Ed plans our roadtrips by looking for places to eat. He loves eating at unique places; I doubt he has set foot in an Olive Garden since 1989. On our way to the Smoky Mountains, we stayed in Berea, Kentucky. Weeks before our trip, Ed knew that we were going to eat dinner the Historic Boone Tavern Restaurant.
While sometimes it seems like it would be easier to stay by the hotel and eat at a chain restaurant that’s familiar, eating at a local place is a lot of fun. Shortly after we sat down at our table in the Boone Tavern, a server came over to give us our first taste of spoon bread. Neither Ed nor I had ever had spoon bread before. Yum!
When we went to my Dad’s house one Christmas, we thought it would be fun to spend a day at a water park. After spending the day at the Wasserbahn in Central Iowa, Ed informed my whole family that we were going to eat dinner at The Ronneburg Restaurant. Sure, bringing the girls to the water park was fun, but it was the German food Ed was really after. And he was right. The German food at The Ronneburg was outstanding.
North Platte, Nebraska was a stopping point during our drive from Chicago to Estes Park, Colorado. Ed arranged for us to have a hotel room with bunk beds for the girls, and we were going to eat at Whiskey Creek. He knew it was a chain, but the fact that we had never eaten there before made it a good choice.
This past summer, I decided to take a page from Ed’s book. Before our trip to Alaska, I asked my cousin where I should take Ed to eat for his birthday, and she suggested Simon and Seafort’s in Anchorage. I surprised Ed with a reservation and a table by the window. The hostess even sprinkled birthday ribbons on our table! As we were eating, we were able to look out at Cook’s Inlet and Mount Susitna, “the sleeping lady.” It was a wonderful evening!
What delicious trips you go on! My husband loves chains. He thinks they are safe. I love to explore. Maybe I can convince him to try a hole in the wall on our next trip.
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Try to pick one where he will have a good experience! I love to explore, too!
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Awesome! We plan our road trips around restaurants we want to try, too! We're not too keen on chains, either.
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It's fun, isn't it! We're always discovering new things.
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I'm like Ed and always looking for the cool spot to eat anywhere we go. Even the most obscure places has the "it" spot to eat!
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Absolutely! If we don't have a place in mind, we ask someone local to recommend a restaurant.
My recent post Eating Our Way Across the USA
My sister and I organised our road trips by the names of the youth hostels: the funnier the better. We stayed at some great places!
That sounds like fun! I'd love to travel through Europe with my sisters!
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i'm ok with chain restaurants but i love Ed's sense of adventure!
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Ed has really helped my sense of adventure grow!
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I love Ed's approach! Whenever I think of chain restaurants I think of the movie "Office Space" and Jennifer Aniston's character getting in trouble for not having 'flare.'
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I haven't seen that movie…but I've always wanted to! I'll have to see it now. 😉
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If y'all ever come to Texas I'll be happy to point you to some yummy spots! Love your husband's attitude; he sounds like a great traveling partner.
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I've never been to Texas! I'll be sure to tell you when I do come to visit. 😉
My recent post Eating Our Way Across the USA
That sounds like something right up my alley 🙂 What I wonder is, does he ever pick a place that turns out to be terrible?
That's a great question! All the places Ed has picked have been good! However, there have been a couple places we've gone to while traveling that we've had terrible experiences at. But those were places where we had to eat a meal so we stopped, not places we researched ahead of time. I could write a whole other post on those places!