Baby Blog

We have decided to start this whole process again.  We will try and keep a regular blog going from here on out.  We are 5 weeks away from our due date today.  

Feb. 9th Return to Tucson

This time Heather won the weekly poker.  Todd won the mini golf and go kart races...and little Finn is crawling.  Going to miss those guys.  Great food at Gus Balon's.  Old time diner.

Feb. 5th Palm Springs

Had a great time with Pattee and Brian in Palm Springs.  Breakfast at The Parker was really good.  That's the hotel from the reality show.  didn't even know it was in palm springs.  Checked out Elvis's house and Dean Martin's.  Some hikes...great weather.  Still lovin the In N Out Burger.  Ready to head home.

Feb 4th and 5th

Oh the pain.  Which was worse Aaron Boone hitting that homer or Manning to Burress?  We sat with the Mara family who own the Giants.  For the most part it was comfortable but one woman wasn't to fond of us.  Jack Kemp sat in front of us...the ESPN guys behind us.  Sick seats.  Never felt comfortable.  We were straight out outplayed.  and outcoached.  Particularly outcouched.  We high tailed it out of the stadium post game and headed off to our B and B.  This was how it was advertised but it was actually some kids house where we rented rooms for the night.  Danny commented that he was kind of like Brad Pitt's character from True Romance.  He did cook us a decent breakfast.  Danny and I drove Gui to Tucson and dropped him off at the airport and then I dropped Danny off in Phoenix and headed back to pick up Kerry in Palm Springs.  We are heading home. 

Feb. 3rd More Pics from Black Sunday

Feb.3rd Black Sunday

We all watched the same game.  Happy Birthday Todd!  Just pics, no words.

Feb. 2nd WEEI Party

Wasted two bills each on the WEEI Block Party.  Patriots fans only. Drank a bunch of coors light, played video bowling and listened to Boomer Esiason, Pete Sheppard, Ordway, and the rest of the cast of characters tell us why the Pats are a lock.

Feb 1 More Parties

Forgot to mention our post party trip to Wal-Mart.  Found out In and Out Burger closes at 1AM so we took a food shopping trip to Wal-Mart at 2 and bought a ton of terrible food for 80$.  My first trip to a Wal-Mart.  Enjoyed a few hours at the golf tournament today.  The weather was perfect.  All of us were a little hung over and this crowd at the FBR likes to party so we just roamed and watched some of the big names go through.  Spent a little time on the 16th.  An infamous hole where the crowd gets wasted and screams a lot.  Only hole like it on the PGA Tour.  Went back took a little nap to prep ourselves for The NFL PLayers Party.  This was the most exclusive ticket of the weekend so we were pretty stoked.  A red carpet event.  We had player tickets so we had to walk through the players line to the cameras.  Danny told me to pretend I was a kicker.  Gui and Danny both looked like midgets at this thing.  Hard to recognize so many past and present players without their jerseys on.  Gave a quick hello to Lawyer Milloy.  TJ Houshmanzadeh, Maurice Jones -Drew, Warrick Dunn, tons of other guys.  Again Danny probably has a more complete list.  Biz Markie was the dj and some singer named keiysha Coles performed.  Open bar both nights.  food was terrible.  we had a great time. 

Jan. 31st Phoenix bound

this is the first time I have driven alone on this trip so the 5 hour ride to Phoenix felt a little strange.  I am picking up Danny and Gui at the airport and then heading off to our first party which is sponsored by Ea Sports.  Our hotel is right across the street from the FBR/Phoenix Open so we get to mix a little golf into the weekend.  We got a great room off of Craig's List.  sometimes making plans late pays off.  After I checked in I went and picked the guys up at the airport.  Danny had a hellacious day of flying with some ticketing issues by the airline.  The two arrived within minutes of each other, one from LA and the other SD.  After they got settled we took the drive into Scottsdale to find our party.  Gui's cousin, who works for the NFL was able to get us into some pretty exclusive parties.  When we walked into this one Trey Wingo was onstage commenting on the Madden championship between Marshawn Lynch and Willis Maghee.  Danny and I roamed a bit while Gui found the real party upstairs in the dance room.  We made our way up.  Just a few of the guys we got to "hang with":  Joe Montana, Chris Berman, essentially all the espn guys, Carson Palmer, Big Ben Rothslisberger, Donovan Mcnabb, Jamal anderson, Keyshawn, Matt Leinart, Andre Reed, and the 100 guys we didn't recognize.  Particularly the huge lineman.  danny probably has a more complete list.

Jan. 30th Palm Springs

we are staying in Palm Springs where I am leaving Kerry with Pattee and heading off to The Super Bowl.  Kerry and I were able to play a couple rounds of mini-golf and hit the aerial tram which took us up to 8000 feet over Palm Springs.  Lots of snow and a limited view but a great ride up the mountains.  I'm not so sure Kerry liked the ride.  I'm off to Phoenix and the big game.

Jan. 29th

We are back in Santa Barbara and visiting with Amber and Sia again.  Ashley Rorrow joined us for lunch.  She is attending college out here with a quite a few other outer cape kids.  She has a great apartment overlooking the Pacific and she seems to love it out here.  Kim...you have to visit.  Drag Mark along!  Plenty of golf.  After lunch we headed up to Ojai to have a little dinner with Chelsea Vivian.  She gave us a tour of her family's company and then took us out to a great little dinner.  short visit but great to see her.  We are now headed to Palm Springs and then The Super Bowl. 

Jan. 27th Manresa

Los Gatos is a beautiful little town in the silicon valley.  It has a nice little commercial street kind of like ptown in the fall except they have lamborghini and bentley dealerships on the main drag.  Apparently the computer business is pretty lucrative.  Wish we had all bought yahoo when it was an IPO.  We are staying here because Nick has made a reservation at one of the best restaurants in Cali.  The chef has an exclusive agreement with a farm which grows all of his produce.  Each dish requires 3-4 cooks to plate.  So here is the menu from Manresa.  They started us with a chestnut crouquette.  Nik thought it was a perfect amuse bouche.  Next a blood orange sangria with a carrot foam.  The pregnant woman got a different course.  (not Neilly) They changed Kerry's menu quite a bit.  No shellfish, raw fish or booze.  Next course was a red pepper gelee and black olive madeline.  The last amuse bouche was a poached organic egg served in shell with chive, some sort of foam and a maple syrup reduction.  Very very good and a small mystery on how they did that.  Our first real course was a shellfish and boudin rouge(some sort of blood sausage) ficoide glaciale.  don't really remember this one.  The next course was Spanish mackeral and hearts of palm in a cuttlefish vnaigrette.  Next a salad that I will remember for a long time.  I know that I really could do a better job describing the food but as we all know I'm not much of a writer.  When they put the salad down Nick immediately noticed the plate was warm.  A general no no when you are plating salads. This salad had fresh greens on top(mostly bitters, dandelions, etc.) lightly dressed.  Very lightly dressed.  The salad was layered with all sorts of vegetables which started raw at the top and were warmer on the bottom with different dressing throughout. Very unusual and probably the best veggie dish I've ever had.  Next was foie with abalone and uni in a chantarelle broth.  after that pan-fried skate wing with cauliflower fondant, in a cucumber and dill juice.  My least favorite course.  After that was braised pork belly with barley and whipped parsnips.  Next beef roasted in it's own fat with potatoes roasted in hay.  Now dessert:  pine ice cream, gamay noir jelly with grapefruit granite.  Then caramel glace meyer lemon confit, Normandy cow's milk.  Then chicory and caramelized bananas with a beignet.  The chicory was ground like coffee but looked like sand and added great texture and flavor to the dish.  Last was strawberry-chocolate petit fours.  All courses paired with wine.  Amazing meal and terrific company.  we had a blast.  we stopped and santa Cruz the next day to say goodbye to the dynamic duo and have started our journey home.  

Jan. 26th San Fran

Kerry is not enjoying the PCH any more... to twisty and hilly and she has not been feeling well.  We stopped in Santa Cruz for a quick visit with Nick and Frida at the dog park.  Nick and I had a dinner reservations at Michael Mina in SF so we left to meet up later.  We stayed at The Huntington on Nob Hill.  Nice old hotel.  Kerry crashed out and I left to link up with  Nick for dinner.  This is the restaurant where Garrett (use to cook at the oyster) works.  Nick and I ordered the tasting menu and the wine pairing.  The whole meal was amazing.  I wish I had a copy of the menu.  If i remember correctly the amuse bouche was a foie flan with uni.  The second course was a seared toro dish that was killer.  Bay scallops with blood orange.  poussin with foie which was the best course if I remember correctly.  One of the best dishes of the trip.  blanking on some of the others.  Kobe short ribs.  The best tarte tatin I've ever had with burnt cinnamon ice cream.  We got a tour of the kitchen. Garret took Nick and I to a cool little bar after he finished work and Nick and I got to hang in our element... a dive bar with cooks and waitstaff.  Garret seems great and I'm sure is learning a ton at one of the top restaurants in the country.  Felt like old times and I predict that Nick, Garret, and Ryan are all going to be very successful in this sadistic business.  Kerry and I woke the next morning and touristed around.  Skipped the cable cars because of her belly.  Did drive down Lombard street,  had lunch on Fisherman's wharf, Pier 39.  Saw the sea lions, alcatraz  and The Golden Gate Bridge.  It rained the whole time so we were a little limited in what we could do.  We are checking out of the hotel and heading to Los Gatos to meet Nick and Neily for dinner.  

Big Sur

Long story which I won't tell but Kerry and I had a free room at a place called The Post Ranch Inn in Big Sur.  We were able to stay two nights and they put us in a room over looking the Pacific.  The inn is 1800 feet up surrounded by mountains to the east and the Pacific to the west.  Beautiful place.  Unfortuantely we were trapped in our room for most of the stay.  It was gusting to 60 mph and side ways rain.  We couldn't sleep the first night because we thought the house was going slide into the sea.  The award winning restaurant was a bit overrated.  Amazing kitchen.  We are seeing Nantucket Bay scallops with blood orange on every high end menu.  No stand out dish that I can remember.  Kerry had a grilled squab app. that was pretty good.  One of the photos was taken at sunrise on our last morning after the storm broke.   We were able to take a little hike before leaving for San Francisco.

More PCH

Jan. 24th more PCH

After lunch we started cruising up the PCH toward Big Sur.  Encountered all sorts of weather.  Thought we saw a school of beached whales which turned out to be a colony of elephant seals.  Large and loud.

Jan. 24th Qupe and ABC Vineyards

We were invited to have lunch with the owner and staff of Qupe and Au Bon Climat Vineyards.  I have always loved the Qupe syrah and had it on the list both at The Oyster and Blackfish.  I have also had the ABC chard on the list. Michael Meluskey who works for Qupe and ABC has eaten at the Oyster and Blackfish a few times.  Loves the Oyster Stew.  He gave us a tour of the vineyard (in the rain) and then we sat down to a family style lunch which the owner who cooked for the staff and us.  They busted out a ton of wine (Kerry's glass is empty).  We had a roasted pork loin, free form lasagna with butternut squash and sage brown butter, a beet and arugula salad, cheese plate, and a broccoli/cauliflower hybrid.  I recognised the owner from a show I love on the HD channel called After Hours with Daniel Boloud.  It's basically a bunch of chefs, winemakers, and a celeb sitting around talking food, wine and politics.  I remember this guy because he was super interesting and had a lot to say.  Lunch was great and the whole thing was definitely one of the highlights of the trip.

Jan. 24th More PCH

I think to accurately describe this drive I'm going to post a ton of pics.  If you've been reading this we all know I'm no Shakespeare.  I'm sure Angie and Todd have pens out and are grading this whole thing.  Hoping for a C-.  Just a quick story.  Years ago my brother and I were driving down to South Carolina to visit my Mom and play a little golf.  Two things I should do more of.  Todd was at Dartmouth at the time and wanted to visit a friend at James Madison U. in Virginia.  We took the little detour and decided to spend the night.  I will leave most of the details out but we managed to destroy ourselves at an epic fraternity party  Sloshing around on a floor covered in an inch of beer and I vaguely remember a hookah pipe.  We passed out before the pizza showed up but woke early to try and make it to Mom's in time for dinner.  It was a blindingly sunny day and our heads were pounding.  I looked at Todd and he looked at me and it was obvious that I would be driving the first leg.  I made him promise to stay awake during the drive to keep my nagging hangover company.  He was asleep in minutes.  As I was looking at our route I noticed the scenic Blue Ridge Parkway.  I turned on to the Parkway thinking it would be a great way to entertain myself while Todd was sleeping.  I had no idea that once on it was very difficult to get back to a main highway.  It was also similar to being on a roller coaster that never ended.  Todd quickly woke up and asked "where the #@$% are we?"  After waking,  he was very cranky and he made me stop every 15 minutes so he could empty the contents of his stomach.  The PCH is very similar and now I'm stuck on it with a pregnant woman.  Poor Kerry...she's been a trooper but sometimes it's a bit to much for her.  Definitely taking a different route back.

Jan. 22nd S.B. and the PCH

Had a rainy drive up from Malibu on the Pacific Coast Highway.  Saw Sam Elliot at a grocery store in Malibu.  Wish we had the audi for this part of the trip.  The road is twisty and made to be driven.  The Toyo doesn't like it so much.  It was great to see Amber.  She promptly hooked us up with massage at her massage school.  John was able to get some time off so they toured us around a little bit and kicked our asses at the bowling alley.  Sia is a beautiful little girl.  Unfortunately I didn't get a photo but we will be swinging back through later in the trip.  The weather has been a little rough so we were limited in what we could do.  Kerry and I did catch a farmers market in downtown S.B. which really made me wish we had access to the same produce on the Cape.  Amazing organic stuff which went for three blocks.  I can only imagine what it's like when the weather is more cooperative.  Next stop Big Sur. 

Jan. 22nd The News

Although I'm sure all of you know already, Kerry and I are having a baby!   We have known since somewhere in Louisiana.  We finally got to a doctor in L.A. and confirmed that Kerry is 11 weeks and counting.  Predicted due date Aug. 15th.  We are very excited and cutting the trip short.  We will turn around in San Fran.  I'm headed to the Super Bowl with Danny and Gui...Kerry will be visiting with Pattee in Palm Springs then home around the 9th or 10th.  We will keep blogging the whole way.  Looking forward to seeing you all soon. 

L.A. Jan. 20th

Stopped and visited with a friend of mine from Jamaica on our drive up to L.A.  Daecia is working at a Marriott in Northern San Diego.  It was a great visit but to short.  I'm sure she can't wait to get home.  We splurged a bit but get a great rate at The Beverly Hills Hotel.  Upon checking in they told me our room was pretty small and asked if we would like to upgrade to a bungalow.  I figured way to expensive but the desk clerk said no cost so we jumped at it.  Great room!! Great Hotel!!  I hope I can someday truly afford to stay here.  The whole staff was super chill and friendly.  We had dinner in The Polo Room but no stars spotted.  Next morning we had breakfast in The Fountain Room and sat with the cop from Die Hard and Byron Allen.  C List at best.  We ran into Joe Torre while we were window shopping on Rodeo.  I shook his hand and wished him luck.  It's OK now that he's a Dodger!!  We drove around Beverly Hills and admired the houses and then I got sushi with one of my best friends from prep school.  Had a real good time in L.A. although we really didn't do much.  We are now headed to Santa Barbara to visit Amber Scuito and her fiance and baby!  Stay tune...big news in next blog.  

Still in S.D.

To set the record straight Rob won that tennis match.  First the food part.  Went to a great little taco place in Pacific Beach called La Playa (I think).  Great shrimp tacos...super fresh.  Rob hooked us up with an amazing meal at his place... I really liked San Diego.  Little communities spread out over a large area.  We stayed on Mission Bay in Pacific Beach.  We could walk right out of our room onto a boardwalk that went all around the bay.  We were just two blocks off the Pacific Ocean.  Rob took us through La Jolla and Ocean Beach.  Kerry and I checked out Coronado and the San Diego Zoo.  Not impressed with the zoo.  Should have taken Heather's recommendation and hit the wildlife park.  I know it's supposed to be one of the best zoo's in the world but the pens are still to small and the layout is absurd.  Rob took us to the bombshelter of S.D. which was fun but not the same without Steve behind the bar.  Went to Jessup's for the Pats game.  Nice to be in the away town with a bunch of Patriots fans.  Haven't seen Ben Ribnik since I coached his brother in hoops a million years ago.  Check out Coleman's shirt in the photo.  He's created the peel away t-shirt.  Had a great time but had to leave for L.A. post game.  Thanks for hosting us Rob and Jessup.  By the way Kenny Chesney really did write that song about sherri(sorry if my spelling is off).  

San Diego

Hello people! Long time, no speak... Kerry here.  Eric is much better with the blog writing than i am, but I figured since we were visiting one of MY best friends on this stage of the trip, well, I had better take the wheel.

How could we take a trip to California without visiting Rob Famulare.  It was an obvious stop, I know.  He showed us a great time from start to finish.  For those of you who know Rob, he is doing Great! He is Chef at beautiful resort called The Catamaran, located in Pacific Beach.  He got us a beautiful bay side room there and on our second night created a SEVEN course meal for us.  It was Delicious! 

We also got to see two other old friends of mine, Brett and Coleman.  They are doing great, working at the Catamaran as well. Eric, actually, got to spend a little more time  with them than I did... I crashed out early on poker night.  I did, however, catch the heated tennis match between Coleman and Rob. Congratulations Coleman.. you won fair and square. 

Overall, One of the best stops for me.  San Diego was beautiful, AND I got to see some great friends.  Thanks Rob, for your hospitality, and hopefully not long until we all see each other again.  

  

Still in Vegas

We spent the next few days in Vegas.  Gui and I played a poker tournament at the Paris Casino.  We both made the final table but neither of us placed in the money.  Gui took 6th and I placed 8th (top 5 got payed).  Kristen and Kerry hit the roller coaster at New York, New York while we played.  Apparently it was pretty scary.  I forgot to mention we hit Bouchon for breakfast which was absolutely killer and arguably the best breakfast I've ever eaten.  The pastries alone made it.  We gambled a bit more that night and ended up eating at a restaurant called Fix at the Bellagio for dinner.  Kobe sliders, little lobster tacos, fried truffled mac and cheese, yellowtail sashimi.  Another great meal.  Kristen spotted Tyson on our walk back to the hotel.  We finally linked up the whole crew for a Johnny Rockett's lunch on the 16th.  Everyone exchanged war stories (Tom's were the best) and headed off into the sunset.  Kerry and I spent one last night.  We had dinner at David Burke's which was pretty good, cool display kitchen and great waiter.  We then caught Spamalot which is a musical version of The Holy Grail.  We also got a backstage tour from one of the cast members.  San Diego bound!  Go Pats!!

Still Jan. 14th

We all met at 7 at B and B which is one of Mario Batali's restaurants.  The Outer Cape was well represented.  Luke and Lisa, Gui and Kristen, Mark Lewis, Sushi Andrew, Sushi Seth, and a bunch of other friends of Tom's.  There was 20 of us over all.  Gui had us set up with Ricki Lane who manages Batali's three restaurants in Vegas.   They gave us a private room with a 7 course tasting menu.  It was actually way more then 7 courses because there was 4 different plates sent out with each course.  Highlights were a beautiful cheese souffle, chestnut ravioli, lamb brain agnolotti, actually it was all great.  Killer wine.  Tom seemed genuinely surprised bordering on speechless, which we all know is tough for the man.  Congrats to Myya for pulling it off.  We finally encouraged him to make a speech which we got on video.  After dinner we all went off our separate ways to chase whatever debauchery we were choosing that evening.  Kerry and I were back in the room by 3 AM and again she crushed the poker table.