Travel & Leisure Diaries in Pictures

Bad Saint Restaurant in DC turned out to be good food after all minus the wait! My friend stood in line from 3:30 until the restaurant opened at 5:30 and this is on a Sunday.  When they opened at 5:30 we were the first one that missed the first seating.  So they took our number and told us we would have to wait for the next available seating which is 7:15-7:45.  We got seated at 7:30ish. That's a 4 hour wait! Is it worth the 4 hour wait? Probably not.  If I knew we'd have to wait 4 hours all together I would not wait. If we weren't waiting already for 2 hours we'd probably go home but decided to wait for another 2 hours just so we don't have to start over the next time.   I feel bad for my friend because her and her hubby waited in line while Chris and I were watching the Redskins game in a bar nearby. The Lambanog cocktail drink is tangy sweet. I just wish they do not add Calamansi juice because I like the sweetness of fresh Lambanog (raw coconut s...

We went to a concert with our friends at Jiffy Lube Live in Bristow,Virginia.  This is our second concert there.  Each time before the concert we would eat first. This second time we decided to go to  Sweetwater  Tavern & Restaurant because it's closer to the concert venue. Their food is pretty good in my opinion.  They have a full bar and their Mango Martini is delicious.  Lovely outdoor seating with a garden view and our waitress was really attentive to us.   I had their grilled Mahi-Mahi with spinach and creamy sauce and it was sooo good!  I forgot to take a picture of the empty plate after I ate the whole thing.  Hubby got BBQ ribs and it was also good.  Our friends both ordered steak and they said it was good too!

Since last year,we all decided that we will get together every Labor Day.  This year, our meet up was in Chicago where our host lives.  It was nice for us because we've never been to Chicago so we did a bit of exploring.  We did the Architectural boat tour and learned some interesting facts about buildings along the Chicago River. Photos below are from our River cruise.  We went to Eataly and tasted some sweet Italian wines.  We saw a baseball game at Wrigley Field, got some famous Chicago style pizza and I think what I like the best was when we sat down at the River walk with cocktails and watched people and boats passing by. Our reflection from The Bean! View from Cindy's Roof Top Bar!        Eataly is a Little Italian village in an enclosure like the one you see in city's downtown. We didn't eat anything from here but I am sure food is delicious.  We did have a glass of sweet wine for me...

Work trip to Abilene, Texas.  We did make a side trip to the Fort Worth Stockyards and Buffalo Gap.  This historic village is just 30 minutes from Abilene. Our new favorite restaurant in Abilene, TX is a steakhouse called Lytle Land and Cattle Company.  Their Cheese Jalapeno wrap with bacon is just delicious.  But the steak is to die for! And you know who's this guy right? Texas' famous long horn!