Road trip '13: Day 6

On Monday morning mom and I decided to go to the gym after taking two days off. It felt so nice to move a bit after spending so much time in the car! On our way back to the hotel room we stopped at the Starbucks in the lobby where I was excited to find some Chobani. I've missed their yogurt ever since they stopped selling in Canada! I used it to make a quick breakfast bowl before heading out on the road again.

This time we were heading off to Syracuse. I've actually been wanting to go there ever since I heard Pinback's song called 'Syracuse' in the10th grade (I'm not sure if the song has any link to the city though...). When we got there we stopped at Phoebe's Cafe for lunch. It was cute inside, but really busy and noisy.

I ordered the chicken pita with white cheddar, grilled onions, and a balsamic reduction. It was just okay. I'm not a big fan of blackened chicken - it just tastes burnt to me - and I didn't realize it would come that way. My mom's chicken bruschetta wrap tasted amazing though.

After lunch our destination was Destiny USA, which is apparently the 6th biggest mall in the USA! We managed to do some damage there, followed by even more damage to our wallets at the Urban Outfitters in Armory Square.

By the time we were done shopping we were more than ready for food. We had planned to hit up Empire Brewing Company, which is a microbrewery that was featured on Diners, Drive ins and Dives. I had my eyes on their farmstead chili, but my sister convinced me to split their Mediterranean platter with her. It came with falafels, hummus, couscous salad, pickled beans, olives, sun dried tomatoes, tzaziki, and herb flatbread. Everything was awesome, especially those falafels!

We both got a Greek Cobb salad as well, but what we didn't realize is that the salad had basically the exact same ingredients as the platter, except in salad form. Oops! I should have read the menu better, apparently. It was still good though.

 

As we were finishing up our meals, we realized that although we had tons of pictures of our food, we had barely any pictures of ourselves. So mom tried to take a picture of Hayley and I... except my eyes were closed. So she tried again, and my eyes looked drunk. Then she tried again, and I looked like I was half asleep. So after that we just got silly.

We were laughing so hard that my abs started to hurt!

After that we just headed to the hotel for our last night of the trip. I'll be back with the recap of our last day soon!

What's the biggest mall you've ever been to?

Have you ever been to a restaurant that was on Diners, Drive ins and Dives?

Road trip '13: Day 5

On day 5 we woke up in Quebec after a super long 10.5 hour drive the day before. When we first awoke at 6ish, we considered working out, looked at each other and said "nahhh" and then burrowed back into bed. Instead we lazed around for a bit, had breakfast in our hotel room, and then headed out for a short walk on the Plains of Abraham (the site of a famous battle between the British and the French), which was right behind our hotel.

Even though it was only 9 am, it was so much warmer in Quebec than in Halifax - we were loving it! We finished up our walk by stopping at Starbucks (iced green tea for me!) and then headed out on the road again.

Our next stop was just outside Montreal, where we met up with a family friend and her boyfriend for lunch at Cora's, a Canadian breakfast/brunch chain. Anyone who knows me knows that I love Cora's! I almost always order their bagel and lox, but this time I was craving eggs so I went for their 2 eggs, fresh fruit, and toast breakfast with an extra order of bacon.

After lunch we got back in the car and headed down south to cross the border into New York. It took foreeeeever, but we finally got through. Before we hit Albany we made a quick stop at The Fresh Market in Latham so that I could stock up on Barney Butter (the best almond butter in the world!), and ended up coming out with a whole lot more.

Our loot: Annie's Goddess dressing, Madagascar vanilla, 4 jars of Barney Butter, freekeh (I've always wanted to try it, but could never find it), Kodiak Cakes pancake mix, and Old Bay seasoning.

When we got to the hotel shortly after 6 pm, we still had no idea where we were going for dinner. So we pulled out our laptops and after a bit of internet searching, we decided on New World Bistro Bar which looked fantastic.

But as we were leaving the hotel, I thought out loud "Man, I could really go for Chipotle right now." My mom and sister looked at me, thought about it for a minute, and quickly agreed. So Hayley ran back inside, asked the concierge for the address of the closest Chipotle, and 10 minutes later we were on our way. I got the burrito bowl with brown rice, black beans, fajita vegetables, mild fresh salsa, lettuce, cheese and guacamole.

Afterwards we had a good laugh about how we spent 45 minutes trying to find a restaurant for dinner, only to change our minds at the last minute and go to Chipotle. It was exactly what we were all craving though!

What do you usually order at Chipotle (or if you've never tried it, what would you order)?

Are there any products that you love that are only available in another country?