Amicis Italian Restaurant, Suffolk, VA September 27, 2009

We are officially recognizable to the staff at Amici’s in Suffolk, a fact which speaks for itself. There are two Italian restaurants within a short walk from the public lot on E Washington Street, just behind the Courthouse. We head to Amici’s every time. The food, the service, the professionalism and the welcome are amazing, especially when contrasted against the antagonistic atmosphere at that ‘other’ place. In South Suffolk, good food at a good price is difficult to find.

We have been delighted by the service from the male staff members and not so delighted the one time we were served by a female (who turned out to be the manager.) While the food and beverage service was adequate, there were some comments that made me uncomfortable and which diminished my typical 20% tip by quite a lot. I’m chalking the comments up to a bad day and hoping we won’t have that experience again.

The wine list is excellent, in my opinion, though I admit to being deprived of decent wine after 6 years in the wilds of  South Suffolk. Amici’s sports a wine list that ranges from budget through not-too-expensive but is loaded with reputable wines such as Chianti Docg and Layer Cake Cabernet (yum!). Monday’s they offer half price bottles of wine with the purchase of an entree.  You want beer, you say? Oh my. Amici’s is the place for you. They have a wonderful selection of domestic and imported beers and a few delicious varieties on tap–Blue Moon is one of them and my favorite.

Yes, they do serve food! Saving the best for last is all about the pizza. Specifically, the Magic Mushroom pizza. We haven’t tried the New Yawka yet but I’m all for it. Everything we’ve tasted thus far has been good, not always great, but always satisfying and tasty. Amici’s serves the Parthenon of Shrimp Scampis, a 4-square stack of the best focaccia ever dowsed with lemony, garlic sauce and sprinkled with shrimps. We are a long way from having tasted everything on the menu but we have yet to send anything back or to leave anything on the plate because it wasn’t good.

Amici’s get’s a solid three thumbs up from me for their location, variety, bar and service.

The Lobscouser, Portsmouth, VA July 29, 2009

I wanted to eat there. I really did. The menu looked good. The interior was cozy and little Savannah shabby chick and my Dad loves the place. The waiter and the hostess were both friendly and so we sat down, but the smell… Dear God, the smell.
My husband, daughter and I were seated quickly, brought water and our drinks and when my husband noticed that I had pulled my somewhat low-cut shirt over my nose he figured something must be wrong. I mean, I can be odd but I have decent table manners. Sitting with my nose between my breasts just doesn’t play in under normal circumstance. I tried to last it out figuring I would stop noticing the strong smell of old building must and rot overpowered by the odor of urine so strong that I think someone must routinely use the carpet instead of the bathroom. I couldn’t even choke down my Pinot Noir.
Hubby paid while daughter and I waited outside. She couldn’t take the smell either.
(A small aside: Hubby smokes. He can’t detect many odors but is good for sniffing out bacon and grilling steaks.)

‘The Shelf’, 2000 block of White Marsh Rd, Suffolk, VA July 16, 2009

We have never met the owners of The Shelf. We have never seen them. My husband and I assume that these folks grow their food using Sevin Dust and Roundup but we stop off and buy it because it’s local and we feel good about that. We also buy food from The Shelf because it is fresh. There is no way of hiding freshness or it’s lack, when what you have is produce sitting in a basket on a board.

I apologize for not handing out a phone number and the mail box does not have a number on it but I can tell you this: If you’re headed home and 12 plum tomatoes for $1 sounds like it make be a good addition to supper, you’re probably right and you probably need to swing by and pick them up. You may also want to try out the squash or onions.

Please enjoy the following trailer, brought to you by some other people who enjoy fresh food:

The Oasis Hotel, Cairo, Egypt July 9, 2009

The Oasis Hotel was lovely, especially after driving through much of Cairo and seeing the poverty, the mountains of garbage, the insane and complete otherness of life in that huge, Muslim city. Here is my list of the good, the middling and the poor aspects of our stay at the Oasis. Appearances can be deceiving. I give the Oasis 2.5 thumbs up.
The good things:
-Ice Cream
-The hookah bar
-Pool, very nice but closed at 7pm.
-Landscaping
-The availability of alcoholic beverages
-Security
The less-than things:
-The food. It was plentiful but not very tasty.
-The wait staff-both service and willingness to wait on Americans. The word ‘American’ was mentioned every time we needed a waiter and someone had to volunteer to wait on us. Otherwise we just sat there waiting. Eventually, though, someone always showed up. The service was very slow by our                         standards and plates were left to sit, sometimes for an hour, before being cleared. There were one or two waiters who were better, by American                         standards, than others. Snappier, to be exact.

The bad things:
-Bed bugs. In *every* room.
-The smell of pesticide in the rooms.
-The unpredictable shower water temp. The temp fluctuated between scalding and icy. I like very hot water but this was beyond anything human skin can   withstand. It could possibly cause burns. One of our guides recommended that we not shower at all while visiting Egypt. We are Americans! We                     shower daily. Luckily we managed to leave with our skin still on. Our 7 year old did not bathe in Egypt. She swam in the pool a lot though.
-Not being able to use tap water to brush our teeth. (It comes from the Nile. Many of us suffered disintery anyway.)
-The staff member who offered hashish to 3 of our teenagers.
-The necessity of spraying huge amounts of pesticide every afternoon with what appeared to be a leaf blower attached to a tank of poison. This nifty gadget was operated by a young man wearing Dickies. No mask. No glasses. No respirator.

Visiting Egypt was a huge foray into foreign culture for us. We have visited Western Europe often but never Africa, never a Muslim country. I do understand that Westerners are kept safe by being into these huge compounds, such as the Oasis offers. But then, there’s the man who offered the kids the hashish. That’s not so safe sounding, is it? There were 16 members of my family traveling together. We had 7 rooms at the Oasis.

Based mainly on the fact that we were eaten up with bed bug bites and that one of the members of the staff offered our children illegal narcotics, I cannot recommend staying at the Oasis Hotel. I have no idea what the competition is like but would suggest it’s worth a try if you’re staying in Cairo.

United Breaks Guitars! July 7, 2009

Because I’m a fan of a great airline and because this guy really went a long way to make his point, please enjoy the following you tube video:

5 Points Community Farm Market June 25, 2009

Norfolk, Virginia is fortunate. The city is home to the 5 Points Community Farm Market, a place where local farmers, local foodies and local do-gooders converge. For those of us who agree that eating chemical free, as locally as possible, and as fresh as possible, 5 Points is the place to go. The Market offers local produce, meats, fish, and dairy products. They also open their doors to other local ‘Green’ businesses. I love that they are so willing to spread the goodness/share it with other like-minded folks. 

Today I ate my first lunch at the little counter top restaurant inside the Market and was delighted with the food. I love to eat well. One thing that my husband and I agree on is that spending our money properly involves using it to purchase excellent food for our family. Lunch was outstanding. The Red Lentil Soup was just as good as Pasha’s (a local eatery renowned for their red lentil soup)and far less expensive. The tomato sandwich was delicious and served with a hearty helping of potato salad. The sandwich had several types of tomatoes, was served on hearty bread with spinach and a tasty herbed mayo. The potato salad wasn’t my favorite but only because the potatoes weren’t cooked through. The flavor was good. I will definitely go back there again for lunch.

5 Points Community Market gets a 5 Thumbs Up from me.

U.S. Airways: You Have to be Kidding May 25, 2009

We fly. We make every effort to avoid using US Air because they leave us in a bind every time we use them. Our experience tells us that their flights are often delayed, their service shoddy, their customer service reps full of bunk. As I type this I am sitting in an airport waiting for a flight that is one hour late. The counter person is unwilling to do anything but fulfill my request to have someone meet us at the gate with a cart to drive us to a shuttle so we can change terminals. Will this happen? We shall see.
Here are the things the agent tried to tell me:
>That 45 minutes is the average amount of time required to change planes in Philly.
>That switching from domestic to international flights does not require much time.
>That finding the Lufthansa counter in Philly will not be a problem. (There is not, so far as what is listed on the airport’s website, any Lufthansa ticket counter in the Philadelphia airport.)
>That there is no way to get us from one terminal to another more quickly than we can do it by walking and riding the shuttle.
>That if I would shut up and listen she could tell me what she would do to help us. It was what I asked for begin with when she told me that she would not be able to help us at all.
We *had* 2.5 hours to change from a domestic to international, from one airline to another. Now we have 1.5 hours to do so. Can we? Will we get to where we’re going? Keep an eye on WhereIGoReviews and I’ll let you know.
Based on years of experience with U.S. Airways I do not recommend using them. Try Southwest instead.

The Virginia International Tattoo April 30, 2009

Today we joined a group of homeschoolers for a performance of the Virginia International Tattoo. Going in I knew this: I love bagpipes, drums and men in kilts. It was no shock that I enjoyed the performance immensely. So did my children, a 7 year old girl and a 17 year old boy. The musicians, drill teams, and other performers were wonderful. My daughter and I kept tearing up with emotion for some reason. I do this but she’s 7! I didn’t know that small children could feel that welling up of intense emotion brought on by patriotism and pride. 

The show has a strong military influence. My favorite uniforms, aside from the kilts, were the Marines. Semper Fi! The group from Norway, The Band of His Majesty the King’s Guard, were fantastic. They looked like a group from fairy land. The singer was haunting and lovely. The drill team breath taking. The band crisp and beautiful.

A performance definitely worth the price of admission.

Hillbilly Hill Cabins, Swannanoa, NC March 13, 2009

In January, 2009, I took my daughter to college in Swannanoa. She asked me to hang out for a few days so she could settle in but still have me around. I stayed at Hillbilly Hill Cabins for 3 nights with my 7 yo daughter. I felt safe there, which is a big thing for a mom alone with a little one.

The cabins are cute, clean, comfy and a bit difficult to find. When the directions say turn by the Subaru place, they mean that. Literally. There is the Subaru place and there is a road straight up the mountain just to the left of it. It only looks scary. Drive on up and find your cabin. There are only 3 so this should not be too difficult.

I enjoyed the tiny little kitchen which was well stocked with cookware, plates, glasses, etc. Some of the dishes needed a good wash and I doubt housekeeping checks them after every guest.  Cooking in the kitchen was great and there was room to prepare  basic meals for the two (or three) of us. The bathroom shelf was stuffed with clean towels and wash rags and everything was, again, clean and homey. We were there during a blisteringly cold few days and the heat managed to keep up and keep the house warm. The bed in the bedroom was pushed against the front wall of the house and the traffic from I-40 kept me awake, so the next night we slept on the futon…and we slept well. The bed also had crinkly sounding plastic on it which was uncomfortable and difficult to sleep on. I can’t report on the t.v. as we didn’t watch much of it. We read and played cards and visited campus and ate and slept. I’m sure the porch and fire ring would be fantastic on a warm summer’s evening.

Hillbilly Hill Cabins are a great place for those of us who prefer to stay away from hotels and/or cannot afford to eat out for every meal when we’re out of town. The girls and I enjoyed our stay there. I wouldn’t recommend this for someone looking for a vacation cabin in the mountains but it sure is a great landing pad when you’re visiting the area and want a cozy, safe place where you can enjoy the privacy of your own space.

Greenbrier Veterinary Emergency Center-Thumbs All The Way Down January 25, 2009

 

From MTBar Farm

While eating her breakfast this morning, my 7 year suddenly jumped up and started running for the door and yelling, “Peaches is in the pool!” It’s January, the pool is partially covered by a thin skin of ice and it’s definitely not a good place for a cat. I glanced out the window and somehow beat the kid to the door. As I grabbed the cat by the scruff she sank below the surface, stiff. I threw her at my husband, ran inside and grabbed a towel while he squeegied her off and we then wrapped her up and brought her inside. We put her, towel and all, into a sinkful of lukewarm water and started spraying the warm water inside the towel in order to bring her body temp back up. At first, she didn’t even shiver.

I made an effort to call our vet, Dr. Johnston at Gates County Animal Clinic but she is not taking emergency calls at the moment. (Someone in her family is ill, I believe). The machine recommended calling Greenbrier Veterinary Emergency Center, a place I’ve had numerous dealings with over the years. A woman answered the phone and I explained what had happened and that our cat was hypothermic and that we live an hour away from the clinic. I asked to speak to a vet. The woman refused. She said that no vet in their practice would speak to me unless I first brought the cat in. I told her that the cat would die of hypothermia if I put her into the car and drove for an hour without taking any sort of action. She said, “Sorry but none of our vets will speak to you unless you bring the cat here.” In other words: Let your cat die because unless you bring us money, we don’t care. I told her that I hope they all rot in hell. 

Once the cat was actively shivering, Mark and Travis blow dried her while I outfitted the whelping box (set up for our pregnant Australian Shepherd) with a heating pad, clean towels and a ceramic space heater. We placed the dry, shivering kitty onto the heating pad and pointed the heater at her. At some point I called my large animal vet, who is not a money-grubbing jerk like the vets at GVEC. The vet on call returned my call quickly, said we needed to get her temp back up to 100 degrees and not to feed her before then. He said it sounded like we were doing everything we could and told me a few things to look out for. I’ll do a post about that blessed veterinary practice another time.

Based not only on the uncaring attitude and inflexibility of the staff I dealt with today but also on years of poor service and exorbitant prices, I cannot recommend Greenbrier Veterinary Emergency Center. If anyone has an alternate Emergency Vet they recommend in the Tidewater, VA area, please leave that information in the comments section and I will add it to my post.