Food

Visiting MC’s Friend

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Today MC and I traveled out to Long Island to visit her friend Liz and her family. MC has been wanting to visit all summer, but with the baby on the way and other commitments we have not yet been able to make the trip. We were glad to be able to go now before it came really close to the baby’s due date and we wouldn’t be able to go.

It was only about a 30 minute train trip on the Long Island Railroad, so that was pretty easy especially for nine month pregnant lady. Overall it was a good visit. We hung out, had barbecue, and MC was able to catch up with her old friend.

Liz’s husband cooked barbecue, it was really good. We brought cupcakes from Martha’s bakery. I generally like Martha’s a lot, but the cupcakes were just okay. I will still go back to crumbs for my cupcake fix!

Date Night

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Today MC and I had originally planned to go to Jason and Gretchens house. It would’ve been the last chance we had before the baby came. Unfortunately last minute issues came up last night that I thought it was best not to go. Jason and Gretchen understood, so that was cool. The downside was we didn’t get to see them, and now we had no plans for today. MC and I decided to do some work around the house and generally try to relax most of the day. We did want to go to the movies, so we decided to head out for dinner and then catch a movie.

We didn’t realize how little time we had before the movie, so we ended up at Johnny Rockets. We like that place, it just wasn’t where we were planning on going for a date night. We were originally going to go see the campaign, but when we went to buy the tickets at the theater on Austin Street the ticket lady did not think we should see it. She saw the MC was pregnant and said the air conditioner wasn’t working the way it normally should. We agreed with her assessment and decided to try a different theater.

The other movie theater in the neighborhood on Queens Boulevard is actually a lot nicer, but he did not have the campaign playing. Luckily we did want to see the Bourne Legacy, and it was playing at the same time we were going to see the campaign at the different theater. I walked ahead and got tickets and we were able to find seats without any problem. The movie was pretty good, it kind of intertwined itself with the last Bourne movie in the trilogy. We both liked it.

Brunch with Ed-O

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Went to brunch near the meatpacking district. Walked around a bit then had coffee at the same place we went for coffee with Aileen.

MC and I each got zipcar credit from a booth at the gay pride day parade. I will take a free $45 for being a customer already any day.

Potted Potter

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While I was in London MC picked up pictures to the show Potted Potter.  They were relatively inexpensive and we had fantastic seats.  All week leading up to the show MC wanted to watch the movies so she could know what they would be talking about.  Since i didn’t want to see the movies again, she didn’t see them since she didn’t want to watch them alone.  Turns out you really don’t need to see the movies or read the books to enjoy the show.  It was really funny.  We had a blast.

We had dinner at shake shack before hand, and then walked over to the show.

The High Line

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MC and I went to the high line for the first time today.  We walked around before meeting up with Aileen for dinner to celebrate her graduating.  After dinner we took her to the high line for desert.

On my first two attempts back from London I was able to get Pims.  One at a bar near the high line and on e at dinner.  Too funny especially after Colin said it was tough to do in NY.

The High Road to/From Taos

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We only planned on spending one night in Taos so we were upset to check out of the awesome hotel we were staying at.  Before we left Taos we wanted to check out the Taos Pueblo.  It is a UNESCO site or something like that.  Any settlement that has been around for 1100 years is cool to me.  We got a tour and walked around a bit.  It was very interesting to see.

From the Pueblo we took off for Santa Fe.  We took what everyone calls the high road to Taos, yet the guide book suggested we do it going from Taos so that is what we did.  It was only about 30-45 minutes longer than the other direction.  We had more breathtaking views of the countryside.  We stopped at some carpet stores that do their own weaving.  It was interesting but M was more into than I was.

We also stopped for a snack at Sugar Nymphs that was recommended by the books and then we had a late lunch at Rancho De Chimayo before heading off to our hotel outside Santa Fe.

For the last leg of our stay we had reservations at the Hilton Buffalo Thunder Resort.  As hotels go it was by far the worst of the 3 hotels we stayed at.  it was OK, but the other two were fantastic.

After we checked in we went to the indoor pool for a while before going into Santa Fe for dinner.  MC got reservations at a Galisteo Bistro in downtown Santa Fe.  The food was ok.  Compared to the great places we had been to this was nothing spectacular.

Taos

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Today was our travel day to Taos.  Originally we were supposed to goto Bandelier National Monument but the concierge at the hotel said it was mostly closed due to fires.  Instead we went to a pueblo near our hotel for a bit and then headed out to Taos.

It was a a pretty decent drive of about an hour and a half.  The views along the way were stunning though.  We stopped a few times to take pictures.

Once in Taos we went to Doc Martin’s restaurant.  No affiliation to the shoe guy.  I was disappointed at that, but it was a nice lunch.  After lunch we spent time in downtown Taos checking out all the shops.  It was fun but we didn’t buy very much.

After downtown we went to our hotel.  We were spending one night at the El Monte Sagrado Living Resort and Spa.  This hotel is fantastic.  It is by far one of the best hotel rooms I have ever been in.  It was huge, we had our own fireplace and just overall really nice.  I still think the room M and I had at the Mandarin Orientel in Las Vegas is still the best I have ever stayed in this is in my top 5, and I have traveled a lot.

We spent the afternoon lounging around the indoor pool and reading.  I have been glad for the downtime to just relax.  I am finishing my Tom Clancy book I started on the cruise last December.

For dinner we stayed at the hotel restaurant.  Again a well reviewed restaurant that did not disappoint.

Horseback Riding and R and R

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For our last full day in Albuquerque we got up early again (not as early as yesterday) and went horse back riding at the hotel.  We didn’t know this but the hotel is on an Indian Reservation.  We got to rid the horses on a trail on the reservation.  It was pretty cool.  We saw petroglyphs.  Well M did.  I saw them later on photos since I couldn’t see the rocks well enough to see them.

My horse was pretty good.  She actually listened when i wanted her to gallop, go left or right and sometimes stop.  The only thing was she wanted to stop and eat every five minutes.  I was pretty pleased with the horse choice.  The only thing bad was she attacked M’s horse and someone elses.  I am not kidding.  M and I got lined up next to each other for a photo and my horse tried to slam her head into M’s horse.  It was pretty bad ass.  While we were riding back another horse got close to her and she tried to do the same thing to that one.  I thought it was a bit funny.

I was glad to be finished with the ride since it was getting very hot and my legs were starting to kill me.

For lunch we went back into Albuquerque for lunch at the place that was closed on Sunday.  The Grove Cafe.  It was another really good lunch.  After that we we drove around downtown a bit and then went to a nice espresso place before heading back to the hotel to get in some pool time, and reading.

For dinner we went to the Corn Maiden Restaurant at the hotel.  It was very highly rated and it was fantastic.

Hot Air Balloons and More

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Our first full day in New Mexico was pretty fantastic.  M and I debated on doing a hot air Balloon ride.  We both wanted to but it was pretty expensive.  In the end we said it is a once in a life time experience and we were in one of the best places in the world to do it.

We got up at like 6:30AM to get picked up for the ride.  We learned the only real time you do a Balloon ride is right at dawn.  We got some fantastic photos of the ballon being inflated.  It was a pretty big ballon.  It fit 12 people and for our ride there were 10 of us.

There is so much i could write about this experience.  It was simply fantastic.  We got so many awsome photos.  There were 3 other ballons launching when we did so we got to get a lot of them and the scenery.  We got well over an hour of airtime before we set down right off a soccer field.

I learned that once we land you never just jump out or else the ballon will get lighter and fly away.  Don’t worry I didn’t try it but the pilot was very informative.  Once it was safe several of us got out and moved the ballon away from a building so we could deflate it.  It was interesting work helping to deflate and put away a 260,000 cubic foot ballon into a big bag.

We were done and back at the hotel well before lunch time.  We decided to drive to the Range Cafe for some lunch.  It was nearby the hotel and got good reviews in the travel books and everyone at the hotel suggested it.  We were glad that we did.  The lunch was good, but for desert M and I had a piece of chocolate layer cake that we both agreed was THE BEST WE EVER HAD.  From two people who love chocolate that is a stellar endorsement.  M has photos of me before and after.  They are pretty funny.

For the afternoon we lounged by the pool.  We were going to go horse back ridding at 6pm but it was very stormy so they canceled it for the night.  We rescheduled for tomorrow.

For dinner we were lazy and stayed at the bar restaurant at the hotel since the nice restaurant was closed.  We had low key food.  M had a cheese plate and wine and I had a delicious hot dog.  Go figure that New Mexico could make good hot dogs.