Why Walk? For the Joy

"Now shall I walk or shall I ride? 

'Ride,' Pleasure said; 

'Walk,' Joy replied." 

W.H. Davis

My sister in law and I spent the weekend in Chattanooga at the  Choo Choo hotel. This hotel is located in the original train terminal and you can even sleep in an restored Pullman train car.  We stayed in a regular room  because the Pullman cars only have a queen bed. We like each other but not that much!!! And to be truthful we got a pretty cheap Groupon deal on a regular room.

This  the front of the old terminal. It now serves as the hotel lobby.

Anyway the neat thing about this city is that they have FREE public transportation. The bus comes by every 5 minutes and you can hop on and hop off anywhere you like. Even so we decided to use our feet and walk the city.

We got lost along the way and had a heck of a time finding the visitor's center. The funny thing is if we'd had taken the bus like everyone else it would have dropped us off right at the visitor's center.  But what fun is that?

The nice thing about walking is that you get to see things that you might not see from the window of a bus. You really get an up close look at the city.

A few of the things we saw that we wouldn't have seen from the bus...

This was a neat little shop that was off the main street AND we found a geocache with a travel bug hidden here.

As we were walking we saw this sign for the Murder Mystery Dinner Show and decided to come back for the 7 o'clock show. BTW the food was delicious but I have to say the show was corny. Funny but corny.

We could have seen this fountain with the fireman on the top from the bus...

But we wouldn't have been able to read the sign explaining what it was for.

And we got a good laugh at this.  If only the shop had been open we could have walked in and bought some memory. Maybe it would have helped us not to get lost...

And finally the real joy that comes from walking. 

We split this and since we walked about 7 miles each day we didn't even feel bad about it.

Well, we didn't feel bad about the first piece of cake but the second piece, the cupcakes and the almond horns from the German bakery now that's another story...Not sure how far we'd need to walk to make up those calories. 

Next time you're in a new city, get off the bus and use your feet! You may be surprised at what you find.

Lunch at Kathy's Bakery and Cafe

Today I had the opportunity to spend some time with my youngest son and we went to check out a local coffee place. Since it was pushing noon we decided to have a little lunch.

Kathy's Bakery and Cafe

Nothing in the name gives away the fact that this is a Cuban bakery and sandwich shop. 

As we looked over the menu hanging on the wall I knew I'd have to order a Sandwich Cubano. Ham and roast pork with Swiss cheese, pickles and mustard. On Cuban bread mashed and toasted in a hot press. I loved the bread. Soft on the inside and crunchy outside.

Josh ordered something a little different. Pan con Picadillo is basically a Sloppy Joe but it's ground beef cooked with green olives in a tomato sauce.  A little sweet and salty. Perfect combo! Also on Cuban bread toasted in a press.

There was a delicious looking display case full of pastries but what I really came for was the coffee. 

Cafe con leche. 

Oh my gosh. To me it's like a hot dessert in a cup. The sugar and the coffee and the foamy milk. Yum! Taste like it's caramelized.

I know you can make cafe con leche on a stove top but oh what I'd give for a coffee machine like the one in this shop. I loved watching the ladies work this machine. Individual grounds for each cup. Add the milk, sugar and steam the cup and steam it some more. So much nicer than just pouring a cup from a carafe and serving it with those little packets of sugar and powdered milk. This was a beautiful, frothy creation. Yum. I want another cup right now!

After walking back and forth in front of the display case drooling over the variety of pastries we finally choose 3 different ones to bring home. All wrapped up and tied with a ribbon.

Layers of puff pastry filled with pastry cream, topped with caramel.

Pineapple cheesecake

Sponge cake cone soaked in rum.

 At home after dinner we had a taste testing. Each perfect little pastry cut in to four 

somewhat equal pieces.

The verdict?

 Josh's favorite was the little cone cake soaked in rum I liked the layered caramel cake. The topping reminded me of a Sugar Daddy only soft. My husband and daughter-in-law just wanted to know why we had to share!

This just about says it all...

I really enjoyed our visit to Kathy's Bakery and Cafe.This is definitly a Cuban bakery. The employees speak English but Spanish is their first language. From the signs to the TV channel and the conversations going on around the little shop. I love going to a place like this where the culture and language is different than what I'm used to. My Spanish is marginally better than my German (for those who were with me on our trip to Germany you know my German stinks:-) but even so I managed to tell the two ladies behind the counter thank you it was very good...Gracias, muy bien.

You know what the ladies did? They clapped and cheered for me! Made my day...I will certainly be coming back not only to try a few more pastries and a cafe con leche but also to try out a few more Spanish phrases.

Eat, Drink and Be Merry in Staufen, Germany

It's no secret that I love to eat. I also gave myself permission on this trip to eat what I wanted and not worry about the consequences. And I think I did a pretty good job of it!

I have to finish out this series on Staufen by sharing a few of the yummy dishes we ate.
Eating in Staufen was a wonderful experience.

First and foremost we had to check out Cafe Decker.

Walking in the door we were met with glass cases full of wonderful pastries of every description. We wound our way through the bakery and up the back stairs to the covered roof top. A peaceful place to sit over looking the stream below while we waited for our coffee and dessert.

BTW if you take a walk along the river early in the morning you can see the  bakers at work through the windows under the roof top patio.

We were in the Black Forest so of course we had to try the Black Forest cake.

Delicious! 

I've had Black Forest cake at home in the US but it just wasn't the same. If you're anywhere in the Black Forest region please try a piece of this cake!

Schwarzwälder Kirschtorte 

The cake was excellent but I have to say I love the coffee over here. I want one of these coffee machines for my house! We even stopped and got coffee at McDonald's on the autobahn and they had a coffee service just like this. We got a good laugh because we NEVER eat at McDonald's back home and we come all the way to Europe and where do we get coffee? McDonald's.
But I have to say that even at a fast food place the coffee was very good.

Next Stop - Lunch!

On the advice of some friendly ladies we met at the hotel we knew we'd have to have lunch at the 

Kornhaus.

Kornhaus cafe is on the square catty corner from the town hall. Reasonable prices in a family friendly atmosphere.

I can't even describe how good the pumpkin soup was. I've had pumpkin soup before but this was different. Milder and so creamy. Topped with real cream and sesame seeds. Oh my gosh. I want a bowl right now!

Kürbissuppe - Pumpkin Soup

John ordered the pancake soup. He said it was very good and I tasted a little bit and agreed with him. A rich beef broth with thin slices of crepes.  The only issue is that you have to eat fast so the pancakes don't get soggy.

Every meal was accompanied by beer (we're in Germany of course!) or wine. Staufen has its own vineyard rising above the town. 

They also have a bottling co-op where several locals produce and sell their own wine.  We stopped and enjoyed a sampling of the best Staufen has to offer.

We couldn't pass up tasting a little schnapps at the Schladerer shop. Even our hotel had a distillery in the back room for making their own schnapps. I learned I can't drink schnapps. It makes my ears burn!

We've come to the end of our time in this perfect little medieval town with its vineyards, castle ruin, delicious food and drink and friendly people.

When you do most of your traveling by foot you don't have to worry about drinking and driving!

So lace up and enjoy yourself!

If you want to see more of Staufen, Germany in the southern most part of the Black Forest check out my other posts...

Gasthaus Zum Hirschner, Staufen, Germany

A Walk Through the Vineyard to Castle Staufen

A Walk Around Staufen, Germany

The Legend of Faust and the Pack With the Devil - Staufen, Germany

Girl's Retreat to Jekyll Island, Georgia

John and I went our separate ways this week but that's not a bad thing.

He went to the Florida Keys for the annual Winter Star Party and I went on a girls retreat to Jekyll Island, Georgia. While John was looking at the stars in the night sky with fellow astronomers I was walking the beach and having some girl time with my friends Trina and Renee. 

We stayed at the Villas by the Sea on Jekyll Island.The three bedroom villa was situated by the ocean and surrounded by a stand of  trees.  Beautiful surroundings, sandy beach, clean, uncluttered rooms, and the only person I had to worry about feeding was me! Perfect get away.

Walking and Eating 

Two of My Favorite Pastimes!

Our villa was near Driftwood Beach. A beautiful beach with a stand of trees that have been turned into driftwood graveyard by the incoming tides. It's actually rated one of the most romantic beaches and many people get married here. Unfortunately the romance is short lived when you realize that the stand of trees has been killed off due to erosion. The Jekyll Authority is doing what it can to stem the erosion by adding rocks to the beach to keep the existing live tree line in tact. Even though Villas by the Sea is 50 feet from the beach it isn't consider ocean view because of the natural trees that form a barrier between the buildings and the beach. 

That's OK. I don't need to sit on my balcony and see the ocean. I'd rather be walking the beach and get an up close view.

Views of Driftwood Beach

A view from the north end of the island. We're heading towards that small bridge on this walk.

Walk to Eat, Eat to Walk!

I'm not ashamed to admit that I love to eat! I guess it's a good thing I also love to walk.

While staying at the Villas by the Sea we ate every night at the Driftwood Bistro.( I think this is the first time I've eaten out that I didn't take a picture of my food!) So no pictures to show but you can check out the link below and see the menu. 

Trina, Renee and I all had different entrees and we didn't have one thing that wasn't perfectly cooked and super tasty. 

I enjoyed the Yankee Pot Roast, Grill Chicken Tenderloin, and the Herb Roasted Pork Tenderloin. My favorite side was the collard greens but the squash casserole, sweet potato casserole and the green beans were mighty tasty. The veggies tasted fresh not like anything came out of a can or frozen. 

Renee had the fried green tomatoes and after she raved about them I almost placed an order. But I didn't so I know we'll be making another trip to eat here soon. I'm glad it's only an hours drive from my house.

And should I mention the dessert? Of course! The Georgia Bourbon Peach Cobbler was superb. Just the right ratio of peaches to crust. I had mine Ala-mode. I love it when you can see the specks of vanilla bean in the ice cream  and oh yea - the whipped cream was real whipped cream. Not that fake stuff! I'd go back just for the dessert...

Villas by the Sea - Driftwood Bistro

Grab a a couple of friends and take a walk on the beach!

Eating at the Hotel Maximilian

Eating at the Hotel Maximilian

I decided before beginning this trip that I was going to eat and enjoy myself. And I did! 

We did plenty of walking so it was no problem. 

Dinner

ZWIEBELROSTBRATEN vom Österreichischen Qualitätsrind Bratkartoffeln, Bohnenbouquet  

(Roast loin of beef with onions and gravy, potatoes, green beans wrapped in bacon.)

 This beef dish was so good. The meat was tender and the gravy flavorful.

Yes I cleaned my plate!

John had the salmon on a bed of potatoes in cream sauce.

Our first dessert in Austria...

Ofenwarmer Apfelstrudel mit Eis und Sahne

Apple strudel with fresh apples, ice cream and whipped cream.

 Decadent and delicious! 

We'll have to lace up and walk this off tomorrow!