Inspiring Travel and Wellness. Join me for adventures above and below the ocean, exploring nature, luxury travel experiences, spa and wellness activities.
The temperature is starting to cool off and people around metro-Phoenix can finally venture outside with less fear of catching fire, or at least it feels that hot all summer long here. Today a friend and I took my dogs out for a walk along Tempe Town Lake, the man-made lake in the middle of bustling University town Tempe.The park around the Lake is home to many festivals and concerts, so be sure to check out upcoming events here.
I prefer to plan my own event at the Lake. Bring a picnic basket for a fun family activity during the day, or romantic get-a-way in the evening. There are plenty of bike paths, walkways, shade trees, and benches. The dogs love to walk around the lake with me. There are mountain views to the north of the lake and the park is well kept and clean.
The main attraction is the lake, and there are quite a few activities to enjoy on the water. Today we watched people sailing, kayaking, fishing, and on paddle boards. There is a boat rental office on the south side of the lake for small boats, hydro bikes, and kayaks.Lake or land, the sunset is worth hanging around to watch.
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 starterYellow squash saladgnocchi pastaSalmonDesert, 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!
Le Chocolat du Bouchard is a delightful, little, neighborhood chocolate & coffee shop located in Downtown Naperville (Chicago suburb in Illinois). They have a variety of chocolate everything!
Chocolate, and More Chocolate
The decor is charming, the entire store is inviting you to come in and enjoy a slice of chocolate cake with your coffee and a lazy afternoon.
The espresso is top quality, great with a dash of chocolate or delicious on its own. The service is consistently good.
If you are hard-core, then try a slice of cake with your coffee. They offer gluten-free, milk or dark chocolate, and many flavor options to choose from.
Yum!
June 2014 Update – Chocolate Shop Expansion!
They have added an extra room with more chocolate related gifts, chocolate bar, and this gorgeous chocolate apothecary for even more selection of chocolate goodies!
I like visiting museums. I am fascinated by engineering and basically how stuff is made. Recently, while in Chicago, we toured the Museum of Science and Industry. Like everything in Chicago, it was not a cheap visit.
With so many things to do and see, here are my favorites; interactive exhibits, like the tornado and hot-air balloons from the Science Storms, an actual 727 airplane suspended from the building, vintage firetrucks, and displays of vintage & modern aircraft and spacecraft!Above the basic admission, they offer extra tours, exhibits, and other “add-ons”.
A captured German U-boat (submarine) basic exhibit is included in the general admission, with option to add-on a guided tour. If you have time, definitely add the tour! Great for children 10+, the tour is informative and just really neat! Two doorways are cut into the side and you walk (almost) the entire length of the boat! It was amazing to see the navigation stations, kitchen, bunk beds, torpedo storage, and so much more!
WWII German Submarine at the Musuem
Our final add-on was the coal mine tour. This is the original and has been a permanent exhibit since 1933. The coal mine is a great family activity, perfect for Children 5 and up. The tour starts in a working coal mine elevator and includes a quick train ride and lots of fun-facts. There is working equipment that spans old and modern mining techniques.
There were many other exhibits and activities that we wanted to see, but our trip was cut short due to lousy transportation. If you are visiting from a Chicago-suburb, it is much easier to drive directly to the museum and pay to park. Otherwise, you may experience a significant delay on the bus or train. There was an event downtown that resulted in many bus routes being detoured, so we ended up in the worst part of South Chicago for a bus transfer. I would not even recommend walking from the train station at 55th/56th. If you really want to take the bus, or have no other options, the X28 is the best option.
I really enjoyed our visit to the museum and will plan to go back on our next visit to the Chicago area.
June 2014 Update – Made it back to the museum and brought my two favorite little girls, ages 4 & 7 years. They loved the coal mine tour, and earned a ton of stickers for participation and correct answers during the tour.
We went on a “free” day and the museum was packed with people, mostly school children. The extra cost add-on tours were a break from the bus loads of kids and other families enjoying the museum at no cost. For a family of 4 or more, the free day is really worth it, if you can handle the crowds and noise.
There is currently an add-on tour of Treasure of the Walt Disney Archives that displays various Disney props and costumes. There is also a hands-on drawing portion of the exhibit. The girls were mildly interested, but spent most of the entire 10 minutes in the exhibit starting at the cartoon clips shown on multiple screens. I adore all things Disney, but this was just a waste of time & money for the girls and adults. Save your money and spend 10 minutes looking over the images from the website, they offer better views than those in person behind the display glass.
The Fairy Castle was a nice break from the crowds, even thought it is part of the free collection the exhibit enclosure automatically limits the number of people at a time. The multi-level castle has an enclosed garden, ballroom, library, and so much more.
There are many interactive activities and games for the kids. Including solar car racing, life-size hamster wheel, hot-air balloon launches, trains big & small, and a miniature rocket launch.This is absolutely one of my favorite museums, and once again, one of the highlights of every visit to Chicago!
While in Flagstaff recently, I discovered Vino Loco wine bar. This is a darling little boutique wine bar, located in downtown Flagstaff, walking distance from the Monte V. Vino Loco stocks many varieties of wine, including some great local Arizona wines.
Due to the altitude, and my resulting diminished tolerance for wine, I decided to try the wine flights in order to try as many different wines as possible. Prices are reasonable for flights, by the glass, or by the bottle.
It is one of the best selections for hard to find Arizona small batch boutique wines. The staff is friendly and they offer a few cheese & fruit platters to accompany the wine. My next trip to Flagstaff will certainly include Vino Loco!
The park around the Lake is home to many festivals and concerts, so be sure to check out upcoming events here.
Lake or land, the sunset is worth hanging around to watch.
