Road Trip Post #5K - Rapid City

Thursday, June 18th

We started the day by sleeping in as late as possible. My mom and dad went on a lovely drive on US 14A - Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway instead of sleeping in. They highly recommend this drive with its wildflowers, waterfalls and beautiful nature.

Part of the Spearfish Canyon Scenic Byway. Photo by Karen Rasmussen.

We took advantage of the hotel's pool and spa. We checked out at 11 am at the last possible minute.

The girls enjoyed as much of the spa as we'd let them get into the super hot water.

We all met up at Taste of Chicago on Lacrosse Street in Rapid City for lunch. My parents had been here two years ago, but the location and management had changed. From the manager, he stated that Rapid City wanted more authentic Chicago food and this new place was the answer to that call. The decor was all Chicago sports teams. Every wall hosted a different team. Side note: they had not updated that the Blackhawks just won the Stanley Cup.

My mom, sister, niece, Six and Eight waiting for our lunch.

The food offerings were authentic Chicago fare, according to the manager. I was surprised to see that there wasn't a pizza, deep dish or otherwise, offered on the menu. The menu mostly consisted of hot dogs, bratwurst, chili, and nachos. There were also tamales. The special of the day was tamales with chili on top, served with an individual bag of chips and a fountain soda for $5. However when I walked in, the one man/manager working the lunch shift stated that there was no soup and no chili. I had wanted a chili cheese dog, but that wasn't possible without chili.

A view of the other direction with Six, my dad, sister and mom. There was one other family and one single person in the restaurant. Maybe that should have been my first clue at noon on a Thursday.

I ordered a kid's hot dog meal of a plain hot dog, bag of chips and a fountain soda for Six. Eight wanted a tamale. I settled on a bratwurst and ordered us both drinks. All of this was only $12. Because there was only one man working, the food took forever. He kept saying that we needed to have patience and he'd get to us in order, giving each order the attention it required. Which would have been fine, except everything was premade and just reheated, and still a bit chilled. The rest of my family ordered the special - tamales with chili. Amazingly chili appeared. Turns out it was frozen and he was reheating it slowly, but in time to get to my family's order.

To say I was not impressed is an understatement. The service was slow, even with his assurance of quality, the food was only warm, and I'm not a Chicago sports fan for any of their many teams. I also do not associate Chicago with tamales, but I do associate Chicago with deep dish pizza.

Somehow I knew that even though we got to Taste of Chicago at noon, we would not make it across town to take a tour of the Black Hills gold Mount Rushmore Jewelry factory by 1 pm. We got our tickets for the 2 pm tour, and just made it with little time to look around before the tour started. Unfortunately they did not allow us to take pictures inside the jewelry store and factory.

I'm sporting my new Black Hills gold necklace with a Montana sapphire just outside the factory.

The factory is a fascinating place! Traditionally Black Hills Gold was only made from gold mined in the Black Hills of South Dakota. Now that the mines are starting to run dry, the term Black Hills Gold only legally applies to pieces made in the Black Hills. The designs including grapes and grape leaves came from a French jewelry designer who decided to try his luck at becoming a miner. He got lost looking for gold in the Black Hills. While lost he had a dream that he was back home in the vineyard and when he awoke, he was saved from starvation by finding grapes. He showed his gratitude by giving up mining, and only dealing with designing gold pieces and he used the grapes, leaves and vines in his designs, calling it "Good Luck" jewelry.

A few things not mentioned in the video attached to the link above: this is their second location. There were so many gold shavings trapped in the carpet of their old location that they sent the carpet to the gold refinery and received enough money to completely pay the mortgage of their new location. They also vacuum every day and send their vacuum bags to the refinery to reclaim the gold shavings.

Image taken from a Bing image search. This is Miss Rodeo America 2014 with the beautiful Black Hills Gold tiara.

We enjoyed looking at all the jewelry the factory had to offer. The tiara made for Miss Rodeo America was on display and is absolutely gorgeous. I think it's even more beautiful seeing it for myself. I couldn't decide between two necklaces, so I got both since they were 30% off. I also got the girls necklaces for their birthdays, so don't tell them if you read this before them!

We left the factory and headed downtown to see the City of Presidents. There are life size statues for every US president on a city block corner, except for Barack Obama. His statue will be added after his term in office is complete. The girls were still full of energy and decided to take pictures with most of the presidents and climbed on a few to get better pictures and burn energy. Here are a few of our favorites (yes, a few, I think we took pictures with all 43 statues):

My dad and girls with Teddy Roosevelt.

My niece and girls with Abraham Lincoln.

I'm way taller than James Madison.

The girls with Lyndon B. Johnson. We toured his ranch near Fredericksburg, TX in March.

We enjoyed pretending to feed the birds with Benjamin Harrison.

Howdy! with Calvin Coolidge

Grover Cleveland looked like he just wanted to sit and chat, kind of like Santa.

George W. Bush was president when both girls were born.

George Washington gets a hug.

Thomas Jefferson was the last president in our loop.

We decided to have an early dinner before we left Rapid City to drive 4 1/2 hours to the family reunion in North Dakota. We went to Perkins, which is yet another chain, but a favorite from my college days. I decided we had to go there because they had peach muffins! Other than that, dinner was what you would expect in terms of food, service, cleanliness, etc.

The peach muffins sang their siren's song and I had to eat at Perkins.

We left Rapid City and started heading north. We got to Belle Fourche, SD, the geographical center of the United States, including Alaska and Hawaii. Two years ago we stopped to eat lunch here, not realizing its significance nor the cool monument. So we had to stop for the photo op this time.

My dad and mom looking at the large compass monument depicting the geographical center of the United States.

The girls decided to roll down the hill after being cooped up in the minivan.

My monument selfie.

Smile like you like each other! I'm trying for a Christmas card photo here!

Monument angels.

We got back in the minivan and continued our caravan to the family reunion at the Assumption Abbey in Richardton, ND. We arrived at 11:30 pm and collapsed into our dorm room beds.

Road Trip #4K - Lucky's 13 Pub

Last entry for Wednesday, June 17th

We left Mt. Rushmore and drove to Spearfish, SD for the night. My mom was the one in charge of reserving all our hotel rooms during our trip and the Black Hills are so popular, this was the closest she could get us to Mt. Rushmore.

My sister was done for the day and decided to stay at our hotel with our uncle and aunt's dog. We went to Lucky's 13 Pub for a late dinner.

We were greeted by the hostess and our waitress who finished clearing tables and pushed them together for our large party of eight. The restaurant had character with a tin ceiling, wood detailing, and fireplaces.

Our waitress was very energetic, bubbly and happy to answer all the questions we had about the menu. She brought out bowls of popcorn for the table to share. We ended up getting 2 refills of popcorn while waiting for the kitchen to prepare our dinners.

While we were waiting, the area started experiencing severe weather with high winds, lightening, and eventually rain. The manager and waitress kept us updated with weather reports and informing us of their severe weather plan, should we need to seek shelter.

Unfortunately before we could enjoy our dinner, the restaurant and hotel it was attached to, came under a tornado warning and we were evacuated to an inner conference room to wait out the storm. It was such a fast moving storm, that we were only in the conference room for 20 minutes. Thankfully there was no damage reported and we were all safe.

Me, Eight, my aunt, Six, and my mom making the best of our evacuation for the tornado/severe weather.

When we got back to the restaurant, all the food had to be remade. I was so exhausted from the full day and the evacuation, that I nearly fell asleep at the table before we got our remade dinners. The wait was worth it since I ordered an Indian taco. I grew up on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana. Indian tacos are like normal tacos with their toppings, but the tortilla is replaced with fry bread. Fry bread is a big, semi-flat disk, fried like a donut, but not as sweet. On the rez, it's a traditional delicacy that I was happy to revisit from my youth. It's a big, delicious mess.

My Indian taco

While the dinner turned out to be a lot longer and later than I wanted, no one could do anything about the weather. The restaurant gave us a free dessert for the inconvenience of the severe weather. We took it back to our hotel and the girls and my sister ate it for breakfast.

Road Trip Post #3K - Mt. Rushmore

Wednesday, June 17th

We finally made it to Mount Rushmore National Memorial after our scenic drive. Everyone else took the direct route and they were done with Mt. Rushmore by the time we got there. So my sister, niece, dad, aunt, and her dog went ahead of us to Spearfish, SD where we planned to spend the night with the mission to find an interesting, rustic looking, non-chain restaurant for dinner, and check out the pool and hot tub at the hotel.

My uncle and mom stayed with the girls and me. My uncle got the girls hooked on the National Parks Junior Ranger Program, so he wanted to be there for their 10th Junior Ranger Badge.

My uncle, Eight, Six, and my mom enjoying Mt. Rushmore and filling out their Junior Ranger books.

Things we learned while filling out the Junior Ranger books: as a Veteran, I would have been asked to participate in the flag lowering/memorial lighting ceremony, but that was at 9 pm. We learned that originally Mt. Rushmore was going to be carved by drills, but after much drilling and hardly any progress, they used dynamite. Over 90% of Mt. Rushmore was carved by dynamite. We also learned that Mt. Rushmore got it's name from a New York lawyer, Charles Rushmore, who came to visit in 1885. He asked what the name of that particular mountain was called and to placate him, they jokingly said it didn't have a name, so we'll name it after you. Joke was on them as the name stuck!

Pointing out state flags of states we've lived in during our military moves.

The girls filled out as many the pages they could. We enjoyed hunting for all the flags of states we've lived in along the Walk of Flags. We had fun taking pictures along the back wall of the amphitheater. The museum on the lower level was very fun and interactive. I would have enjoyed more time to look around and read more of the descriptions, but the girls were on a mission to complete their Junior Ranger books and only looking for the answers. Their favorite part was an interactive video where they could plan the dynamite blasts, and then blow up the rock on the screen!

My uncle ready to assist with the quest for Junior Ranger badges.

The girls really enjoyed seeing Mt. Rushmore!

After all their searching and learning, the girls turned in their books to see if they earned their Junior Ranger badges.

The girls earned their 10th Junior Ranger Badge!

After the girls earned their Junior Ranger badges, we took a break to have some ice cream. Not just any ice cream, but ice cream based off the first ice cream recipe from Thomas Jefferson! After taking pictures all day, we apparently don't have any pictures of us with our ice cream. It was just the cool, creamy, sweet spot that our day needed. I highly recommend getting ice cream in a bowl because the servings are HUGE! We had strawberry cheesecake, cookies and cream, butter pecan, and the traditional vanilla. All the flavors were delicious and hit the spot.

We stopped in the gift shop before we headed up to Spearfish for the night. A surprise guest was Nick Clifford, an original Mt. Rushmore driller! He officially became employed in 1938 at the age of 17, more for his baseball skills than his drilling skills. That makes him 94 years old now. His book is filled with questions people have asked him over the years and his answers. It's a really good, quick read filled with all kinds of information.

The girls met Nick Clifford, an original Mt. Rushmore driller and got their book autographed!

We left Mt. Rushmore and took the direct route back to US 385. It was pretty, but we are happy we took the scenic route on the way there, even with all the construction stops and slow vehicles in front of us. (Except Six, who claims she nearly puked on the long twisty roads and Eight, with the occasional smell of tar from the road construction.)

Road Trip Post #2K - Wind Cave NP, Crazy Horse Mem, Needles Hwy, Iron Mountain Rd

Wednesday, June 17th.

We left the Mammoth Site and drove into Custer, SD to regroup with my parents, sister, niece, my uncle, aunt and their dog. We were separated while others had to run errands in town. Instead of errands, I took my mom and girls through a drive of Wind Cave National Park. I was a little sad we didn't take the 90 minutes to do the tour and let the girls become Junior Rangers again. We love the National Park Service Junior Ranger Program! We did see a lot of bison. (I will probably use the term buffalo, but know that I mean bison). Some day we'll have to take this trip again with Tim!

The girls talked me into getting them these adorable Junior Ranger hats at the Wind Cave NP Gift Shop.

Why did the bison cross the road? To get to the stop sign to scratch its head!

We had lunch at Subway in Custer, which I actually recommend! It's a typical Subway, but the crew was fast, efficient, and embraced being a popular chain restaurant in a tourist town with small talk on their favorite places to see and times to see it. (After finding their link on Yelp, I think I should review it and bump up their rating...after I finish my blogs.)

We decided to split up again on our way to Mt. Rushmore. I took the girls and my mom in my vehicle. First stop was to see how much progress had been made in the carving of Crazy Horse. Construction on Crazy Horse Memorial started in 1948. This memorial is privately funded and is not government sponsored like Mt. Rushmore, so progress is very slow.

We thought we could snap a few pictures in the parking lot, but the booths with people charging us $11/person admission were before the parking lots. At least they let us do a U-turn for free. We weren't in the mood to pay $44 for a quick look at the mountain.

Picture from the point of our free U-turn.

Zoomed in cropped view from our U-turn. There's now a hole under his pointing arm.

We left Crazy Horse Memorial and came to our decision point: drive straight (20 minutes on SD 244) to Mt. Rushmore, or scenic route (turned into 2 hours on SD 87 - Needles Highway to US 16A - Iron Mountain Road)? Because my sister wasn't in our vehicle, we chose the scenic route with lots of hairpin turns, sharp drop offs, and one lane tunnels. Usually the scenic route is only an hour, but we got caught behind people doing 10 mph in the 35 mph zone, and stopped in road construction with flag people so long that I actually stopped the engine and enjoyed the summer breeze carrying the scents of fresh mountain air.

Slipping through the eye of the needle on Needles Highway. Actually the eye of the needle was near here and people were rock climbing and all kinds of people parking in crazy spots to take a picture. I was focused on driving. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

Part of the scenery we would have missed going the short way. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

More scenery along the way. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

Steep cliffs that we can see on this side of the road. Drop offs looked like this, but on the other side of the road. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

One lane traffic going through a tunnel. Picture by Karen Rasmussen.

We stopped at a campground to use the restroom. This is the type of safe scenery that could be seen on the short route taken by my "scaredy-cat" sister. (Opinion completely mine!)

This is the reason to take the scenic route! Our first great view of Mt. Rushmore!

Shortly after that tunnel there is a place to stop and take pictures. Here is my mom taking a picture of the girls and Mt. Rushmore.

Road Trip Post #1K (K for Kyla) - Mammoth Site

I've decided to go a little off topic and make the next few posts more of a travel blog experience, which will obviously include the unique places we decided to stop and eat.

The girls and I started our Great American Road Trip across the country on Monday, June 15th, only we chose the south to north route. Honestly most of the food to get to the sightseeing part of our trip came from chain restaurants and was not worthy of a blog post. Thanks for being dependable Subway, Cracker Barrel, and McDonald's, and most importantly, attached to or near gas stations so we didn't have to veer too far off the beaten path to join Kyla's family in the Black Hills of South Dakota on Tuesday night. We gave ourselves two days to drive 1,200 miles.

An important stop since this was a new state visited for the three of us ladies. My bucket list is to visit all 50 states by the time I turn 50 years old. I only need to visit 7 more states in 13 years and 3 months.

On Wednesday, June 17th, we saw the Mammoth Site in Hot Springs, SD. This is a very cool, museum and excavation site of a prehistoric sinkhole that trapped at least 58 Columbian mammoths, 3 Woolly mammoths, and a few other species of animals. They even have a junior paleontologist program where kids can learn to excavate the very fragile bones. We didn't allow time to do the program, but would make the time on our next trip.

An overview of about half of the Mammoth Site.

The tour starts with a movie describing how the sinkhole formed and why the mammoths were attracted to the site (warm water grew plants around the water year round), and how the slippery limestone trapped the animals in the water. There they died and their bones were preserved. Because the bones were trapped in water, they are very fragile now and not hard like most fossils. Then we got headsets that allowed us all to hear our tour guide as she took us into the dig site.

My dad, niece, and Eight with their headphones ready for the tour after the educational movie.

She pointed out things we'd learned in the movie and lots of interesting features, such as all the mammoths found have been male. Some say it's because females are too smart to get trapped! But mostly likely it's because like elephants, juvenile males are kicked out of the herd and have to set off to find a mate and a herd of their own. At the end of the guided tour, we were allowed to wander the paths of the dig site to take pictures and make our way into the attached museum and even take elevators down to see scientists working in the labs.

Arrows pointing to crosscut mammoth footprints preserved in the mud of the sinkhole.

Beauty, a nearly perfect Columbian mammoth skull.

Murray Antoinette, a nearly perfect Columbian mammoth, without a head.
Beauty and Murray are across the site from each other and about 20 feet difference in elevation, so not presumed to be the same mammoth.

A mural depicting sizes of mammoths and elephants with kids for size reference. Tallest to shortest: Columbian mammoth, African elephant, Woolly mammoth, Asian elephant, Pygmy mammoth, Eight and Six.

Six and my dad trying to reach out and touch a life size Columbian mammoth exhibit.

The girls really enjoyed the "do touch" exhibits and learned how to tell the mammoth's age by teeth ridges.

We spent about 90 minutes at the Mammoth Site. We attended the first tour of the day at 8 am and the first junior paleontologist program started at 10 am. Next time we will allow for that program because the girls were having a great time with the hands on learning. This stop is a must-see for kids of all ages interested in science.

Road Trip Post #1T (T for Tim) - Airport Food

So if you've been following us on Twitter (@starvingskis) you'll notice there have been a lot of posts with #roadtrip.  Kyla's family had a reunion in North Dakota, followed by her cousin graduating from his hematology and oncology fellowship at the Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wisconsin.  Needless to say, we've been seeing a lot of the Midwest this summer, which is good because we are typically coming through this great part of America during the winter, which isn't so fun.

I had to work through the beginning of the road trip and caught up with Kyla and the girls in Bismark, ND after they drove over 1,700 miles, which included stops to sight-see in the Black Hills of South Dakota.  Since Bismark is hardly a top travel destination, the trip from Austin started with the shuttle picking me up at 2:10 am for my 5:00 am departure - all so I could meet up with my family by lunch time in North Dakota.  The way-too early departure from Austin was a shame since the airport seemingly has a lot to offer the hungry traveler, though everything - to include the coffee shops, were locked up tight at the un-Godly hour of departure.  It wasn't until I hit my second layover in Denver at 9:00 am that I was able to grab something that didn't come from Starbucks.  That's when I walked past Que Bueno and got the urge for a breakfast burrito.  Since my caloric intake for the day consisted of a bowl of oatmeal at home, and a small yogurt with coffee at the Dallas Airport Starbucks, the urge for a hot breakfast burrito was strong.  Did I mention it was 9:00 am and I had been up almost eight hours at this point?

The line at Que Bueno was long, but moving fast, which was good, because my flight was boarding in twenty minutes.  When I got to the front of the line I noticed the food was not pre-made like you are likely to find in many airport establishments, but instead made fresh and to order, right in front of you.  The whole process was a lot like getting lunch at Chipotle, with the ability to get exactly what you want on your burrito. Also similar to Chipotle was the size of the breakfast burrito, which was monstrous!

The Que Bueno breakfast burrito is mucho grande!

While the chorizo and eggs weren't quite to the high standards set by the numerous Mexican joints I grew up with in the southwest, they were still much tastier than I expected for on-the-go airport grub.  The addition of potatoes, cheese, and salsa (I went with both medium salsa and pico de gallo), made for a filling meal that I was able to wolf down before the boarding call for my flight.  A belly full of warm food made me much less hangry on the plane, and also contributed to a fairly satisfying nap before being tackled by two little girls who were very excited to see their daddy in Bismark.  If you find yourself in Denver near gate B52, you can check your big appetite at Que Bueno.  

Jester King Brewery & Stanley's Farmhouse Pizza

This weekend's post is a sort of a twofer, with our most recent trip to Dripping Springs, southwest of Austin  to visit Jester King Brewery and Stanley's Farmhouse Pizza.  Based on the recommendation from the staff at The Hollow, which is the dining experience that inspired our starting this blog in the first place, Jester King has been at the top of our gastronomical to do list for weeks. The good news for everybody is that Jester King doesn't serve lunch, but Stanley's Farmhouse Pizza is on site to provide sustenance with your suds, giving us all a special treat.

Our first visit was to Stanley's Pizza, after the hour-long drive from Georgetown, we arrived with an appetite and were ready to eat.  Everything is outdoors with "natural" air conditioning, with the seating in an open barn with room for several hundred people to sit.  Despite the Texas heat, the seating was in the shade with a decent breeze blowing through, making us comfortable.

Looking at Stanley's indoor/outdoor seating from Jester Kings, with kids in the sandbox

We could tell right away that this place, despite being co-located with a brewery, was family friendly and knew that folks who made the trip were not going to get their pizza to go.  There were at least two bars in the pizzeria serving a wide variety of beers, wines, and ciders in addition to the pizza counter.  Our youngest made a beeline to the sandbox in the back of the barn while Kyla and I decided on the special of the day, which sounded awfully intriguing with teriyaki, pulled pork, pineapple slaw (with jalapeno and serranos), and pickled onions.  We were not disappointed!  The crust was thin and crispy, with the pork and teriyaki providing a smoky flavor balanced out by the sweetness of the pineapple slaw and tartness of the onions.  Of course our youngest turned her nose at the exotic creation in favor of sharing a cheese pizza with a friend who joined us.  Our oldest had to fight me for the last piece, with both of us fighting with our mouths full since the pizza disappeared so fast!

Don't let the sweetness fool you, she puts up a hell of a fight for good pizza

With our bellies full we were able to turn our attention to round two of our day, and head next door to the brewery.  The short walk up the hill tells you that Jester King is all about the beer.  There is no sandbox, no lemonade (which Stanley's sold), and very little in the way of covered seating.  If you wanted to be cool while drinking your beer, you would need to find a table under a shade tree, which there were a number of.  Otherwise, the space outside consisted of a couple of tents serving beer, a tent selling bottles, and some cornhole games keeping patrons busy.  

If you decide to drink beer beer before going on the tour of the brewery, do yourself a favor and head to the indoor tasting room first, or stick with the 4 oz. servings to allow yourself the capability to taste more flavors.  Some Army friends of ours hit the tasting room while we were waiting on pizza and had an enjoyable experience discussing their likes and dislikes with the knowledgeable staff that led to them thoroughly enjoying their beer.  By the time Kyla and I made it to the brewery the line to the tasting room was well outside the door, resulting in us going to one of the beer tents and ordering off the menu.  

Snapshot of the beer menu available

I was in the mood for a hefeweizen, while Kyla wanted a cider so I ordered the Foudreweizen and Kyla the 2013 Perennial (which is from Argus Cidery).  To put it lightly we were surprised by the taste of our respective drinks.  The Foudrweizen in particular was nothing like I expected from a standard hefeweizen.  While the beer did have some of the malty sweetness of a hefe, there was a pronounced earthiness to it that took me by surprise.  After a few sips I could only describe the earthy tastes as what I would imagine straw or hay to taste like.  While not a fan at first, the beer grew on me the more I drank.  Other friends that had the same beer didn't quite appreciate it though - which goes back to my earlier point of staying with the 4 oz servings.  By the time I finished the Foudreweizen I didn't dare attempt anymore beer with the hour long drive home - which is a shame since I was very interested in seeing what other surprises Jester King had on tap.

One reason my interest was piqued was from taking a tour of the brewery.  The tour was led by co-owner Ron Extract, who can't suppress his passion for farmhouse brewing.  His discussion of the Jester King brewing process highlighted the reason behind the interesting flavored beer I was nursing during the tour.  What makes Jester King unique is that it uses farmhouse brewing techniques that unlike most craft breweries which focus on consistency, farmhouse brews use local ingredients as they are at the point of the brewing process.  For example, while other breweries carefully control the mineral content of their water to match the style of beer being brewed, Jester King uses their unaltered well water, which is unique to Texas hill country and has day-to-day variances in mineral content in addition to capitalizing on naturally occurring yeast instead of yeast purchased from a laboratory.

 Ron educating his guest on farmhouse brewing

As a novice home brewer myself, I was intrigued by the farmhouse style since many of the techniques discussed, such as spontaneous fermentation, are things I actively try to avoid with my own beer - for fear of creating an off flavor.  Consistency is not what Jester King strives for, instead letting the beer tell the brewers when it is ready.  If you ask when a particular batch will be released, you won't get a specific date, since the brewers guide their decisions through careful quality control of each batch to determine readiness.  This inconsistency in brewing creates adventurous tastes that aren't for everybody, but I don't think the brewers are trying to create a beer with mass appeal.  Their production is too small to be widely distributed, and as Ron said during the brewery tour, "we brew what we please, drink what we want, and sell the rest."   

Flashback Friday - Nicos

Sorry, I haven't felt like posting. I think Texas is trying to kill me as I have my second sinus infection in the six months we've lived here. Worst symptom is whole body wracking coughs when my family makes me laugh. Maybe it's my family trying to kill me. They love making me laugh!

Thinking about this TBT that turned into a FBF, made me laugh and cough up a lung. Hopefully you find it as amusing as I do!

Tim and I have legally been married for 10 years, 11 in November. It's been almost 14 years since we started dating. Getting married meant getting a joint cell phone account with a phone number from Tucson, Ariz. It only took Tim 7 years of marriage to finally take me to see where my phone number comes from and to all his old college haunts.

Always mentioned in Tim's college adventures were trips to the Mexican restaurant Nico's. Stories of magnificent competitions such as who could survive off of nothing but super nachos for the longest? Tim gave it his best effort, but his 6'10" 350 pound roommate won by a 5 day margin! Many stories included nights at the bar with "too mas tequila" and ending with Nico's carne asada burritos because they are open 24 hours. But the one food I was always fascinated with was the fish tacos.

What? Fish in a taco? Why? Are you kidding me? I'm from Montana where the 1990s commercials of "Beef. It's what's for dinner." got a "duh" from me.

Tim would try his hardest in the first 7 years of our marriage to replicate those fish tacos with varying degrees of success. His efforts usually ended with him shaking his head and saying, "It's not Nico's."

When we finally had an opportunity to visit Tucson we walked around the University of Arizona campus and drove the route to Tim's off-campus house. We rounded the corner of Fort Lowell and Campbell and an empty gravel lot greeted us. Tim let out a long, low wail wondering where Nico's was. We tried calling a college buddy who's family lives in Tucson. No answer. We looked up the restaurant on our smartphone and saw the address was still located in the gravel lot, but got a real person on the phone who guided us to their new location.

The empty lot that used to hold the best Mexican food in Tucson.

We got to the new location and all I thought was that it looked like the quintessential college town Mexican restaurant. Not big and flashy, more taco truck in a permanent location with regular health code inspections. Tim ordered his favorites, one order of super nachos, a carne asada burrito and the world famous fish tacos. We sat and waited for them to call our number.

The new Nico's location at 2965 N Campbell Ave, Tucson, AZ 85719.

When we got our food the first thing that struck me was how enormous an order of super nachos was! Holy cow! The guys ate these for how many days? Our family of four ate the burrito, taco and didn't even come close to finishing the nachos. The nachos were delicious. Super indeed! They had: in-house made tortilla chips, guacamole, carne asada meat, refried beans, cheese and sour cream. None of this nachos mean chips and cheese only stuff. No fancy plated five chips with cheese, a cube of meat, an olive and a dollop of sour cream. This was completely messy, full of toppings and exactly what I expect with an order of super nachos.

The girls with our order of super nachos, fish tacos, and carne asada burrito in July 2012.

The carne asada burrito was so good Tim gave me one bite and ate the rest. From the small taste, it was good, but not the standout for me. That was reserved for this mystical fish taco that captivated my husband's memory and provided us seven years of conversation.

On to the fascination of a fish taco. It had homemade corn tortillas. Normally I hate the fragility of corn tortillas, but these held together amazingly well. The fish was deep fried in a light batter. The cabbage was finely shredded and there was an amazing sauce that I had no idea what was in it, but it was delicious! A slice of lime was provided to give it a little citrus kick. The fish taco was so delicious, I was licking my fingers and hoping to order another! The nachos did me in, so we didn't go for another fish taco.

We left feeling full of the best Mexican food we've tasted in years and wondering when we'd be back for more.

A year later we moved from Northern Virginia to Monterey, California. Tim took up spear fishing in his free time from graduate school. With all the incredibly fresh fish, Tim took up his quest to make Nico's fish tacos again. Now that I knew what they were supposed to taste like, I became his biggest cheerleader! The first few attempts were not fabulous. Eventually Tim found this recipe and it was wonderful! By the time we had to leave, I loved Tim's fish tacos more than Nico's. We officially tested that opinion on our move from California to Texas. Tim cracked the code! I think the key was fish swimming just 3 hours before dinner time.

Our Nico's visit from December 2014 on our move from California to Texas.

If you can't catch fish and make these tacos within a few hours of pulling them from the water, but find yourself in Tucson, check out Nico's and order the fish tacos. You'll be happy you did!

600 Degrees Pizzeria

Despite the fact that we always have "pizza, PJ, movie night" on Friday, we decided to catch a matinee Saturday afternoon and head to the square for pizza afterward.  When it comes to pizza on Georgetown Square there are two excellent options, with 600 Degrees Pizzeria being the option we went for last night.  It was our second experience at 600 Degrees, with the first during the very busy weekend of the Georgetown Red Poppy Festival.  In both visits, 600 Degrees lived up to its reputation for outstanding pizza and service.

The Kids and Me checking out the red poppies

The first thing you'll notice with 600 Degrees is that the place is always busy.  There is some inside seating available, but it's tight - room for about 50 diners.  There is also a patio to sit at, so unless you're picky about sitting in an air conditioned restaurant, we recommend getting the first available table.  The wait does allow time to review the extensive beer list, and even enjoy your first drink before you're seated.  Since I had spent the better part of my day doing yard work, I chose Longfin Lager as I waited, while Kyla went for a pinot noir (forgive me, I can't remember the name for the life of me).  The restaurant is owned by Californian transplants, so the beer and wine list is heavily weighted to Californian and other west-of-the-Mississippi River choices.

This place is all about the pizza!

The one drawback to 600 Degrees is the limited wine list, which in retrospect isn't such a big deal.  As soon as you walk into the place, you know the focus is on the pizza, and pizza goes good with beer.  There are at least 30 different beers on tap, without a trace of Anheuser Busch, Coors, or Miller products listed on the menu.  There will be a beer to suit your mood, and I was happy with my "lawnmower beer" while we waited.  Later in the meal when I was in the mood for something stronger, I switched to a Stickee Monkee and was subsequently rewarded with the punch to the taste buds I was looking for.

 Enjoying a refreshing beer, and a glimpse of the beer selection behind me

Wings and the Stikee Monkee that hit me in the mouth with flavor

With my thirst thoroughly quenched, I was able to focus on the pizza.  To be honest, neither Kyla or I could recommend any of the regular menu items, because we never ordered a regular menu item (except wings, which we'll get to later).  There is one option at the way bottom of the menu that deserves your attention - the "Baker's Choice".  In essence, you tell the chef what you don't want, and give suggestions as to what you like, and the chef comes up with a custom creation just for you.  We tried this during the Red Poppy Festival and it came out awesome.  From what I remember we got a take on a hamburger pizza made with pita meat, cheddar cheese, red onions, ground beef, tomatoes, and poppy seeds on the crust - it was fantastic!  Last night we again went for the Baker's Choice and got grilled chicken, bacon, green onion, ranch, BBQ sauce, and cheddar - which was another phenomenal success.  All of those ingredients were on the amazing crust that could be a dish unto itself.  Our waitress said she loves it when customers roll the dice with the Baker's Choice because she's never seen the same thing made twice.  We HIGHLY recommend you try the baker's choice since you'll get a unique creation that will never be made again.  

Save yourself some time and skip to the bottom of the pizza options...

Last night's unique creation, with our oldest getting ready to claim her piece

In addition to our pizza, we decided to get some wings.  One of our deciding factors in ordering wings was the uniqueness of one of the choices.  While the standard hot, lemon pepper, and teriyaki choices were available, there was a "taco wing" choice that we decided we couldn't pass up.  True to its name, our wings tasted like taco meat with a dry rub that had the right combination of chili powder, cumin, and seasoning to make the wings taste like Taco Tuesday.  Even our youngest child, who doesn't eat wings at all, was demolishing some chicken prior to our pizza arriving.

Speaking of youngest and not liking things, our youngest is very picky when it comes to pizza.  Any sort of sauce, topping that she can't identify, or topping that she can identify (unless it's ham) is a no-go.  We've given up long ago and normally order cheese bread when we get pizza delivered just so we won't have to watch our youngest pick at a cold piece of pizza all night.  This sort of "refined taste" that our youngest has made going out for pizza a chore, but we have found that she loves the cheese pizza at 600 Degrees.  After 5:00 pm, you can only get cheese and pepperoni by the slice, so a slice of cheese is normally ordered in addition to our Baker's Choice.  A single slice is freaking enormous, and would be considered an entire pizza at lesser pizzerias.  I don't know if it was because lunch consisted of movie popcorn or the pizza is that good, but there was barely any cheese pizza remaining on our youngest's plate when we were done with dinner.

Yeah, that's a single slice

What would a dining experience be without great service?  Both experiences were met with friendly, knowledgeable waitresses. Even with a very busy atmosphere, the waitresses were attentive and helpful when needed.

The best part of the night, we got out of there for under $60, including our normal 20% tip! If you're in the mood for great pizza with a Californian flair, we highly recommend checking out 600 Degrees.