Catching Up

The past few weeks have been pretty busy and I have been procrastinating about posting on here. I'm still getting used to the whole blog thing, so it's about time I catch up.

Saturday, May 17th, Lindsey and I headed to St. Pete to spend the day because it was National Museum Day and there are some great places over there (Salvador Dali Museum and Museum of Fine Arts to name a few). We don't make the voyage across the Bay all that often, but we always have a good time when we do. Our original intention was to take advantage of the free admission to the Museum of Fine Arts as we'd already visited the Dali museum last year. The line was about 300 yards deep and wrapped around the corner so we kept walking. We managed to catch the tail end of the Saturday Morning Market but didn't really buy anything. In the past, I've gotten some killer Italian mix (peppers, olive oil, kind of like a gardenia spread) and also some great Cafe Con Leche but we didn't see anything worth buying. There are a bunch of good spots right on Central Ave to grab a bite to eat, so we dropped into St. Pete Oyster Bar. Pretty cool place with exposed brick throughout and a nice long wooden bar with a finished and classy look. I had a dozen oysters and they were some of the best I've had in a few years. Very fresh and went well with an ice cold beer. Lindsey had a salad and a glass of wine. I think this will be a place that we visit again. After that, we headed a few blocks over to Tastings, a wine bar near Central Ave and 2nd. It's a place we have been to a few times and decided to drop in again. You pre-pay for a credit type card and then use the card to buy samples of different wines throughout the store. The wines are kept in oxygen sealed dispensers and allow for 1 oz, 3 oz, or full 6 oz samples. Lindsey and I usually pick wines for each other and then try to accurately describe the fragrance and finish of the wine as listed by the winemaker. We also had a plate of Stilton cheese, hard Italian salami, aged Gouda, and prosciutto. Not a bad afternoon.

The next week, our neighbor Kent gave us a ride to the airport (thanks, Kent!) on Thursday night so we could head to Buffalo for my cousin Paul's wedding. Lindsey is deathly afraid of flying and it always makes for an interesting time. She usually ends up treating the flight attendants like bartenders in order to relieve some of the anxiety. It was a pretty smooth direct flight, we grabbed our rental car and headed to one of Lindsey's college roommate's place in Buffalo. On our way, we grabbed some wings and frieds to-go from Duff's. Lindsey misses it since leaving Buffalo after college and she says it was just as good as she remembered.

Friday the 23rd, we spent the day driving around the University of Buffalo campus to revisit some old memories from Lindsey and also see what has changed in the past few years. I bought a UB Alumni mug and a tshirt for Lindsey and we headed out of Buffalo to Batavia, where the wedding was being held. After checking into the Hampton Inn, we drove around Batavia to see what was around. I had to pickup my tux since I was in the wedding, then we caught up with my cousin Shawn at a place called South Beach. It was pretty funny to see a restaurant in Batavia, NY with a "south beach" theme. Definately unique. After a few cold beers, some peel 'n eat shrimp, and oysters, we went back to the hotel and visited with other family that were arriving. The rehersal dinner was really good, at a restaurant called Bohn's that my cousin Paul manages. I had peppercorn crusted filet and a few too many Tanqueray and tonics. Before leaving Bohn's, I did a shot with my Uncles and 80 year old Aunt... gotta love when the Nichiporuk's and Schuck's get together. After getting back to the hotel, everybody still wanted to party so we went to the Batavia Downs horse racing track. They have a casino portion there with slot machines. Again, very interesting to see the crowds that gather at an Upstate NY race track/casino ("racino") on a Friday night. Entertaining to say the least.

Saturday the 24th was the wedding and we had a great time. My mom came into town that morning and we went out to grab a bit to eat at a small diner in the center of town called Miss Batavia. After getting a turkey club in my stomach, we went back to the hotel and caught up with family for a few hours. The wedding started around 5pm and was at a banquet hall right next to the Hampton called the Ambassador. It was a quick wedding, the food was served buffet style with prime rib, some family recipes, and everything was really good. We all had a great time with the libations, plenty of dancing, and catching up.

Sunday the 25th we spent some more time in Buffalo and had another of Lindsey's old favorites, Jim's Steakout. It's a Buffalo staple, and Lindsey's favorite is the Buffalo style chicken tender sub. We split a 12" version, and in the 3" I managed to steal from her, I would have to agree that it's pretty memorable. We got into Tampa that night around 10pm, Billy picked us up, and we headed straght home so I could catch the second half of the Spurs' game.

Monday the 26th, Memorial Day, Lindsey and I spend a few hours hanging out by the pool and then we went down to the Channelside complex. There is a wine store down there that does a smaller version of the tastings concept, so we had a glass and then headed to the new sushi restaurant, Oishi Sushi and Hibachi Grill. It's connected to Thai Thani and they have a joint menu. The food was so-so, and our sushi rolls were annoyingly served on a huge wooden boat. It just seemed very tacky and gimmicky. I don't think that we will be visiting again.