Nikki & Eddie

Quick Trip 1: ATL Land of the Mostly Free, Home of the Braves (Part 2)

2012-08-27T19:46:00.000-07:00

Our latest adventure when it comes to the world of "culinary arts" is visiting and trying out local fare at food trucks. Food trucks...you either love em...you hate em...or you are scared of em...we happen to love em. On a day to day basis...we have to love them from afar though...our big cities are just now getting into this food craze...and local trucks are not easy to find. So when we are in a city where these trucks are abundant...we definitely take advantage of it.

Eddie and I finished off our time in Hotlanta by taking a little trip to the Atlanta Food Truck Park. Thanks Atlanta for putting a bunch of trucks in one area...making it way easy to hit up more than one (and also eliminating the twitter/facebook/website search to find out where each truck would be during a specific hour of a specific day). Driving around Atlanta's one way streets to find a food truck was not a high priority on Eddie's list of things to do (even though I graciously offered to "help" him with the directions and such).

Food trucks really are one of the hottest food trends of the year...even The Food Network has a show dedicated to these restaurants on wheels. While they have been pretty popular up north and out west for a while now...food trucks are FINALLY making their way down south...and there's a food truck for pretty much everything...your standard taco truck, bbq truck, dumpling truck, burger truck, cupcake truck (yes!), noodle truck, soul food truck, soup truck...you think of it...there's probably a truck with it on board roaming the streets of some town, some where.

I think food trucks are totally interesting, and they have provided me and Ed with the opportunity to sample some delish foods we otherwise might not have given a chance. While I have read that some of these trucks are costly, our experiences have proven the opposite and have not broken the bank. You really gotta give props to whoever came up with the whole restaurant on wheels idea. The concept is genius! A mobile eatery is just plain fun...I wish they would frequent my neighborhood. We would be like kids running for the ice cream truck for sure.

We did actually check out the ATL Food Truck facebook the morning that we went...just to see the list of all of the trucks that would be there Saturday afternoon, but they seem to usually have about 8 trucks or so each day...so you are looking at a good variety no matter who happens to be there. While the parking for the food truck park wasn't exactly easy to figure out (we ended up at the gas station next door and just walked over...our bad), we did end up finding the joint pretty easily. Here's something else I love about a food truck...short lines (or none at all)...no reservation required...and super friendly staff.

Our first stop was the Blaxican...yeah you read that right...the Blaxican. This truck offered up a fusion of soul food and mexican cuisine...think comfort food with a twist. Ed ordered a collard green quesadilla and jalapeno mac & cheese. I tried both...and while I swear I am Southern to the core...I just never have been a fan of collard greens...but the jalapeno mac and cheese was amazing!

The W.O.W. food truck was at the top of my list. This #1 rated ATL food truck had not only what I deemed the tastiest food in the park...but also the coolest truck design! I chose the Smoky Bowl from W.O.W. (or Wonderlicious on Wheels if you must know)...oven roasted potatoes covered (or SMOTHERED) with pulled chicken...cheddar cheese...bbq sauce and some sort of chipotle cream sauce. On my own personal scale of yuck to yum...this was way yum!

The pink cupcake cart (hello cuteness on wheels) was sadly not open when we were at the park...but King of Pops was open and ready for our business. I just had to choose which of their all-natural frozen pop treats I would purchase. I went for the cookies and cream pop...we're talking huge chunks of chocolate chip cookie creamy goodness...I was NOT disappointed...King of Pop's mission statement is as follows: To provide an ecologically responsible, fresh, all natural frozen treat in a fun neighborhood environment...so um...yeah...mission accomplished!

We were fans of the food truck park and look forward to trying more out during our next quick trip to ATL. Oh one more food related little item of note: Nothing warms our hearts more than seeing that "Hot n Now" sign light up at the Krispy Kreme...we just can't resist those warm velvety glazed doughnuts made to order. Where we live you are either a fan of Krispy Kreme or Dunkin Donuts...but in Atlanta...you've got one more to choose from...Sublime Doughnuts.

Sublime definitely lived up to their name. This little hole in the wall shop is easy to miss, but we made sure to find our way there. The menu is straight out of a dessert lovers heart...fresh strawberries and cream donut...smore donut (yes please!)...peanut butter cup donut (I'll take one of those too)...A town cream (add that as well)...butterfinger...nutella...(before you know it...we had a dozen). Don't worry we didn't eat them all! We could have but we didn't (will power to the max). We shared with our nearest and dearest. Our families love edible souvenirs. Til next time ATL!!

Now here's how the trip stacked up for each of us:

Nikki: Fun for the Blaxican! Fab for W.O.W! Fab for King of Pops! Fun for Sublime Doughnuts. My thoughts are above

Eddie: Fab for the Blaxican! How can you go wrong when you mix two of my favorite things together? I love Mexican food, and I am a huge soul food kind of guy. Blending the flavors together gave a great twist to something I thought I knew everything about. Fab for W.O.W! The wifey only shared a couple of bites with me, but what I tasted was great. Fair for King of Pops! My experience was a little different from Nikki's because of my choice of pop. I thought I would try something different and ordered the coconut lemongrass pop, which didn't exactly tingle my tastebuds with the sweet flavor I was looking for. You'll notice from my picture, my first bite was actually pretty yuck (using my wife's personal food rating scale). I wasn't prepared for what I was biting into. I did manage to eat it all, and the more I ate...the better it became. A good palette cleanser if nothing else. Fun for Sublime Doughnuts! This unique doughnut hole (haha) is a must-do for any trip we make to Atlanta. No matter what creative flavor you try...they are just so darn good.

The rundown:
What we did: Checked out the Atlanta Food Truck Park and Sublime Doughnuts Where we did it: Atlanta, GA
How far away it was: 2.5 hours from home
How much it cost: Food Truck park: $2.75 - $7.50, Sublime: a little pricey...almost 20 dollars/dozen
How we saved dollars: We shared meals at the food truck park :)
Would we do it again: Yes

Quick Trip 1: ATL Land of the Mostly Free, Home of the Braves (Part 1)

2012-08-13T20:05:00.000-07:00

Nothing gives me anxiety quicker than merging on to any major highway (even when I'm merely a passenger in the car). So it's safe to say that our car trips to Atlanta are loads of fun for me and Eddie. I find that I feel better if I "help" him drive, while Eddie finds that I "help" him most when I sleep for the entire duration of the trip (seriously...from start to finish). You would think that he would appreciate my efforts to call attention to any car that I feel like might hit us, to gently question the speed limit to make sure we are law-abiding, and to ever so often grab the door handle to brace myself when I think we may crash. But I digress...

We chose a quick trip to Atlanta because of a couple of things: one being proximity to home and the other being a free nite at the Marriott. Nothing says come visit our city quite like a free nite at one of our favorite hotels. We headed out to Georgia Friday afternoon and arrived at the Marriott Marquis in downtown right before rush hour (which I'm sure would have been super fun for me to "help" Eddie navigate). I wasn't feeling all that great when we arrived, so we did one of the things we do best on vacation...we took a nap.

Eddie and I decided to pick up some food and eat in our room that evening since I was a bit under the weather. Lucky for us, The Cheesecake Factory was right down the road... and a slice of 30th anniversary chocolate cheesecake proved to be the right medicine, and by the next morning I felt much better.

Even though we have both "been there done that" at the World of Coca Cola (WOC), we had free passes (thanks Coke Rewards) so we decided to go again. This seemed to be a pretty popular destination on a summer Saturday as I believe everyone who was in Atlanta that day also made their way out to the World of Coke. The Coke folks know how to do it right though, and we were ushered in and on our way to the tour quickly.

After a quick overview on the history of Coca Cola and a photo op with the polar bear, we made our way around to the various rooms where we learned all we ever needed to know about my favorite soft drink...from the vaulted secret forumla to the bottling process...with milestone moments and memorabilia along the way. You do a lot of walking and reading, but there are moments to rest your feet for a bit in between. I always love taking a break in the 4D movie experience room...and getting our matching set of 3D glasses. Cute right? Right.

The tasting room is definitely one of the coolest parts of the WOC. Visitors are encouraged to sample Coke products (from the tasty to the tragic) from over 60 countries. The tasting room has always reminded me of a Willy Wonka type area (well...without little orange men). Be prepared for your shoes to stick to the floor due to overflows and spills of Coke from caffeine-high kids running beserk. My favorite...definitely Bibo from South Africa...a fruity flavored fizzy drink...love! My least favorite...the Beverly...a bitter, guh-nasty beverage from Italy that is about as delicious as castor oil.

After we were full-up from Cokes from around the world (and buzzing from all of the caffeine), we picked up our little souvenir glass bottles of Coke and headed to the gift shop where you can pretty much find anything your heart desires with a Coca Cola logo emblazoned on the front of it. Since I wasn't in the market for a set of Coca Cola dishes and Eddie wouldn't allow me to purchase a Coca Cola Tervis tumbler (it's an addiction...I can't help it)...we headed out.

One of the coolest things about this trip happened as we were leaving. While I was sitting on a bench waiting for Eddie to make a pit stop, I saw a couple of people use the Coke vending machine...and not only did they get their 20 oz. bottle of Coke...they got little surprises too. I decided I would try my luck...couldn't hurt. I put in my $1.50 and out came my drink...followed by five more! One even had a little Coca Cola koozie with it. Too cool! Eddie gave it a whirl as well...and out came his bottle of Coke followed by two of the little mini souvenir cans of Coke. We watched a few other people use the machine, and each would get their bottle of Coke plus some extra goodies. One lady even got a 2 liter Coke! A guy got a Coke hat attached to his 20 oz bottle, and another ended up with a pair of
Coca Cola sunglasses tied to his drink. I looked online when we got home, and it just so happens that we were lucky enough to use Coca Cola's "Happiness Machine"...created to deliver random surprises to people as part of Coca Cola's Summer of Happiness promotion. I would say this promotion did exactly what they intended.

Now here's how the trip stacked up for each of us:

Nikki: Fun! My thoughts are above

Eddie: Fun! I love anytime that we can go a Marriotting hahaha (especially when we don't have to foot the bill). It was a great stay at the Marquis this go round and who wouldn't enjoy a night of Cheesecake Factory deliciousness in the comfort of your room. The World of Coke is always a good time, because it brings back memories of one of our first dates (everybody say "awwww"). All in all a great trip minus those times when Jezebel (aka the GPS) decided not to work properly...grrrrrrr. Even though Atlanta seems to be a big one-way Peachtree Street, we managed to navigate where we needed to go and didn't kill each other in the process.

The rundown:
What we did: Spent the nite at the Marriott & had a tour at the World of Coca Cola Where we did it: Atlanta, GA
How far away it was: 2.5 hours from home
How much it cost: Mostly free! Free!
How we saved dollars: We used our free anniversary nite (worth $109) at the Marriott by using our Marriott Rewards card (only paid for parking), and we used Coke Rewards to claim two general admission passes...a savings of $32!
Would we do it again: Yes

Adventure 1: Whitewater Rafting (Things You Do For Those You Love)

2012-08-05T18:53:00.001-07:00

For Eddie's 31st birthday, I thought it would be incredibly nice of me to give in to the pressure and do something that he has wanted to do for the entire duration of our relationship. I finally agreed to go whitewater rafting (what was I thinking?). If you know me (or have read my bio), you probably can tell that I'm not exactly outdoorsy, athletic, or all that adventurous when it comes to anything beyond say...riding the carousel at Dollywood or Busch Gardens (oh and p.s. I can't really swim all that well either). After postponing the trip multiple times due to unforeseen circumstances (i.e. me making up any excuse not to go), Eddie and two of our closest friends, Regina & David, headed out of upstate South Carolina to make the trip to Hartford, TN where we would raft a six mile stretch of the Upper Pigeon River.

Eddie and David have both rafted before, so for Regina and I this was a totally new experience. We decided to use Big Creek Expeditions to captain our maiden voyage. Their website described the trip as "Fully-guided 6 mile stretch of whitewater bordering Smoky Mountain National Forest. Class III and IV rapids, beautiful mountain surroundings, and family fun. For ages 8 and above. No experience necessary."

Good thing...since I definitely had no experience. Here's a little word of advice...don't google class III and IV rapids before you go experience them. The day before our trip, I sent Regina email after email with information on the possible dangers involved in this grand adventure (I was totally hoping she would back out so that I could blame it on her…didn’t happen). My greatest fear on this trip was that I would fall out of the raft, and float away...alone...no one would be able to rescue me...and I would live out the rest of my years on the river. I'll admit…I can sometimes be a little dramatic.

After arriving at Big Creek Expeditions, we signed in and were given a short orientation on rafting safety. All I remember from this orientation was to never let go of my paddle, and if I fall out, ball up into the fetal position so that the river hydraulics don't suck me under and kill me. Oh, and I believe they also may have said "don't panic if you fall out." Right. The presentation was actually quite detailed and delivered with some humor...so I did crack a smile or two.

(picture courtesy of tnvacation.com)

Professional guides were assigned to each group (ours was Jim). We geared up in very fashionable lifejackets (or personal floatation devices as they called them) and fancy helmets. We looked very amazing (not) and very much like we knew what we were doing (also a complete illusion). Jim made sure we were safely fitted into everything and tried to put my worried soul at ease. Poor Jim.

We took a short shuttle ride (via an old school bus) to the put-in part of the river and got in line to load our raft and ourselves into the water. Keep in mind, participation is required. I wasn't just "along for the ride." Jim would shout out commands to paddle every now and then...usually never more than two or three strokes at a time...nothing too strenuous. I have to admit, it was pretty exhilarating right from the start. The class II and III rapids provided us with little sections of waves and small drops. In between there would be some drift time to talk a little with the people on our raft, readjust our positions and check out the beautiful mountains around us.

The class IV rapids were not nearly as bad as I imagined they would be, and for the most part were actually, dare I say, fun. The only downfall (literally) of the trip was when Regina fell out of the raft. While I was thankful that it was not me (Praise the Lord!), I did totally panic when we went over a drop and I saw her flip right out of the raft. Fortunately, I had learned what to do in such a situation (yeah...I really did listen during the orientation)...so I was able to save her life. No big deal.
You're welcome Regina.

The entire float lasted about 1.5 hours. The takeout point was where we had originally parked, so after we changed clothes (in a rather sub-par bathhouse) and were able to view pictures from the trip that Big Creek had taken. Everyone is given the option to buy a cd of Big Creek’s professional photos at the end of the trip...a cool memento to have albeit a bit on the expensive side (30 bucks!). I would definitely recommend taking a disposable waterproof camera…and getting some shots of your own.

Overall it was a good intro to whitewater rafting, and I can't believe that I am admitting here that I would actually do it again. After our day on the river, we were all pretty hungry, so we ended our day with a stop in Asheville, NC to eat at the award winning Tupelo Honey restaurant. We'll do a review of this little joint later on. It was a fun trip...with fab friends and some phenomenal food.

Happy Birthday Ed (you owe me).

Now here's how the trip stacked up for each of us:

Nikki: Fun! My thoughts are above.

Eddie: Fun! I had a blast taking on the Pigeon River again…This was an excellent gift for the amateur thrill seeker in me… It was just enough excitement to get my adrenaline pumping with the class IV rapids, but it was also calm enough to not freak out our maiden voyage novice rafters McWifey, RKB, and the random folks from Michigan who were lucky enough to be in our group. I would definitely love to do this river again, or maybe even something a little more intense now that we all have our rafting merit badge LOL… Big Creek is an efficient company that eases the fears of beginners with experienced guides who are very knowledgeable, and who gave a humor filled explanation of what to expect… They also did a good job staying on track and maintaining our group schedule… If this will be your 1^st time taking on a river adventure, I highly suggest you stop and pick up a waterproof camera to record all the great memories you are sure to encounter.

Regina: Fun! I thought there were going to be a lot more rapids; however, there was a lot of just drifting and floating down the river. I am embarrassed to say that I did fall out of the raft. However, my bestie Nikki and her husband Eddie pulled me to safety. Where was David you might ask? He was pulling all the lost paddles to safety. I was also upset with the pictures. I thought the company would take multiple pictures along the whole journey, but they just took many pictures at one rapid. Made me sad. The best part of the trip was hanging out with my fabulous friends and eating at Tupelo Honey in Asheville, NC. It was AMAZING!!! From the fresh made biscuits they serve before you get your meal to the homemade pecan pie! I'm just glad I got to scratch rafting off my bucket list.

David: Fun! The water was cold, and I couldn’t think of a better way to spend a hot summer day! I was also excited when I picked out my life jacket that it did not smell musty like I had been imagining! The trip to Tennessee was very fun-from the ride in the old school bus to the almost parking ticket in Asheville! Also glad we didn’t have to pay $30 for our pictures like the other riders in the boat! Can’t wait for our next adventure!

The rundown:
What we did: White Water Rafting with Big Creek Expeditions
Where we did it: Pigeon River in Hartford, TN
How far away it was: A little over two hours
How much it cost: Normally averages around $40/person
How we saved dollars: Groupon offer...$34/person which included a CD with 15 pictures (worth $30)...4 Groupons purchased made one of ours free for additional savings!
Would we do it again: Yes

Well Hello There!

2012-07-30T18:31:00.002-07:00

I'm guessing if you have made it here to this post you are:

1. our mothers
2. our closest friends who we begged to click our new link or
3. random followers (and friends) from our previous two blogs.

At any rate, we're glad you're here, and we hope you'll stick around and share our site with your friends and family if you enjoy it...and why wouldn't you enjoy it? :)

We're doing something a little different this go round. If you know us...you know we love to go out...out to eat...out to a concert...out to the theater...out to festivals...you get the picture. However, you may be surprised to know that we are not millionaires. Not having a lot of money can sometimes be a bit of a stumbling block when it comes to going out or traveling. We're not trying to go into
debt just to spend a nite at the Marriot if you know what I mean (Marriotts are my favorite...and sometimes quite tempting though). So we definitely look for and take advantage of steals and deals.

It is important to us to find the time and means to create what we consider to be fun memories and experiences, and those experiences are what we plan on documenting here. We hope to capture in real time our adventures dating (yup, we still have date nites), vacationing and more.

We'll share our thoughts (good or bad) and our tips on where you can best spend your hard-earned dollars and time. We're using our own rating scale to show you how we think our adventures (from the big to the small) measure up. Each post will end with our rankings (an F scale: FAB, FUN, FINE, FAIR, FAIL) and a rundown with the specs on locale, price, and tips.

While we'll most likely stick to reviewing Palmetto places (and our neighboring states from time to time), we're hoping anyone living in Anywhere, USA will find what we write at least entertaining...you never know what you might learn.

We think we're pretty relatable, and we have some awesome friends who are willing to help us out and share their thoughts as well. Suggestions are always welcome...so if there is somewhere that you've been wondering about, let us know...and we'll add it to our our list. The site is still a work in progress...so hang with us while we figure it all out.