Road Trip - Memphis, TN to Springfield, IL

Our family was looking for a trip to take  - and we came up with Memphis, Tennessee.  I am going to share a few of our highlights of our trip from Memphis leading our way back up Illinois, stopping in Springfield, IL for the night.

We went to Graceland.  This was one of the things on my "bucket list".  It was AMAZING!!!!  Here is his living room with the custom stained glass.  Can you imagine what people thought when they walked into his house and say these windows?  Really impressive.  There were all kinds of costumes and awards. His tuxedo from his wedding, Pricella's wedding dress - and that black leather outfit he wore in that televised concert.  You know the outfit - he was SO handsome.  And did you know he was an avid reader? That he had a twin brother that died at birth? That he sold billion records - and never toured out of the US?

The Memphis Zoo was incredible.  Here is one of the twin hippos they have there.  I like to call this picture "Inspiration". The animals were so active and close to you.  They had some pandas also.  They look fake - they are just SO cute.

 This was a sculpture in the entrance to the Civil Rights Museum. See the people carved into these dark blocks. It was an amazing museum.  I learned as much from the people around me at the museum than from the exhibits.  Listening to people talk as they walked through the museum reminiscing about times they remember.  An older lady talking about the garbage strike in Memphis that made the city so smelly and dirty. A mother saying to her young son "This is how your grandma lived.  See how lucky you are to be born now.  Don't forget that."

We took the kids to St. Jude's.  Before we did, we went to Target and bought stuff to donate - books, dvds, art supplies, action figurines.....each family member had things in particular they wanted to give.  Though we weren't allowed into the hospital (you have to be over the age of 16 to get a tour), we were allowed up to the front desk, where we dropped of our bags.  Just seeing the people in the waiting room there - the kids walking in, the families leaving.  You knew you were at a special place.

On our way from Memphis to Springfield, IL, we stopped in St. Louis just to pick up concretes at Ted Drews.  Worth the extra driving and very worth the calories.

In Springfield, Illinois - we drove past the capital (the kids really weren't into getting out of the car and going inside).  They were "done".  But we were able to get them out of the car for one more touristy thing...New Salem, Illinois.  This is were Abraham Lincoln lived for about 6 years - his early twenties.

It was a village of log cabins - different styles.  Each cabin was a short, written explanation of what lived there and what they did in the village.  Lincoln lived in a bunch of different homes, working to pay his way.  He eventually owned and ran the local shop.  Some interesting facts - none of the cabins are original to the village.  In fact, when people left, they took their homes with them.  Taking apart the cabins and loading them onto their wagon and off they went.  They learned where to recreate the log homes by maps original settlers drew and archaeological diggings.  Pretty cool -

Restaurant review - Brother Juniper Memphis, TN

This may be my favorite breakfast place ever....in fact the whole family's favorite breakfast place.  I found it on Yelp (one of my favorite apps for finding great places to eat).  They were featured on one of Rachel Ray's show - $40 a day.  She liked the San Diego open faced omelet.

The service here was AMAZING - so friendly and never needing more coffee or water.  Very cool, comfortable surroundings.

 Here are their "home fries" and biscuit.  I think these were the best potatoes EVER.  Soft and light inside, SO crispy outside, with seasoning salt and parmesan cheese. Good thing I don't live near here or I would have a plate of these at least once a week.  And the biscuit was so fresh and tasty.

Here is the special of the day - chocolate waffle.  There was supposed to be mandarin oranges and stawberries on top (our daughter asked for the fruit on the side). It had a great chocolate flavor to the waffle that wasn't too overwhelming. And see the grits back there...I'll tell you about that later.....

 Here is my dish.  Here's the "official" description -

The Desperado

Sauteed Tomatoes, Green Onions, with Black Beans and Salsa

on a Bed of Avocado Spread topped w/ Mozzarella Cheese and Sour Cream

I asked for it with no green onions.  This was so good, but the avocado was not noticeable and it was swimming in the salsa - losing all the other flavors.  Still tasty....once I pushed aside all the salsa.














OK....let's talk grits.  These are cheese grits and they are the best I have ever had. Creamy, with the corn meal bite.  There is a taste of garlic and black pepper in there....I took them home with me and kept eating them even cold in the car.  And it was just as good.  Now every cheese grits I try from now on I will compare to these.  The sign of perfection -

Brother Junipers - so great that I am glad it is not near my house....one of the highest compliments I can give.

Restaurant review - Neely's Insterstate BBQ Memphis, TN

Memphis = BBQ....or so we were told.  So off we went to find the best bbq in Memphis.  Every person from Memphis we asked said a different place.  Every review site I looked at had different rankings.  There appeared to be to no clear champion, so we just picked what was near us....and we nailed it.

Neely's Insterstate BBQ.  Yes - the same Neely's as the Food Netword show.  It is his parent's place.  In fact, his mom was behind the counter and we talked with her a bit.  SO nice.... unfortunately, she was the only nice person that worked there.  We went here twice in our short 2 day visit to Memphis (if it ain't broke, don't fix it) and both times we had nasty servers.  We don't get it....we are polite at the table....thank you, no thanks....etc.  But both times our servers were not friendly and disappeared to the degree that I went up to the counter to ask for what more we needed (water, more sauce).

With that being said - the food was SOOOOOOO great that we would still go back again.  To start with, we ordered the onion rings.  These were AMAZING!!  Crunchy and with sweet, soft onion inside. Wow!! My husband and I ordered the bbq sampler.  That was the way to go.... a bit of everything - shredded pork, beef, beef and pork ribs and a hot link.  SO much yummy food.  And it came with bbq spaghetti, beans and slaw.  Both of our kids ordered shredded pork sandwiches with fries.

 Look at these wondrous onion rings.  Heaven in a bowl......

 All the sides - slaw, beans and bbq spaghetti.  Strange, I know, but everyone really liked it.  It was just broken spaghetti noodle tossed in bbq sauce.

 Here's the huge sample - farthest to closest.....shredded pork, pork ribs, beef ribs, shredded beef (or brisket) with a hot link on top.  It all just melted in my mouth.  I liked that the ribs still had some pull in them.  I'm not a fan of "fall off the bone" ribs.

Here's what our table looked like when we were done....funny you see on the empty plates on the table with the word STOP in the center of it all!! Yeah right......

Restaurant review - Wild Egg Louisville, KY

We went to Louisville in Kentucky for part of our spring break.  I love Louisville....it so just SO pretty there.  Hills, flowers, nice people....all kinds of good stuff.  The only problem I see is the public schools...not so good.

We met my father-in-law at Wild Eggs for breakfast before we left town.  The place was packed!   
 If you are a regular reader of my blog, you know my kids, especially our middle daughter, is a hot chocolate conniseur.  Here is what the hot chocolate looked like here at Wild Eggs.  Our daughter didn't like it, but our son loved it.  For her, too many marshmallows....for him (and myself) never too much marshmallows!  When they all float on the hot chocolate, you get all melty, creamy, sweet layer of love.

 This is the stuffed french toast our daughter got.  It was very tasty.  It was supposed to come with fruit, but she didn't want that.  This was delicious, but very rich!  One bite was plenty for me!

This was my dish...it was really good.  And that balsamic drizzle is just right. And the mushrooms, and tomato hollandaise sauce was a great combo....with the runny egg....really good breakfast! I had the choice of sides.  I chose grits of the day...they were Greek grits....grits with feta cheese, artichoke hearts and spinach.  It was quite salty...I didn't really care for it.

Bennies Gone Wild

Wild mushrooms, toasted English muffin, grilled tomato, poached eggs, roasted tomato hollandaise, balsamic reduction and smoked paprika

The service was SUPER slow....and not southern paced, laid-back slow....really SLOW.  And then once our food came to our table, two (out of 6) dishes came out wrong.  They fixed them quickly. But the management handled it right and comped us two of our dish. Good business.....

Restaurant review - Original Bagel and Bialey Buffalo Grove, IL

I went here for breakfast the other day - on of our family's favorite place to go for breakfast.  My daughter ordered my favorite dish.....challah french toast.  I wish I didn't worry about what I ate...I would eat this every time I went there.  Instead, she ordered it and I got to eat some of it. It is a huge order, so she didn't mind sharing. It is soft and almost creamy inside the pieces.  It has a slight sweetness to it. In fact, you don't even need syrup with it because it is so perfect.

I had eggs, toast, coffee....nothing different, so I didn't take a picture, but it was good.  I enjoy going here....it is comfortable and everyone that works here is very nice.  They are also on the local high school (Stevenson) discount card - so make sure to bring it.  Go and enjoy.......

My Life - Sundried Mango with Chili powder

I went to La Luz (search La Luz on the right of my blog page to see more about this amazing bakery!) to get my tamales and to pick up some churros when I saw this creation on the counter.  I don't really like mango, but it sounded so different I had to try it and boy am I glad I did.  It is chewy, sweet and spicy. Just the right amount of everything that it makes you want to keep eating more.  Yum yum....what a treat! You must go and get these.  Uber yum!

Restaurant review - Hong Kong Cafe

We have been to this restaurant before and liked it so much we went back for supper.  It was as good as we remembered and as affordable.  The service was SO attentive it made it a pleasure to eat there.  When the kids were asking about the different noodles, our server brought out this box with sections that had a dry version of each noodle and the name of each noodle.  GREAT idea!!!!!

We ordered pot stickers to start with.  When we asked for sauce she pointed to the sauces on the table.  The kids loved mixing their own sauce.  One was soy sauce and one was some kind of vinegar.

I had braised noodles with BBQ pork.  I had this dish as Asian Noodle House as well.  This dish was better.  There was more sauce and more pork.  Two welcomed additions.  There was still a mild fishy taste to these noodles.  Must be common to this dish since the last dish of this had that taste as well.

This was chicken and broccoli chow fun.  The noodles were so good....see how they have some crispy parts.  Love that!!!  The flavor of this dish is very mild.  I added some soy sauce when I ate it.  Our son picked out the chicken and  a lot of the broccoli and declared he was done.

This was beef lo mein.  Again, nice thick noodles.  This sauce was very tasty and everything was cooked perfectly.  Great dish!!