Carolina Renaissance Festival

On Saturday, the Husband and I finally made it to this year’s Carolina Renaissance Festival, conveniently located just north of Charlotte in Huntersville, NC.  We’ve both been to the Maryland Renaissance Festival and we attended the Carolina Renn Fest last year.  We were looking forward to going again this year, but when October hit (the festival is in October and November each year at a permanent location) we realized that our travel schedule was just too much! Luckily, this weekend we were both home and the festival was still going on.  We had great weather too!

 

The festival is open on Saturdays and Sundays from 10am to 5:30pm.  We headed up around 1pm (after putzing around and being lazy).  There was a bit of a scare when we realized we were low on gas as we sat in traffic slowly inching our way to the festival grounds.  Luckily we made it with out running out (and made it to a gas station after the event)!

We had the option to buy tickets online (or at local grocery stores, I believe), but we waited to buy them once we arrived at the ticket stand.  The traffic and the mass of people as we entered suggested it would be crowded, and crowded it was!

For those of you who have never been to a renaissance festival, you might have heard stereotypes of festival enthusiasts.  While they are there, often in costume, lots of families and non-enthusiasts attend as well, so if you haven’t been, don’t be afraid!

For those in costume, you’ll find those in handmade outfits… some with wings…

Others in more expensive and formal attire…

There are many stores in which you can buy costumes.  They vary in price, style, quality, and accessories…

There are tons of things to entertain the kids (young and old)!

Rides…

Children Catapults! (harnesses and trampolines)

Elephant and camel rides…

Lots and lots of games…

Paint Your Own Pottery (This is called Raku Pottery based on the way it’s fired after painted.  The Husband and I did this last year and had a lot of fun.  You can’t wait until the end of the day, however, as it takes a handful of hours to be ready.)

and a Petting Zoo!

There are many stages with shows occurring all day long…

And what renaissance festival would be complete without a joust?

Of course, we were looking forward to trying the food! The range of food was quite large and many were not what you normally would think of as renaissance or festival food.  There was soup in bread bowls, pizza, desserts, and many others.

We tried the fried mac n cheese on a stick and the chik n mac on a stick (a chicken finger with fried mac n cheese).  While the Husband enjoyed his, I did not enjoy mine as much as I think I did last year

Later on, I tried the corn on the cob (at the same stand as the turkey legs).  Also disappointing It left a weird film in my mouth so I threw it out…

I tried a slice of pizza and that was better than the other items.

Just as we were heading out, I was in the mood for something sweet so we stopped at the Monk’s Bakery.  I again went with traditional fair food with the funnel cake.  Unfortunately, this was also a poor choice It was very thick (almost cake like instead of doughnut like) and luke warm.  The Husband had a chocolate chip cookie which was tasty.  He just had all the luck food wise!

Knowing the Husband would want you to see this, I also include a picture of the carillon, an instrument of 48 bronze bells.  We didn’t hear it played this year, but it is pretty darn cool and amazing!

While the festival was much more crowded than when we attended last year, we definitely had an enjoyable time.  If you find yourself in the Charlotte area in October/November, we recommend you check it out if you have a few hours.  If not, be sure to check out if you have one in your area.  It’s fun for the whole family!

Lunch at OBBS

This is the last of the catch-up restaurant posts! We hope to catch up on the posts from our Christmas 2008 vacation to Europe soon! I promise

Back in early September, we went to the Outer Banks with a bunch of friends.  One night we went to our favorite Outer Banks restaurant – the Outer Banks Brewing Station.  We love it so much that the next day we returned with one of my best friends (and her boyfriend) who coincidentally was in the area at the same time

We started with an order of the fried okra.  Okra has to be one of the best things I’ve been introduced to (food-wise) since moving to the south (right next to pimento cheese dip – Yum!).  This did not disappoint!

For our entrees, I went with the carolina pork bbq sandwich with hush puppies and beans.  As with their other items, this was great.

The Husband ordered the bratwurst with sauerkraut and a small beer sampler…

I’m glad we were able to get two visits in to the OBBS while in town Both meals were great and lended to fun experiences with good friends!

Bubba’s

Oh goodness! I was perusing our “draft posts” list and found uploaded photos from a trip to Virginia Beach back in August!  In August and early September, we made it out to Virgina Beach to see my sister and brother-in-law 3 times! During the second trip, our grandparents were visiting and we decided to go to one of my sister’s favorite low key local seafood restaurants: Bubba’s Crabhouse & Seafood.

It’s located right on the water.  If we’d been in the boat, we could have docked next to the restaurant and come on in for lunch.  Instead, we just drove over

Being in Virginia Beach, there was of course lots of seafood options as well as burgers, salads, and sandwiches.

I started with she-crab bisque.  Yum!

The Husband had a crabcake sandwich and fries.

My sister had one of her favorites: a cheeseburger with crab on top.

I went with a salad with tuna (if I’m remembering my fish correctly).  What I do remember is that this salad was AWESOME! I definitely recommend it.  The cheddar was definitely freshly shredded and oh so creamy.  The fish tasted fresh and was seasoned nicely.

Sorry for the delay on this posting! If you’re in the area and haven’t been, check out Bubba’s.  If you ever have to wait, there’s a fun bar right next door right on the water to grab a drink while you wait.  Enjoy!

Pittsburgh’s Architecture.

One of the things I noticed the first time I went to Pittsburgh, was how beautiful the architecture was.  I imagined Pittsburgh as having a very dingy, dirty feel.  I figured that after years of smelting iron into steel, a fine, thorough film of filth would overlay everything in the city, and this would only be punctuated by typical big-city street trash.  Not so!

I was pleasantly surprised to find a city that was remarkably clean.  Not only was the fine layer of filth non-existent on all but a few buildings, but the city was generally devoid of trash and other filth.  Not only that, but the city’s architecture was a very pleasant surprise.

In any “old” city (old by American standards), I expect great architecture in the churches.  I only got a couple churches, here, but they both qualify.

Look at how CLEAN the CHURCH is.  Bright and pristine!

Beyond the churches, though, there’s a lot of stone in the city, of which I am a big fan.  Municipal buildings, homes, and office buildings have stone architecture, with spires and towers, all over the city.  This is a municipal building.

Here is a house on the North side of the city.

Here is a small house beside the second church (above) that is accented with stone.  It also has a gorgeous view of the city.

Beyond the “old school” and almost gothic look of several of the buildings, the city revels in its new architecture, too.  Here is a glass building with battlement-like parapets on the top.

And another building celebrates the steel heritage of the city, being made of HUGE steel girders.

It all goes beyond the structures, though.  Buildings throughout the city are trimmed with arches and magnificent attention to detail.  I tried to capture a couple of them in these pictures.

Even this building, which is attached to a parking garage, and I believe is associated with bail bonds, is remarkably-trimmed. It’s hard to see, but it’s fastidiously decorated on the awning and between each floor.

Also, you can really see how clean the STREET is in this picture!  It’s just amazing.

After realizing that great architecture was a part of the city, I did a little looking.  Indeed, I am not alone.  Evidently others realized the architecture is spectacular.  Frank Lloyd Wright even has multiple buildings in the greater Pittsburgh area.

So hats off to the good people of Pittsburgh that take great pride in their city.  If you have a chance to get to Pittsburgh, go see the downtown.  If it’s warm, walk around and take it all in.  If the weather is freezing, and you have access to a car, just drive around, and admire the buildings.  You won’t be disappointed!

Dean & Deluca

Yesterday, after participating in the Charlotte Runway 5K, Kath, Matt, the Husband and I decided to meet up again later in the day for lunch and pedicures (for the girls) and books and beer (for the boys).  Knowing that we’d be eating a lot at our respective Halloween festivities, we wanted to go light with our late lunch and decided to go with Dean & Deluca for sandwiches and salads.

My first exposure to Dean & Deluca was in college watching one of my favorite shows at the time: Felicity (Anybody else love the show??)  My first actual time getting to go to a Dean & Deluca was while living in Washington, DC (the city proper).  There was a location in Georgetown and I remember having some amazing macaroni & cheese!

Since becoming friends with Kath, I’ve been to both Charlotte locations and go to them when I want to splurge on some amazing salad!

It was a gloomy day here in Charlotte so we decided to sit inside instead of outside where there were plenty of tables looking over a fountain.

Before Kath and Matt arrived, the Husband and I perused the many display cases and shelves of yummy gourmet foods.  There were cakes…

Other desserts, mini cakes, tarts, and pastries…

A hot and cold food bar… (where I would have found mac & cheese if they had any!)

And chilled beverages…

In addition to the prepared foods, you’re able to have salads, sandwiches, and pizzas made from scratch for you.

As planned, I got a small salad.  I went with their House Salad (which I love!).  It has mixed greens, goat cheese, roasted red peppers, pine nuts, and balsamic vinagarette on the side.  They don’t skimp on the goat cheese and it’s awesome!

Because it was slightly chilly, I was also looking for something to warm me up.  I went with a small Tomato Ravioli soup.  Lots of fresh vegetables and large raviolis.  I would definitely get this again!

The Husband went with a Ham & Brie sandwich which he had heated up on the panini press.  He said the sandwich was just “ok” – there were onions in a sauce that were just way too strong for his taste :-/

On the side, he tried the Dean & Deluca Spicy Potato Chips.  We each tried one and agreed that they weren’t at all spicy but were very tasty.

Kath’s salad unfortunately had a lot of lettuce in it that had gone bad.  However, she took it up to the counter and they gladly made her a new one that was way better.

This was a great light lunch before we headed off for our pedicures and books/beer

Have any of you been to any of the other Dean & Deluca locations? What did you think?