Inspiring Travel and Wellness. Join me for adventures above and below the ocean, exploring nature, luxury travel experiences, spa and wellness activities.
A welcome retreat this year (and any year, really) for me is the Park Hyatt Aviara Resort in Carlsbad, California. Right on the edge of the drive versus fly decision from Phoenix, San Diego, California is a quick trip. When it is just too darn hot, California is close by. The November trip is our third visit to Carlsbad this year, each was a long-weekend out of town.
Aviara Family pool
The Park Hyatt Aviara is a luxury resort with an amazing spa, great restaurants, good family pool, and a 21 and over adult tranquility pool where we spend most of our time.
When visiting any of the cool spots in New York state, like Lyndhurst Castle, there are many great dining options. Half Moon located in Dobbs Ferry is my favorite mid-range ($20-30 plate dinner) restaurant with spectacular views of the Hudson river. Half Moon is much better than nearby Sunset Cove (great view, lousy parking, and last time a couple people in our group did not feel well after eating the “special”).
There is plenty of parking right out front, and it is walking distance from the train station.
Half Moon Prime Rib
In the low tourist season of autumn, Half Moon is offering daily Blue Plate specials. Fortunately for me, Monday night’s special was Prime Rib with mashed potatoes, asparagus and choice of soup or salad all for $19.95! Delicious, and prepared a perfect medium rare.
They even served dinner on actual blue plates.
The wine list starts at $10 glass or $35 for a bottle. Overall, they have a decent selection of wines from all over the world at pretty reasonable prices. This visit we enjoyed a $52 bottle from Spain, and it perfectly complemented the Prime Rib!
On previous visits, I have enjoyed eating seared tuna, lobster mac & cheese, delicious soups, and various salads. Half Moon serves consistently good food. Service is certainly better during low season, and on crowded nights it can take quite awhile for service.
Inside Dining
Reservations are recommended, especially during high season in summer. The outside patio is stunning and fills up fast! The patio was too cold for me during my mid-October visit, but we were able to get a table for four with a spectacular view, and without reservations.
The entire city of San Juan was a pleasant surprise. It is not quite modern America, but a blend between downtown Tucson and a historic town that time really does not closely pay attention to. At 18 degrees north of the equator, the weather is fantastic and warm year round on the beautiful little island.
We arrived at the port in San Juan and explored the old part of town on foot in a few hours. In old San Juan there are narrow cobblestone streets, historic forts, and gorgeous views of the water. All of that walking made us hungry, and thirsty. As a US territory, my smartphone had excellent coverage and thanks to Open Table we found Barrachina for dinner.
Barrachina courtyard
Famous for the origin of the Pina Colada, it was the best Pina Colada that I have ever tasted! The food was amazing and fresh. Barrachina is reasonably priced, providing great service, and amazing food.
We started with Grouper Fritters that were fresh, perfectly prepared (not too greasy for breaded & fried fish), and delicious. Due to all of our walking before dinner, these yummy appetizers did not last long enough for a picture.
Mofongo beef, chicken, and shrimp is a fried green plantain dish, that can only be described as a flavor explosion. My mouth waters just remembering how good it tasted. The spices reminded me of Spanish cuisine, complex and mild that would not count as “spicy” compared to any Mexican dish.
Red Snapper dish
The ultimate treat was the local caught, grilled whole red snapper fish with shrimp and putanesca sauce. Yes, it is a 24 ounce entire fish with scales, eyes, tail, and face. Admittedly, I skipped the eyes and tail. The fish alone could easily serve 4, then they added shrimp, rice, veggies, beans, and hearty tomato putanesca sauce. Two of us barely put a dent in this wonderful dish.
Sunset in old San Juan
With so much to see just in San Juan, we did not explored much of Puerto Rico and now I have another must-explore list to my future travel plans. We will definitely dine at Barrachina on our next visit to Puerto Rico, which I hope will be soon!
Last night I attended the Taste Chandler’s Culinary Festival in Downtown Chandler. Single ticket was $35 and Couples admission was $50. All tickets included 12 drink tickets, redeemable for 12 drinks! Chandler was smart to offer free bottles of water. You can eat and drink for 5 hours, which was a great value for the price. We visited both lounges and went back to the Vintage 95 Wine Lounge a few times sampling the different wines. 12 tickets went a long way with the generous pours in the lounge! Chandler did a good job organizing the event, with hand wash stations, plenty of rubbish bins, and music.
This is a great opportunity for restaurants to showcase their food. Some of them achieved this goal, while others saved me time and money to ever visit their establishment. This is a tasting event, about a tenth the size of Taste of Chicago, but a similar concept. Each vendor brings small plate portion or a small single serving. This allows you to sample a little bit from everyone.
Places now added to my “skip it” list:
Dos Gringos Mexigrill steak tacos tasted like low-quality dog food. If I step foot into a Dos Gringos it will be to order a drink, maybe.
Irish Republic offered Jamison meatballs that went straight into the garbage after one bite. I fear a second bite would have ended my night right then and there.
If you are going to do one thing, then do it well:
Coach & Willie’s lobster bisque was delicious. We were actually in line for another vendor, when the woman beside me and asked if we had tried the soup. Then she insisted that we immediately get our soup before they run out. It was a little salty on the finish, but tasty and flavorful.
Grimald’s Brick Oven Pizzeria mixed it up with perfectly flaky cannolis.
Latitude 8 Thai Grill quenched our thirst with a refreshing vanilla vodka thai tea, mixed right in front of us.
Le Cordon Bleu
Le Cordon Bleu is a culinary school that I always look forward to. They served a choice of pasta, salmon with rice, or filet mignon with seasoned mashed potatoes. It was one of our first plates to taste, and I am glad we arrived before they ran out of filet.
Yoli’s cafe served chicken tacos with sweet cabbage slaw. I had never heard of this little gem, but I plan visit them soon. She accommodated my special request, and gave me a coupon.
Superstars:
Pearl Sushi Lounge served sweet chili edamame, salmon poke with avocado “tacos”, and a crunch roll. The greeter was informative, provided coupons, answered questions, and gave a complete description of everything we sampled. I will definitely use the coupon, and plan to wear pearls for the Girls and Pearls Thursday night happy hour special!
Bourbon Jacks Bar and Grill started with a pretty good pulled pork sandwich, then finished with a fantastic black bottom pecan pie. The pecan pie was so good that I ate 2 servings!
Udder Delights is the ice cream store for my favorite little local dairy, Superstition Farms. The pumpkin ice cream was fantastic and served with an even better pumpkin ricotta custard. The pairing was pumpkin heaven! Even people that said they really do not like pumpkin agreed it was tasty good.
Shimogamo is one of my favorite sushi restaurants in town. Since they were
Shimogamo preparing sushi on-site
preparing and serving food in an outdoor festival, they were did a great job with the delicious salmon and white fish sushi with crunch rolls. They brought a portable refrigerated case, hand-made everything right there by their best sushi chef, and customized each plate with preferences. It was by far the
Sampler plate from Shimogamo
BEST dish served at the festival, and it is not nearly as good as what they serve in the restaurant. Seriously, they are that good!
Quiessence is one of my favorite restaurants in the Phoenix area and the choice for my Birthday dinner. The menu changes daily featuring fresh, local ingredients. The best dining option is in the Tasting Menu that is a 5 course chef’s choice (you do not order any specific food, but you can specify Vegetarian and/or food allergies). An optional wine pairing is available, and highly recommended (if you like delicious wine).
My Birthday Tasting dinner included a chilled vegetarian starter, bread (do not eat too much of the bread, pace yourself!), meat & cheese appetizer (not quite fast enough with the camera), yellow squash salad with yogurt dressing, perfectly fluffy gnocchi pasta, salmon and fingerling potatoes, lamb with stuffed mini bell peppers, and desert course (complete with birthday candle).
Chilled vegetable starter
Yellow squash salad
gnocchi pasta
Salmon
Desert, complete with birthday candle
Quiessence is only open for dinner. There is limited patio dinning and plenty of window side tables to enjoy the beautiful surrounding area on The Farm. For a more romantic experience try to plan your dinner before sunset. Be sure to make reservations. Open Table is my favorite on-line reservation system and the mobile app is really easy to use.
Arizona Restaurant Week is a great opportunity to try a three course meal at a much reduced fixed price to try out the scrumptious food from Quiessence!
