Hillbilly Willy's Bar-B-Q - Chattanooga

Combo Plate with ribs and pulled pork.

On the way to MTSU for our nephew's football game, we stopped at Hillbilly Willy's Bar-B-Q and had a wonderful lunch. This family owned establishment is a great pit stop. The ribs and pulled pork were both particularly tasty. We also tried the chocolate coca-cola cake (not pictured) and it is also delicious.

The giant combo plate was enough for 2 to share, with delicious huge onion rings and homemade cole slaw in addition to the succulent, falling of the bone Q.



Specials on the board.



Owner George Foster cooks up all the meat right behind the restaurant.



Yum!



Located in a strip shopping mall just off I-24 - a great place to stop while on the road in Tennessee.

Poquito - Latin American Cuisine in San Francisco's Dogpatch Neighborhood

Churrasco - most delicious steak EVER! Grilled beef with a fried egg on a bed of rice, sweet plantains and spinach salad.

While in the Bay area recently, I truly enjoyed my visit to Poquito, a Latin American Tapas Bar in San Francisco's Dogpatch neighborhood. Poquito was a highlight, not only because of the unique Latin American flavors but also because of the excellent service and variety of dishes offered. The above steak was excellent, something I would order again in a heartbeat and I am not usually a steak person. The sweet plantains and Spinach salad with cheese and dried fruit only added additional bursts of flavor to the mouthwatering steak, paired perfectly with a fried egg and delicious rice. Yes even the rice was better than usual.

L to R: Habas Fritas (fava beans, fried and salted); Chulpi (Ecuadorean corn kernels); Tostado (crunchy corn kernels, the Andean version of popcorn). Order one of these for an authentic South American start to the meal - great paired with drinks also.



Street sign.



Full bar.



Dining room.



Arepa con relleno - plain arepa topped with pork fritada, green onions, sweet plantain, cheese and white beans. Cheesy and delicious.



Shrimp tacos on jicama wrappers with pickled slaw and guanabana balsamic reduction. I LOVE the use of jicama instead of a tortilla - makes it healthier and adds a wonderful crunch to the delicious shrimp taco.



Homemade Hibiscus Cooler - yum. Other non-alcoholic drinks offered: Guanabana, Blackberry, Guayaba, Naranjilla or Lucuma smoothies as well as Hibiscus soda and Guava and Mango Nectar. Poquito has a full bar as well.



Shrimp Ceviche, Ecuadorean style. I love ceviche and this did not disappoint. The Eduadorean style was full of tomatoes and adding popcorn and tostado enriched the crunch factor.



Empanadas: 3 varieties are offered. These cheese and bean ones were delicious.



Empanadas de Aire con guayaba - sugar crusted empanadas with guava & cheese filling. Although stuffed I had to try these and again, a new delicious flavor. These would be great for breakfast with a cup of coffee!



Yours truly with co-owner Jason Yoo. Richard Vila is the second owner. If you live in SF or if you are visiting, this is a really neat place to try. I look forward to visiting again someday.

Gourmet Brunch with Friends at their Home

Quiche, chocolate bacon waffles and fruit.

While in California we were treated to a lovely delicious brunch at the home of friends. The food was excellent and the hostess showed me how she grates bacon and chocolate into the waffles to give them a unique, rich flavor. We are available anytime for another meal - well anytime we are in the Bay Area again!

Smoked salmon blini with capers.

Korean BBQ in San Mateo

Chicken on the grill.

While in California we were also treated to a wonderful Korean BBQ meal by our friend Jose's parents. Delicious!

Yum - marinating steak.



Cooking the delicious steak.

Palo Alto Farmer's Market and Half Moon Bay

Blowing in the wind at Half Moon Bay.

While in California we also checked out Half Moon Bay and visited the Palo Alto Farmer's Market. The market is full of fresh foods, delicious prepared items and my favorite: free samples.

Making naan at the Palo Alto Farmer's Market.

Pear & Chocolate Crepe with Whipped Cream.

Rotisserie chickens at the market.

Beautiful Wedding Cake

Beautiful wedding cake for our friends Jose and Suzanne. The ceremony and the reception were held in Los Gatos, California back in May.

Monterey Aquarium

Loved our visit to Monterey Bay Aquarium. We packed in a LOT of sightseeing during our few days in the Bay Area. Below are a few more photos from our time in Monterey.











Love these flowers!

Walnut Avenue Cafe - Santa Cruz, CA

Awesome mocha - especially after the 5 hour flight delay!

Our first day in the Bay Area we stopped by Santa Cruz to look around and have some breakfast. Walnut Avenue Cafe was just what we needed after a flight delay the night before and not a lot of sleep. Strangely enough, we saw our seatmate from the airplane on the street just before we entered the restaurant! Small world sometimes.

Can't remember the exact composition of this egg dish but it was tasty!







Special shrimp scramble with potatoes and a delicious muffin.







The outdoor scene. So cute.







We walked over to the beach after breakfast and noticed that the famous carousel is 100! Cake after breakfast = yum.







The beach in Santa Cruz with boardwalk and rides to boot!

Wedding and Family Honeymoon Musings

Flowers in front of Daniel Stowe Botanical Garden where our wedding and reception was held.



Walking into our reception.



View from our room at Loew's Royal Pacific Resort where we took our family honeymoon - we will take our official "just the two of us" honeymoon later this year. See the roller coasters in the background? We definitely recommend this place, especially if you have kids. The service and activities, as well as the pool, were amazing. It was definitely worth it to stay on the club level, as unlimited soft drinks, coffee and tea, breakfast, snacks and early dinner were all included. It was really awesome not to have to worry about parking, and to be able to walk back to the hotel to take a break, then return to the parks for more time in the evening.



Entrance to Harry Potter area of Universal Studio's Islands of Adventure. Love this place!

When you stay on-site you get in 1 hour early to Harry Potter and Express Passes too - basically we never waited more than 15 minutes for anything other than Ollivander's Wand Experience - and that was SO worth it!



Potter fans delight!



Yay for butterbeer - and they have frozen butterbeer too! It was kind of like cream soda with a marshmallow cream topping.



Ducks in the hotel pool - so cute!



Islands Dining Room inside the hotel.



Soup.

Although we took advantage of the "free" food offered on the club level as much as possible, we did dine at several restaurants including Islands Dining Room in our hotel. The food we had there was good, although just as expensive as expected at a resort restaurant.

Dumplings.



Mahi Mahi salad.



Fish & Chips.



Tasty nachos and Grilled Chicken sandwich at Bula Bar & Grill at the pool.

In addition to tasty food and excellent service by the pool (setting up your chair, bringing samples of smoothies) they had fun games for kids every hour on the hour. These included water balloon toss and find the rubber ducky. They also had movies by the pool every evening. We truly had a wonderful time and would recommend any of the Loew's properties at Universal Studios.

One evening we ordered take out from the Orchid Court Sushi Bar. The sushi was much better than I expected - a nice change from the typical American fare served in the club room.