Birmingham Trip, Day 3

This morning we drove into Birmingham's downtown to see the sites. It's a very nice looking city with lots of hills.

When we drove near the Virginia Samford Theatre, currently home to "The Drowsy Chaperone," we decided to see where it was so we wouldn't get lost getting there tonight. It's a good thing we did.

The directions say it's on 26th Street just off Highland Avenue. Well, Highland Avenue is a difficult U-shaped street about 2 miles long with at least 10 right-angle turns. And narrow winding parts through lovely neighborhoods and past at least four beautiful city parks. Pretty to look at -- and easy to get lost in, even in the daytime. And we did, but also happened upon a restaurant we had read good things about, Rojo, and decided to eat there before showtime.

Rojo has two menus: Latin American food and American food. It's a busy and happy neighborhood restaurant, part Mexican cantina, part burger place.

The show, part of the Red Mountain Theatre Company's season. was wonderful, a fabulous production in a beautiful theatre.


Saxon Murrell as Man in Chair in "The Drowsy Chaperone" (From the Birmingham News, photo by Brandon Robertson)


History of the Virginia Samson Theatre,
click the image to enlarge.

For some information about "The Drowsy Chaperone" and its history click here.

The Vicksburg Trip -- Day 3

This morning we had breakfast in the hotel and then headed south 25 miles to visit the small town of Port Gibson. Downtown the storefronts and shop signs all looked very old and well-aged. There's a traditional Greek-revival style grand old courthouse with a stone soldier in front. You can see more photos in the slide show I posted yesterday.

The town is also noted for the First Presbyterian Church with the finger pointing to the sky -- 12 feet from wrist to finger tip. Also worth a look is Windsor Ruins -- a mansion that survived the Civil War but burned down in 1890. Only the massive columns still stand.


Click on image to enlarge

We entered the Natchez Trace Parkway in Port Gibson and drove along the 25 mile long segment that leads to the back road to Vicksburg. It was peaceful and lovely. Someday we want to drive the whole length of the Parkway from Natchez to Nashville, 444 miles.

Here are some links for more information about the Natchez Trace.

• U.S. Park Service Natchez Trace National Scenic Trail Site
• U.S. Park Service Natchez Trace Parkway Site
• Natchez Trace Wiki
• Away.com's Natchez Trace Parkway Travel Guide

We were delighted with our visit to Port Gibson and the drive along the Natchez Trace.

Back in Vicksburg we decided to have lunch at a place we had been reading about in the tourist guides -- Walnut Hills Round Table Restaurant. You sit at big round tables and the food is piled up on a lazy Susan in the middle. You sit with strangers and share the huge meal boarding house style. The web site says that during the meal we were to expect regular visits from the owner, chief cook, waitress, waiter and other staff members making sure that your meal is "just right". Yeah, sure.

The slogan is "World Famous Southern Plantation Cuisine." We found it was over-priced dull food with grudging service. Let's just say, we weren't charmed.

After some afternoon nap time we ventured out to visit another riverboat casino. This time it was the Rainbow Casino and it was bright and lively. Vicksburg is situated on a high bluff overlooking the Mississippi. To get to this casino and several of the others you must drive down very steep access roads to the river bank. It's very steep and very dramatic with the view of the river and the bright lights of the casinos.

The Vicksburg Trip -- Day 2

We slept late and left the Cabot Lodge, our hotel in Ridgeland, shortly before noon to set off on the 40 mile trip to Vicksburg. But first, because we had lots of time, we drove around Jackson to see the sights. Pictured above is the Eudora Welty House.


Click on image to enlarge

Operated by the Eudora Welty Foundation and the Mississippi Department of Archives and History, it is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and is a National Historic Landmark. It was her home for all her 76 years and she wrote all of her books there. Jack attended her writing classes at Millsaps and visited her at home.

In Vicksburg we drove through town and enjoyed seeing the the old, and restored, down town and the old court house, built and re-built throughout the mid to late 19th century. It is now a museum. Across the street from the old court house is the new courthouse completed in 1940. It is a gem of art deco architecture. We loved the lighting fixtures beside the front steps. There's an example on the left.


Vicksburg Bridges over the Mississippi River


We had dinner at Rusty's Riverfront Grill. The food was good -- spicy and very Cajun-style for this side of the river. We had blackened chicken, spicy grilled shrimp, cheese grits and fabulous crisp-fried onion rings. Desserts looked good but there was no possibility of finding room for another bite.

On our way back to the Holiday Inn Express we stopped for a few minutes at one of Vicksburg's five riverboat casinos -- DiamondJacks. Not much luck there. And the decor wasn't very festive. The previous owner apparently went for a cave look (a Flintstone's Casino, perhaps?). Most of it was dim and grim.

The Vicksburg Trip -- Day 1

We needed a few days out of town and decided to head north to Mississippi and visit Jackson and Vicksburg. The latter is about 290 miles northwest of Pensacola and the drive takes about five hours.

Mid-morning we took the cats to the pet hotel and set out on our way. Much of the route is not on Interstate highways but the secondary roads were good and there was little traffic.

We spent the first night in Jackson. It's about 40 miles east of Vicksburg. We wanted to drive around the city on Tuesday morning before we drove over to Vicksburg. Jack is an alumnus of Millsaps College in Jackson and spent many years in the city a while back. This trip will be my first visit ever to Vicksburg and Jack hasn't been there for more than 40 years.

We had a great steak dinner at Ely's Restaurant & Bar, located in Ridgeland, just north of Jackson. There were Lebanese touches to some of the dishes -- we enjoyed their "family recipe" tabouli salad made with bulgur wheat, parsley, green onions and lemon juice. It was a nice break from more traditional steak house salads. The side order of their steak fries was a wonderful accompaniment to the steaks. The serving is generous with enough fries for at least four people. The potatoes are hand-cut and served with a delicious Gorgonzola and Asiago cream sauce. It turned out the cheese sauce is very good with the steaks, too.

New Restaurant -- Five Sisters Blues Cafe

Last Friday we had lunch at Pensacola's newest restaurant, Five Sisters Blues Cafe.

Cecil Johnson sold CJ's Kitchen & Grille and opened Five Sisters Blues Cafe two weeks ago. It's on Belmont just off DeVilliers. The cafe specializes in Southern fare.

We arrived around 12:30 for lunch and the place was packed. It's noisy with the polished floor and glossy ceiling. Very loud. In the evening there is live music. The food was fine and the sides were wonderful with lots of choices. Service was friendly but the kitchen was slow. Probably this will improve over time. They haven't been open very long. My smoked turkey was excellent as was the chicken fried steak.

The food was on the salty side for my taste. Next time I will ask them not to add any. It wasn't as salty as food I have been served at Pensacola's Fish House or Cactus Flower Cafe, but in this health conscious time there's no reason to serve any over-salted food.

There's an extensive menu of some of my favorite things to eat so we will be back to the Five Sisters. And we will still go to CJ's for breakfast, too.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 5

Today is a day off! No theatres, no freezing walks, no tube stations with the required climbing of endless stairs, no buses and no expensive, hard to get in and out of, taxis. We are on holiday.

We are both sore from all the stair climbing in theatres and the tube and lame from the cold. Today started at 28 degrees F (-2C) and the high temperature was 43 degrees (6C). This is a day to be lazy. To read, watch British TV and nap.

Breakfast was late with coffee and croisants in the flat. Lunch was sandwiches from the local Pret a Manger just half a block away. There was no other reason to leave the flat until dinner time.

Dinner was at Black & Blue, located across the street from the flat. The meal at Black & Blue was wonderful and we hoped to return there at least one more time.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 4

We had another long sleep and in the morning lots of fresh hot coffee in the apartment.

Mid-morning I ventured out and got supplies at Marks and Spencer's Simply Food. Back at the flat we had a hot breakfast of scrambled eggs, ham, crisp bacon and croisants. M&S were out of black pepper so I stopped at Le Pain Quotidien and bought a pepper mill full of Malabar peppercorns. It's now a souvenir of the London trip.

One of the best features of a self-catering apartment is being able to cook up a nice breakfast at home and not have to sit in a restaurant first thing in the day.


Jersey Boys marquee

At 3:00 we were at the Prince Edward Theatre to see Jersey Boys. I had read it was not just another "jukebox musical." And it was true, it was more like a documentary. There was a strong book with an unflinching look at the grittier side of the Four Seasons' off-stage troubles.

The performances were excellent. The music and sound design were wonderful as were the sets and lights. The players were from all over the UK but each of them had perfect New Jersey accents. The leads --Ryan Molloy as Frankie Valli and Stephen Ashfield as Bob Gaudio -- were excellent and sounded like they grew up in Newark.

Who knew rock 'n' roll could be so theatrical?

After the theatre we met our friends Sian and Keith at their home in Hammersmith. They took us to eat at a wonderful Indian restaurant, the Red Onion and we had a great time catching up.

London Trip March 2010 -- Day 3

The flat is very comfortable and warm. Again we slept for twelve hours and woke to a cold gray day. Several cups of New Orleans Cajun coffee (which we brought with us) helped a lot. It wasn't raining but there was a damp icy wind that didn't let up.

We had breakfast at a nearby cafe/bakery on Notting Hill Gate, Le Pain Quotidien. It's a Belgian chain and it looked good when I walked past it yesterday. Wonderful bread and atmosphere.

After breakfast we took the tube to Leicester Square to see what we could find at tkts, the discount ticket booth. Getting to the tube is a problem for me, and Jack too, because there's no down escalator at the Notting Hill Gate station. At least there's an up escalator there.


tkts, Leister Square

Jack got us tickets for Billy Elliot today and for Jersey Boys tomorrow. We were getting cold sitting in Leicester Square so we took a cab to the Victoria Palace Theatre where Billy Elliot is playing. It was chilly there too and we had more than an hour before the theatre opened so we went to the neighboring Garfunkel's for coffee and hot chocolate, and some apple pie. Lucky for us the place was packed and service was very slow so we easily killed all the time we needed to and stayed warm. The show was a treat. We loved Billy Elliot.


Pre-opening Billy Elliot poster

FROM JACK
As it approaches its fifth birthday at the Victoria Palace Theatre in London, Billy Elliot is looking good. Maybe it's not the best British musical ever (as some have said). Still, it's a potent piece of musical theatre with a rousing score by Elton John and Lee Hall (who also wrote the book and the film on which the show is based).

We saw a fine Billy named Ollie Gardner. But from what I've heard, each and every Billy (four boys rotate) is outstanding. West End star Joanna Riding is splendid as Billy's dance teacher and the entire cast does the show proud. We left the Victoria Palace that Saturday afternoon with big smiles. Thanks, Billy.

The Victoria Palace Theatre

Sarasota Trip, Day 5

Monday, October 12, 2009 -- Home

Up and out and on the road by 10:00 AM. We got on Interstate-10 about 25 miles north of Perry and were flying home. Good news, the construction around Tallahassee is finished after many years and we never slowed down.

When we are on the road and need a room in small-town America we often stay at either a Holiday Inn Express or at one of Hilton's Hampton Inns. Both offer a free continental breakfast plus they promise a couple of hot items -- sometimes scrambled eggs, mini-omlettes, fried eggs, bacon, sausages, etc. But today it was Huevos Rancheros -- scrambled eggs with Mexican-ish stuff mixed in, seriously overcooked and served cold. What were they thinking?

Generally the Holiday Inn Express chain has a better breakfast than does Hampton Inn and the Holiday Inn Express has those fantastic hot cinnamon rolls.

We made good time heading for home, thanks in part to the extra hour we gained when we crossed the Chattahoochie River heading west. Lunch was in Chipley at Gary's Flaming Grill again.

We picked up the cats from the pet hotel and were home before 4:00. Today's distance was 266 miles and the total for the trip was 1,145 miles (1,843km.).

Sarasota Trip, Day 4

Sunday, October 11, 2009 -- Heading Home from Sarasota

The weather seemed a little bit milder this morning. Or have we just gotten used to the recent heat wave.

Before we left town we visited Toby, Debbie and their daughters. What a great place they have. An open, airy house with fabulous plants and trees and art. And what an office!

Early afternoon we started up I-75 North and hadn't made any plans for how far we would try to get before stopping for the night. Soon after Tampa we tired of driving on the congested Interstate and took the exit for Brooksville. A few miles later we joined the "old" road, Route 98. It's a divided highway but the style is pre-interstate highway -- no exit/entrance interchanges. Plus lots of speed traps. And there's almost no traffic, the opposite of I-75. Relaxing to drive.

We took 98 as far as Perry, that's where it heads west to Florida's Panhandle and the northwest coast. Along the way 98 adds Routes 19, 27 and 55. One road, four route numbers. Our drive today was 303 miles, and a total of 897 miles so far for the trip.

In Perry we found a room for the night at the Hampton Inn. And almost next door a wonderful place, Mama's Italian Family Restaurant, with home cooked food, Italian and other kinds too. You can visit their web site here.

Sarasota Trip, Day 3

Saturday, October 10, 2009 -- In Sarasota

Another hot day. We drove around the city taking in the sights.

Longboat Key, pictured here, was beautiful as always. There was a huge festival and arts fair going on at St. Armands Circle so lunch at the Columbia was out. We soon went back to the mainland to continue our tour.

We went to Yoder's Restaurant, for lunch. They serve Amish food. It's located in Pinecraft, Sarasota's Amish and Mennonite neighborhood. The food is simple and delicious. Famous for their pies and hearty eaters, the restaurant recently attracted the attention of Adam Richman and the Travel Channel's Man vs. Food show.

The Sarasota episode featured Yoder's and two other Sarasota classic, casual dining, restaurants, Munchies 420 Cafe and the Old Salty Dog. Watch the Travel Channel's listings for reruns.

After a nap we joined Michael and Ralph for Italian food at Primo! Ristorante, in Sarasota near the airport. The food was wonderful, thank you, Ralph! And we had a great time catching up. We hadn't seen Michael for more than 30 years and were just meeting Ralph for the first time.

For info on restaurants in the Sarasota area here's a blog, Dine Sarasota Pot Luck, I found that has some wonderful suggestions.

Sarasota Trip, Day 1

Thursday, October 8, 2009 -- Off we go.

Took the cats, there are two of them -- Susie and Maggie, to the pet hotel around 9:00 AM and went back home to finish packing.

We left Pensacola a little after 10:00. The weather was hot, in the high 80s (31C), and partly sunny/partly cloudy all the way. Very humid. It's strange weather for this time of year but at least there are no hurricanes or even tropical storms.

We stopped in Chipley for lunch at Gary's Flaming Grill. We always eat at Gary's when we are in Chipley. It's good, simple and fast -- real Southern cooking. The sweet potato fries are worth a trip. Chipley is home as well to Skins & Bubbas BBQ and The Giggling Shrimp Oyster Bar & Seaford [sic]. And as good as they sound we always end up at Gary's.

At 5:30 PM we arrived at the Holiday Inn Express in Gainesville. We've stayed there before. Gainesville is home to the University of Florida and the Gators.

Total driving distance, including brief side trips for lunch and rest stops, was 338 miles (544 km).

Whenever we stay at this hotel we eat at the adjacent Cracker Barrel Old Country Store.

The Trip To New Orleans

Last week we drove over to New Orleans and spent Tuesday and Wednesday nights at the Royal Sonesta Hotel on Boubon Street in the French Quarter. This was my first long trip, 200 miles each way, since I had my knee replaced.


Click on the map for a larger and more readable image.

It was an easy trip on Interstate 10. We stopped frequently for me to stretch and walk around a bit. We changed drivers often so no one was behind the wheel too long.

We stopped for lunch in Mobile, Alabama at Morrison's Cafeteria, an old favorite. It is now part of the Piccadilly chain, but Morrison's began in Mobile so three of the restaurants there still have the Morrison's name on the roof.

We got to the hotel mid-afternoon and were glad to be staying in the heart of the French Quarter. The Sonesta had a great Internet deal and we got a room on the top floor with the private R Club down the hall. Free drinks and apetizers in the afternoon, free breakfast in the morning and a high speed Internet computer available 24 hours a day. For dinner we had reservations at NOLA. This would be perhaps the fifth time we had eaten there and we have memories of excellent food and service.

Sadly, although Emeril Lagasse is the restaurant's founder and remains the executive chef the place is now a tourist trap. Quality control seems no longer important. Due to his TV exposure the crowds come anyway despite less than stellar ingredients, indifferent preparation and friendly but sluggish service. The quality of one of our entrees was less than average; the other was inedible. We were not charged -- they wanted us to leave, quickly. I hope his other restaurants in New Orleans and around the country are getting better supervision. Please don't mess with the one in Gulfport!

The next morning was beautiful. We had a wonderful breakfast at the hotel's rooftop R Club with great views of the Quarter. We decided for lunch we should drive to Pass Manchac and eat at Middendorf's.

Jack wrote about our lunch there and his memories of Pass Manchac a few days ago, click here to read his post. On the way back to the hotel we drove across the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway. At 24 miles it is one of the world's longest bridges. When you start on the Causeway from the north you cannot see New Orleans at all. Soon you see the faint skyline of what appears to be the Emerald City, but it's really New Orleans you see on the horizon, growing bigger and bigger.

After we got back to the hotel we decided to find somewhere casual for supper and the best place was at our hotel: Desire Oyster Bar at the corner of Bienville and Bourbon Streets -- the very heart of the Vieux Carré . The food there is wonderful, it's noisy and crowded plus it's open to the street. At night Bourbon Street is closed to cars so the tourists and street performers take over. We had a great view of it all from our table by an open window next to the sidewalk.

In the morning we headed for home and at lunch time found ourselves in Ocean Springs, Mississippi. We made our first visit to The Shed BBQ. We had never been nearby when we were hungry so this was our time to check out The Shed. It's rustic(actually it looks like it's falling down, but that's just stage design), it's jammed with people and the food is great. Worth the trip.

Alabama's New Casino Opens Nearby

Alabama's Newest Casino

It's also Alabama's first casino resort..

The beautiful Wind Creek Casino and its four restaurants opened last week. The hotel opens next week. The main floor with the casino and restaurants is nicely designed with a feeling of open space. The photos on the web site show some beautiful hotel rooms, too.

But the Wind Creek is the only game in town. And to say it's in the middle of nowhere makes it seem more urban than it really is. The hotel tower looms above the flat cotton fields of Atmore, Alabama. It is right off Interstate 65 and you can't miss it -- the tallest building between Mobile and Montgomery.

Driving distances from both Mobile and Pensacola are about 50 to 55 miles. From Mobile it's an easy, fast Interstate Highway drive all the way. From Pensacola much of the drive is on country roads and when the sign says 35 MPH you better slow down.

The slots look like Vegas-style machines but they are really bingo machines. Through the magic of the computer they can mock the look and feel of real video slots but payoffs are determined by a casino-wide bingo game for each pull. There are no table games or video poker. And it's a good bet that there are more people in the Alabama state legislature who want the place shut down than will vote to let them have a fully functioning Las Vegas- or Biloxi-style casino.

The food is quite good. The buffet's well-stocked and cheap. Right now, Monday through Thursday, if you buy one buffet meal you get one free. At lunch time that means for $7.95 plus tax -- about $8.60 total -- two people get all-you-can-eat meals. Lunch plus a tip for the disappearing waitress means the two of you are out of there for $10 and some change. Two dollars more if you valet park.

Will the lure of real slot machines, video poker and table games tempt people to travel the extra distance to Biloxi? Compared to the drive to Atmore, Biloxi is just an extra hour of driving from Pensacola and only about 15 minutes more than Atmore from Mobile. That's not a lot of additional drive time for a lot more variety in gaming, dining, lodging and entertainment.

Driving to the Emerald Princess, first day

Driving from Pensacola to Clermont

Shortly before 9:00 A.M. we took the cats to the new pet hotel our vet just opened. We signed them in and headed east on Interstate 10 on our way to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale and the Emerald Princess. The weather was cool and the sky was gray. At lunchtime we stopped in Chipley for lunch at Gary's Flamin' Grill (we discovered it a while ago and liked it a lot) but it was closed (for the day after Thanksgiving Day).

Onward, cross-country to Marianna to eat at Madison's Warehouse but they too were closed (for the day after Thanksgiving Day). We ended back at I-10 and ate at Po' Folks Country Restaurant. Good fried chicken on their buffet.

Bad rain storms before and after Tallahassee. Got to the Hampton Inn in Clermont, just north of Orlando, before 8:00 P.M., We drove 454 miles.

Back to Destin for Lunch

A few days ago we drove to Destin to have lunch again at the new Commander's Palace, a branch of the original in New Orleans. This time we went with Joan and Billy and everyone had a fine meal. We started off with soup. Jack had the turtle soup, I had the gumbo of the day -- smoked duck with a garnish of crispy fried oysters. Both Joan and Billy had the three-soup samplers, that's a small cup each of the turtle soup, the gumbo and the soup of the day, which was cream of butternut squash.

For the main course Joan had a crab salad with a very generous heap of fresh lump crab meat. Billy had the shrimp remoulade over a creole salad. Jack had a smoked pork chop with crispy fried plantain strips and I had grilled grouper on a bed of fall vegetables. And of course we all had lots of their garlic bread with our soup and French bread with the meal.

Billy ordered the signature Creole Bread Pudding Soufflé with whiskey sauce and we all had a taste. After years of eating this dessert at Commander's in New Orleans this was the best I had ever tasted. Light and not too sweet. Better than you get in New Orleans.

Any complaints or suggestions? Of course. But nothing serious. There should be better directions to the restaurant from the parking garage and in the elevators from both the parking garage and from Harbor Walk. The directions lead you to the bar and two stories of stairs to climb. There's a convenient elevator to the dining room but nothing is posted. Also they don't need the insipid, intrusive background music. And as I mentioned in the post after our earlier visit, it's much too bright in the dining area.

The service, as always was excellent and cheery. I'm ready to go back soon.

Lunch at Jesse's in Magnolia Springs, Alabama

Once again it was a pleasure to drive the 50 miles to Magnolia Springs to eat lunch at Jesse's Restaurant.

We started with their fabulous Champagne Crab Bisque. Then Jack had the 'Shay' Burger with lots of toppings and I had the Fried Shrimp Po' Loaf sandwich. We both had their worth-the-trip potato salad. You can read about all their food on their newly re-designed website. The menu has lots of delicious salads, sandwiches and lunch specials. And if you're really hungry don't miss the steak and fries. It's their signature dish: Jesse's Famous Whiskey Steak -- a 12 oz. ribeye marinated in Jack Daniels and spices and served with fries.

Here's what Alabama's Department of Tourism says about Jesse's,

Jesse’s Restaurant is located in the sleepy little village of Magnolia Springs, where the mail is still delivered by boat. Housed in the former Post Office, and adjacent to Moore Brothers Village Market (listed on the National Register of Historic Places), the charming café draws visitors from miles around with its unique location and New Orleans-inspired menu. Best described as casual fine dining, Jesse’s offers such entrees as Southern-style crab cakes over Cajun slaw, shrimp and tasso over creamy goat cheese grits, and its famous “whiskey steak.” Located only 15 minutes from the Gulf, Jesse’s is a great place for lunch or dinner.

By the way here's the recipe for

Jesse's Whiskey Steak Marinade
(for four steaks)
1/2 cup of soy sauce
1 cup of brown sugar
1/2 cup of Jack Daniel's Whiskey
1/4 cup of chopped garlic
1/2 cup of peeled ginger root, sliced 1/4 inch thick

Marinate the steaks for 1-3 hours.

(Recipe adapted from the book Alabama's Historic Restaurants and Their Recipes, by Gay N. Martin.)

The New Commander's Palace in Destin, Florida

Commander's Palace in New Orleans is one of the top restaurants in the country. Among its honors is the Lifetime Outstanding Restaurant Award from the James Beard Foundation.

Recently the Brennan's opened a Commander's Palace in Destin, Florida in a waterfront location on the Gulf of Mexico overlooking Destin Harbor.

After they had been open for about a month we decided to give it a try. We went with high hopes that they could match the service, ambience and quality of food they are so famous for in New Orleans. And yes, they did.

The food combines New Orleans and Creole traditions with ingredients from the Florida Gulf Coast and the Caribbean.

We loved the whole meal, for starters Jack had their famous turtle soup and I had the chicken and crab Courtbouillon, along with their hot garlic and cheese bread. For entrees I had grilled Wahoo and Jack the smoked pork chop. Both were perfectly cooked and presented with unusual and delicious vegetable garnishes.

Here's the Zagat review and some photos.

The dining room has huge windows overlooking Harbor Walk Village and the Gulf. It's a great view, but at lunch time the dining room can be very bright with the combination of the big windows, the array of overhead lights plus white walls, linens, dishes and chairs. And it's certainly much too bright for a gentleman who is, perhaps, taking his secretary there for a three-martini lunch. He just might get spotted by a friend of the family.

By the way, three martinis will cost him 75 cents. Yes, they have 25-cent martinis -- at least at lunch on weekdays. Three's the limit, however. As the menu says, "That's enough."

It was a wonderful experience and one we will repeat again soon. Plus it is only 50 miles from Pensacola.

For more information about Commander's Palace, read the
Wiki article.

Teriyaki Chicken

Last week we had lunch at Nobusei Japanese Restaurant. It's a favorite for a delicious and reasonably priced (cheap in other words) lunch. In the evenings they also do wonderful grilled meats, shrimp and fish at the lively Hibachi tables. Their live chefs chop, grill and entertain. Nobusei is actually the closest restaurant to our house.

One of their best offerings at lunch is teriyaki chicken with tempura vegetables -- batter fried bell pepper, sweet potato, onion rings, broccoli and carrot matchsticks. All of this preceded by soup and salad.

Nobusei's teriyaki chicken was so good I wanted to make it at home. So I did some Google research. There were lots of recipes, the one used was for Teriyaki Chicken Kababs, a.k.a. Yakitori.

I didn't want to grill the chicken on skewers so I sliced each skinless, boneless breast into four slices, the long way, and pounded to flatten a bit. Then marinated the chicken for 30 minute and grilled them for about two minutes on each side. They browned up nicely and tasted "right." Very good indeed.

Next time I will have to try making those tempura vegetables, too.