Posted by Sara on Apr 27, 2010 in
Cooking,
Kentucky,
Travel 
In honor of the 136th Kentucky Derby this coming Saturday, I thought I would pull this post from the 2009 archives of my life.
If you visit Louisville, Kentucky in the winter, stay at the Brown Hotel if you can swing it. The city’s legendary hotel knows how to beat away the endless dark and cold of Louisville’s winter with luxurious down bedding and hot warm-your-bones comfort food.
The Brown Hotel is famous for the Hot Brown Sandwich. Bubbly cheese sauce drenches bacon and turkey piled on thick white toast. Tart tomatoes add balance to the overwhelmingly rich dish.
Read more…
Tags: Brown Hotel, Kentucky Hot Browns, Louisville
Posted by Sara on Apr 6, 2010 in
Texas,
Travel 
When I was 11 years old, my family moved to Mobile, Alabama. For the first time, we lived someplace hot enough long enough to own a swimming pool. As we moved in our house in the winter, I was marking down days ’till I could give our new pool a try.
When the pool’s temperature reached 68 degrees, I was sure it was plenty warm. The family breakfast table conversation went something like this:
“Can I go swimming today? The water is 68 degrees,” I asked my parents.
“No! That is too cold,” my mom replied.
“Just let her,” my dad replied, “I doubt she’ll stay in long.”
What a wise man. One dive in, one lap across the pool and I was done.
Fast forward…ahem…a few years to last summer.
Read more…
Tags: Barton Springs Pool
Posted by Sara on Mar 30, 2010 in
Texas,
Travel I love farmers markets.
You might think I’m just another girl following the crowd. After all, organic eats are all the rage and passionate people everywhere demand support of local farmers.
But no, I have no consistent lofty conviction regarding that kind of green eating.
Rather I seek a simpler sort of green.
Truth be told, I like fried green tomatoes.
Since I’m handier with a frypan than I am with a garden, come summertime, farmers markets are a reliable source for the otherwise elusive green tomatoes.
With visions of tasty summery goodness, I was beyond thrilled to learn a new farmer’s market was opening practically in my own backyard.
Read more…
Tags: Cedar Park Farmers Market
Posted by Sara on Mar 16, 2010 in
Texas,
Travel This post is first in my new ongoing series about the parks along the Brushy Creek Regional Trail system in North Austin.
This weekend, eager to enjoy the Spring sun and gentle breezes, we took Titus to Champion Park in Cedar Park, Texas. Though somewhat small, this park offers unique discoveries particularly targeting the preschool crowd I’d say.
Read more…
Tags: Cedar Park Texas, Champion Park
Posted by Sara on Mar 15, 2010 in
Texas,
Travel Though the north side of Austin tends towards a culture of big-box stores, chain restaurants and suburbia, it does have one lovely natural feature – the Brushy Creek Regional Trail. Brushy Creek is a pretty little creek system, with a nice small lake for fishing and elbow-grease-only boating.
Williamson County put county dollars to great use by creating a nearly seven-mile trail system along the creek complete with six parks:
I thought it might be a fun little series for my family to visit these six parks and tell you all about them. As we’ve only been to one with our camera so far, this will be a bit of work-in-progress.
Enjoy!
Tags: Brushy Creek Lake Park, Brushy Creek Regional Trail, Brushy Creek Sports Park, Champion Park, Creekside Park, Olsen Meadows Park, Twin Lakes Park
Posted by Sara on Mar 12, 2010 in
Texas,
Travel I was thrilled to find this website today – www.austinboredkids.com
For all you local moms planning a staycation this Spring Break, I hope you’ll find it to be an inspiring and useful resource.
Happy Spring Break!
Tags: Austin Bored Kids, Children's Activities Austin
Posted by Sara on May 25, 2009 in
Texas,
Travel I am a huge Dr Pepper fan. I simply cannot get enough of that good stuff.
Did you know Dr Pepper hails from the great state of Texas? Since I’m such a loyal customer, I decided it was time to make the pilgrimage to Waco to pay homage to the bubbly goodness at the Dr Pepper History Museum.
Kenny defected from Dr Pepper to Diet Pepsi a few years ago. Turncoat that he is, he agreed to accompany Titus and me on this spur-of-the-moment adventure.
The museum is a fun little outing.
There is a replica of the old drugstore where the drink was originally concocted in the 1800’s.
The original soda fountain bar is on display.
There are old bottling machines from the early bottling plants.
An artisan water well supplied water to the original factory in Waco. It was covered up in the 1920’s. When the old factory was restored to become the Dr Pepper museum, archaeology students from the nearby Baylor University excavated the well. Archaeology in action right here in Texas – wow! That’s something.
Our favorite part of the museum was a theater showing all the old Dr Pepper commercials. We laughed and laughed at those quippy ads.
We declined a Dr Pepper from the soda fountain and headed to happy hour at Sonic for our Dr Pepper fix. My friend Shelby says we missed the museum’s best offering – the original syrup mixed the traditional soda fountain style.
Maybe next time…
Tags: Dr Pepper, Dr Pepper History Museum
Posted by Sara on Apr 6, 2009 in
Texas,
Travel A simple hour’s drive west to Texas Hill Country transports us from our day-to-day ho-hum, to a romantic world of rocky cliffs, scrubby cactus and longhorn ranches.
We are at peak season for the Texas bluebonnets and Saturday we drove a loop from Burnet to Lampasis to Llano in search of these wild wonders.
After an afternoon of driving we stopped in the charming little town of Llano.
The Llano River cuts through the heart of this town, and a bridge connects the otherwise divided downtown.
As we walked the pedestrian sidewalk on the bridge, a hot spring sun beat down on us, and we envied the people swimming and splashing in the river.
I perused several of the cute antique shops. Kenny protected the merchandise from Titus’ curiosity.
Have I mentioned that I love the Texas Hill Country?
Tags: Hill Country, Llano
Posted by Sara on Apr 2, 2009 in
Texas,
Travel When spring arrives in Texas, head west to Hill Country. The gentle breeze shoos the winter gray clouds away to reveal a warm sun that does not yet beat down with the muscle of the summer heat. Across the state, wildflowers unfurl their petals, ’till the roadsides are abloom with unbridled color. The sleepy gloom of winter is gone and people are awake and ready to explore.
One Friday, Kenny, Titus and I headed a couple hours west to Enchanted Rock State Natural Park. This hike was the perfect length for one couple and a sleepy little boy. By sleepy, I mean fussy; but like all good Southerners, I’m trying to state this unpleasantry in a more delicate manner.
We climbed the steep rock, enjoyed the 360 degree vista from the top, splashed in a few puddles from the recent rain and headed home.
Want to know more about enchanted rock? Well, here’s a teaser from the State’s website:
The Rock is a huge, pink granite exfoliation dome, that rises 425 feet above ground, 1825 feet above sea level, and covers 640 acres. It is one of the largest batholiths (underground rock formation uncovered by erosion) in the United States.
Exciting stuff, huh? Well, if words don’t do it justice, maybe pictures will.
Please do take note – the park often reaches capacity and frequently closes on weekends, sometimes by 11 a.m. (which we experienced!) Plan to arrive early and have alternate plans.
Tags: Enchanted Rock, Fredericksburg
Posted by Sara on Dec 2, 2008 in
Restaurant Reviews,
Travel Oops. A lost Banff post. Here you go:
We heard about the Grizzly House from a local. It’s a funky fondue restaurant from the 60’s. We were promised the opportunity to cook elk and caribou on a hot rock.
Kenny was really excited about the chance to be a cave man and cook exotic raw meat on a hot rock, so we knew we would visit The Grizzly House. This place was so much fun!
Read more…
Tags: Banff, Canada, The Grizzly House
