Brenda, Great taste in Shiraz, Rosemount is our everyday shiraz (well, I don't drink it everyday, you know what I mean).
We hated having breakfast at the Yacht Club. It was "icky". Kind of sums up the whole experience, waitstaff, food, and table cleanliness.
Jay is very fond of the Rosemount Shiraz and I can drink it in small doses.
Sorry to hear your YCG experiences was even gackier than ours.
You will have fun in Vegas. Make sure you check out the Venetian. Also, Phantom there is fantastic! I'm not an opera type person but I'm definitely going again. They made the theater for the production, and it reminds me of being at Disney with all the special effects and props.
Deb
Thanks for the suggestions, Deb - I love the Venetian; it's so pretty. And sadly that's likely as close to Venice as I'm going to get (I don't think Venice, IL counts). I doubt that we'll do any shows ... Jay doesn't like musicals. He'll go if there's something I really want to see, but I don't subject him to it often. And on vacation ... he'd probably never let me plan another WDW trip again if I did that!
No... first week of May... Hopeful handoff of Planky...
Oh and Brenda... you need to keep that picture of the cafe mocha with you next time you go... whip it out and prove her wrong... Of course she will get the caraffe mixed up and INSIST that you had that CM at Ihop...
Plankton will be winging his way towards you via the USPS once the weather warms up - wouldn't want him to have to travel while it's cold out. He can be surprisingly delicate.
Yep - we should have printed out a copy of that picture and whipped it out for her inspection. Maybe next time.
Why would you argue with someone about their food? That makes no sense...
I've missed a lot. I had no idea you were going to Vegas. It would seem people either love Vegas or hate it. I love it... Maybe not as much as Grimace...or Gamblor. But still...
I'm going to write the waitress off as having a bad day that was exacerbated (now there's a word!) by the abnormal heat. But we're still not going back any time soon.
Yes, Vegas is fun ... I like it fine but nowhere near like Grimace whose eyes bulge with a maniacal gleam as soon as the words Las Vegas are out of your mouth. It's really quite frightening ...
Gosh, two whole installments from the time I last read...y'all been busy girl!! Sorry about the migraines. I get them too...Topomax is my friend. I love medication that decreases blood flow to the brain...
not so much. Poor Benda...
Seriously hilarious...snort laugh worthy even!!! Maybe it was the French spelling...or something...
Well, I'm so late responding to you and everyone else that I know for a fact you're all caught up!
Do you know how much I get a kick out of knowing that I made you snort-laugh?
And since I've posted that review everyone and their brother seems to have started calling me Benda or Bendy ... I guess it's no more than I deserve.
I have to tell you that reading your descriptions of the food and the wine and how it all goes together makes me think of well bred young ladies and Chanel sunglasses...don't know why...but it does...you just sound so dang well bred and cultivated!!! I just don't think I have the culinary bravery to eat such foods...just seeing pictures of food touching other food instead of being appropriately separated on the plate makes a girl anxious!!!
Well, you can hang on to that pretty picture because if you met me in person you'd know that I'm a gawky, goofy-looking schmo who has been known to belch out loud in public because she forget she wasn't at home.
Sad but true ... I'm a poser-slob with expensive taste.
I died laughing at the description of the whiskey you were drinking..."it doesn't taste like burning..." Is that another Ralph-ism? That is EXACTLY how I would describe whiskey...it tastes like burning. Much burning. Ucky.
Totally stole it from Ralph. He eats some poison berries in an episode where the kids are stranded on an island and then he says, "I don't feel so good - it tastes like burning."
How unfortunate that you were gacked at breakfast. I love the way your waitress was telling you what your taste buds were experiencing. That sort of thing would have caused an "embarrassing moment" had MY Jay been on the receiving end of that. He waited tables during college and of course did it to obsessive compulsive perfection. He has ZERO tolerance for sub standard service. He'll go as far as to tell the waiter or waitress HOW they should be doing their job...He's not trying to be obnoxious mind you...he just happens to look upon waiting tables with fond remembrance...oddly enough...and feels that such a profession deserves some respect. The service has to be REALLy bad though for him to really fuss...like the time our waiter SNEEZED on our food on the way to our table...right on it...and then set it down in front of us...not knowing we had SEEN sneeze bombs fall on our food...THAT...was bad. There was some yelling.
Looking forward to MORE!!!
OH and if you had a food/vacation blog...I would SO read it...which I'm sure is the clincher for you...
My Jay had a previous life in the restaurant world, too! I'm starting to think we may be dopplegangers (another great word!) ... Ok, maybe not. I just wanted an excuse to use that word.
Thanks for reading, Campbell. And if I can figure out how to set up a vacation blog I'll be sure to let you know all about it!
I was about to post that! I thought of you at work this week, Brenda. Two teachers were dressed alike and I told them they look like "twinkies". And I thought to myself "Hmm...twinkies...now that's a fun word. I bet Brenda would like that one as much as yummy..."
Anyway...We ate at Yacht Club Galley for lunch in October, and we were not impressed either. Maybe they are going through some changes with the new name....
Twinkies! Yes - that's another great one. Twinkies...chocodiles...ding dongs ... they taste good and they're fun to pronounce! It's a win-win situation! You just put a huge smile on my face, Sunny!
As for YCG - we've never tried them for anything other than breakfast and now I guess we won't have a reason to try them again. Oh well, it happens.
Your Lush Quotient (LQ?) is pretty high, I'm suspecting.
It actually seems to depend on the day - some days it only takes a few sips to turn me into Tipsy McStagger.
I never knew that one could have Scotch without the burning!
It
is possible - I never knew it until I experienced the John Barleycorn joy one evening.
ROFL! Serves you right for having the tanning gene! I'm convinced that you caught a bad photo moment because the flash reflected badly at the tan bouncing off of you and Jay.
Well, let's be candid ... Jay never has a bad photo moment. So even though he looks a bit like a gargantuan Oompa-Loompa, he still looks good.
I, on the other hand, have real problems with cameras. Too self-conscious for one thing ... too damn goofy looking for another!
It's that same thinking that cost me the festival shirt I wanted. Luckily, someone was able to find the shirt in my size and pick it up for me.
I'm glad you were able to get a shirt ... I'm still miffed that I couldn't find one. It makes me sad because I have no clothing memorabilia from this year's festival.
Well, I had breakfast there a scant two days later, and we had to wait 30 minutes for a table, mid-morning on the day we left. I never had to wait for a table there before.
I usually go for the buffet...and that trip was no exception.
What a lousy server. If I were the manager, I would have made a beeline to your table to cut off the blabbermouth in her tracks to make things up to you.
Wow - I've never been to YCG when it's been that busy. And we never have tried the buffet there, although that does seem to be the most popular option. I just have to have that Mickey waffle.
Our server was not great, that's for sure. But I have no idea where the manager was and didn't think to ask.
Oink. We ordered the carafe of swill with our breakfast, too.
We drank all of our swill, so I can't badmouth it too much, can I?
Bummer. I liked the buffet offerings, for what it's worth.
If that was the worst meal, count yourself lucky!
I totally agree - this was mild compared with some of the things I've read about here on the boards. And considering how long we were staying (10 days) I count us very fortunate for not having any other sub-par dining experiences. And certainly nothing that made me cry.
Wow, nice gifts! I especially like the wine stopper, but hey, they ain't Toblerone!
On a completely unrelated note, I had a fortune cookie to open. It read: "A good deed will make you feel good." What kind of stinky fortune is that?? TDC Nala told me that I didn't get a fortune cookie. I got a sermon cookie! Hmmpf!
When you care enough to send Toblerone ... well, you know the rest!
A sermon cookie -
We were in Panera last night (who, I am sad to say, have decided to stop selling Crispanis, forcing me to have a mediocre harvest pear salad and a rock-hard portobella sandwich) and what did I see a photo of?
A giant, steaming Cafe Mocha topped with whipped cream and chocolate. I said to Lionel "hey look! A Cafe Mocha!" and burst out laughing. I must have looked like a lunatic.
Sorry you got snubbed by the waitress. I hate when you are craving something, and then you can't have it.
Erica, you never fail to make me laugh! That's the kind of thing I would have done and poor Jay would have been confused and worried.
Another great update Brenda- too bad about the waitress and lack of cafe mocha though.
I'm sure I'm not the only one wanting to see a TR for your trip to Vegas- are you going to start one on the Community Board? Pretty, pretty please?
Thanks for reading - glad you liked it! Can I write a non-Disney TR and post it on the community board? I don't venture over there very often ... it seems kind of scary and hostile.
And I don't want to miff the powers that be around here by tacking Vegas onto this TR if that is a violation of rule #75, sub-rule #127, addendum ZZZZZ.
I'll see what I can figure out between now and then and I'll post something here so that anyone who would like to read about it can find a way to do so.
Thanks again!
Utopias!
Did you ever secure a bottle? We did!
I gave DH the go-ahead to get one after I heard from the Sam Adam's rep at the Food and Wine Fest that they only make 12,000 or so bottles. I was really thinking that he would never be able to get his hot little hands on one anyway, so make him happy and say yes.
So, DH put his name on 3 lists at local liquor stores around town.
Then I'm at work one Saturday and he calls and tells me he is at Yankee Spirits (with the kids!) because he called and they just so happened to have a bottle.
Then, the following week, we get phone calls from all 3 of the stores that he left his name with!
I only let him have that one bottle, though.
I tasted the stuff and didn't care for it.
He had a small taste in his special glass that he got for "free" for buying the bottle, although we had to ship it to a friend in MA because CT won't allow you to ship it here!
Anyway, good thing it keeps for a long time because it is potent. I guess they only make it every 2 years or so, but I already set a precedent and I'm sure he'll buy another.
We never did manage to secure a bottle, although we did find a place here in town that put us on a waiting list. They're pretty confident that they can get us a bottle when the next batch is bottled and shipped.
Jay and I both really liked the Utopias and are hopeful that we can nab one in another year. It's not the kind of thing we'd buy very often, but as a one-of-a-kind item it would be really cool to have, especially for Jay.
Congrats on getting some for your hubby!
Potent... wow...
I heard they are now selling Absinthe in this country... our local reporter tried it and reported he didn't have any of the ledgendary "halucinations..." that you get from it...
Brenda... any comment on hallucinations???
I actually purchased a bottle of absinthe from an on-line liquor store in Spain some years ago (while it was still illegal here) and it was shipped to my house in about two weeks. I guess US Customs didn't care if I was planning on blowing my mind with a wormwood infused drink or not.
We still have more than 3/4 of the bottle because the stuff was nast-eeeee! Even with the water poured over the sugar cube to diffuse the potency of the alcohol - it tasted like black licorice. Blech! Super-Gacky!
And really, I don't need absinthe to hallucinate ... I just overdose on chocolate.
Benda, you're going to Vegas in April and then WDW in May? Do you have ADRs made?
Back to boycotting.
Sorry for any confusion - we are only going to Vegas in April ... Jay and I are doomed to a life of drudgery and pain in May, when both sets of parents leave for different trips to places like Germany, France, Italy, Switzerland, and Spain.
Jerks.
Sad to know that you're boycotting me ... you're missing some fine funny times and pretty pictures of food.
we needed to waddle out of there.
). DH is on his way towards recovery with Physical Therapy (but not for a good while) -- so enough of the blues & onto more food!
)
