Pics

I am sitting at the airport waiting for my flight to Boise. I thought now is a good time to update the blog....

My real motivation for updating is that I am going skydiving tomorrow. This might be my last contact with the world ;)

Candice and I finally received our wedding photos back. It thought I would post the good ones/funny ones that some of you might be interested. Here they are (I may need to do several posts to get them all up):

Pics

Chowdown

The Travel Channel recently aired a series counting down the best chowdown joints in America. Since when I travel, my favorite thing to do is eat, this was a perfect series for me. Now I know all the local joints to eat at when I visit a new city.

Here is their list. If you want the complete list with addresses and a quick blurb as to why these places are worth visiting, let me know and I will e-mail you the Excel file.

1 Louis' Lunch (New Haven, CT)
2 Roscoe's House of Chicken' N Waffles (Los Angeles, CA)
3 Primanti Brothers (Pittsburgh, PA)
4 Fenton's Creamery and Restaurant (Oakland, CA)
5 Katz's Deli (New York, NY)
6 Pat's King of Steaks (Philadelphia, PA)
6 Geno's Steaks (Philadelphia, PA)
7 The Salt Lick Barbecue (Driftwood, TX)
8 Albano's Pizzeria (Cicero, IL)
9 Lulu's Bakery and Cafe (San Antonio, TX)
10 Durgin Park (Boston, MA)
11 Al's Beef (Chicago, IL)
12 Gus's (Memphis, TN)
13 Jack-n-Grill (Denver, CO)
14 Arthur Bryant's (Kansas City, MO)
15 Hillbilly Hot Dogs (Lesage, WV)
16 Big Texan Steak Ranch (Amarillo, TX)
17 Anchor Bar (Buffalo, NY)
18 Cotham's Mercantile (Scott, AR)
19 Lambert's Cafe (Sikeston, MO)
20 Voodoo Doughnut (Portland, OR)
21 Eagle's Deli (Brighton, MA)
22 American Coney Island (Detroit, MI)
22 Lafayette Coney Island (Detroit, MI)
23 El Tepeyac Cafe (Los Angeles, CA)
24 Charles Vergo's Rendezvous (Memphis, TN)
25 Acme Oyster House (New Orleans, LA)
26 Beth's Cafe (Seattle, WA)
27 Heart Attack Grill (Chandler, AZ)
28 Ben's Chili Bowl (Washington, DC)
29 Tony's 1-75 (Birch Run, MI)
30 Chipshop (Brooklyn, NY)
31 Helena's Hawaiian Food (Honolulu, HI)
32 RU Hungry (New Brunswick, NJ)
33 Paseo (Seattle, WA)
34 Junior's Restaurant (Brooklyn, NY)
35 The Thurman Cafe (Columbus, OH)
36 Brown's Seabrook Lobster Pound (Seabrook, NH)
36 Markey's Lobster Pool (Seabrook, NH)
37 Ted Drewes (St. Louis, MO)
38 Obrycki's (Baltimore, MD)
39 Grimaldi's Pizzeria (Brooklyn, NY)
40 Slow's Bar-B-Q (Detroit, MI)
41 Chino Bandido (Phoenix, AZ)
42 Sodolak's Original Country Inn (Snook, TX)
43 Big Jud's Country Diner (Boise, ID)
44 Doe's Eat Place (Greenville, MS)
45 Cecilia's Cafe (Albuquerque, NM)
46 Superdawg Drive Inn (Chicago, IL)
47 Matt's Bar (Minneapolis, MN)
48 Pappy's Smokehouse (St. Louis, MO)
49 Country Pancake House (Ridgewood, NJ)
50 DiNic's in the Reading Terminal Market (Philadelphia, PA)
51 Max and Mina's Ice Cream (Flushing, NY)
52 Big Lou's Pizza (San Antonio, TX)
53 Juan in a Million (Austin, TX)
54 Steak and Main (North East, MD)
55 Interstate Bar-BQ Restaurant (Memphis, TN)
56 Big Mama's Kitchen (Omaha, NE)
57 Chick and Ruth's Delly (Annapolis, MD)
58 Taqueria La Cumbre (San Francisco, CA)
59 Munchies 420 Cafe (New York, NY)
60 Sylvia's Restaurant (Sarasota, FL)
61 Dinosaur Bar-B-Que (Syracuse, NY)
62 Goodson's Cafe (Tomball, TX)
63 Chaps Charcoal Restaurant (Baltimore, MD)
64 Round Rock Donuts (Round Rock, TX)
65 Camp Washington Chili (Cincinnati, OH)
66 Talkeetna Roadhouse (Talkeetna, AK)
67 Iguana's (San Jose, CA)
68 Yoder's Restaurant (Sarasota, FL)
69 The Cozy Inn (Salina, KS)
70 El Guero Canelo (Tucson, AZ)
71 The Grill House (Allegan, MI)
72 GCS Ballpark (Sauget, IL)
73 Pepe's Pizzeria Napoletana (New Haven, CT)
73 Sally's Apizza (New Haven, CT)
74 Original New York System (Providence, RI)
75 The Buffet at the Bellagio (Las Vegas, NV)
76 San Francisco Creamery Co. (Walnut Creek, CA)
77 Lynn's Paradise Cafe (Louisville, KY)
78 Kopp's Frozen Custard (Greenfield, WI)
79 The Cherry Cricket (Denver, CO)
80 The Brick Pit (Mobile, AL)
81 Nick Tahou Hots (Rochester, NY)
82 Willie Mae's Scotch House (New Orleans, LA)
83 Schmidt's Sausage Haus (German Village) (Columbus, OH)
84 Cafe Fleuri at the Langham Hotel (Boston, MA)
85 Daichan Kaiten Sushi (Los Angeles, CA)
86 Cattleman's Steakhouse (Fabens, TX)
87 Hominy Grill (Charleston, SC)
88 Giordano's (Chicago, IL)
89 Doughnut Plant (New York, NY)
90 The Vortex Bar and Grill (Atlanta, GA)
91 Time Out Chicken (Chapel Hill, NC)
92 Black's Barbecue (Lockhart, TX)
93 Smitty's Market (Lockhart, TX)
94 Jimmy's Buff's (East Hanover, NJ)
95 Gaucho's Village (Glendale, CA)
96 Philippe The Original (Los Angeles, CA)
97 Five Islands Lobster Co. (Georgetown, ME)
98 Bassetts Ice Cream (Philadelphia, PA)
99 The Buckhorn Exchange (Denver, CO)
100 Denny's Beer Barrel Pub (Clearfield, PA)
101 Abe's Bar-B-Q (Clarksdale, MS)

Hawaii

The morning after the wedding we departed for a 12-day getaway to HAWAII!! We wish we could re-live that trip every day.

Here are a few of the highlights...

Complementary champagne upon check-in to our hotel. Too bad we couldn't enjoy it!

First morning... room service enjoyed overlooking the Pacific Ocean!

Candice enjoyed the playground at the hotel.

Lunch at Giovanni's famous shrimp truck.

A Sunday afternoon massage as we listened to the waves crash at our feet!

We ventured from the North Shore to Waikiki for a day.

We found the answer to the ubiquitous question: "Where did I come from?"

Our last night on Oahu - watching the sunset at Sunset Beach

Our favorite beach - Secret Beach on Kauai. We had to tap into our survival skills... and our film-making skills ;)

The Hanalei Valley. If I were to go back to Hawaii, I would be happy if my whole trip was spent here!

Back in the saddle

Alright. It's been a while since I last posted. There is much to catch up on. But let's just start with the wedding...

November 11th was all we could have hoped for. Both Candice and I look back and can honestly say that we would not have done a single thing different. We were not rushed, and there was not so much going on that we felt stressed or worried about details. Contrarily, we were able to soak in the emotions of the day and enjoy the company of the people who mean most in our lives. Thanks to all who helped plan and coordinate. And thanks to all who came to celebrate with us. It was an unforgettable day.

I do not want this to sound trite or cliche. But, without question, the highlight of the day was the ceremony itself. I cannot adequately communicate the emotions I felt during that short time. It began when Candice and I walked into the sealing room to see our families there. Neither of us like being the center of attention. But it was certainly a special feeling to have our closest friends and family gathered on our behalf to share that moment with us. My emotions continued to swell as the sealer delivered insightful and inspiring words just prior to performing the ceremony. He helped me gain a greater appreciation for the significance of marriage. The ceremony itself was wonderful. Then, to have a brief time afterward to embrace all who were in attendance brought happiness that I have seldom, if ever, felt before.

On another note... I must give awesome props to our photographer. She was easy to work with, had a great eye, and really captured what we wanted. In fact, she was recently featured by a photography website that highlights talented photographers throughout the world. Check out her feature here (they used many of our pictures in her feature).

Also, here are some of my favorite pics (Candice has a differing opinion on some of these):