This cathedral was built in the late 1600s but a cathedral has stood on this ground since the 600s.  Many state events occur here including funerals and weddings.  The cathedral we know now was designed by Sir Christopher Wren, a name we would hear many, many times through audio tours during our vacation (he was quite a popular architect in his day, among other things).  We found the Tube to be very easy to navigate and arrived at St. Paul’s in a timely manner.  The three of us paid our entrance fee and began our individual audio tour, exploring the cathedral floor.  No photography was allowed inside the cathedral itself, so I can’t share with you the beauty.  (You can see photos on their website, linked above)

After exploring the entire cathedral floor, the three of us decide to climb to the top! One of the things we debated about doing in London was riding the London Eye (the giant ferris wheel looking contraption on the river).  My friend Jaclyn suggested that we could get just as good of a view of the entire city from the top of St. Paul’s, and since we’d already paid to get in, and the weather was nice, to the top we decided to go!

We first climbed 257 steps to the Whispering Gallery, inside the dome looking down on the cathedral floor.  Here, apparently, if you whisper something, someone on the other side can hear you as if they were standing next to you.  There was a service going on down below so we didn’t try it out, though, and headed back to the stairs to head to the next level.

Another 119 steps brought us to the Stone Gallery, and the outside.  I’m a bit afraid of heights so I was happy to see the safe stone walls, with decent openings for cameras, when we arrived.  I also loved the bright blue skies!

The view took our breaths away.

You can see the London Eye in the distance.

After taking in the gorgeous view, we headed back inside to head even farther up! This is when I started to get quite nervous myself (and needed to give myself a pep talk), but I made it Another 152 steps up to the Golden Gallery.

It seemed as though we could see to forever…

After a few more photos, back inside and down 528 steps to the cathedral floor.  I was impressed with traffic flow, as those going up used separate stairs from those going down.

Once back inside we spent some time exploring the crypt.  Some of the most famous individuals buried at St. Paul’s Cathedral are Lord Nelson, Lord Welling, and Sir Christopher Wren (the architect who designed it).  Again, no photos since we were inside.

As we headed out, though, I snapped up a few of the outside.  Unfortunately, the Occupy movement has set up camp outside, ruining a bit of the beauty of the site, but they were easy to walk around, thankfully.

Our first stop in London was a great one, filled with history, and beautiful sites –inside and out.  We next headed to lunch and then off to the Tower of London!

If you missed our review of iDine, check it out here

When we entered the lobby and checked in with the hostess, we were told it was a 5 minute way and were asked if that was ok.  Only in the airport would that be a concern! With how long our layover was, we were willing to wait much longer and happy for the quick seating.  Once seated, we were presented with many mouth watering menu items, but we found the prices to be a bit steeper than we expected.  Most of the entrees were in the $20-$30 range and while we are used to prices like that in Las Vegas, we didn’t expect that in an airport.  Truthfully, the prices affected what we decided to order – after being on vacation for two weeks, we just weren’t interested in spending a lot of money on an airport dinner.

The Husband started with a beer – a Houston local, ZeigenBock.  It came in a nicely frosted glass which was appreciated and was a reasonable price for the large size (about $8).

For his entrée, the Husband ordered the Seafood Cobb Salad which was jumbo lump crabmeat & shrimp over an iceberg & spinach mix with applewood bacon, bleu cheese, avocado & tomato with a vinaigrette on the side.  He went with the medium size instead of large, due to the price and was content with the size.  The shrimp and crab were good, but there was nearly all iceberg and just a splash of spinach. 

As a side dish, the Husband ordered the Dirty Rice at the enthusiastic recommendation of the waitress (who was very sweet and personable).  It was a sharable size, well priced (less than $3) and the Husband really enjoyed it.  He thought it was one of the better dirty rice dishes that he has had.

I settled on the Fried Shrimp and Catfish platter. Both the shrimp and catfish were fresh and cooked to my liking.  I really enjoyed the breading used and appreciated that the fried seafood wasn’t greasy at all.  I was disappointed in how many fries there were in comparison to the shrimp and catfish – it appeared to be more of a plate of fries with a side of seafood rather than the other way around.  All very tasty but not what I want my dinner money to go toward.

Overall, while I’m glad we had some good seafood and good service, I’m not happy with the prices we paid.  My fried seafood/french fry dish was nearly $20 and the Husband’s small salad was $12.  I wondered if the prices were jacked up due to being in an airport but checking out the menus for the other locations on the website, it appears that they’re consistent across the chain.  The next time I’m at IAH and looking for table service, I probably won’t go here again.  However, if you’re in the mood for seafood and have time for sit-down service at IAH, I’d recommend Pappadeaux.  The food is good and the service is good – just expect to pay a few extra dollars than planned.

When driving down Croatan Highway, two things help identify the brewery/restaurant: the red silo near the street and the wind turbine high above.  The Outer Banks Brewing Station was the first wind powered  brewery in the country, with its installation a few short weeks after the Husband and I were married!

Once seated, we all jumped on the beer menu to see what favorites were still around and what new ones were available to try.  The Husband and our friend Jeff ordered (left to right) the Conquest IPA and the Standard Issue Pale Ale.  Both were excellent.

I ordered the Dog House Tripel which came in a 9oz sifter and it was fabulous.  Smooth, complex and creamy – just as the menu described.

The Husband and I had not had any breakfast since we were busy moving out of the group beach house that morning so we were ravenous when we arrived.  We each ordered our favorite appetizer immediately while we continued to look at the menu.  He ordered the hushpuppies (as good as ever!)…

… and I ordered the fried okra (I <3 okra).

The lunch menu is limited to appetizers, salads, soups, sandwiches and some steamers so I had a bit of a difficult time trying to decide what to order (there are a lot of entrees I really like but they’re only available for dinner).  I settled on the North Carolina Pork BBQ Sandwich from Hardison’s Barbecue in Jamesville.  It was served with hushpuppies, sweet baked beans and cole slaw.  I thought the baked beans were excellent but wasn’t too impressed with the sandwich this time around.

I had a faint memory of enjoying the side dish of macaroni and cheese and decided to order it as well.  Unfortunately, looking back at old posts, they have changed this menu item.  Previously it was a thick and creamy truffled mac n cheese.  This dish on the other hand was macaroni and very watery yellow sauce that barely tasted like cheese.  I’m not sure what went wrong here but I only had a few bites before pushing it away

The Husband ordered the Yard Bird sandwich which was a fried chicken breast with cilantro lime aioli with potato wedges on the side.  The Husband really enjoyed his sandwich and I snuck a few of his potato wedges that were top notch.

The Husband’s father and our friend Jeff each got the Cuban sandwich and appeared to enjoy them. 

Overall, we love the OBBS.  While my meal was lackluster, everyone else enjoyed their food and the beers are always fabulous.  Can’t wait till the next time we’re back in town!

Feel free to check out our other blogging experiences at OBBS!

• September 2010
• September 2009
• March 2008 (our wedding!)

The markers note where each of their flights landed.  The fourth one is way off in the distance.

Busts of the brothers.

It was a cool, breezy, cloudy day which made for an enjoyable visit.  The sand wasn’t hot so we were able to be barefoot and I was able to enjoy taking photos…. which is what I’ll leave you with.  Enjoy!

I realized when we parked, Captain George’s is right across the street from one of our favorite OBX restaurants – the Outer Banks Brewing Station (hopefully we’ll get there some time this week)

When we popped inside, we were immediately seated (yay off season!).

We were impressed with how nice the restaurant seemed.  Compared to some other seafood buffets, from what I’ve been told, this one is much nicer.  The others have much more of a cafeteria feel.  The buffet is in the center of the restaurant and well set out.

The first row included the cold salads, raw oysters, and she-crab soup…

…as well as the peel and eat shrimp.

The next section included the side dishes such as the green beans, zucchini, broccoli, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, and meats (chicken and steak).  This ended up being my favorite section!

The next section was the seafood buffet.  It included steamed items as well as fried and casseroles. 

Last but not least was the dessert section.  It was quite large with a variety of sweet options.

While the restaurant offered a wide variety of beverages, the group stuck to waters, soda, and lemonade.  Our waitresses Jennifer and Jennifer were top notch.  They were very friendly and very on top of clearing our plates and getting us more to drink.  I particularly enjoyed the veggies (although there was a bit too much butter on them) and the mac n cheese (not great, but pretty good).  The seafood, on the other hand, all tended to be a bit overcooked for my taste as well as many of my dining mates.  With many places where you can buy fresh seafood, have it steamed on site, and bring it back to your beach house, I don’t believe we’d pay $30ish per person, plus tax, plus tip again at a seafood buffet. 

As you walk in, the following sign greets you to explain the restaurant’s style.

While it appears to be cafeteria style, you can pick up a handful of things at the bar and they bring you all of your hot food to the table.

I was first fixated on the chalkboard options at the entrance… that was until I saw the options farther down on the menu.

The Husband and I made our selections and paid and then found our friend Jeff who had already received his food.  The place was pretty deserted by the time we sat down as it was close to closing time plus it’s the off season.  From what the Husband says, though, this place is usually pretty busy and once I received my food, and experienced some of the customer service, I could see why!

While we waited for our hot choices, I snacked on some strawberries.  (I enjoyed them more later with some of the chocolate on one of my dishes.)

The Husband pointed out the hand-painted quotes all over the ceiling.

And I enjoyed the other bright colors and art throughout the restaurant.

For breakfast, I ordered the French Toast with Chocolate Monkey topping (chocolate chips and bananas).  The dish was huge and I look forward to some leftovers for breakfast tomorrow!

For the table I ordered Smothered Hashbrowns.  They were good, but even better when the Husband put one of his over-easy fried eggs on top.  Egg yolk goes very well with fried, cheesy, bacon potatoes.

As I mentioned, the Husband ordered some eggs over easy as well as the Monster Biscuit Sandwich with Sausage.  He chose grits as his side since we already had smothered hashbrowns coming.

Our friend Jeff ordered the Sausage Gravy & Biscuits which the Husband had a taste of.

Overall, the food was flavorful and filling.  The service was top-notch (they came around and routinely refilled the coffees and fountain drinks) and they were all just incredibly friendly.  I was impressed with the experience and I see why the Husband gets excited to see it every time we visit.

(Looks like we went to the Kill Devil Hills location and that they also have one in Kitty Hawk!)

Luckily, we made it to a shuttle and made the cut-off to get on the first one we made it to and we made it to our plane with a few minutes to spare!

Our bags did not, though.  

And we had a 3 hour drive ahead of us!

Luckily, we had planned to have dinner in Richmond before driving to Nags Head so I convinced the Husband that if our bags were on the next flight, we could wait for them (otherwise, who knows when we’d see them again).  We attempted to make a claim with the airline but they decided to hold off until after the next flight which would arrive 3 hours later.  Off we went to dinner!

When the Husband and I met, he didn’t like sushi.  It was so sad.  Luckily, though, on our drive down to Charlotte to look for a place to live (way back in the day) involved a stop in Richmond to see his friends from college.  Those friends, who are awesome, introduced us to Sticky Rice… and turned the Husband into a sushi convert! Our first experience left such an impression on us that when we learned that they opened a location in Washington DC, we tried to check them out during one of our visits. Unfortunately, that was not meant to be (tiny restaurant, very long wait for a table).  Ever since, we’ve been wanting to go to the Richmond location, but when are we ever in Richmond?!?!? As soon as we booked our flight to the east coast though, dinner in town was at the top of the list.

Once we got our rental car, we headed straight there.  Luckily, since we landed mid-afternoon, we were able to get a table as soon as we arrived.

We were seated in a sunny corner which gave me a decent view of the whole restaurant and sushi bar.

First thing I knew we’d have was the Bucket of Tots.  Tater tots are the best, especially with chopsticks and secret tater tot sauce.

While the Husband picked out our sushi, I ordered our beers.  They have quite a list of bottled beers and a short list of drafts. 

The drafts were exactly what we wanted though – Sam Adams Oktoberfest and Fat Tire.  Yum!

As he picked out the sushi, I noticed that they’ve also opened a location in Baltimore.  Hopefully it’s a bit bigger than the DC one so I can take my Maryland fans to it without a reservation way in advance

I also photographed their “to-go” location StickyToGoGo which is right across the street.

After enjoying our tots and beer for a bit, our sushi arrived. 

From left, clockwise to the bottom right, we had the Fantabulous Amazing Roll – A spicy inside-out roll with lump crab meat, cream cheese, and cucumbers topped with tuna sashimi; the Goochland Roll – Smoked salmon, goat cheese, scallions, and sesame seeds; Unagi (eel – the Husband’s favorite); and Sticky Balls – Tuna, crab and sriracha rice in an inari pocket tempura-fried and topped with tobiko, scallions, wasabi mayo, eel sauce, and sesame seeds.  All were delish and left us quite full.

Overall, the food lived up to our hyped up memory and we looked forward to eating here again and finally trying the DC and Baltimore locations one day.  The service, however, was a bit lacking.  Our waitress was a bit standoffish but since we had what we needed in terms of food and beer and we weren’t rushed out, we enjoyed our food and took our time. 

Toward the end of the meal, I called the airline and confirmed that our luggage did indeed make the next flight out so we had a little bit of time to kill.  With our stomachs full, and having spent the last two days in cars and planes (except for our quick run through ORD), a walk was in order.  The weather was perfect for it and since I hadn’t walked through Carytown before, we headed that direction.  Carytown has a reputation as being a trendy part of midtown Richmond, somewhat like Georgetown in DC but uniquely different as well.

I snapped photos of some of the scenery as we walked…

As we wound down our walk, we stopped for some homemade ice cream at Bev’s.  While the ice cream was good, I couldn’t get past the fact that its neighbor is a nail salon and the fumes were wafting in.  It was nauseating and took away from my ice cream enjoying experience

When we made it to the airport, our bags were just coming off the carousel! We grabbed them and headed on our way to the Outer Banks! No traffic made for a super smooth and quick drive.  See you from the beach!