Orlando Restaurants - 2009 pt 2

While in Orlando, Florida, recently, we also visited McCormick & Schmick's, my second favorite restaurant ever. The pictures were taken with my Treo in restaurant lighting, so they're less than perfect. Hopefully, you've installed the color-correction Add-On into your imagination.

(click photos to enlarge)

clam appetizer


Yellowfin Tuna


Shrimp and Scallop skewer


The appetizer was decent, but nothing to write home about (and yet, here I am showing and telling). It certainly lived up to role as the culinary opening act.

The entrees were fantastic, as usual. It seems that McCormick & Schmick's menus may change from one day to the next, so I couldn't rely on my crutch of always choosing "old faithful" at a given restaurant. Our waiter was very friendly and knowledgeable, while also "working us," so he was able to recommend dishes and answer questions. Because of him, we got these two dishes and we couldn't have been happier.

The Yellowfin Tuna didn't sound like anything I'd want, but after hearing that I really enjoy (real) sushi, he told me, "Look, if you don't like it, I'LL EAT IT. I'm not kidding!" Then he grabbed a co-worker who echoed, "No, really. He's not kidding. He has it almost every day."

The meat is just seared. Don't ask me why the heck that raw/seared combo works, but it does. It kind of reminds me of the combination of a hot pie and cold ice cream.

I savored it, as usual.  You all don't need to hear me go on about the various levels of flavoriciousness, again, so I'll leave it at that.

The shrimp and scallop skewer was great, as well. Tasty, fresh, and generous portions. What more can one ask for?

We felt like we got our money's worth, had good food and a good time... and even managed to eat fairly heathily. Yes, that's a word now.

The service was great, as always, except for our server becoming over-extended and abandoning us, for a while. We forgave him.

As always, highly recommended. (As are reservations.)

Where's Tennille?

I've only been to The Florida Mall in Orlando the one time, but seeing this dude just about made it all worthwhile.

His swagger may not be apparent in the photo* but believe me... you could not TELL this man that he didn't look gooooooood.





* - Sorry that it's so blurry. I had to be quick.

Orlando Restaurants - 2009 pt 1

I'm not sure how I missed this in 2008, but in 2007 I posted pictures from our visit to some of our favorite restaurants. This post highlights Texas de Brazil in Orlando, FL.

We usually set up reservations, for convenience. There's valet parking available, but we usually don't take advantage of it unless the weather's bad.

When we show up, we're seated pretty quickly. The server makes sure we know how things work there: one price for the mega salad bar (the term hardly does it justice) and for their gauchos to bring cuts of meat directly to your table (drinks, dessert, etc. cost extra).

The server brings our drinks, puts napkins in our laps, and lets us loose on the salad bar. It's amazing. Again, the term hardly does it justice. Take a look at some of the old or newer pictures to get an idea of just how extensive (and lovely) it is.

By the way, while we were at the salad bar, the server re-folded the napkins he'd placed in our laps earlier. Just because.

While enjoying the salad bar items (a meal by itself) one may not be ready for the different cuts of meat to be offered. So that the gauchos don't bother you, the restaurant provides double-sided discs. One side is red - the other green. When the green side is up, that signifies that the diner is open to gaucho offerings. When the red side is up, that pretty much means, "let me eat in peace."

When my dining companion turns her disc to the green side, while mine is still red, the gauchos tend to offer me the same items they're offering her (veal, filet mignon, sausage, chicken, etc.) - to avoid the perception of rudeness, I assume. It's somewhat unfortunate, but I certainly understand the choice.

Either way, I still enjoy my meal immensely (which is why this is my favorite restaurant). I spend forty-five minutes to an hour enjoying the two or three dozen items on the salad bar, alone before starting on the meats. I like to try almost every single item separately so that I can enjoy the subtleties and (honestly) complexities of flavor in each of them. Then, after cleansing my palate with the mashed potatoes provided for that purpose*, I begin mixing them together in different ways. I didn't know food could be so enjoyable in so many ways.

I'm not one of those people who are impressed by fancy names, foreign languages, small portions, or high prices in a restaurant. The food and service are fantastic. By the time I'm done I feel I've gotten my money's worth and I recommend the place every chance I get. Heck, I'm even impressed by their music, restrooms, and napkins. How could I not?



Next time, I'll share photos from my second-favorite restaurant.





* - They also provide plaintains, but I can't eat those.

"To Serve and Protect"... and Profile

I've mentioned before that I drove to Maryland on business about three weeks, ago. The way it worked out, I decided to drive from Tallahassee to Georgia, take care of some medical issues over the course of a week, then continue to Maryland.

I drove to Maryland on a Wednesday, worked on Thursday, then drove back to Georgia on Friday.

In yesterday's post, I mentioned having been pulled over by the Carolina police, while I was on my way back to Georgia. Although I'd fallen behind schedule, I did a pretty good job of sticking with my "no speeding" policy.* Sadly, that didn't stop an officer on I-85 from pulling up behind me, then on left, then behind me, then on my right, then behind me, for about five or ten miles, then flashing his lights and pulling me over.

My offense? The little lights that illuminate the license plate weren't lit. Of course, the sun was still up, so I'm sure he had no problem reading my tag. It was just a convenient excuse to pull me over, since my headlights were on but the tag lights weren't. My tail lights were fine, by the way.

Anyway, he pulls me over, walks up to my vehicle, and sticks his head in the passenger side window asking me about where I'm from and where I'm going. He asks where I work, suggesting that I work on or with computers, since I had two laptops in the front seat. Then, of course, I felt the need to justify my presence on the highway and explain why I own so many computers... because, by then, I already felt like a criminal, despite having done nothing illegal.

The vehicle registration had been held up but I presented my license and proof of insurance, so he seemed satisfied that the vehicle wasn't stolen or whatever.

He then asked if I'd step out of the vehicle and follow him to the back. As I did, I noticed there were two or three additional police vehicles lined up behind me. He showed me that my tag lights weren't on and then handed me a written warning which required no action on my part.

I thought that was the end of it and I could continue on my journey, but then he said, "Well, unfortunately, you're on a route that's known for transporting drugs between D.C. and Atlanta. We would like your permission to search your vehicle."

Now, this is a request, which suggests that I am free to decline. However, there are a bunch of people around me with badges, guns, and the authority to make my life very inconvenient, so, from my perspective, it was a request, punctuated with a threat. So, I consented.

If I had it to do over, again, I would have declined, because that decision affected my travel time and my health. Instead, I submitted to the request to search my vehicle and my person, raising my arms and being pat-down in front of scores of drivers - a Black man looking like a suspect from the tv show, COPS. After all, I figured, I was in South Carolina so I probably wouldn't have THAT much further to drive.

"Do you have any weapons in the vehicle?"
"No."

"Any illegal drugs or large amounts of cash?"
"I'm about the squarest guy you could've pulled over. I've got a ton of Benadryl in there, a buck in my pocket, and a buck in my wallet. So, no."**


As the sun set, I stood outside of my vehicle next to I-85, wearing a tank top and sporting a wicked cough that was getting worse, by the second. The winds and cooling temperatures made my existing cough so bad that ever time I tried to speak, I coughed about a dozen or so times.

The Black cop they assigned to stand by me while they searched every nook and cranny of my vehicle, luggage, and other possessions, asked me about my life - where I lived, where I worked, my allergies, etc. I don't know if he was trying to be kind or milk me for information, but, against the darkening sky and bright headlights of the police cruisers, his grinning silhouette was like something out of a minstrel act. His questions were friendly in a situation where I felt I had no friends. It's like he was somehow meant to be relatable but came off as somewhat offensive.

Reacting to my horrible coughing fits, the Black cop asked if I wanted to have a seat. Thinking he was talking about my vehicle, I declined, saying that I didn't want to impede or appear to be trying to impede progress. I wanted to do whatever would make this situation come to an end as quickly as possible.

After more questions from the officer and more coughing from me, he asked, again. "Are you sure you don't want to have a seat?"

"Well, I might have to take you up on that offer, this time," I said. After all, that cough wasn't getting any better out there on that cool, windy interstate.

I looked at the officer, though, and noticed that he'd turned toward his cruiser. "Oh, you're talking about getting in the back of the police car," I asked with a frown on my face. "No thanks."

That pissed me off because it was like an invitation from the spider to the fly. Hell, they pulled me over acting like my light problem was something substantive, when really it wasn't.*** They just wanted to get me in their clutches. He acted like he was just showing me the unilluminated area, when he was really preparing to search my vehicle. Who knows what would've happened once I was in the back of the police car.

And, besides all that, I'll be damned if I wanted to be made to feel any more like a criminal by being seated in the part of the police car you can't open the doors from the inside. I've been in that situation, before, when someone was searching the truck I owned during my freshmen year in college. They weren't in any rush to let me back out, even when it'd been established that I hadn't stolen that vehicle, either!

Finally, they finished and, trying to view this as one of the inconveniences that law-abiding citizens have to suffer, sometimes, in order to keep us all safe, I responded with humor. "Pretty boring, huh?"

"Nah. It's kinda interesting seeing stuff from people's lives."

Maybe he meant nothing by it, but something about that answer combined with the lack of contrition on his part that left a bad taste in my mouth. Maybe this is how they get through an unpleasant job, but it felt like a violation of my privacy. The fact that they found nothing wrong and didn't bother to apologize for the inconvenience didn't help.

I called my loved-ones to let them know that and why I'd be even later, then I pulled back onto what was now a very dark road. I'd guess that the whole episode took about an hour.

Not long after that, I realized that I wasn't in South Carolina, yet. I hadn't made it out of North Carolina and, ultimately, I wouldn't make it home until about 1am, the next morning.

After the shitty directions I got for leaving Maryland, getting lost and taking forever to find my way back, then getting pulled over by these "servers and protectors" and continuing on my journey, I spent about 20 hours on the road.

When I finally got to my parents' exit, in Georgia, I stopped at a local Wal-Mart for some drugs because what I thought were allergy symptoms were really the effects of a "bug" I caught from the people at the Maryland office, during a training I never wanted to go to. I only agreed because of a combination of pressure from management plus the potential to make it work out in my favor - the opportunity to gain access to more in-network medical providers, for instance.

I spent the next week sick as a dog with a temperature that got as high as 102.x. After the first couple of days, I saw a doctor who said that I probably caught it from my Maryland co-workers and then exascerbated the sickness and symptoms by standing on the side of the freeway while my vehicle was searched.

THE END

I welcome your questions, comments, and criticism.








* - It's both a safety concern and a financial one. Damned if I'm trying to give up two or three hundred dollars to my local county or PODUNK County, USA.
** - It was true. I only had about $15 on me when I went through the toll area I'd been told about by the co-workers who gave me directions to avoid D.C. traffic on my way out of Maryland. They failed to mention, though, that the toll was at least twelve dollars.
*** - Of course, this is assuming that one of the cops didn't unscrew the lights, himself.

The Light's Lie

See the light at the end of the tunnel? Me, too.

But the light lies.

At one point during my journey back from Maryland, last week, I had to cross the Chesapeake Bay. The bridge I crossed connected to the tunnel in the picture, which was under the Chesapeake.

But once I emerged from the tunnel, I realized there was a five-mile series of three bridges and two tunnels to traverse before I'd make it beyond the Bay.

Below is as much of it a I could capture in a photograph.

Click to enlarge.

I'm not at my best under water or in the air, so making my way beyond the Chesapeake a week, ago, was mildly analogous to my journey through this illness. I made beyond a very rough period, but recent events, combined with my weak limbs and dizzy head, tell me that it's still not over, yet... even after seeing the light, at the end of the tunnel.

I guess the best I can do is be aware of the light's lie, while using its promise as motivation and inspiration, to get me closer to my short-term and ultimate goals.

Orlando 2007 - restaurants (plus)

I've spent the last couple of days sharing some my pictures and thoughts about MegaCON 2007, which took place in Orlando, Florida. I may not have mentioned that my girlfriend, who is not a comic book enthusiast (although she's open to a good story), and I also used that trip as a Valentine's Day get-away.

Today, I thought I'd take a second to mention a couple of restaurants we visited in Orlando, as well as a couple of places I've neglected to mention in the past. (There are a ton of stories, movie & restaurant reviews, and pictures I never got around to posting over the past year or so.)

All pictures were snapped by me except where noted.

ORLANDO

(below) The view from our room at the Renaissance Resort Orlando at SeaWorld

(above) a similar picture of the room (from their site)
Nice place, but they need to finish the renovation/construction quickly.
~~~
(below) McCormick & Schmick's restaurant

(below) We both had their excellent seafood bouillabaisse.

(below) Their desserts were just as impressive.

(above) I had the pecan-crusted apple pie with cinnamon ice cream.
Very good, but very sweet. Couldn't finish it.

I didn't have enough sense to take the pictures before grubbing down, but I thought I'd post'em, anyway.
Highly recommended.

~~~

(below) Texas de Brazil

(above) HUGE four-sided salad bar.
This is the classic, "I could make a meal just from the salad bar," situation.

Texas de Brazil has one price and no menus.
Each guest gets a disc - red on one side and green on the other.

Turn your disc to the green side and servers wandering by will offer their particular hot meat dish which they will cut & serve to you on-the-spot.
Eat all you wish.

Pricey, but highly recommended, as well.

~~~

ATLANTA

(below) A shot of the Cheesecake Factory my girlfriend, my mom, and I visited after hitting Mary Mac's one evening.

I didn't eat at this particular location, but the ladies were very pleased with the desserts they got "to-go."

I've always enjoyed my meals at 'the Factory - especially the pasta (and I'm no pasta-man).

~~~

I've mentioned my general fondness for and recent disappointment with Mary Mac's Tea Room, so I'll leave it at that.

~~~

PANAMA CITY
J. Michael's Dockside Bar & Grill
I don't remember what we had but it was pretty enjoyable, despite the somewhat cramped dining area.

We'd eat there, again.

~~~

Hopefully, this will prove useful to someone who decides to visit any of these places, the future.