Getting to Caye Caulker-Part 1

Friendly Hotel Desk Clerk: Okay, I have you booked here for two rooms.

Us: What? No we should only have one room.

Friendly Hotel Desk Clerk: Hmmm, let me see {click-clack-clickity-clack} No, it says here two rooms. You are definitely booked for two rooms.

Us: Sigh.....

 We decided to spend the night near the Newark airport as our flight departed at 5:45am. It was surprisingly difficult to find a hotel near the Newark airport whose Tripadvisor reviews did not include photos of guests riddled with bed bug bites.  Springhill Suites seemed to be our best option if we didn’t want to carry unwanted insect passengers in our luggage. 

Our bug free bed 

The best available price was the one actually stated through Tripadvisor’s website, so I ended up booking directly through them. Of course what I found out at the desk of Springhill Suites is that Tripadvisor then books you through a third party. Through some glitch in their system they had accidentally, simultaneously booked us through two different third parties, Expedia and Get a Room. I had absolutely no Expedia information. No paperwork, no confirmation number, but I did have the paperwork for the Get a Room confirmation, so the clerk booked us in using the Expedia reservation and advised us to call Get a Room and have them cancel their reservation. If we didn’t get one of the reservations cancelled, we’d be charged for both rooms. 

Me: I explain the situation to the person answering the phone

Joe: I'm going to have to transfer you

Terrible hold music

Me: I explain the situation

Pete: I'm going to transfer you...

More terrible hold music

Me: I explain the situation

Donna: Actually, you have to call a completely different phone number, here I'll give it to you....

The issue seemed like something that should have been easy to resolve seeing as it was a glitch on Tripadvisor’s end, but it took forever. We spent almost two hours, precious hours we should have been sleeping before our 2:30am wake up call, on the

phone. Fortunately we did end up getting the second reservation cancelled, but I will be hesitant to book a room through Tripadvisor again. It wasn’t the best way to start off a trip.

 2:30am, we got ready in record speed, then caught the hotel’s 24 hour airport shuttle to the Newark airport. 

This part of traveling always gives me anxiety. Not the flying part, I enjoy flying, just the making sure that everything falls into place part. I’m usually not fully relaxed until my bag has been successfully set down on the floor of my accommodation. 

Craig from the Indie Travel Podcast suffers the same anxiety and described it as feeling like taking a final exam. That really is the perfect description.

We passed through security smoothly, though while I was waiting for Shannon, I witnessed two of the security screeners arguing and almost getting into a fist fight. Ah, New Jersey.  

I'm always mesmerized by the people who can chow down on greasy egg sandwiches and massive fruit and yogurt parfaits at 4:30 in the morning. All I can manage to do is sit down in my seat and stare. While I was staring, there was a girl yelling at her boyfriend for eating a muffin because it wasn't vegan. 

Once we were in the air, I pulled out my iPod. It was a little too early for reading or movies.  I wanted to go Meta for the first flight, so I saved up some of my favorite travel podcasts to listen to while in the air. Particularly, Betty in the Sky with a Suitcase, because then I was listening to a podcast about flying, while flying.  Whoa.  

We had one of those fancy screens at our seats where you can choose to watch a plethora of different movies or shows, but I preferred watching the flight progress.

We both have our airplane drinks. I don't drink Coke a lot, but I always choose it as my airplane drink. Shannon always gets Ginger Ale.

We landed in Miami in a bit of a panic. We had a very short layover and were aware that our next flight was probably already boarding as we waited to exit the plane. It seemed to take FOREVER for people to mosey their way off of the plane.  We bounced impatiently on our heals as Slowy McSlowster took his sweet old time retrieving his bag from the overhead bin, completely unaware of the backup of eager to disembark passengers behind him. The dread of a possibly missed flight started to envelop me.

In the most wonderful stroke of luck, our boarding gate was directly across from the gate we departed from. We even had time for the quickest bathroom break in the history of airport bathroom breaks. 

Next stop, Belize City, Belize.

A Little Nucky at The Knife and Fork Inn

Birthday Dinner #3 

I’ll admit it, I mostly watched the show Boardwalk Empire with my hands covering my eyes. It was a bit too violent for my delicate sensitives, but still I watched. I loved the characters. I loved how you find yourself rooting for a bad guy. I especially loved the fashion, and I loved seeing Atlantic City during a time when it was beautiful and glamorous; a time before it was filled with chain smoking, slot playing grannies in well-coordinated sweat suits, and drunken girls wearing tiaras and bedazzled shirts reading, bridesmaid. 

Atlantic City has eradicated most of its old school, prohibition charm, but if you look hard enough, you can still see a few glamorous ghosts from the past.

“We should eat there sometime,” we say as we drive by The Knife and Fork Inn. We say it during every trip to Atlantic City, every time we drive by it, every single time. After a hard nudge by Anthony Bourdain during last season’s New Jersey episode, we made eating at The Knife and Fork Inn priority number one.

Note- The Knife and Fork Inn has a dress code. This is probably an important thing to know before packing for your trip to Atlantic City. If you did not know this information beforehand, I recommend (if you are not a vegetarian) fortifying yourself for a crap-we- need- to- get- clothes –for –dinner shopping excursion by getting some free, tasty samples at the Jerky Outlet.

With tags freshly cut from our new clothing, we made our way to The Knife and Fork Inn.

The restaurant was established in 1912 by “The Commodore.” It started out as a private club for gentlemen. No girls allowed. During prohibition it was known as a place to go to get a drink, and counted the infamous Enoch “Nucky” Johnson as one of its frequenters. I can only imagine the nefarious plans that were discussed over cocktails and cigars. 

From the moment we walked through the door, my eyes darted everywhere. The architecture and décor of the restaurant is stunning. The history of the place envelops you. 

We were escorted upstairs and seated at a table near the fantastic mural.

The cushy chairs, white linens, and smartly dressed servers, inform you that you are in a special place.

The thing to get at The Knife and Fork Inn, and what they are most known for, is the Knife and Fork Dinner. For $64 you can get a full meal that includes soup, salad, lobster thermidor, and a filet mignon. Since we aren’t huge fans of lobster, we stuck to the regular menu.

I always love reading what people complain about on Tripadvisor. When I read reviews of The Knife and Fork Inn, multiple people complained about the rolls. The problem they said, you only get one roll, not an entire bread basket. 

Our server came to our table with a selection of rolls to choose from. 

We both got the onion roll which tasted exactly like french onion soup in bread form. It was a delicious roll. I'd rather have one outstanding piece of bread, than a basket of mediocre bread. I was happy and satisfied with my single roll. Silly Tripadvisor people. 

We started out with salads. A beet and goat cheese salad for Shannon, 

and a wedge salad for me. I’m pretty sure that the reason that I like wedge salads is the blue cheese dressing. 

Honestly, if they brought me a bowel of just blue cheese dressing, I’d be a happy girl. The wedge salad at The Knife and Fork Inn was exceptional, mostly because the blue cheese dressing was homemade, and thick, with ample chunks of fresh blue cheese. There is nothing worse than a wedge salad with a watery, runny dressing.

I have a weakness for risotto. It always seems like a good idea at the time.  In the chill of January, the warm, hearty, creamy goodness sounded especially appealing. I got the seafood risotto, and it was everything I hoped it would be; it was also very filling. I plugged away, I did my due diligence, and yet it in the end, it barely looked like I touched it.

Shannon went for a lighter dish, and got one of the evening's specials, the scallops Oscar. He said it was very good. Since he doesn’t like crab, it was added to my risotto.

Dessert; here I must apologize to Emeril’s City Walk in Orlando. You have been bumped to number two for best banana cream pie.

I love a good piece of banana cream pie, but often find myself disappointed when I am greeted by a slice that is mostly whipped cream and runny banana flavored pudding. 

I wouldn’t be surprised if my slice of banana cream pie at The Knife and Fork Inn had an entire sliced banana in it. The crust, the filling, the topping, everything about it was amazing. Favorite banana cream pie so far.

We absolutely enjoyed our dinner at The Knife and Fork Inn. We would go back again. I will say that it is more of a place to go to for a special occasion, than a just drop by for dinner. The food is top notch, the atmosphere is sophisticated, and if you imagine hard enough, you can almost see the faint echoes of the old boys, wheeling and dealing, sipping on their illegal hooch.

Borgata Breakfast Buffet

Nothing says you’re not at work like a vast landscape of breakfast meats. 

We have never been to a breakfast buffet in Atlantic City. Usually there is no time for breakfast as we need to stampede to the Harrah’s pool for a good lounge chair, but since we were staying in less demanding accommodations this time around, we figured we’d have a little morning treat.

The breakfast buffet at The Borgata has a lot going on. It is a magical land of breakfast items.

If you like pastries and sweeter items, they have them.

I know these bananas were for waffles, pancakes and such, but I ate them all by themselves.

The omelet station is very popular. It almost made me wish that I liked omelets. 

There are biscuits waiting to be covered in sausage gravy or cream chipped beef.

The roasted tomatoes with bread crumbs were so good, I ate more than one.

Carnivores can enjoy ham, bacon, sausage, and I’m sure a few other meats that I cannot remember.

There are eggs cooked several different ways, and a selection of breakfast potatoes.

If you want to pretend to be healthy, you can partake of the yogurt bar and fruit selection.

It was a bit overwhelming. I had to plan my plates carefully.

My favorite thing was the selection of fresh juices in adorable, little glass bottles. It was like a juice rainbow. 

The only disappointing thing was the coffee. As a lover of a good cup of Joe, I found the Borgata coffee too strong and bitter. It needed way too much creamer and sugar to make it palatable.  I get it I guess. They want to get all of the gamblers nice and caffeinated. 

After breakfast, we took a stroll around the Borgata. 

I still regret not getting one of these pretty macarons, even if I was too full to eat it right away. 

The Borgata is my second favorite Atlantic City casino to walk around, just after the Tropicana. 

The funky glass artwork is very cool. 

It was a relaxing morning spent at the Borgata. They buffet needs to work on their coffee, but a morning that involves unlimited bacon can never be bad. 

Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge

We figured that our little getaway couldn't be all hot tubs and stuffing our faces. We needed to do at least one non-food related activity, so we decided to check out the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge in Galloway, New Jersey.

I didn't have huge expectations for our visit. First, it was the middle of January, not a very active time for wildlife. Second, I usually prefer my wildlife refuges to be filled with sloths. I will say that I came away pleasantly surprised.

The Edwin B. Forsythe Wild Life Refuge was built to be a safe haven for various animals who required an escape from all of the city sprawl of downtown Atlantic City.

Usually there is a small entrance fee, but we happened to show up on a no entrance fee day.

We started out by milling around the information center. We like fancy displays and reading plaques.

We were asked if we'd like to watch the informational video. Of course we would! We got the whole movie room to ourselves as there were no other visitors. The movie was very well done. It gave a brief history of the refuge, then it showed what the refuge looks like through each of the seasons. It definitely made me want to come back to see the refuge during the other seasons, especially in late fall when the place gets an influx of Monarch butterflies.

We picked up a map, then hopped in the car to drive the 8-mile nature viewing loop.

There was a silent, magnificent beauty in the starkness of winter.

Everything was all neutral tones, mixed with silvery light.

I imagine that during the height of the shore season, this place can get crowded, and the cars can get backed up. With the exception of a few other cars, we had the place to ourselves, thus, we took our time to really soak it all in.

There wasn't a lot of wildlife to view in the winter. We saw otter homes, but I'm sure the otters were keeping warm and cozy.  We were treated to an array of birds and geese that didn't seem bothered by the cold.

The wildlife refuge is a fantastic place for picturetakers. We were constantly pulling over to the side to snap a photo, or just to watch an interesting bird pick up a couple of snacks in the water.

I was truly surprised by how lovely the refuge was. I wondered how even more lovely it would look in spring, or summer, or fall.

The wildlife refuge has several hiking trails that I'm sure are very nice, but it was too chilly for any lengthy outdoor air exposure. Just another reason to go back.

The next time you plan a trip to the New Jersey Shore, head to the Edwin B. Forsythe Wildlife Refuge, and take in some natural beauty before heading to the beach and the boardwalk. I will most certainly return.

Eating Old School at Angelo's Fairmount Tavern

Birthday Dinners #2 and #4

Yes, you read that correctly. We ended up liking Angelo's so much that we ate there twice during our trip.

We were on a roll after our Iron Room dinner, so we decided to try another off the boardwalk/not in a casino restaurant.

Established in 1935, Angelo's Fairmount Tavern is deliciously old school. It's easy to imagine that back in the day people hid guns in the bathroom and made offers that other people couldn't refuse in this restaurant.

It's also the Winchester House of restaurants. It just keeps going and going in a winding maze of variously decorated rooms. I'm pretty sure that at least some of the decor hanging on the walls has been around since 1935.

We decided to start off with one of the evening's specials, the fried vegetable platter. I know, I know, this was wildly unhealthy, but this is not the restaurant if you are looking for a kale and quinoa salad. We figured when in Rome, or in this case, when in old school, Italian, Atlantic City.

The batter was thin, light, and crispy. There is nothing like biting into a fried piece of zucchini. Hot and crisp on the outside, and soft and juicy on the inside, yum. Our appetizer was accompanied by marinara sauce, and a lemony sauce that went great with the fried green beans.

Of course an Italian meal wouldn't be complete without some fresh, crusty bread, and a couple of glasses of red wine.

Our meals came with a salad served family style. The house dressing was delicious.

For my entree, I went with my favorite Italian dish, manicotti with meatball.

Can you ever go wrong with pasta filled with cheese?  It was tasty, but didn't quite beat out Villa di Roma (Italian Market in Philadelphia) as my absolute #1 manicotti. The meatball was fantastic. Growing up I had a Great Aunt Francis whose meatballs were the stuff of legend. I think what made them particularly good was the crusty, slightly charred outside. The meatball at Angelo's brought back memories of eating meatballs in the finished basements of family members during showers, graduation parties, etc...

Shannon got one of his favorites, lasagna.

There was probably enough lasagna to feed at least two people. It was a good thing our room had a fridge for leftovers. He gave his lasagna a thumbs up.

We would have ordered dessert, but we were incredibly stuffed.

When we ate here the second time with our doing stuff partners in crime Scott and Paulette, we got an order of the cheesy garlic bread. Yes, it was as good as it sounds, and looks.

We also got a carafe of the house red wine. I'm almost always disappointed by a restaurant's house wine, but Angelo's house red was quite enjoyable. Don't be afraid to order it if you go. It's a good amount of wine, and split between four people, it was a great deal.

I've been to a couple of Italian restaurants at the casinos, and none of them even come close to being as delicious and authentic as Angelo's Fairmount Tavern. If you park at Caesar's, it's not too far of a walk, and it is completely worth a visit for some home cooked Italian food and a setting that will make you want to leave the gun and take the cannoli.