We are Marriot Gold members and recently found ourselves with a free night to use.  After some debate, we settled on the Marriott at Eagle Crest Ypsilanti as our base for a food-filled weekend in the Detroit/Ann Arbor area.  Eagle Crest is a golf course, and the Marriott sits right in the center of it’s facilities.  As you can see, the golf course was still covered with snow when we visited – not that we would have golfed regardless.

This Marriott’s lobby has been recently “reimagined,” and it shows.  The space is bright and contemporary, with a lot of cozy little nooks, a bar with piano, and a bright, cheerful breakfast area (far right).  I was a little disappointed that we weren’t given a free continental breakfast, as we typically have been since hitting Silver and Gold status with Marriott.

Our room was also nice, and spotlessly clean.  The bed was comfy and had tons of pillows.  Unfortunately, we didn’t sleep very well.  I think this was because we never got the temperature quite right but I attribute that to operator error. 

The Ypsilanti Marriott has an excellent fitness facility, with multiple treadmills, elliptical machines, stationary bikes, free weights, and a great golf course view.  We had the place to ourselves for much of our 9:00 a.m. workout and loved it. 

This hotel is a bit out of the way for any one thing, but well-located for those who wish to be within ten or fifteen minutes of many things or for whom the golf course is the destination.  Service is good, the facilities are new and modern, and our overall experience is quite pleasant.  Overall, this hotel earns a 4.5 out of 5 from me and I would definitely return or recommend it.

I’m a little surprised that I haven’t yet blogged about the Chicago area institution that is Giordano’s.  After all, it’s been around for decades and my family has been dinning there at least a few times a year since I was probably fifteen or so.

There are Giordano’s locations scattered all over the city and its suburbs.  We nearly always visit the Prudential Plaza branch (directly off Michigan) but have also stopped in for a pie at the Randolph Street location and, most recently, the Oak Brook location.  All the branches have a similar feel and equally delicious food, although the Oak Brook site did seem a little newer and less “authentic” than the downtown ones.

Here’s an interior shot.  Giordano’s has pretty traditional “pizza joint” decor, with red and white checkered table cloths and a mixture of tables and booths. 

We usually start our meal with an appetizer, which we sometimes regret by the time the pizza comes!  These are the mozzarella sticks, which have an excellent texture.  For a larger group we tend to order the combo platter which comes with fried mushrooms, zucchini, and mozzarella sticks.  A slightly healthier alternative is the antipasto salad which comes with a variety of meats, cheeses, onions, and olives.  Most appetizer items cost $7-$10 and all are very sharable.

Now, for the main event – PIZZA!  There are several types available, but you want the stuffed variety.  Although we often play around with toppings at other pizza places, here we usually get extra cheese and that’s it.  After all, you can’t improve upon perfection.  Expect to pay about $15-$30 per pie, depending on size and toppings.

Giordano’s pizzas take at least 30-40 minutes, but the end result is well worth it – ooey, gooey cheese, firm yet flaky crust, and flavorful tomato sauce topping it all off.  A single piece may fill you up, but I usually try for two.  DELICIOUS!!!  No wonder Giardano’s is a Chicago institution!

If these pictures have somehow failed to sell you on Giordano’s, you can read my in-depth rave about the restaurant here.

Due to a Saturday night social engagement, we ended up spending Valentine’s weekend in South Bend, Indiana.  Unfortunately, it didn’t occur to us until several days before that restaurant occasions would be absolutely essential.  Fortunately, Parisi’s Restorante Italiano had fairly last minute availability for a 7:00 p.m. dinner.

This was our first time at Parisi’s.  Despite the restaurant’s close proximity to Notre Dame I’d really never heard much feedback about it while I was a student there.  Overall, this little-hyped Italian eatery is actually a relatively pleasant surprise.  It has a cozy houselike feel with sports-related photos lining the walls and diners segregated into several different dining spaces.  The food is quite affordable.  Our four-course meal for two, with drinks, cost right around $60.00 and there was even a $30.00 dinner-for-two menu for those willing to choose from specified entrees.  My only major complaint regards service – our server seemed a bit flustered and disorganized, but this could be chalked up to the extremely busy weekend. 

We started off our Italian Extravaganza with an antipasto platter, which we almost always order when available.  It included salami, soppressata, provolone, pepperoncini, olives, cucumber, and peppers atop a scattering of lettuce.  The meats were particularly good.  Our second course consisted of fresh baked bread and butter (delicious) and iceberg salads (boring).  I barely touched my salad in the interest of saving room for the main course.

For our main courses, the hubby had chicken parmesan and I ordered gnocchi with tomato sauce.  As you can see, the presentation wasn’t anything special.  Food quality, however, was solid on both dishes.  The breading on the chicken was perfectly cooked and the gnocchi seemed homemade.  I was a proud member of the clean plate club and found the portion to be ideal for my hearty appetite.  While gnocchi was the obvious choice for me, I did notice an extensive “design your own pasta” section of the menu as well as plenty of pasta, chicken, fish, and veal dishes.

Finally, we couldn’t end our meal without dessert – a heart shaped tart that was described as “strawberry” but tasted more “cherry Poptart.”  This dessert was definitely the weak link of the meal, thanks to the liberal use of a sweet, artificial tasting filling in lieu of fresh fruit.  If you need dessert at Parisi’s, do yourself a favor and stick with the spumoni instead! 

Fortunately, we were stuffed enough that the lackluster dessert didn’t spoil what was overall a pretty tasty and pleasant meal.  Parisi’s is definitely a safe bet for a quick, affordable Italian meal post-game or while passing through South Bend.

We don’t usually venture out on Valentine’s day weekend, but circumstances require us to be out of town this year.  After waiting until the last minute, we (unsurprisingly) had trouble snagging a dinner reservation.  If you’re in the same boat, don’t panic – opentable.com still shows availability for a party of two at quite a few of my favorite midwestern restaurants.

Act fast, as these reservations won’t be available for long!  Keep in mind that some of these places may feature a “special” (i.e., limited and extra expensive) menu, so be sure to call ahead to avoid disappointment.

1.  Scholar’s Inn -  Indianapolis, IN – February 13th and 14th, availability from 8:00 p.m. onward.

2.  La Scala – Lafayette, IN – February 14th only, scattered availability between 6:00 p.m. and 9:30 p.m.

3.  Kil@Wat – Milwaukee, WI – February 13th, availability from 9:30 p.m. onward; February 14th, scattered availability all evening.

4.  1913 Room – Grand Rapids, MI – February 14th only, availability at 6:00 p.m. and from 9:00 p.m. onward.

5.  Cielo Restaurant – St. Louis, MO – February 13th, availability at 5:30 p.m. and from 9:15 p.m. onward; February availability from 8:30 p.m. onward.

6.  Rhapsody – Chicago, IL – February 13th, availability at 6:00 p.m. and from 8:30 p.m. onward, February 14th availability through 7:45 p.m.

In the alternative to venturing out for dinner, you can always do what we usually do and curl up on the couch with a pizza and some movie theater-sized boxes of candy!  One year we even went to McDonald’s, and it was a blast.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

I love IMAX movies, to the point that I regularly watch them in video when I can’t find one in theater that I want to see.  Well, now through March 18, 2010, my all-time favorite IMAX – Wired to Win: Surviving the Tour de France – is playing at the Museum of Science and Industry’s Omnimax theater.

This film follows racers Baden Cook and Jimmy Casper of France’s elite FDJeux team throughout their preparation for and riding in the 2003 tour, while also teaching about the brain and its role in athletics.  While this may not sound particularly interesting, this movie is seriously SO good that I am still raving about it more than two years after seeing it.  You can read my full review here.

Wired to Win is currently playing at 10:00 a.m. and 11:40 a.m. Monday through Saturday and 11:40 a.m. on Sunday.  You can buy tickets online on the museum’s website.

On our recent trip to Frankenmuth, we pretty much ate our way through the weekend.  Our first taste of Bavaria took place at downtown’s Zehnder’s, famous for its all-inclusive chicken dinners.  Honestly, we were torn between Zehnder’s and its sister restaurant at the Bavarian Inn, but the neon sign outside of Zehnder’s won us over in the end.

Zehnder’s serves lunch and dinner and is open from 11:00 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. daily.  Patrons can choose which of several dining rooms they prefer to be seated in.  Most of the ones we peeked in looked substantially similar, with white table cloths, a mellow color scheme, and seasonal floral arrangements.  I cannot ever imagine needing reservations at this massive restaurant, ever, as the assorted dining rooms can fit a total of 1,500 guests! 

Here’s a shot the restaurant’s charming exterior, with aforementioned sign.  The other photo shows our dining room of choice.  I can’t remember what it was called (they all had names), but I know it was to the left after we entered.  We were seated in the center of the room, directly behind the pictured table. 

Zehnder’s offers both a traditional menu and a more famous family style option.  We breezed right past the schnitzels and fish dishes to order the All-You-Can-Eat chicken dinner for $18.95 per person, adding mixed Bavarian sausages for $2.00 more.  Don’t worry, we did have more traditional German food a couple of days later at the Bavarian Inn which offers an almost identical menu.  I have to say I liked the chicken dinner better, and Zehnder’s also won out for atmosphere and service.

Our meal kicked off with this rather unusual selection of appetizers.  As you can see, we received a light noodle soup, crunch garlic toast, and fresh bread in two different varieties.  To accent the breads we were given various spreads, the best of which was the slightly spicy cheese served with the garlic toast.  The coleslaw-looking stuff to the middle left never got touched.

After spending some quality time with our breads and spreads, we dug in to the main course.  This included fried chicken, dressing, mashed potatoes with gravy, buttered noodles, and green beans.  Most of this menu is standard, with the vegetable option I believe changing seasonally.  The buttered noodles (homemade) came coated in cracker crumbs and were the best I’ve ever had.  Other standouts included the juicy fried chicken and the fluffy mashed potatoes.  There was really nothing I didn’t like, with the possible exception of the dressing.  This is an all-you-can eat meal, but there was so much food I think we only had seconds of the noodles and possibly the potatoes.

Finally, our meals ended with two small dishes of homemade ice cream.  I was expecting hand-packed but soft serve was a nice surprise.  The hubby ordered plain vanilla (boring!) and I, as you can see, opted for chocolate and vanilla swirl.  This small dessert was a perfectly sweet ending to a perfectly delicious and enjoyable meal!

I think I have accumulated a small but loyal readership over the past couple of months, so I’m curious who I’m talking to.  Please humor me by answering my (extremely low-tech) poll below about where you live!  If your state/country isn’t listed and you’d like to give me more specific information in the comment section, that would be much appreciated.

Yes, I know Christmas is long past, but consider this tardy post an early entry for next year’s holiday season!  Chicago’s Museum of Science and Industry is well-known for its annual holiday celebration – Christmas Around the World.  We visited for the first time this year to check out the decorated trees as well as the museum’s newest exhibit, “You! the experience.”  The final verdict?  I would definitely return for the Christmas display, if not for You!

The Museum of Science and Industry is located about ten minutes from downtown Chicago. We often ride the Southshore Railroad and exit at the museum stop. The museum is also accessible via Metra from downtown. If you drive, there is a nice attached parking garage available.  Current museum hours are 9:30 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. every day except Sunday, when the facility opens at 11:00 a.m. 

Standard adult museum admission costs $15.00, which is a substantial increase from a few years ago.  Kids are $10.00.  The Christmas Around the World display is included with standard admission, but there are always several extra cost experiences.  During our recent visit these were The White House: A Look Inside ($5.00), U-505 Submarine optional on-board tour ($8.00), and Omnimax movies Wired to Win, The Human Body, and Mysteries of the Great Lakes.  Because of the museum’s large size, we rarely do the extra charge exhibits.  I will say that I saw Wired to Win in Louisville and it was fabulous. 

The Christmas Around the World display is dominated by a central giant tree flanked by dozens of trees dedicated to countries around the world.  We explored the trees in a counter-clockwise pattern.  It took about forty-five minutes to see them all, and we didn’t even read every word of the plaques detailing holiday customs in various countries.

Here are a few of the trees.  My absolute favorites were Greece (far left) and Japan (far right).  I’m not sure how “authentic” any of the trees are in terms of being what would actually be on display at the holidays in the listed countries.  They seem more like symbolic representations with iconography specific to these places.  In any event, they’re very pretty.

We had a very difficult time finding the tree for Poland, where my people are from.  Finally we reached it – it just happened to be the last one we came to!  Near the display, there is a little gift store set up where visitors can buy ornaments representative of their heritage.

After we finished admiring the trees, we headed over to check out You! the experience.  This newish exhibit is an “interactive” look at the human mind, body, and spirit.  Quite frankly, it seems a little redundant to me in that some of these themes are already touched on in the museum’s Genetics display. 

The You! gallery, while offering some interesting exhibits, suffers from many of the same problems as most displays of its type – long lines and frequent malfunctions of the interactive experiences.  We very much wanted to try a game where visitors can move a ball back and forth with their brain waves, but after waiting fifteen minutes behind a mother and son who had camped out there we gave up and moved on.  We attempted to play with a touch screen maze but found the table to be non-responsive to our touching.  I did like the simple display pictured to the bottom right which allowed guests to lift the weight gain associated with eating the pictured snacks each day for a year.  Not that it had much effect, in that I’m drinking a soda while writing this entry and will probably enjoy a candy bar shortly!

After fighting our way through the crowds at You! we stopped in to experience two of my favorite things at the Museum of Science and Industry – the Brain Food Court and Mold-A-Rama!  The museum’s food court is one of the best I’ve seen at this type of facility, offering a wide variety of tasty healthy and not-so-healthy foods.  My mom opted for the taco salad, while I had a tasty pretzel bread sandwich.  Christmas cookies were also available during our visit. 

As for Mold-A-Rama, The Museum of Science and Industry offers several different types.  This visit, I made myself a lovely grey wax U-505 submarine to add to my collection. 

We had a great day at the Museum of Science and Industry.  Although we don’t visit here as often as the Field Museum or Shedd Aquarium, we are going to make an effort to make the trip more frequently.  Perhaps we’ll go in March to see Science Storms, the soon-to-be-opened addition to the museum’s collection.

My blogging has been on hiatus for the past month as we enjoyed a fabulous trip to Key West and cruise on the Disney Wonder.  However, we’re now back to business as usual, which means the Midwest and great Midwestern things! 

Today’s post is about a rather unique museum, the Muhummed Ali Center in Louisville, Kentucky.  I’ll admit, I passed this one by on my first trip to Louisville and was dragged there kicking and screaming on our recent visit.  Anyone who knows me knows that I am not a sports fan, period, much less a boxing fan, so I fully expected to be bored out of my skull.  As it turns out, this facility is as much about history and social commentary as it is about boxing, and fully kept my attention for the duration of our two-plus hour visit. 

The Muhummed Ali Center is located in an attractive, modern building in downtown Louisville with a very nice exterior courtyard.  Center hours are from 9:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday and from noon to 5:00 p.m. on Sunday.  Adults cost $9.00 and children $4.00.  Various discounts are available, including $1.00 off for anyone who can show a ticket stub from another Museum Row participant (Louisville Science Center, KentuckyShow!, Glassworks, etc.)  Students, even graduate ones like my husband, save $4.00.  I hope the museum is making enough money to stay open, as it was virtually empty when we visited at 2:00 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon.

The museum’s exhibits span several floors.  If you have limited time, be sure to see the films, as they are very well-done, and the olympic torch display, which is located on one of the lower floors.  My full write-up on the museum can be found here.  Overall, the Muhummed Ali Center, while perhaps not a Louisville “must-see,” is certainly a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

Because flash photography was prohibited, I have very few interior photos of the museum.  I did snap a shot of the interactive torch film (above), which dramatically details Ali’s lighting of the torch at the 1996 Olympics.

While most of the museum is adult-oriented, there are a few kid-friendly displays including this tile mural created out of hundreds of children’s drawings.  There is also an interactive boxing display where kids can put on gloves and try their hands in the ring. 

My little sis recently moved to Louisville for work and school.  While I miss her, I appreciate that the move adds this fun, funky city to our weekend road trip rotation because it rocks!  Louisville is chock full of great food and interesting attractions, so you can expect more than a few blog entries about our past and future journeys there.  I’ll kick things off with a quality breakfast joint – a must-do in any city. 

Toast on Market is located in Louisville’s trendy downtown area, just blocks from numerous art galleries and museums.  The clientele when we were there included couples, families with children, and groups of friends.  Most diners seemed to be locals.  Like many other shops and eateries in this area, Toast on Market has a “warehouse” feel with exposed brick walls and high ceilings.  The decor is relatively low-frills with just a few pop art paintings for color. 

We arrived at Toast on Market at around 9:00 a.m. on a Saturday morning and were seated immediately.  However, the restaurant really filled up shortly after this, and folks were standing, sitting, and wandering around in the available waiting room.  No one seemed to mind, probably because these seemed like regulars and free coffee was available. 

Toast on Market has all the breakfast stand-bys at reasonable prices.  I ordered two scrambled eggs with cheese, white toast, and hashed brown casserole ($4.75).  This was just about the best breakfast ever.  The hashed brown casserole had a delicious crumbly coating and the bread tasted homemade.  I was definitely a member of the clean plate club!

As usual, my mom wanted something relatively healthy so she ended up with a modified version of my entree – two eggs over hard, a fruit cup, and toast (also $4.75).  She, like me, was pleased with her order her order.

  The hubby cares little about healthy when we’re on the road.  He ordered this gorgeous brioche French toast dish with strawberries and whipped cream ($7.50) and a scrambled egg on the side ($1.50).  I’m not a big fan of brioche myself, but he loved this super-sweet dish. 

Service was speedy and we completed our meal in about forty-five minutes.  Overall, we left Toast on Market happy and our total bill for three, including tip, was right around $25.00.  This is not bad at all for brunch in a big city.  I would return to this restaurant in a heartbeat for its amazing hash brown casserole, reasonable prices, and friendly neighborhood vibe.