The Greatest Bar-B-Que Show On Earth

Let me put it this way... if there was Dinosaur BBQ within an hour of Baltimore I would have had to put lose 100 lbs on my '30 by 30'.  Dinosaur may be just the greatest restaurant on my earth. I put it on my '30' even though I have been there a few times in the past few years (the Harlem Dino, not the Syracuse Dino). I actually figured I would make it to the NYC one this year and not the Syracuse one, but boy am I happy i hit up my original Dino. Not sure Dino NYC would have gotten this much of a cheesy reaction...

Only Dino Could Get This Cheesy A Smile

Some history: I love food (shocker!), especially barbeque. I went to Dino for the first time freshman year with my family. It was ridiculous. I didn't go too often until Jr and Sr year when it became a Thursday night tradition with some friends. I just love love loved it. The atmosphere is fun, the food is great, the beer selection is tremendous. The packed crowds make it even more fun. In a town where I honestly didn't like too much, I really liked this place. I had such high expectations for the Syracuse location that I was concerned it wouldn't live up to my self-inflicted hype. I was also concerned that ridiculously-health-conscious Liz would be disappointed. Turns out Dino BBQ actually surpassed high expectations! It was even better than I remembered. Not sure how this is possible, but it was just delicious. Our beer selection for Friday night dinner included Saranac Pale Ale (my traditional Dino brew) and Purple Haze (a tremendous beverage whisperer pick). Though I'd like to think I've had most things on the Dino menu, we were craving wings with our beer and picked the Wango Tangos. 

"They were the best wings I have ever had in my life. Sorry Kislings." -Liz

That's right, they were that good. So good that I bought Wango Tango sauce at Wegmans and am determined to start cooking with it immediately. Just check these out...

Wings & Beer Dino Style

The photo does not do them justice but the Wango Tango-y fall off the bone deliciousness was spectacular. For dinner I got my usual favorite ribs (an ambitious 3/4 rack), macaroni and tomato cucumber salad. It was amazing. A-M-A-Z-I-N-G. This picture makes me wanna hop in the car and drive on back. Yeah some food gets me excited.

What Diet?

Could not have asked for a better experience. I've enjoyed the NYC Dino the past few times I went, but the Syracuse Dino is the absolute best. Atmosphere, food, everything. Dino oh how I miss you.

Dino At Night

The Menu

Raspberry Beer Goodness

Back To The Big Orange

It's hard to believe I hadn't been up to Syracuse since my graduation in May 2004. That all changed this weekend! On a whim I decided to make the most of a regularly scheduled 3-day weekend (thanks to Redskins playing Monday Night Football) by conquering a few of the '30 by 30'. I convinced (again, quite easily) my girl Liz to come along. Since we planned it very last minute (like, Thursday) there was minimal expectationy pressure and more room for spontaneous fun. My goals for the trip were simple. 1) Go to the Toledo-Syracuse game and 2) Eat at Dinosaur BBQ. Anything else would be icing on the orange cake. 

We left around 11am on Friday. If you factor in the usual morning trip to Dunkin we really got on the road closer to 11:15. It literally rained the entire way up to Syracuse. Figures, right? The frequently monsoon-esque rains led to a few extra pit stops. They turned out to be quite entertaining pit stops, including a Halloween themed bathroom in a Hess gas station (pictured) and my 1st ever M-T-O at Sheetz (for me, not Liz, she doesn't do carbs). We finally rolled into Syracuse around 5:45 on Friday evening. A bit long for my liking but understandable considering it rained, hard, the entire drive. We drove straight to Dino and let me tell you it was freaking amazing. I'll do a separate post for Dino but yeah it was ridiculously great and lived up to everything I remember. From there we hit up the Wegmans (not sure anyone other than Rochester-native Liz could love Weggies more than me) for some Genesee Cream Ale and then basically called it a night. Kickoff for Toledo-Syracuse was 12pm so we started Saturday with another trip to Wegmans (shopping list included Dinosaur BBQ sauce and chocolate chip cookies), a trip to Dunkin, a stop by my old Syracuse house (pictured), a t-shirt purchase on Marshall Street (2 for $15, score!) and a stroll to the Dome. We bought tickets from a nice dude outside. $20 total for 2 tickets. Can't beat that. In some ways it was kinda weird being back in the dome for the first time in 8 years, but in other ways it was kinda comfortable like I never left. Game was a blast (helped that we won)! We ended the Syracuse adventure with a walk into Newhouse 3 (which was just a dream last time I was there), a quick trip by my favorite professor's office (too bad she wasn't in town, but I did leave a note) and then we hit the road. Less than 24 hours in the big orange but had a blast and was ready to call it a mini road trip. 

Turns out there was one last ridiculously fun surprise waiting for us. While stopped in a Dunkin/Citgo in Cortland, Liz found Dunkin Ground Pumpkin (pictured). I'm convinced this is counterfeit coffee considering we frequent lots of Dunkin and have never ever seen the Pumpkin flavored grounds. Just had some though and it is delicious so whatever it is and for whatever reason it's only in 1 Dunkin in the world, I'll take it. The drive home was a very easy 5 hours. And now I can cross Syracuse football, Dinosaur, and road trip off my '30 by 30'. I'll call that a very successful 32 hours. 

1st In-Person Look at Newhouse 3

A Bathroom. In a Hess gas station.

O-R-A-N-G-E

My Jr/Sr Year House. 708!

Found: Dunkin Pumpkin Grounds in Cortland, NY

Monday Funday at The National Zoo

I've been wanting to go to the National Zoo for years and just hadn't gotten around to it which is why I put it on my '30 by 30'. It's kind of a shame to live so close and just not make it there! 7 months into my project and I can check it off the list. I picked today to go because I had the day off work as part of a planned vacation but was going to be back in town. There aren't many week days when I'm not working and in town so this seemed perfect. I (quite easily) convinced my girls Liz & Kellie to take the day off and come along. I was a bit concerned the weather wouldn't cooperate after some crazy thunder and lightning storms this morning, but alas, it worked out and our Monday Funday at the zoo is in the books.

So the good: We saw the Giant Pandas and let's be real, who doesn't go to the National Zoo to see one of the most elusive endangered animals? Kellie was convinced the pandas don't exist. She claims to have been to the zoo multiple times in the past few years and never had a panda sighting. We must have gotten lucky because the two giant pandas were out and about and one even walked around a bit proving it's not just a giant stuffed animal strategically placed. That's exciting to me, and not just because Manda rhymes with Panda (ok that's part of it). We also saw two monkeys cuddling which was quite frankly one of the cutest things I've ever seen.

Now the bad: The zoo, to quote Liz, was very underwhelming. I absolutely agreed. There just wasn't as much there as I thought there would be considering it is the National Zoo. We saw the lions, tigers, pandas, elephants and monkeys and such but it just seemed like we were barely there for 2 hours and went through the whole zoo. When I realized we had seen everything so quickly I think I blurted "that's it?". That basically sums it up. I grew up going to the zoo formerly known as the Baltimore Zoo all the time. It would be a whole day activity. Between the polar bears, the rhinos, giraffes, hippo house, water animals and the petting zoo (yeah ok I liked the petting zoo) it was very exciting. Maybe it's an age thing, but besides the pandas, the National Zoo was kinda eh. I talked to my mom on the way home and she said the last time she remembers going (which is probably the last time I went, about 15 years ago) it was so hot all the animals were in shade or inside. I guess I just had higher expectations for the Zoo overall. It wasn't a waste of time or anything, and I had great company and a fun Monday, but it was overall just underwhelming. If I wanted to do another Zoo day, I'd pay to go to the Maryland Zoo over the free National Zoo. Still, it's worth the easy trip as part of a bigger day hitting multiple Smithsonian museum. At the very least to see the pandas.

So the good news is that I crossed it off the '30', I ended my vacation with a day of great friends, and we finished the work-free DC day with a drink at Lauriol Plaza. Cheers to that!

giant panda

our tiger friend

cuddle monkeys

a relative, i think

our monday funday

Last Dunkin' Diner Standing

Did you know that Dunkin' Donuts Diners exist? Ones with table service and waitresses and real sit-down breakfast, lunch & dinner food? Well, it's true that they do! And from what I've been told the last one standing is the one right here near Palm Beach. It's been here since 1962. There were some in the New England area but I believe they all closed many years ago (feel free to email me if I'm wrong!). I've been hearing about this Dunkin' Diner from my folks for years but for whatever reason I hadn't gone... until this morning. Yeah, it's as awesome as you'd expect. It's cheap ($5.99 for eggs, pancakes, bacon, sausage, hashbrowns) and for $1.89 you get all the Dunkin' coffee you want (including flavors) PLUS they give you a fresh cup 'o coffee to go. C'mon Dunkin' lovin' peeps, does it get any better?

The Sign At the Last Dunkin' Diner

The Breakfast Menu

Unlimited Coffee in Vintage DD Mugs

I'm On A Jet Ski!

Another trip to Florida... another fun '30' crossed off the list... Jet Skiing! The weather here in the WPB has been stormy all week but I saw that today was forecasted as awesome until early afternoon so my mom and I went over to Riviera Beach. We rented a Yamaha Waverunner from this place. There's a ton of places to rent from in that general area but Blue Water had a good weekday rate of $69/hr so I figured we'd give them a try. The two guys working there were super nice. The weather was ridiculous. Clear skies and probably low 90s. I had a blast driving up and down the Intercoastal and around Peanut Island. My mom is too nervous to drive so she just hopped on back with me. It was kind of like being 16 all over again. "Manda not so fast! (you're going over 10 mph). Watch out for that boat! (that's 300 feet away). You're getting a little close to the dock! (that's 200 feet away)." I wasn't allowed to take the jet ski in the ocean but quite frankly that was OK by me because I'm still a little irked after Shark Week. There are some beautiful houses along the Intercoastal. In fact, I found my new house (pic below). Huge thanks to my moms for pickin' up the tab and coming along. And yes, I wore plenty of sunscreen this time.

Rockin' The Caps Winter Classic T.

Checkin Out My Future Digs.

Docking. It's Been Fun.

On an unrelated note, we went to see "The Help" today once the storms rolled in. Wow, such a good movie! My mom really enjoyed the movie, but she also read the book and said the book is even better. I'm going to try and read it later this week. If you're looking for a good reason to hit the movie theater, this one is definitely worth it.

Game On

This intro has become much to common. First, I apologize for such a lag in blogging. Then, I say I will not neglect this blog for so long. And finally, 2 months goes by and I realize I have not made a post. Eek! I could offer up a plethora of excuses (work, personal, work, stress, work, busy, the nfl lockout) but instead how about an update with 5 months to go til I reach the big 3-0!

Let's start with some plans in the works. First and foremost, I have a National Zoo date all set and I cannot wait! It's within the next 2 weeks and I promise to post some fun pictures after the fact. I'm hoping this brutal weather calms down a bit before Zoo-day. 

Dear Mother Nature,
78 and partly cloudy would be ideal for Zoo-day.
Love, Manda

There's also jet skiing plans in the imminent future. My good friends who live on the water in Middle River just got a brand new jet ski and I've obviously already invited myself to take it for a test drive. It's also entirely possible I'll go during my upcoming trip to Florida, but this year's Shark Week has only elevated my fear of open waters. Either way, by the end of August, I'll have conquered the jet ski.

On the weight loss front... I've been up, down, up, down, up, up, down. Right now I'm down 10 lbs from where I was on my 29th birthday. Not ideal. So I have 5 months to drop another 40. I've made some more lifestyle adjustments so I'm hoping I can focus. This is my biggest goal and the one I most want to achieve. Lofty expectations are always difficult and I get frustrated but I'm confident that under this pressure I can pull it off. Sometimes I wish life wasn't so up and down and I could just focus on one thing. Alas, real life gets intense sometimes and I have trouble sticking to a plan when extra stress is thrown into the mix. I'm hoping I can just hunker down and focus on this. Here's hoping!

I still have that Living Social coupon I bought for the Jewish Museum of Maryland. Anyone wanna go with me on a Sunday? If so, hit me up.

So those are the imminent plans. Still working on the full list, of course, but also taking it one day at a time and trying to manage goals/expectations. I like that I set lofty goals and luckily I work well under pressure. Now that I'm in the final stretch I better up my game. And in this case, GAME ON.

Conquering Skyline Drive

After a month-long drought of conquering the '30' I finally made my way to Shenandoah to photograph Skyline Drive an go camping (for the first time ever outside of summer camp)! Had a wonderful, somewhat spontaneous weekend getaway. It was not without a few bump and mini "crises". In the 2 weeks since we decided to go camping in Shenandoah on the top of the "to do" list was to make sure my good camera (Nikon D40x) was charged. So of course I made sure it was fully charged. I also have a nice Canon point and shoot that I usually take on outings but I could not find it before we left and decided I was fine with the SLR. After about 2 1/2 hours we get to Shenandoah's Front Royal entrance (5pm) and stop at the first overlook (4 miles into the park). I get out to take a picture and, much to my horror, I hear the dreaded hollow click and see "No SD Card Inserted" on the screen. My initial instinct was to cry, I came really close, but I resisted the urge and quickly processed a few options. We could drive back out north and go to the Walmart where we bought fishing licenses and get a card but that would probably be about an hour round trip and we had to get to the campground and get set before 8pm sundown. No chance with another 50 miles to go at 35 mph max. So, I thought back to the many trips with my family to National Parks and the many cameras/batteries we bought inside the park and I was sure they had to sell SD cards for forgetful and in crisis folks just like yours truly. The 20 mile, 45 minute drive to the next giftshop/camp store was very very very nerve-wracking. Did I really go 3 hours to Shenandoah without realizing the memory card was missing? Alas, for the bargain price of $16.99 I got a brand new 2gb SD card. Phew. Crisis averted. Let this be a lesson, kids, next time add both "charge camera battery" and "make sure you have the memory card in the camera" to the list. I'll post a few more stories when I do the camping post, but for now, enjoy a few pics of Skyline Drive...