Labor Day 2011

Our Labor Day was unique as we spent time with Ashley and Eric in Indiana this year.  We drove to St. Louis on Friday night after a home football game for me and a band gig for Bob.  On Saturday we drove in to Bloomington without much excitement.  When we got to Bloomington, we headed straight to their apartment.  We got a warm welcome from Ashley and Eric but Huxley went nuts!  He was so  happy to see his grandparents!

 Can you see that happy tail wagging?

The weekend was designed to be a food tour of Bloomington and Indianapolis... with one exception.  We did the Art Fest on Fourth Street the 100+ degree heat.  Ash wrote a great article on it on her blog here.

We ate breakfast at wonderful places.  The one with the most unique name, The Runcible Spoon, had the best scrambled egg whites that I have ever had.  They were fluffy and curdlike and had the flavor that yoke usually gives.  Served with spinach, wheat toast and tomatoes... yum.  The best breakfast had to be Eric's Paxton Potatoes at The Village Deli.  Home fries covered in cheese and sausage gravy.  It was awesome! 

We had a unique lunch in Indianapolis at a place called Yak's where we had New American in the form of a chili cheese etoufee with crawfish and then cupcakes at a The Flying Cupcake.  They were huge and amazing!  Another lunch in Bloomington was at Nick's English Hut.  Surprisingly, they do not serve English food there.  We sat in a booth that had been occupied by Kurt Vonnegut in an earlier time.

Dinners were at Ashley and Eric's where Eric cooked up a scallop and shrimp dish that he learned in cooking school.  It was so great!  Served with a brown butter rue and over flaky biscuits, it was delish!  We also had dinner at the Scholar's Inn, where we read the menus out of classic books (mine was Wuthering Heights) and had bananas foster prepared tableside.  It was a wonderful experience!

We had some ice cream at Hartzells where they make all homemade ice creams.  I had a wonderful Chocolate Basil which was dark and rich.  We tried creamed corn before we left and it was wonderful!

We took some photos at IU.  This is the famous gates (kinda like the columns at MU).  They are beautiful as evidenced here.

We left Monday around 1:00 amid tears and hugs.  We hit I-70 and ran into traffic quickly as there had been a wreck that closed both sides of the highway.  Eric's quick use of the computer got us out of the wait, headed us through Terre Haute and back on the highway with only a couple of hours delay.  We decided to make the best of it and stopped at the Firefly Grill for pizza.  We had the best pizza:  sliced granny smith apples, breakfast bacon and brie on brick oven baked crust.  It was wonderful!

I am looking forward to our next trip to Indiana but between now and then, Ashley has a visit planned.  The trip home is a lot longer than the trip there!