Norwalk CT Photos

While looking for someplace to stop for a few days on the way back from Kingston in the Catskills, we settled upon Norwalk, Connecticut, a city I’ve driven through/past hundreds of times but never visited. They have a cool aquarium along the waterfront on the Long Island Sound. We also took a boat trip out to Sheffield Island to tour the lighthouse. Our spare time was spent exploring the SONO (South Norwalk) neighborhood where we found some fantastic food. On our way out of town we stopped at the world’s most fun supermarket, Stew Leonard’s. A friend suggested it and you’ll have to look at the photos to really appreciate it as much as I appreciate her telling me about it!

Check out the photos here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates

Kingston NY Photos

Espous Meadows LighthouseI just posted some photos I took while in Kingston, NY. For those keeping count, this short vacation to the Catskills is the third time we’ve wound up at a German festival at a ski resort. I swear it’s not intentionally planned that way, but really, who can resist delicious German food? Of course, it included a scenic chairlift ride, but one difference at this festival at Hunter Mountain was the Doxie Derby. How often do you get to watch dachshunds racing??? Some ran to the finish line, some ran away! This trip also included a walk across the Spectacular Walkway Over the Hudson, a boat ride on the Hudson river and some time in downtown Kingston before we headed out of the Catskills and off to Norwalk, Connecticut.

Check out my Kingston photos here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates

Tall Ships Photos

Back in June there was a tall ship festival in Philadelphia and the Camden waterfront. When I was a kid my parents would sometimes take us to a park along the Delaware River to see the tall ships when they were coming to Philadelphia. We also got a see them once or twice in Baltimore. So this was a fun chance to check them out up close and bring back some good memories too.

I would have liked to go aboard a few more ships, but the crowds were insane. We chose to go aboard the Coast Guard Cutter Eagle.

You can see the photos right here.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates

New Mexico Photos

Hot Air Balloon The photos from my vacation in New Mexico are now online. There are also a few short videos including a video of the highlight of the trip… a hot air balloon flight! Beside the balloon flight, we visited San Lorenzo Canyon, Socorro, the Trinity Site, White Sands National Monument, Albuquerque, Acoma Pueblo, Route 66 and the Sandia Peak. Throughout all of these locations we ate more New Mexican cuisine than you can imagine. We might’ve gained a few pounds, but it was totally worth it!

Click here to view the photos and be sure to check out the hot air balloon video while you’re there.

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates

Improvements to Website Photo Albums

In preparation for posting the photos from my vacation in New Mexico (soon, I promise!), I’ve completed a major upgrade to all of the existing photo albums on my site. Both the thumbnails and large images have been replaced with larger versions and I’ve removed the 1990s-esque frames that were around the images. Those cute little white frames may have been appropriate in their day, but they are no more.

Now that Apple is sadly replacing Aperture and iPhoto with their new Photos app, there may be more changes coming in the future. Of course, as always, I will hang on to the old programs as long as I can!

Posted by Michael in Photography, Site Updates

Review: Poynor’s Pommes Frittes – Pigeon Forge TN

This restaurant sits in the shadow of the giant Great Smoky Mountain Wheel and is named for its fries (Belgian fries actually). While they definitely serve good fries, the bratwurst sandwiches are what really caught our attention. More specifically, the bread on which the sandwiches are made is amazing. It’s called Broetchen. It’s a small hard roll from Germany/Austria. My mother, who was with me, said she had them years ago on a visit to Germany and had never seen them in this country.

We met the very friendly couple (Tammy and Poynor) who owns the restaurant. Poynor bakes the delicious rolls. He explained that they’re made with a process that involves breaking them three times. We discussed how we could arrange take some home with us and he offered to bake a batch twice so that we could take them home and finish them. They were so good that we took him up on the offer and drove back to Pigeon Forge the following day to pick them up before leaving Tennessee. They survived the 10 hour ride home and we ate them nearly every day for a week!

When visiting Tennessee I’d expect to find southern food and moonshine (we found plent of both), but Poyner’s surprised me with a brilliantly baked German specialty that I wish was available closer to home.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Kitchen 519 – Gloucester Twp NJ

This small casual restaurant is a bright wide open space with a lot of very eclectic decor. Vintage clothes hang on clotheslines on the wall alongside artwork and old photos.

While you wait for your meal to be ready you can keep yourself occupied with the Trivial Pursuit cards on each table. You can also enjoy some appetizers. The garlic fries are good and the Cuban quesadilla is an interesting (and tasty) twist on traditional Cuban sandwich. However, the fried pickles (usually a favorite of mine) were disappointing because the cornmeal breading fell off most of the pickles while they were still in the basket.

I haven’t been here for dinner yet but the lunches I’ve had were quite good. All of the sandwiches on the menu sound good making it hard to choose. I particularly enjoyed the Pork Rojo.

I look forward to exploring more menu items on future visits.

Posted by Michael in Reviews

Review: Smoky Mountain Trout House – Gatlinburg TN

While in Gatlinburg we intentionally dined at a different restaurant for each meal of our trip. There are a lot from which to choose. This was the only restaurant we decided to go back to for a second dinner. It’s farther east on Parkway then many other restaurants but it was well worth the mile and a quarter round trip walk from our hotel.

It’s a very small restaurant that is only open 4 hours each evening. I would highly recommend calling ahead for reservations. Because the restaurant is so small, when you enter they have you go upstairs to wait for your table to be ready. You can also wait outside. The gentleman who runs the place (the owner?) keeps everything moving smoothly.

They serve dishes other then the fresh caught rainbow trout for which the restaurant is named although I am guessing nobody knows what those dishes taste like because you would be crazy to order anything but one of the 15 available trout dishes. All of the trout preparations that we tried were lightly seasoned enough to let the amazing flavor of the fish come through. It all tasted so fresh.

If I ever make it back to Gatlinburg this would be the first place that I head for dinner.

082 Smoky Mountain Trout House 104 Smoky Mountain Trout House105 Grilled Trout 106 Smoky Mountain Trout House
Posted by Michael in Reviews