Travel

Archive for "Travel"

Breakfast at Mimi’s Cafe

Posted on February 25, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

I didn’t have to play until 3 PM on Thursday so Karen and I decided to have a nice leisurely breakfast that morning. We took an Uber to a quaint cafe in the Desert Ridge shopping area called Mimi’s Cafe. It was really only a 15 minute walk but neither of us wanted to walk to be honest. LOL.

The place is super cute. And, at 8 AM, we were the first customers there. They used to open at 6:30 AM before the COVID pandemic but they reduced their hours and still haven’t changed it back.

I’ve never been to France but I think they were going for the French cafe feel based on the interior decor.

I had the option of a side of toast, muffin, or croissant with my breakfast and, after our server Jessie told us that they bake their own muffins fresh daily, I had to get a muffin. This was probably the most delicious chocolate chip muffin I’ve ever had. It was so fresh that steam came out when I cut into it.

This was a good-sized muffin too — plenty for both me and Karen to enjoy. Here’s a pic of it with Karen in the background for perspective.

Here are some pics of Karen’s delicious French toast. The first one wasn’t done all the way so they had to remake it and bring her out another. It came out perfectly gooey the second time around.

I got to try a couple of bites and it was amazing. I will definitely go back and get this next time. I think Karen was happy with her meal. 😉

Here’s a picture of my meaty omelet.

Our server overheard us raving about the delicious muffins and wanting to bring them back to Wichita that he gave us four muffins to go – for free!

We gave one box to Lauren for her and Lea, and then we kept the other box. It came in handy over the weekend as we enjoyed them courtside while watching the pro matches. The Arizona sun heated them up perfectly and they were as amazing as they were had we eaten them fresh out of the oven.

The resort gave us a 50% OFF coupon code to use by the end of the year. I’m seriously contemplating going back with Brian. Until next time. GNG.

No Comments

Traveling to Arizona

Posted on February 24, 2021 by Ching under Food and Drink, Hobbies, Travel.

Last week I traveled to Arizona for my first out of town pickleball tournament. It was one of the big ones too — the first Pro Pickleball Association (PPA) tournament of the year — with over 1200 registered players. It was a bit stressful trying to get out of Wichita with so many flight cancellations due to the winter storms. My 7 AM flight on Wednesday actually got canceled but luckily Brian was able to rebook me on an noon flight. The only downside is, instead of arriving in Arizona around noon, I wouldn’t arrive until 6 PM but I was grateful to be able to get there at all.

Obligatory airport pic. (Photo credit: Brian)

This is what Wichita looked like when I left.

Massive construction at the Denver airport.

Quickie airport lunch — hotdog and fries.

The first order of business upon my arrival at the resort — dinner and drinks at Roy’s. The drinks were delicious and pretty but expensive.

Karen was completely hooked on these lobster potstickers.

I got us some calamari to share.

My katsu chicken dinner.

Special bread pudding dessert.

Chocolate souffle.

Lauren Stratman joined us for that first dinner.

We had a nice time visiting over delicious food. I was so grateful I made it to the resort without any issues. I heard about the problems everyone was having with their car rentals and Ubers and I’m glad that Brian and I prearranged a car service pickup for me. Anyway, more about the trip next time. GNG.

No Comments

Downtown Eureka Springs

Posted on July 4, 2020 by Ching under Travel.

While we were in Eureka Springs a couple of weeks ago, Brian and I decided to ride the trolley and check out the downtown area.

Here are some pictures that we took that day.

Face coverings are the new norm these days.

We did take a few mask-less photos too.

Here’s a panoramic photo of downtown.

Brian found a fun store that he liked.

We also found some “shit” at Silly Chile.

Here’s a couple of pictures of Brian.

It was fun exploring downtown. We did miss out on Local Flavor, a highly recommended downtown restaurant, because they closed that weekend because of some health issues. We still had a great time overall, though.

That’s all for now. Until next time. GNG.

No Comments

Our Little Treehouse

Posted on July 3, 2020 by Ching under Travel.

Brian and I stayed in one of the cute treehouse cottages in Eureka Springs, Arkansas over Brian’s birthday weekend this year. I went to the Treehouse Cottages website last fall and, after some research, I booked us the Lofty Lookout cottage.

Here are some pictures of the treehouse cottage we had for the weekend.

Our treehouse had a lovely walkway that led from where we parked our car to the cottage door. It was a lot better than the other treehouses where you had to climb a bunch of steps. All of the treehouses are identical on the inside but almost all of them have stairs that go up to the treehouse. This was the only cottage with a nice walkway. I definitely picked the best one.

The deck wrapped almost all the way around the treehouse.

The treehouse was almost 30 feet above the ground and surrounded by beautiful trees. Inside it was both comfortable and cozy.

Here’s a picture of the fireplace. We didn’t need it, of course, because it was summertime but I’m thinking we should definitely return in the winter and fire it up. I think it would be amazing to stay in during the winter.

Here’s a picture of the little kitchen with a small table and two chairs.

Here’s a picture of our four poster bed, and of Brian enjoying it.

And here’s a picture of the heart-shaped tub surrounded by windows so you feel like you’re out in nature.

And a picture of me in it. The soak was relaxing but I think it would be even more awesome in the winter time.

Brian was a party pooper and didn’t want to get in.

These next set of pics are of the nearby treehouses.

This one is the Bungalow treehouse cottage.

This one is the Whispering Wood treehouse.

This one is the Towering Pines treehouse.

The Bungalow treehouse has a sunrise view. Towering Pines and Whispering Wood, like our treehouse, both have a sunset view. I figured Brian wouldn’t be down for being woken up by the bright sun so, besides the nice walkway instead of the tall stairs, the sunset view is one of the selling points of the Lofty Lookout for us.

Here are some pictures of our nightly visitor, Roscoe the raccoon.

Roscoe came to raid the bird feeder every night at nine o’clock.

Our cottage had a guestbook with fun messages from previous guests like this one.

I left our own note which wasn’t quite as fancy.

It was so beautiful out on the deck that we had to take a few selfies.

And I took this great photo of Brian.

It was the nice we decided to grill out.

Everything was perfect except for all the bugs. LOL. Brian lit a bug stick but it didn’t phase the bugs one bit. We still got a bunch of bug bites.

Other than the bug bites, we thoroughly enjoyed our stay. The cottage was lovely and I would totally stay there again. More pics from our weekend in Eureka Springs on the next post. Until then. GNG.

1 Comment

Angler’s Restaurant in Eureka Springs

Posted on June 28, 2020 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.

Brian and I found a great little restaurant in Eureka Springs while we were there celebrating his birthday there a couple of weeks ago. He liked it so much that we actually ate there twice. Here are some pics.

While we were there, I discovered a new beer I liked. It’s a grapefruit radler by Stiegl and it’s absolutely refreshing.

They had stringent rules at the restaurant. You had to wear a mask unless you were eating. Lucky for us, Brian and I came prepared and brought several of our Sofibella masks on the trip with us.

On our first visit, Brian got a chicken sandwich with French fries while I got a shrimp basket with sweet potato fries.

Brian liked the chicken sandwich so much that he ordered it again on our second visit. And we both like the fries so we got an entire basket of it to share.