Bean town

Hello!

Seems like it’s been awhile…

Some of you are new to me and I guess that makes me new to you too…in a sneaky sort of way. After posting practically everyday with my P-dub project it has felt strange to have a break from sending off my craziness into cyber space. We had Spring Break here in West Michigan the past week so I was off on an adventure with my posse’.

I LOVE to travel, my kids LOVE to travel, and so does Kenny. We would travel more if we could, but such is life….we take what we can get. And we are happy with it!

We decided to be freakish and head due East unlike the rest of the state that heads due South. It was BEAN town or bust for us! No worries this will not be another rant regarding my families flatus fixation.

I would definitely recommend Boston as a family vacation we had a blast and did not break the bank…not completely….there are six of us…..and we do all have healthy appetites…but it was okay we were able to buy groceries when we returned home.

Our first stop was Niagara Falls. It was right on our way. We just made a quick pit stop, walked the walkway around the falls and got the heck out of Dodge! That town is a commercial nightmare…Hard Rock Cafe, Hershey Candy Store, Wax Museum, Spinning Observation Tower, Guinness Book of World Record Museum. There is probably more but I found myself closing my eyes!

Someone must have taken the “pot-O-gold” at the end of the rainbow, to pay for their kids souvenirs.

HOKEY PETE! Talk about a tourist trap! I tried my darnest to distract the kids as we drove into town, so they would not be begging to go look at all that garbage. Actually, by the grace of God we ended up…..taking the route that leads you around the outside of the town. And right directly along the river to the falls. So unless you know that stuff is there and you are looking up the side streets away from the falls…this route is the best because you don’t notice the over commercialized town of Niagara Falls. On the way out of town somebody spotted the Hershey Store…Oh POO! We could not find free parking, so we had to keep going, BUMMER! My poor deprived children.

Besides…

We had more important things to do, like finding the originators of the Buffalo Hot Wings! The Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY stakes the claim to being the inventor or the Hot Wing as we know it. My youngest son is a hot wing eating freak! This kid has eaten his weight in hot wings three times over. So it was extremely important that we seek out this “Institution of Hot Wings”.

It too, has become commercial and is only a shell of it’s former chicken wing originating self. Not that I knew it in the early days…I am just imagining that when Grandma Teressa came up with the recipe….they were not selling t-shirts and chicken wing hats in the lobby of the bar. Luke went home with a buffalo hot wing key chain!

You do not want to go to this restaurant with out wet wipes! Or really any restaurant for that matter when you have kiddos along.

We ordered the “your eyes are bigger than you stomach” sized platter of wings. Half mild, half medium…medium was not hot enough for us spice lovers.

I have to say these were pretty darn good Buffalo Chicken Wings, my mouth is watering oh my garshk I just dropped a glob of drool on my computer. How embarrassing.

Here’s the kid we call “hot sauce”. Nothing is too hot for this boy. He covers everything with Cholulah Sauce.

Obviously we had NO troubles packin’ in the wings!

The next day we started out our day with one of our FAVORITE things to do on vacation. Seek out Diners Drivin’s & Dives restaurants. Please tell me you have seen the show on FoodNetwork….it’s a family favorite around here. (that and The Middle) We have visited over a dozen triple D’s in our Road Trip travels. This trip we found three..you can find them all on this site.
The Lake Effect Diner in Buffalo, NY….BACK FLIPPING CRAZY GOOD BREAKFAST! Fresh squeezed O.J….they smoke their own bacon…come on people that’s “uber” awesome! (that’s my kids new favorite word…everything is uber)

Mr. Bartleys Burgers in Cambridge, Mass. was the funniest, wackiest, quirky, place ever. Even if you are a herbivore you need to seek out this carnivorous dive. I felt like I was in a Seinfeld episode. Gramps sits out on the sidewalk on a stool taking orders, you line up, and you better darn well know what you want by the time you reach the foot of Gramps stool, otherwise…you are grumped at by Gramps and growled at too! We saw it happen to a poor couple, I think they were French it was heart wrenching, we placed our order and got to pass them in line…oh the agony!

That is my burger, the Viagra, sorry I was in a hurry and I saw bacon and blue cheese and I quick took the plunge, before Gramps put me in time out with the Frenchies!

GERACI’S Cleveland, OH

The spaghetti and meatballs were such a hit, I couldn’t even get a picture of them, she sucked them down so fast! And the Pizza Pie….they make their own pepperoni’s. UBER!

OH! MAMA MIA! That is all I am gonna say PEOPLE! I wish I could have scooped this place up and brought it home with me. We said we would eat at this place once a week if we could….that’s a bit of an exaggeration, but sounds like a good idea! We don’t often partake of dessert when we dine out with the chitlins…but being that it was our last hurrah! of the trip we ordered the Dough Balls….

as you can see they were a HIT!

We did more than eat on our roadtrip…really…we did. We walked the Freedom Trail, saw Quincy Market, Fanueil Hall, Bunker Hill, took the Duck Boat tours, saw Fenway Park(not a game..just the ballpark), we rode the T-line Bostons subway, we say the U.S.S. Constitution War Ship. We took in Cape Cod, Newport, Rhode Island, Mystic, Ct…and here is where I stop to tell YA! ICE CREAM! YOU scream WE ALL scream for ICE CREAM!

We originally stopped in Mystic to check out the town that the movie Mystic Pizza was filmed in. Remember Julia Roberts….big hair, lots of smooching…anyway. We found the pizza spot..not hungry enough yet for pizza so we decided to have an ice cream cone at the Mystic Drawbridge Ice Cream Parlor…little did we know we had just arrived in ice cream heaven…they have been making this stuff from scratch with all sorts of yummy ingredients for over 200 years!

This was my SCOOP! Ginger and Spice….can you hear me singing?
“Heaven, i’m in heaven (wavering on the N)
And my heart beats sooooo that I can hardly speeeeeeak (wavering again on the E)
And I seem to find the happiness I seek (deeep and guteral)
When we’re out together eating ice creeeamm…..”

Ice cream LOVE music! It was fantastical, creamy, with bits of crystalized ginger all through it!

I had two disappointments at this juncture…

1. I didn’t order two scoops the second being the Coffee Coconut Madness. Still having nightmares about this mistake.

2. My family ordered chocolate shakes, soft serve ice cream, AND my husband did have the homemade ice cream, but he ordered vanilla and chocolate! COME ON! What is wrong with this picture?!

We had a blast in New England! We love this country. We are blessed to have the chances to explore it!

If you want every gory detail of this trip of ours…please feel free to take a click on the button over there on the right with the picture of our family…not sure if I will be done posting over there or not by the time this goes out…but no matter.

I would love to hear about your favorite places to travel and eat. Sharing these things is thereputic…you never want to keep “good eats” and travel advice to yourself it can mess with your head.

LuvYa,