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After a painful morning of sinus fun for the Jim and I we finally crawled out of bed and decided to venture out…the plan was to try the brand new opening of a place that I have been drooling for…HARD KNOX Pizzeria in Bearden (same center as The Fresh Market). The buzz for them was great – they have a Twitter page and let us Knoxvillians view when they received their wood burning stove (via youtube type clip). I’m a huge fan of wood-fired pizza, if not pizza in general. I love anything that also features some fresh buffalo mozzarella. So game on.
The menu is petite, but just right. There are 8 signature pizzas named after various famous boxers; and apparently there will be one or two specials each day, let alone having a standard “build your own” option. The pizzas are a “just right” 10″, which are good for a hungry adult. I chose the Marciano (fresh mozzarella, red sauce, basil); and the Jim went with one of the specials “Yo Adrianne!” (which featured red sauce, mozzarella, olives, zucchini and I think that’s it – he left of the mushrooms – darn allergies). We both ordered an appetizer of caprese salad which was yummy, however the pizza was the main attraction. In a few words, it was fabulously yummy. Crust was good and hearty, not too much and not too little. The ingredients were fresh and when your pizza is ready, one of the chefs dings the bell like you’re heading to your corner of the ring after a good bout with your appetizer.
We were glad that a lot of people showed up by the time we were leaving. I want this place to stay around. Stay!!!! So in order for that to happen my friends…GO! www.hardknoxpizza.com
Today, we awoke early and decided that the rain and rain and rain would not dissuade us from our scheduled intended trip to the “City of Brotherly Love” and apparently, high crime rates…Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. We arrived here and I was already amazed at how much has changed since I moved to TN almost 7 or so years ago. The Jim and Sir PirateNinjaMonkey dropped me off at the Franklin Institute (now aptly named The Franklin), and they headed out to The Mutter Museum. I had decided before we got here today that I didn’t think I could handle the Mutter. I’m easily freaked out by things medical in nature and the thought of seeing preserved body parts, and god knows what else pretty much guaranteed that I wasn’t going to enjoy that. So, I played it safe and sent them to do their bidding.
Sadly, the Franklin left me a little disappointed this time around. Perhaps it was that at least 2 of the 3 major exhibits were closed or in transition which left not a lot to do otherwise. I bought the steeply priced, Museum and Movie package for a whopping $28.50. This included the museum pass, a 3-D movie and a Tuttleman Omniverse Movie. I skulked around for an hour or more and saw the new multimedia light show in the foyer area where Ben Franklin himself sits (in marble, not preserved like what the boys were viewing at the Mutter). I then went to the 3-D movie about the Sun which was interesting. As I walked out, I got a text from the Jim that they were heading our way. They were just in time for the Omniverse movie. It was a movie all about the life of VanGogh and it was fascinating and beautifully shot. I love art, but I admit I didn’t know much about the painter VanGogh himself other than that he had cut off part of his ear and gave it to a woman. While he did that, the story explained the situation further and discussed his maddening obsession with painting. It was like a joy and an almost uncontrollable addiction for him. The movie focused on his lesser known works in the context of explaining his life. It was fascinating. I had no idea how troubled he was, let alone that he ended his own life at the age of 37.
While awaiting the movie, the Jim and Sir PirateNinjaMonkey told me that I was right on in my decision to not go to the Mutter with them. They indicated it was fascinating as it is a medical museum, but I would not have been able to stomach the suspended body parts, the fetuses, the plasticized cross-sections of real people and the giant colon (just to name a few). Funny thing was that the only thing that grossed them out was looking at specimens and smelling the odor of a museum employee heating up their vegetable soup. Just bad timing and strong scent. Eww.
After waltzing around the Franklin, we headed to our hotel, the Sofitel near Rittenhouse Square. I like my French hotels folks. We then headed over to Pod restaurant on Penn Campus and while the food was sensational, it was overly priced and small in proportion. We then got back to the hotel and headed to a local Cosi for some dessert. I had my favorite, self-made smores with Oreo cookies. As I write this blog entry, I am sitting in LaBourse the hotel Bar with my husband and good friend and drinking a beautiful Champagne Flight of Moet & Chandon White Star Champagne, Domaine Chandon Rose and Perrier Jouet Grand Brut. I love my sparkling wine.
I now look forward to the wonders that tomorrow brings and I pray that the weather cooperates.
It will be a few moments before I go to what was one of my favorite Chinese Restaurants in town, S. Garden (to protect the innocent). During lunch a bug crawled from underneath the table to perch on my Blackberry. I’m a big bug-phobe, but I managed to hold it in and just move out of my seat. I was trying to no cause a scene, but the new wait-boy wouldn’t have that. He looked at me, puzzled and asked what was wrong. I tried to say, quietly mind you…there’s a bug on the table. He literally looked at me with a blank and puzzled stare and said, “I don’t know what I can do to help you.” Okay, so this guy is not the person that myself or anyone else should go to in a crisis. My good friend and co-worker, D.S. smartly said…”Um, you could get some bug spray?!” He ignored us and pulled the back of the bench out of the booth and pretended to look under the table (where the annoying buggie was), and exclaimed that he didn’t see anything. Um..hello, I saw it. Eww. So we moved to another booth. Some minor apologies from other staff, and annoying waiter-boy refilling my water glass like it was a bottomless vat. So, bugged at lunch I was, both literally and due to the waiter-dude.
Well, without the men around the women decided to do “something”. Okay, 2 out of the 4 ladies’ men were still in town and opted to not man camp this weekend, but they were able to be swayed to the pampering side. I woke up early, got my hair done by the God of Hair Styling – Michael of Vibe Salon…seriously, he rocks and so does the salon. I also want to give a shout out to Michael for being a sweetie and giving so much more than he should. Thank you my dearest.
Then it was lunch for me at Wok Hay – which I find to be seriously lacking since they changed their formula from high-end Asian counter order service. I will say that their crab rangoon was yummy and loaded with the crustacean meat, and the sichuan beef was good too. However, it was lunchtime and they weren’t as packed as they were back when they were a counter-service (rather than a stuffy feeling sit down). I got a frappucino from one of the non-closing Starbucks…fixed some financial snafu that the husband made on his man camping trip and headed onto the next part of my journey.
With time to kill until my next pampering stop – I decided to see what all the hub-bub was about and finally went to McKay’s. First of all, I’ve never seen a place so packed with people. It kinda looked like a convention of the unconventional: some hippie-types, some sci-fi-types, some geek-types, some redneck-types…it was a veritable melting pot of “con-going” type people. Since I used to go to Dragon Con and I helped at Adventure Con this year, I fit in in some fashion. While I do agree with Please Feed the Monkeys, there is a pretty pungent odor that first greets you when the doors open. There are a lot of people there to sell their stuff waiting in line around the front door…THIS DOES NOT HELP TRAFFIC FLOW. Once inside, there are rows upon rows of used books, CDs, DVDs and video games. It’s a ton of stuff. While I agree that a lot of it was of no interest to me, I did score some great finds. I picked up “Lisey’s Story” by Stephen King on paperback, a Peter Gabriel CD and “Twilight Zone – Season 1″ from the 80s DVD box set. I almost gave in and purchased Grease II for guilty pleasure value and Eddie Murphy’s RAW – but I didn’t. I’d probably go again, to peruse but I still am not sure why there’s rarely an open spot in their parking lot each weekend? Perhaps it’s the economy and people’s need to sell or trade more than buy – which actually isn’t a bad thing anyway.
Next, it was to Belleza Salon & Spa. Best waxer in town: Melinda. Bar None. Then it was time to meet up with Maria for Mani-Pedis at Spa Visage. We had two fabulous cosmetologists (is that what you call them), named Melanie & Taryn – so see them for mani-pedis and tell them we sent you. I think Maria and I would highly recommend adding on the paraffin too…delightful. My feet and hands look like I actually give a darn. The only thing negative was that the process lasted longer than we expected, which put us almost 1 hour late to meeting up with Overtly Trite and A at Soho Cafe in Bearden.
The conversation was just as good, if not better, than the cuisine. I’d highly recommend the malaysian wontons (with shrimp chips – yum), and the mongolian beef. We verbally dished about life with/without children, life in trying to have children, domestic destructions, music, movies and assorted other ramblings. It was GREAT! I love hanging out with the ladies. We finished our night with our two best male friends, Ben & Jerry.
Now, I’m back at home. I did suprisingly hear from the Jim during the day. He sounds like he’s having a great time even though the boys decided to switch camping locations tonight from “Round Mountain” to “Balsam Mountain”. I can’t keep up. All I know is that I enjoyed a pampering day of Knoxville delights.
Last weekend, Jim and I found ourselves at Tai (which incidentally used to be called Tao – for like a month), due to a craving for some succulent sushi. We were hopeful. The place is beautiful inside with a nice metropolitan vibe to it, and while the food is good…”Overpriced,” was Jim’s 1 word to describe it. In his opinion, you can take a short drive up the hill to Wasabi and get good sushi for less. I do tend to agree. We had a really nice and accommodating waiter, and ordered:
- Shrimp Tempura Appetizer
- Crunch Shrimp Rolls
- The Crab-cake Roll
First of all, the prawns were really good…and we’re big fans of shrimp so we know! The majority of the veggies were good to as part of the tempura appetizer (zucchini is also really good fried). The crunchy shrimp rolls were good, but not remarkable. The biggest double-edged sword was the Crab-cake Roll. Crab-meat, Cream Cheese and other items, but….um….deep-fried. It was tasty, but WAAAAAAAAAAY too heavy for sushi. The main menu might be a better showing of the restaurant’s skills, but trust me – good food can be found without a stiff price-tag. Perhaps they should have selected a smaller location for their restaurant, and passed the savings onto their patrons…but please, for the love of Pete, don’t go as small as NAMA.
Just our two cents.
Okay, so it sounds more elaborate than it really is right? This is our little slice of internet nonsense, which basically is our on-going effort to keep our friends and family up-to-date on our lives, our love and our continuing pursuit of pomegranates. In this modern age of movement, we’ve realized that distance is not an excuse to not keep everyone posted, so please - stop by anytime - in person or internet-ly and know that you are all never far from our thoughts.
