Douglas Wyoming, home of amazing food and Danny Lindsey

Welcome to Douglas Wyoming! Yes that is myself standing next to a 10 foot tall Jackelope. Though they don't actually exist this creature has been a legend in itself just from people claiming to have seen a rabbit with horns out of its head everywhere around here over years and years. This little town was the perfect spot to hang out and explore, and we did just that. Besides having a surprisingly big and awesome museum in town, tons of bookstores to get lost in, and fantastic mountain views to appreciate, the food in Wyoming was pretty freaking good too!
  What i enjoyed the most about this trip was the different styles of food that i got to see all over the country, and this area that we were in was fantastic when it came to bbq and different kinds of sandwiches to eat. I have never seen so many different styles of bbq and what we ate, but more on that later. This was near the end of our trip, we still had Utah and Nevada to drive through, but we were definitely excited to be wrapping this trip up. I guess 10 weeks might be a little too long when it came to traveling the country, but hey we took our time to see family, friends, and the sights so it was worth it. The picture in the middle shows what Wyoming was like to drive though. Yes it was a lot of mountains and fields and hills basically but i enjoyed the scenery.

   I do miss my trip, and I think it was areas like the picture on the right that made me really miss it. If there is one thing you should know about me its that i love to drive scenic drives, maybe listen to my ipod after reaching my destination. This was a state where you couldn't help but stare off into the distance because it was simply beautiful.
    Now, in order to appreciate the final picture i have to put it into perspective. This was not in Douglas Wyoming first of all, it was a random little town that we drove through near the beginning out our adventure through the state. We had realized that we were going to have to drive a long distance after this town so we decided to find some food. This was a little restaurant that looked like it was on the edge of the road but in reality you had to drive down this narrow driveway till we got to a parking lot in the back. Keep in mind we were dragging a 20 foot trailer behind our car, so to say we were nervous about hitting something was an understatement!
   Nevertheless we managed to not only get down the driveway but end up in this massive hidden lot where apparently trucks park at! i don't know how they managed to get down the driveway but it reassured us that we could park around there. When we got to the restaurant and ordered i had no idea i was about to eat one of the greatest sandwiches ever. no joke i was amazed by how good this was.
 This was basically a cheese steak sandwich, plus what made it even better was that it had 3 different kinds of cheese on it! The curly fries that came with it were simply to die for; fried to perfection and loaded with flavor. The bread was nicely toasted too, which definitely added to the amazing taste in my opinion. Top this off with a nice cool root beer and you have yourself one epic meal!



So there you go, these have all be amazing places that i ate at over the summer. Im still working on a short film about my trip so when its finished ill be able to show you even more of my experiences and what i saw. As for now this is the end of my food blog, but do not worry i have another idea of blogging coming up! And with what i want to talk about it will definitely be an awesome blog of mine coming up. Thats all for now, till next time thanks for reading!

Wait, Niagara Falls is in Canada or the US??

Welcome to Niagara Falls! Its time, once again, for everybody to check out where i was lucky enough to get a chance to eat on this epic adventure of mine, haha. Now i had no idea whatsoever where Niagara Falls was to begin with. Im just saying that to be honest right from the start. I was surprised to hear that it was on the border of New York and Canada, and i was thrilled after visiting it because it was a lot of fun! What i found extremely funny was that as soon as we started walking across the bridge (located in the top photo) my phone started getting lots of messages from my AT&T provider, saying that i was in danger of getting international charges. Thinking quickly i went back to the United States side and phoned the company and explained the situation, and everything was just fine.
  One thing that was amazing to do at the Falls was the Maid of the Mist tour (about a fictional Native American princess who never existed but oh well)  Those are people on the boat we were on in the left side picture, and the views we saw....spectacular! The boat made its way upriver toward where the falls where and as we made our way upstream we saw so many great parts of each waterfall. Oh and we got soaked, thats why you see so many blue ponchos. Cool thing was we got them for free, and mine is still hanging in my closet as im typing this. One of the better things about this boat tour was that there was one guy who just didnt want to wear his poncho. I dont know why, maybe he just wanted to experience the mist coming from the water as it fell into the river, but at the end of the trip it looked like he might as well have swam up the river. Seriously, he was soaking wet haha.
    Anyways, Niagara Falls was a cool town to explore as well, including the many casinos that were lined up and down the streets just across the way from where the park was. Inside one of the casinos we went in to i found this dish pictured to the right. It is stuffed bell peppers with amazing french fries on the side. Not too fancy, yet just fancy enough for your average traveller. This was an awesome meal! The sauce you see was a rich yet just right red sauce with what appeared to be chopped up basil on top. Inside underneath the sauce was ground up beef seasoned to perfection. What was even better about this was it was buffet style, so whatever you got to eat they kept bringing it out to you until you were done and completely full!

This was one great meal. The meat and sauce were just delicious, and i fully enjoyed the atmosphere too. We had the hustle and bustle of the casino and the city streets but we also had the tranquil peaceful area of just watching the falls. If you ever get a chance to see Niagara Falls, please do! Just remember to bring your passport! The best views of the falls are on the Canadian side, where you can see the U shaped falls around you.
  As for the food, simply fantastic. Check this place out, and see if you can get a all you can eat meal too. Until next time, thanks for reading!

San Antonio, I love you

    Welcome to San Antonio! This southern Texas city is just a couple of hours away from the Mexico border, and naturally has some of the greatest Mexican food I have ever had in the United States. This city was just awesome to explore too! A lot bigger of a city than what i thought, it wasn't long before we found ourselves lost (something that came almost naturally to us with every new city explored on the trip) however with the help of some friendly people we ended up right at the Riverwalk. San Antonio has a lot more to it than first meets the eye, and I soon realized after we left town to head north and into Arkansas how much i missed it. 

    The city's downtown area is also where the River Walk is. This hidden lower level plateau of shops and restaurants was thriving with people and places to see. Even on a warm day such as the one we had the water and shade from the trees and buildings made it seem rather pleasant and cool. The sights were amazing too! As you walked along the water you had dozens of shops to look at, catwalks and staircases to climb and to cross the river, and lots of plaza areas to eat delicious food. I hurt my neck from trying to look at so many different things at the same time, it was one of those moments where you wish you had three extra pair of eyes on your head. The air was filled with smells of delicious food and the sounds of music and laughter. All of this made you feel right at home too!

     The Alamo itself was very interesting to see. I have always been a fan of it, and seeing the real thing was such a treat. It is a lot smaller than you might think, seeing as how only a couple of buildings still stand out of the entire fort. The plaza where tourists like myself walk around was actually part of the Alamo itself. However over the years it was built over by the expanding downtown area and is now a bustling part of city and full of shops and museums to see.
     As we continued on our adventure we realized it was near dinner time, thus we were ready to eat!  In enters our delicious food that you see pictured below. What you see in the bottom picture are steak fajitas with grilled onions and other vegetables, along with DELICIOUS refried beans and rice. On the side you see a healthy portion of sour cream, guacamole, and salsa. Add in a hearty portion of chips and a lime green margarita and what you get one was epic meal! (sometimes at night i still dream of

eating it)
   This was a restaurant that we picked at random walking alongside the River Walk. There were dozens of restaurants that smelled and looked delicious themselves so if you ever go you'll never be at a loss of where to eat. This is why San Antonio is a must see for places to eat and explore! The fajitas themselves were just cooked to perfection, plenty of spices and flavors to stand out on their own. The rice was tasty and the beans were perhaps the best beans I have tasted, no joke. They had a lot of flavor as well and was really just a nice highlight. San Antonio was a great place to see on our trip. I had no idea what to expect but man was i pleasantly surprised. I loved this city and the people, and of course the food! Thanks for reading, till next time!

Tennessee how i miss you

Welcome to Tennessee! Now this was one of my favorite states that we visited on the trip. I simply loved just the way Tennessee looked; it was full of color and just had a simple atmosphere to it that i loved to soak up and be in. We drove through Memphis and into Nashville, which is where we stayed for about 4 days.  The people in Tennessee were really nice too, something i was very happy to see. Everywhere we went we got polite conversations and helpful tips on where to go and what to see. What made this state even better was the amazing foods we got to sample at the restaurants. This is a state where fried chicken and bbq reign supreme. Our first day in Tennessee we stopped at a all you can eat buffet that had looked like it had once been a train station, and was remodeled. What followed was one of the greatest lunch experiences of my life. I left that buffet after tasting 3 different kinds of chicken, vegetable dishes that simply electrified your tastebuds, and a sense that my life was just that much more complete.
     This state really does love to cook, and it shows in the quality of the meals i got to eat in the cities. One of the best cities we visited, Nashville, was full of sights to see and food to taste that made you simply cry with happiness. I simply loved Nashville because of the simplicity of the city. It was beautiful and a good size city, dont get me wrong, yet i felt like i could find my way around the area after a few hours taking a tour of it. It was just beautiful too! There were huge, shiny buildings towering over you, a nice river walk with cruise boat tours, and so many different sights to see! After seeing old style recording studios where Elvis Presley himself sang at, i took a tour of the country music hall of fame. I even got a chance to see the Gand Ole Opry (the show that made country music famous) with the giant guitars standing out in front (shown in the top left picture) Once i was done with sightseeing though, it was all about the meals we got to eat!
      What you see to the right are fried crawdads. (yep) I

thought they were simply fantastic. The restaurant we ate at was just down the road from our KOA campsite, on the outskirts of Nashville. The whole area is filled with local bars, diners, and in this case a restaurant where locals can perform on stage trying to get noticed or just doing a show while you enjoy your meal. We sat down and proceeded to order this awesome appetizer. Now normally we dont start off with appetizers since we usually eat too much before the actual meal shows up, but this was a rare exception. This was one of the best things i had ever eaten, just the fried outer shell of each crawdad was enough, but the meat inside was just juicy and tender, and had a lot of flavor of its own. We quickly devoured the crawdads and potato chips that they came out on, and moved on to the main course.

 


"Now let me tell you something...." as my good friend Matt Skrabec would say if he were talking about this meal, this was simply splendid, and one of my favorite meals on the entire trip. What made this meal even more unique was the actual taste of the meat. It was great, yet also had a smoky taste to it. They definitely have a different style of cooking in the South. The meat showed just how much time the cooks put into the meal, making sure it was the best quality i could get. I thank them for everything! Now Nashville, Memphis and other towns in Tennessee have great restaurants like this one we went to. All you have to do is eat at the local diners. They're the ones who put all the time into making something unique for the customers and it really shows in the quality of the food! If there was one state that you would have to eat at, it would be Tennessee. Thanks for reading, till next time!

Utah, Canyons, Trains, Mormons, and Nachos??

   Welcome to Utah! I am continuing my taste buds adventure in one of the more beautiful states that we saw on our trip. We spent 5 long, humid, and windy days here. By exploring the Flaming Gorge pictured to the right, Salt Lake City, and The Golden Spike i go to see just how beautiful this place really is. This was the last week of the trip too, we had already driven through 25 states! Needless to say although we wanted to explore and see all these areas, we were also very tired and wanted to head back home soon! Our first trip into Utah was when we were staying in Wyoming actually. We drove into the state to see the Dinosaur National Park, driving through the Flaming Gorge on our way there. It was a beautiful site! Huge canyons full of different vibrant colors, even bigger fields of grasses and hills as far as you could see. We even saw a lot of the local wildlife there, including a badger that was poking his head out from the bushes as we drove by!
    Continuing on our adventure during the week, we officially moved into the state and camped in a small RV park just south of Salt Lake City. This was where we based our last full week of our trip as we began our last phase of exploring. The Day we left to go see the Golden Spike (pictured below) we stopped inside the city to see the Mormon Temple Square. This area was dedicated to those of the Mormon faith and though you couldnt actually go into the temple itself (you had to be an actual Mormon to do so) they were kind enough to let all of us tourists walk around their campus. I will say this, the Mormon people are very nice people!
     So there you go, a little look into the state that we went to. Now i want you to understand something; the whole last few weeks of the trip we had been eating the same kinds of food whenever we went out to eat. The states that we had been in before; South Dakota, Minnesota, and Iowa all have great food dont get me wrong, we were just in the mood for something back home, something different. As we drove along the highway towards Salt Lake City we drove into the little town of Provo and just happened to find ourselves in a little suburban community full of shops, parking lot malls, and wouldnt you know it one tiny little Hawaiian barbeque grill restaurant! There was just no question about it, we decided to eat there.                

 

   This place had it all! It was formatted so that you went up to a kitchen line and picked a dish with two sides to it, pretty much like Panda Express style. The foods there though were rich in smell and just looked appetizing. After several minutes of debating what to get i finally settled with bbq pork nachos. They came by themselves and were a somewhat unique thing to get at a hawaiian place, but i was assured they were quite delicious. As they handed me the plate of food over the counter i couldnt help but notice just how much food they gave me. As you can see in the picture below they gave me A TON of food! Yep that huge plate was just for me, and i knew right from the beginning that i could never eat it all haha, despite how much of an expert i was at eating nachos. What you see on this plate include a huge variety of things to eat like pork, tomatoes, cheese, and bits of other vegetables like onions and bell peppers. The workers there were true to their word, it was simply delicious.

    I just loved this plate of food. What was unique about the chips themselves was that they werent actually "chips." They were wontons (basically rice flour) that were fried to make the form of nacho chips. Either way i didnt notice that they weren't chips until my mom pointed it out. They were quite good! This little Hawaiian bbq place was definitely the jewel in the sand of dozens of local and chain restaurants up and down the street. I had a blast just exploring the state of Utah itself and one of the highlights of the trip was this order of nachos Utah did have awesome places to see, but this meal that we had for lunch was a great moment of its own. Thanks for reading, till next time!

Living it up Italian Style

On the East Coast in the state of Connecticut there is a small seaport town full of the smallest shops, restaurants, and museums you will ever see. It is a town where every local seems to know each other and you can immediately spot a tourist (aka me) The streets go up and down small hills as well as tiny parking lots scattered everywhere full to bursting with cars, and sometimes you even have to cross the street at your own risk! Overall though the town of Mystic is a great place to really take a step back in time and see what it was like to live during the 1800s on the edge of the sea, or if you are an antique collector it is the ideal place to get lost among all the stores. I had a blast walking around the alleyways between the shops, finding stores i never knew were there unless we had walked up a flight of stairs up one side of a building or gone down an alleyway on the other side. One thing i noticed was just how many bicyclists there were here. This really is a town for those who would love to jog, walk, bike, even skateboard their way around, it definitely is small enough to get around doing any of those.

 Now i am not a fan of seafood really. I do enjoy salmon or maybe fish and chips now and then, but really i am not much of a fan of fish in general.  This little town was just full of surprises though, and we realized that there were a lot of nice Italian restaurants everywhere! Italian food is my third favorite type of food to eat (behind Mexican food and Chinese food) so i jumped at the opportunity when my mother and our cousins talked about going out to get Italian food. I always wanted to try pizza on the East Coast and as you can see in the picture to the left i was successful in my influential vote haha. What you see here are two REGULAR size pizzas (i know right!?) the one in the back has pepperoni, sausage, and mushroom and the other is a chicken and pesto pizza. Needless to say they were both delicious! (and fairly priced too, we were surprised) What was awesome about the restaurant itself was it was an old style two story house that they had gutted and remodeled into a spacious dining area for many people. There was also a live band playing in the backyard that we could  hear (seating back there though was packed!) so we decided to enjoy the inside.
        Mystic is a lovely town; lots of green lawns, people kayaking in the river, old style ships at museums you can explore, and lots of nice restaurants to enjoy which we certainly did. So if you ever want to check out a nice place and see if you can blend in with the locals better than we did i recommend this little town for a fantastic experience and amazing style food!

Taos, New Mexico

Welcome to my new food blog! The next few weeks ill be updating maybe two or three times each week with a local food dish i had the pleasure of eating. It ranges from buffalo burgers, mexican food, seafood, Italian, Japanese, and lots of deliciousness. Im not exactly sure how a food blog works but i am adaptable, so ill just go with the flow and see how it works out!

What you are seeing is a steak enchiladas dish underneath sweet corn on the right, black beans on the left, blue corn chips, guacamole, sautéed onions, sour cream and very spicy salsa. (the hotter the salsa the better in my opinion) This came out on a very hot plate hence the red plate underneath, but man it was good! I always wanted to try Mexican food in a different part of the country other than California and lets just say New Mexico has its own unique style that definitely deserves to be checked out.

Now where can you get this meal? In Taos, New Mexico about a couple hours North of Santa Fe. It is located in the northern central part of New Mexico, and is really a nice area to visit. We found this place to eat in an alleyway just off the main Taos Plaza and wouldnt you know it, it was called the Alley Cantina haha. We sat on the patio outside because we had a dog with us. They were very nice to her though, i guess they were dog lovers themselves! They even brought a dish of water out for her which was nice because it was such a warm day that day.

The city of Taos is just a cool place to eat at too. If you ever want to walk around alleyways with shops and cafes in every corner then this is the city for you to explore. Its full of history and yes tourist attractions are everywhere. I had a blast walking around and what was great about this food was the quality of it. You could tell they took their time making it unique and it sure was beautiful to look at! i almost felt bad for eating it! (well, almost)

So there you go! ill be updating a new local dish i had in a few days. I wont be going in order from state to state, i think it would be more fun if i switched it up. So until next time guys, take care!