancouver earlier this month, we decided that we deserved to enjoy some special meals and made a nice budget for doing so.

I’m a picky eater with a sensitive stomach, so finding suitable gourmet food can be a challenge. I got recommendations from friends and did research on Yelp, and we ended up having some amazing food that we both loved. Two unpleasant things that I discovered were that nearly all restaurants charged for bread (very rare in Texas), and that soda was so expensive at nearly every restaurant (I shouldn’t be drinking it anyway, but treated myself to a few on the trip). But getting to eat fresh seafood and high-quality ingredients was amazing!

Cutter’s Bayhouse

This restaurant was recommended by a coworker, and I’m glad I listened. It sits at the waterfront at the edge of the Pike Place Market. They seated us right by a window, and the view of the water and mountains was incredible. Plus, they serve free tasty homemade focaccia–it was exciting not having to pay for bread to snack on. I ordered the open-faced crab sandwich (second photo), which sounded nice and light. Unfortunately, it was incredibly rich and creamy and covered in mayo, so I flagged down the waitress and told her this isn’t at all what I was expecting. She said it was made with the crab and artichoke mixture that they use for an appetizer dip. Since that wasn’t noted on the menu, she kindly removed it from the bill and let me order something else. She even brought out free soup for me while I waited. I ordered the crab cake, which cost a little more, but was worth it—it was cooked perfectly and full of fresh chunks of crab. My husband got the seafood brochette, which had salmon and scallops—he loved it.

Local 360

This unique place was a treat. It has a country cottage feel, and it’s quite small. Some of the tables are shared tables, though we lucked out and got our own. They also have two stories of stacked booths on one side, which gives it a quirky look. Our friendly waiter explained to us that nearly all of their food comes within a 360-mile radius of the restaurant and that their goal is to serve sustainable food. We started with the cheese and crostini; there was a rich cow and goat cheese mix, and a baby blue, both served alongside Rainier cherry sauce. Very flavorful! I got the special, which was pan-roasted ling cod over Swiss chard and roasted corn, with a little bacon mixed in. I ordered it because the waiter told me it was pretty light—it was in a broth. The cod itself didn’t have a ton of flavor, but the roasted corn was sweet and delicious. It was a great healthy option. My husband got the fried chicken (a not-so-healthy option), which was served with an egg on top and grits below it. The waiter said it was one of their most popular dishes, and he really enjoyed it.

Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company

My husband and I are gluttons for cupcakes. One day we were walking back to the apartment and passed by Yellow Leaf Cupcake Company, and we couldn’t resist. We saw signs that it was featured on the Food Network. We got a six-pack so that we could try several different flavors. We got Mexican wedding cake (which tasted JUST like those cookies), strawberry cheesecake, pancakes and bacon, peanut butter, red velvet, and chocolate cake with vanilla icing. The strawberry cheesecake was my favorite. Good thing we were doing so much walking…

Belltown Pizza

We were staying near Belltown Pizza and walked past it many times, so when we wanted a casual and cheap dinner one night, we decided to go here (though I checked Yelp first, and it had fantastic reviews). We got the house pizza—spinach, garlic, tomatoes, cheese, and olive oil. We added meatballs. I am normally not much of a pizza eater for some reason, but this pizza was just fantastic. Simple but rich. The crust was nice and crunchy, and the middle was soft, gooey, and flavorful. It made me wonder why I don’t eat pizza more often!

The Crab Pot

The friend whose apartment we stayed in told us we couldn’t leave Seattle without having a meal here. They offer traditional seafood fare, but their specialty is their feasts. There are four to choose from, each with increasingly more ingredients (and more expensive). There is a minimum of two people for each one, and you order per person. They lay a strip of butcher paper on your table and give you bibs, in addition to wooden blocks and hammers. Our waiter came out with a massive metal bowl of food and dumped it on the butcher paper. Our feast contained corn, potatoes, sausage, shrimp, crab, oysters, mussels, clams, and some skewers with halibut and salmon. I was a little put off by the fact that the shrimp were still completely intact, eyes, antennae, and all. I was so grossed out that my husband had to peel them for me. I also had difficulty getting the meat out of the crab, even with the hammer. But the rest was delicious, and it was a very unique dining experience! The restaurant is right on the waterfront, too, so you get some nice views if you sit on the deck.

The Lucky Diner

We were staying directly across the street from this 1950s-style diner. One night we needed a late dinner, and nothing else was open, so we gave it a shot. I was craving an old-fashioned cheeseburger, and boy did I get one. I could only eat half of it, but it hit the spot, as did the mashed potatoes I got as my side. It was served with fresh homemade pickles.

Bisato

We found this tiny chic Italian restaurant on our first night in. Needing a pick-me-up, I ordered a Coke. We were starving and noticed that you could order a lamb chop as an appetizer for only a few bucks, so we started with that. It was nice and rare, with a small dollop of whipped potatoes on the side. It made me sad we didn’t order several more. For the main course, I ordered the strawberry risotto with balsamic vinegar, which they said was a dish from the Veneto region of Italy. It was phenomenal. Rich and tender, cooked to perfection. While it was a bright pink color and topped with a strawberry, it only had a hint of strawberry flavor. The portion was small, but perfect for me. My husband ordered the black olive pasta sheet with squid, raisins, and pine nuts. It was surprisingly small and not filling in the least (it looked like an appetizer), but nonetheless, he said it tasted excellent. At one point, the waiter asked me if I wanted a second Coke, and I said sure. When I got the bill, I was charged $5 for two Cokes—he never told me there was a charge for refills. That pissed me off. But overall, it was a great culinary experience. I apologize for the blurry pics; I took these with my iPhone.

Be sure to check out my photo essay of Pike Place Market to see some of the goodies we ate there, too!

We didn’t get out of the downtown or Belltown area very often–there was so much to do and see there. So I didn’t get much food outside of those two areas. We also heard from so many people that parking all over town is terrible, and we didn’t really get around to learning the bus system. There are actually a lot of affordable airport parking spots in Seattle (there are usually websites to help you find the best deal, like this one for Gatwick airport parking). But we passed by many pay-to-park lots around town, and they were very pricy. We were really glad that the area we were staying in was so walkable and with so many restaurants.

Vail Resorts kindly hosted me for three nights in Keystone, Colorado. While lodgings and some activities were covered, these opinions are my own. Check out my posts from day 2 and day 3!

We flew from Austin into Denver and arrived in the afternoon. While the shuttle ride from Denver’s airport to Keystone took a bit longer than expected due to traffic, the views driving from flat Denver into the mountains were stunning:

Driving from flat Denver to mountainous Keystone.

View from my window as we're finally getting up into the mountains!

I was a little grumpy after a long travel day, but as soon as we checked into Keystone Lodge & Spa, I was in heaven. The lobby had an incredible chocolate village display for Christmas, complete with chocolate fountains, a chocolate Christmas tree, and a train set. The staff were all helpful and courteous. Our beautiful and modern room with a comfy king-sized bed had a private deck that overlooked the snow-covered mountains. They had free WiFi–a major bonus for a blogger! There was a large dresser and armoire with tons of storage, perfect for those traveling with tons of cold weather gear. Plus, our room had a large flat-screen TV and DVD player.

After getting settled in, the generous PR folks took us to Keystone Ranch. This restaurant is only a few miles away from the lodge, though driving through the snowy country roads at night made me feel like we were in some beautiful winter wonderland. It was classic and elegant, but felt like a cozy country lodge at the same time. It had wood cabin-like walls, rustic wooden chairs, stone fireplaces, and warm-colored rugs.

One of the tables in Keystone Ranch

I was told by several people that the food here was to-die-for. They weren’t exaggerating; I honestly can’t remember the last time I had such mindblowingly delicious food. Each of the six courses was arranged like a piece of art and featured unusual combinations, such as pork belly with vanilla bean yogurt on the side.  The service was top-notch, as the attentive waiters knew every detail of each plate. The lobster bisque was so rich and flavorful (and served from a kettle at the table), the salad with crispy goat feta was so fresh, the medium rare lamb chop was the most tender and juicy I’d ever had, and the chocolate lava cake had me dying for more even though my stomach had reached capacity. The six-course meal costs $95 per person.

We dined on an appetizer, soup, salad, sorbet, and main course. Here is a sampling of those. We also had dessert–be sure to get to the bottom for pictures of those!

My app! Crispy kurobuta pork belly with buttered English muffin, huckleberry jelly, sunny side quail egg, vanilla bean yogurt, watercress & blood orange

Another app: grilled Maine lobster with toasted brioche, roma tomato confit, arugula and pancetta, winter truffles, cognac butter

Another app: seared day boat scallops with hand-rolled linguine, braised artichokes, picholine olive, lemon foam, parsley

Another app: grilled rabbit en croute with aged manchego mousse, baby golden beets, roasted hedgehog mushrooms, crystalized thyme, sherry naturel

Salad of baby red leaf lettuce, warm goat feta, black mission figs, toasted pumpkin seeds, honey sherry vinaigrette

Pineapple sorbet

My amazing entree: Colorado lamb chop with ragout of lamb cheek, creamed parsnip gratin, baby purple carrot, grilled frisee, cabernet lamb jus

Crispy striped bass entree with sweet potato galette, creme fraiche crepe, almond, haricot vert, maitake, meyer lemon marmalade, chervil

Grilled boar chop entree with bourbon glazed ribs, soft yellow corn grits, Wisconsin cheddar cheese, roasted tomato sauce, wilted baby spinach

After finishing the first five courses, we were led to a separate room that felt like a true rustic cabin, with a deer antler chandelier, comfy couches, and a roaring fire in a stone fireplace. We ate our dessert at this table in front of the fire. I found out that this part of the building actually was once a part of a real ranch, which explained why it felt like we were in a cozy ranch house.

The cozy area where we ate dessert

The desserts were inventive and delectable. I can be a bit of a chocolate snob, but my chocolate lava cake was so rich and delicious that I’m not sure if I’ve ever tasted better chocolate. Yeah, it was that good. I was a little bummed that the chocolate part itself was so small, but by this time, I was already stuffed silly.

Chocolate lava cake with strawberry ice cream, carmelized banana mousse, vanilla marshmallow, waffle cone, fruit, and nuts

Triple creme goat brie en croute with cinnamon short bread, calvados carmel sauce, brown sugar oat crisp, apple, pecan

Terrine of chocolate and raspberry with white chocolate creme anglaise, raspberries in vanilla sugar, expanded honey, lemon curd

The following is a guest post from Bethany Salvon, a professional photographer and travel junkie. She can be found at her personal site Beers and Beans, and her photography site. She has worked as a commercial photographer and has been photographing weddings for over nine years. She photographs under the studio name Nariko’s Nest and lives in San Diego, CA. You can follow Bethany on Twitter at @BeersandBeans.

Have fun as a 20something

This year I’m finally embarking on my first RTW. I’m 34. Why did I wait? I have wanted to travel long-term for at least the past 10 years, but why didn’t I do it earlier? If I think back, I can come up with a list of reasons:

1.    None of my friends wanted to travel and I had no one to go with (this was the big one.)
2.    I couldn’t imagine saving enough money that would allow me to travel long term.
3.    I had a serious, multi-year relationship with someone I loved deeply. He was in the military and instead of traveling on my own I followed him around for a few years until we broke up four months before our wedding. Good times.
4.    I was afraid to strike out into the unknown.
5.    I was trying to figure out what I was going to do with my life, so I was working incredibly hard for little money and miserable. I didn’t realize how horrible it was because I thought I was “paying my dues.”
6.    I couldn’t imagine spending that much time alone, without family or friends.

The list could go on and on, but it all boils down to one thing. I ignored my true calling and my real true desires. I put myself on hold for other people, and I was scared to brave the unknown waters on my own. I don’t regret anything I did in my 20s because I had a lot of fun living in different cities and hanging out with my friends. BUT, and it’s a big BUT, I do regret not traveling long-term. In fact, I consider it one of the biggest mistakes I ever made. Although my life is pretty awesome right now, I often wonder where I would be if I had just followed my heart and traveled when I graduated college.  In my defense, the Internet was not as available or valuable as it is now. People were still nervous to book flights online, no one was blogging and Skype hadn’t even been invented. I didn’t know anyone traveling long-term and it wasn’t as easy as it is now to log on, find some travel inspiration and ask questions. But still it doesn’t matter. People have been traveling for eons; they traveled 10 years ago too, when I sat at home wondering about it.

I’m writing this article to help inspire anyone in their 20s who is contemplating traveling but isn’t 100% sure. All the reasons and excuses you have laid out for yourself are just those–excuses. You can AND will overcome every single one of them.

Read my top nine reasons below for traveling in your 20s so you can stop over-analyzing your decision.  Just do it.

1.    Health concerns. I know some people deal with health concerns when they are children and young adults, but the majority of people in their 20s don’t have any health problems. They don’t worry about health insurance, prescriptions or a rising health care bill. The younger you are when you travel, the less you have to worry about when it comes to your health. When I was 31 I was diagnosed with cancer, just before we were supposed to set out on the RTW. I recovered but I now have to take medication every day, for the rest of my life. This means that I need to have months of medications and vitamins with me when I travel. One of my greatest fears is losing my prescriptions in a developing, foreign country. Worse than that though is the fact that my immune system now sucks and I pick up every little bug around me. When traveling this is a major pain in the butt. I have to work extra hard to stay healthy on the road and keep my immune system up.  I get tired easier and I hate that man sneezing on the airplane with a passion that you cannot imagine. On top of that, I can’t ditch my US health insurance when traveling long-term because no one will ever reinsure me, and with my past surgery costing over $28,000, that’s not a risk I can take. So now on top of travelers insurance I have to pay a $200/month (and constantly rising) bill for months when I am not even in the country. And I have to be back every six months for check ups. Mentally the “what if” factor of it recurring is always a huge mental drain. If I had traveled in my 20s, this whole issue wouldn’t even exist.

Drink more

2.    You can drink more and get away with it. You don’t know this yet, but when you turn 30, it will hit you like a brick wall. You just can’t party like you used to. At first it starts to sneak up on you with a hangover that leaves you feeling worse than normal but then–wham! Suddenly you end up spending a full day (or two) in bed after a big party. You will try to defy Mother Nature’s cruel joke for a while, but eventually you will give in. Pretty soon, you stop drinking as much because the recovery time is such a bitch. If you don’t believe me just ask my boyfriend; he is still trying to party like it’s 1999 and spent all morning throwing up and all day sleeping. The tally? Five beers. Yeah, you read correctly–just five. No hard alcohol, no cigarettes, just five boring beers. Just a few years ago he could put back eight and get up and go to work the next day, but not anymore. He’s 32 now.  This has happened to all of my friends as well. You may be lucky and this might not happen to you, but the odds are stacked against it. Drink up now with all your new travel buddies because in a few years you’ll spend all day puking in the hostel toilet and that’s going to get old mighty fast.

3.    You can eat more and get away with it. This is basically the same as No. 2, but it involves food. Yup,

Eat more

when you hit 30 that exercise routine you’ve been doing for the past few years just doesn’t cut it. It is at least 90% harder to lose weight and keep it off when you are in your 30s. You have to up the exercise an incredible amount to eat the same crap you are eating now.  How does this relate to travel? All that pizza in Italy, pad Thai in Thailand, danishes in Denmark, and all that amazing wine in Chile–after a few days, you and your clothes are going to feel it and you’re not going to be happy about it. You will have two choices and they both suck: eat a lot less or exercise a lot more. Who wants to do either when traveling? Alternately you can just travel in your early 20’s and munch away more freely.

4.   You’ll look better in your travel photos. Of course some people are going to disagree and say they look better in their 30s. Good for them. I can tell you this much; all my girlfriends (and myself) have to dye our hair, watch what we eat, workout continually, use sunblock religiously, and moisturize ALL the time. It’s insane. I know I have to blame some of this on our culture as well, but the truth is this that in your 30s you start getting wrinkles, your hair starts seriously going gray and your skin gets a lot dryer. You’ll still look like yourself, just older. All the pictures of yourself will still be great; you’ll just be a little older, heavier, wrinklier, etc. You might think you feel like that now but trust me, you don’t. Wait 10 years you’ll be shocked.

5.   You can get your fix of hooking up with hot foreigners. The sad true, statistical fact: The person you are dating in your early 20s is most likely not the person you will spend your life with. For some of you this isn’t the case–some of you (roughly 10%) will get married, have tons of babies and have amazing lives together. But for 90% of you, you’re going to break up. This is true; you just don’t want to hear it and I completely understand because I felt the same way. If I count up over 30 of my girlfriends, only three of them are married to/or dating people they met in their early 20s. Three. The odds here are not in your favor and it’s OK. Trust me, you’ll meet someone better. But think about it this way–wouldn’t it be awesome if that someone better had a great accent? Breaking up and hitting the road will allow you to hook up with hot foreigners. Of course you can do this at any point in your life, but it is easier when you are younger because it’s easier to meet people thanks to your easily erased nightly inebriation and as we’ve noted above, you’re better looking, which always helps.

Hit the open road

6.    You don’t wonder (at least not as deeply) if you are screwing up your life in a big way. Most people in their 30s are getting married, buying houses, and having kids. Except you. You’ll be taking the most money you’ve ever been able to put your hands on and your spending it around the world instead of putting into a retirement account or buying a house.  No one else I know at my age is doing this. All of my friends are taking the marriage, mortgage, baby route, and there is definitely a certain appeal to it. A lot of people are going to find your decision to do something different very dumb and eventually it will eat at you. You will start to wonder if this is indeed an extremely stupid move. You will have to fight this feeling and any oncoming questions with a series of well-rehearsed lines that are based on nothing more than the gut feeling that this is what you should be doing. It will be hard. People expect you to travel in your 20s, not your 30s. So do it.

7.    You don’t need to worry about the million dollar question: Are you going to have kids? In your 20s, you feel like you have tons of time to have kids, and you do. Truthfully, I’ve never been baby crazy, but I did always imagine myself with a family. The reality is that I’m 34. Taking off now for a couple years is going to make getting pregnant that much harder when I’m ready to settle down and move forward with that phase of life. Sometimes I feel stuck because I feel like I have to travel now so I can get on with it and move forward with my life. I have to hope I’m not making a mistake that I could regret forever and I need to start looking into adoption, just in case.  My situation is also a bit more complicated because of reason No. 1, but in any case, in my 20s I wouldn’t have thought about either of these things.

8.    You aren’t completely jaded–yet. You walk into a buzzing hostel and get excited; I get annoyed. I will probably end up yelling at the unfortunate soul that inevitably wakes me up at 4 a.m. I know it’s lame and I hate being that way, but it is what it is. In your 30s you start to value boring things, like sleep, more than staying up, drinking and having deep conversations about a local government that in actuality you really know very little about.

9.    Your frontal lobe is not fully developed. The frontal lobe part of your brain develops fully after age 25. The frontal lobe is the part of your brain responsible for most major decisions and it greatly affects the risks you are willing to take in life. This directly parlays into fears of pushing yourself too far in certain activities. When I was younger I was always doing a lot of crazy things and pushing my limits. Now I have that little voice in my head that says, “Don’t be stupid, you could actually die doing this.” Shutting up the frontal lobe is possible but it takes a lot of work and/or alcohol. Most recently when hiking Angels Landing in Zion National Park, I could not shut it up. The last .25-mile of hike is all cliff and chains. You have to pull yourself up with chains, and while it’s not that physically demanding, it is mentally insane. A slip or a mistake could literally mean death, as your body would plummet down the mountain with nothing to break your fall. It’s awesome, incredible, and the type of thing that you travel for because it makes you feel alive. But I just couldn’t finish the hike. I got to the very end and did maybe 50 yards of the chain bit before I had to turn back. I was so terrified that I actually slithered down the mountain on my stomach until some kind soul decided to help me. I was in tears. Then a group of about seven girls who looked to be about 21 bounded right by me without skipping a beat. They talked about how scary it was but the danger just didn’t really sink in thanks to the frontal lobe not being fully developed. Go travel now before you become fully aware that half the things you want to do could lead to your imminent death. The frontal lobe is a serious buzz kill.

Disclaimer: To all you badass 30+ travelers: Yes, I know there are plenty of people 30 years+ that still do crazy things, have never been seriously ill, eat like there’s no tomorrow, and drink like a fish. I think that’s awesome, I’m just not one of them and I don’t know any of them personally either. This list surmises my personal experiences about the reasons why it’s easier to travel when you are in your 20s as opposed to your 30s, so please don’t get mad, OK?

In February, I spent three lovely nights in Boston with my boyfriend. Besides exploring the museums, historical sites, schools, and shops, we really enjoyed dining out in Bean Town. Here are some of the highlights of our culinary adventures.

Sea bass and risotto at VOX populi

VOX populi
755 Boylston Street
We stumbled upon this modern take on an Italian restaurant near our hotel after a full day of exploring. It had dim lighting, chic furniture, and attractive young professionals. We loved the sound of the menu, and it seemed reasonably priced, so we gave it a shot. They served us puffy, warm bread with olive oil, which always wins me over. I ordered a flatbread (their version of a pizza) with spinach, tomatoes, and goat cheese. It was absolutely massive, served in a large square with a thin crust. The warm, crumbled goat cheese combined with the hot, mushy tomatoes was delicious. We enjoyed our meal so much that we came back the next night. I ordered their special — seared sea bass with blood orange sauce and artichoke risotto. The sea bass was cooked just right, and the orange sauce complemented it perfectly.

Pazzo
269 Newbury Street
I found out about this hip Italian restaurant on the popular Newbury Street through a LivingSocial deal. Always looking to save money, I purchased the deal — $15 for $30 of food. It was a bit noisy, and we were seated in a booth next to a large family with a kid who kept picking the seat, but I had them move us to a quieter, more romantic spot. They served us bread, and rather than giving us the traditional olive oil, they served a bead curd dip instead. I wasn’t wild about it, but it was an interesting twist on things. I started with the Bibb lettuce salad, which was served with gorgonzola, candied walnuts, and sliced apple. It was fresh, crisp, and couldn’t stop eating it. My boyfriend ordered the calamari, which was artfully served in a tall bowl that almost looked like a vase. For my entree, I had the gnocchi with tomato-basil sauce. It was on the mushy side and a little plain, but still very good and filling. My boyfriend enjoyed his spicy clam pasta.

Gourmet Dumpling House
52 Beach Street
I can’t tell you how excited I was when I found out that Boston had a Chinatown. I’m a glutton for dumplings, and I insisted we go to this part of town for lunch. When we exited the Chinatown T-stop, most of the surrounding restaurants looked dirty and sketchy. We saw one dim sum restaurant and almost went in, but the menu was a little too strange. We walked around for a while, and when we were finally almost ready to settle for a Vietnamese sandwich, we stumbled upon Gourmet Dumpling House and found our winner. The tiny, authentic-feeling hole-in-the-wall only has about 10 tables in it, but it was packed, and some strangers were sharing tables. The encyclopedic menu blew my mind — I had never once been to a restaurant with that many things on the menu (at least 100), especially somewhere that small. The service was awful, but it was quite an experience. Rather than serving ice water, they served the traditional hot tea. While we were tempted to order dishes like the roasted pig ears, lamb tongue, oyster pancakes, or fried intestines, we went with the basic pork and cabbage dumplings. Heaven! I ordered a steamed bun, which was disappointing, but the dumplings were fantastic and the overall experience was worth it.

Shaw’s Supermarket
We were staying down the street from a nice and modern grocery store, Shaw’s Supermarket. This New England chain of grocery stores was new to us, and we drooled when we walked in and saw their vast prepared foods section (they had me at sweet potato mash). They even had a nice upstairs area overlooking the store where you could sit down and eat. It was the perfect place to pop in for a quick and cheap meal. They have several locations throughout town.

Fairmont Hotel’s Oak Room
138 Saint James Avenue
Meghan from Travel Eat Love and I wanted to hang out in person, so she had me meet her at the Oak Room. It is a gorgeous, stately, old-school bar inside the ornate Fairmont Hotel. The Oak Room felt like the kind of place that used to be occupied by rich older men smoking cigars and playing cards, but was now more modern with many young professionals. We didn’t order food (they had a small appetizer menu), but we both ordered the martini flight. One was some form of an apple martini, which was sweet and delicious. Another was a mint chocolate martini, and the third was a milky martini, I think with white chocolate liqueur. Most of them were too sweet for me to finish, but they were all tasty, and it was fun to try several things at once!

Have you ever been to Boston? What are some of your favorite places to eat (or drink) there?

In November, Meghan over at the blog Travel Eat Love wrote a guest post for me about her visit to the Culinary Institute of America in Napa Valley.

This month, I wrote a guest post for her about my global adventures in food, which just went up. It includes some of the highlights and lowlights of my eating experiences while traveling in France, Scotland, Greece, and Italy. From bun-less burgers in France to haggis pies in Scotland, things are just different overseas! I hope you will take the time to read the post and check out her site.