Phoenix Eats

A little rundown of places we enjoyed.

Coffee

Matt here – Added my own Phoenix Coffee post with a bit more detail on my professional blog – https://matt.guide

Cartel – coffee roaster in downtown Phoenix. Multiple pour over options to choose from, all with a smooth finish.

Press – local roaster right on Central Ave. They have a handful of pour over options from single-origin growers to fit any flavor profile preferences, and you can choose your brew method (Chemex, Kalita, etc.).

Giant Coffee – dog friendly coffee bar in a large, open space. They roast their own beans and do a pretty solid cup of joe.

Breakfast

Matt’s Big Breakfast – good breakfast spot downtown. Ample portion sizes and fresh-made food. They make their bread and jam in-house and have fresh-ground coffee brewed locally just for them. Go hungry and early because it can get busy for the brunch crowd.

Rainbow Donuts – we only tried one donut shop, but we didn’t need to try any more! Rainbow has a seemingly endless menu, and they do them all extremely well. We went with our classic order: jelly filled, custard filled, glazed, and apple fritter and they were all perfect.

Lunch

Kaleidoscope – located downtown next to Cartel, this place is serving up fresh and healthy options. Choose from smoothies, juices, protein bowls, and sandwiches. They don’t skimp on the veggies and protein in the bowls and it’s always nice to have a healthy option when you’re out and about.

Poke Catcher – fast lunch spot in Central Phoenix. Fresh poke and all the toppings make for a quick and healthy lunch option.

Carolina’s – don’t be deterred by the location, Carolina’s is serving up authentic Mexican on the cheap! They make the tortillas in house and the food is a slam-dunk. You can’t go wrong with anything on the menu and the burros and chimis hit the spot. Don’t forget to get a bag of chips!

Dinner

Drinks at The Yard

Little Cleo’s happy hour

Presidio Cocina hibiscus margarita

Taco Guild

St. Francis – a great happy hour option located in Central Phoenix. $5 drink specials and sharable small plates.

Little Cleo’s – located at The Yard, a veritable outdoor adult playground with multiple restaurants and games (cornhole, shuffleboard, etc.). We went for the happy hour special of $1 oysters on the half shell and $2 champagne.

O.H.S.O. Brewing – dog friendly brewery serving up plenty of house-brewed beers. Snickers gives the spent-grain treats four enthusiastic paws up, and we thoroughly enjoyed the brewer’s cheese and charcuterie board with an added smoked sausage made next door. They’ve also got a great happy hour special on beer – $7 for a pitcher (normally $6 for a pint).

Taco Guild – tacos in an old Methodist church. They’ve maintained a lot of the original pieces – including a number of stained glass windows – which makes for a great juxtaposition of old and new. You can’t go wrong with the unique taco offerings on the menu, but be sure to check out the daily taco (it was fried chicken with mashed potatoes and a green chili gravy when we went) and don’t forget to get a margarita to wash it down.

Presidio Cocina – upscale Latin food with good happy hour specials. Food is very fresh and flavorful and you can’t beat a $5 real margarita!

Forno 301 – Italian and pizza. They make the pasta in-house, and serve up wood-fired pizzas. We tried the caprese salad, which included half a plate of prosciutto along with the mozzarella and tomato, arugula salad, and the Forno 301 pizza. Everything was fresh and delicious and paired well with the Italian Moretti beer.

Dessert

Creamistry – very cool concept! The ice cream is made to order using liquid nitrogen to freeze the milk. Incredibly creamy with lots of unique flavor options and mix-ins.

Nami – vegan soft serve with plenty of fun mix-in options.

Grand Canyon and Sedona

We’re rounding out our third week in Phoenix and have been loving the sun and warm weather. The nights are cool and the days are hot and sunny and we have the tans to prove it 🙂 – not to rub it in for everyone in the Midwest who is still dealing with snow.

We decided to take advantage of a free weekend and headed north to the Grand Canyon and Sedona. Since we are both working remotely, we went up on a Sunday afternoon and worked from the hotel Monday – this is where working Eastern time while on Pacific time comes in handy since we log off at 2pm and can use our entire afternoon for fun. We left a little later in the day, which worked out to our advantage because we got to the Grand Canyon in the late afternoon when crowds were mostly non-existent.

We took a slight detour to Prescott on the drive to grab some lunch and stretch our legs. We stopped at Watson Lake for a quick walk – the scenery was gorgeous! At 5,000 ft. elevation, the scenery was a bit different from the desert we get in the Phoenix valley with lots of scrub bushes, juniper trees, and an absence of cacti. Snickers especially enjoyed chasing birds through the mud.

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Since we had the dog with us, we were limited in the hiking we could do at the Grand Canyon (National Parks are notoriously dog-unfriendly). We parked at the Bright Angel trailhead and walked about 3 miles out and back along the Rim Trail. The great thing about this location was that no cars are allowed beyond that point and most people ride the shuttle rather than walking. We had the trail mostly to ourselves, and even though it was paved we had a very enjoyable time. It’s amazing to see all of the striations along the canyon walls and think about how the Colorado River cut it out over millions of years. It’s impossible to capture the grandeur in pictures, but suffice to say we were constantly uttering “wow, this is amazing!” even though we’d both visited before. We definitely recommend a visit at least once in your lifetime.

Sunday night we drove down to Flagstaff to stay for the night. Our time was mostly spend in the hotel since it was a Monday and we had to work, but we did end up grabbing beer at Dark Sky Brewing (highly recommend!), some lunch at Macy’s Coffee House (delicious lattes and healthy food), and walking the trail that runs through town (such a great use of space!).

Once we were finished with work, we headed to Sedona for a hike. The drive down was on mountain roads that cut through the rocks and provided amazing views. The weather was cloudy and cool – 70s – which was actually perfect for the hike since the desert sun can be brutal. We did 6 miles on the Chuckwagon Trail to Devil’s Arch. Very few people were on the Chuckwagon Trail, but the last 0.8 miles up to the arch we ran into quite a few hikers. I can’t blame them because the view was spectacular! The hike itself wasn’t too strenuous and we ended up running about 3 miles of it. Snickers, our resident mountain goat, had a blast running up the rocks at the end and nearly gave Matt a heart attack when she ran to the edge to survey the land. The red rock landscape is something that you just can’t see anywhere and even though they weren’t lit up by the sun we were amazed by their beauty. Matt didn’t brave walking on the bridge, but Snickers and I ran out there to snag a quick photo before our descent.

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All-in-all, we had a fantastic weekend!

Round 2

giphy

Dusting off this old blog for round two of Matt and Beth travel the country! We’re currently en route to Phoenix where we’ll spend April exploring the desert before the weather gets too hot. On the agenda: Sedona, Grand Canyon, and Flagstaff.

We’ve spent a little time in the city (mostly for work) so if you have any must-do activities/restaurants/coffee shops/etc. in the area send them our way!

We’ll do our best to keep updating throughout our time on the road. We love sharing our adventures so we’ll definitely be popping in periodically, though it may not be as regular as in 2016.

Thanks for following along!

The End of Austin

We’ve been back in Louisville for about a week, so it’s time to tie up the loose ends of our travels for 2016.

Austin Report Card

Food	A-
Beer	A
Walkability	B
Cost	B-
Weather	A
Parks	B+
Activities	B+
Overall	B+

We’d heard great things about Austin, so when we were at a loss of what city to go to for the end of the year we thought: “When else would we ever live in Texas?” and went for it. Initially we were going to go right after Denver, but we swapped it for Minneapolis in order to avoid those Northern winters.

Austin is known for many things, most notably music, but their barbecue and Tex Mex rank highly as well. We were not disappointed with the food scene we encountered which ran the gamut from the standards (chili, barbecue, Mexican) to Indian, Chinese, and Greek. [Check out our post solely on beer and food for some of our favorites!] While we didn’t get to as many breweries as we have in previous cities, we visited a handful all with really solid brews – Jester King, Live Oak, and Hops and Grain to name a few. While those were all great, the real star of the beer scene for us was Craft Pride, a Texas-only beer bar on Rainey street with more options than we can name and a taste for every palate.

Austin gave us some amazing weather the short time we were there, and we loved living right on Lady Bird Lake (aka the Colorado River).Unfortunately Snickers didn’t like running in the grass very much because there were a lot of burrs that got stuck in her paws, but she loved splashing around in the lake after a run.While there weren’t a lot of parks around, a quick drive could get you into nature. We did like the couple of hikes we went on, but the terrain wasn’t variable enough and the trails weren’t accessible enough to get in a weekday run. We definitely missed the terrain of Oregon and Colorado and even our bi-weekly trail runs in Minneapolis. Austin is fairly walkable and we were able to easily access downtown, South Congress, and East Austin from our location, but you definitely need a car to really get around.

Would we go back? Absolutely! We would love to experience some of the music scene that we just didn’t get around to while we were there and it was just an all-around cool city. Would we live there? Maybe! We really liked the weather and the vibe, but we’ve heard the summers can be brutally hot and humid.

[We didn’t take a lot of photos the last few weeks here, so enjoy some of our favorites]

20161113_133905 — Pedernales Fall State Park

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Food and Beer in Austin

A quick rundown of places we’ve enjoyed in Texas.

Food

Casino el Camino – good burgers and spicy wings. A bit of a “metal” vibe, but really enjoyable.
Polvos – boozy margaritas, hit or miss on food
Curra’s – solid Mexican food; try the avocado margarita
Texas Chili Parlor – very meaty chili, try the XX and also the green chili
Micklethwait Craft Meat – seriously delicious barbecue! Skip the line for Franklin and head here
Cenote – great breakfast/brunch spot in East Austin
Cuvee – nice coffee shop on the East side; interesting automated pour over machines
Easy Tiger – neat patio and great cheese board! Plus a pretty solid beer menu
Bangers – 30 house made brats and over 100 beers on the menu! Get the beer float and a pupwurst for your furry friend!

Texas Chili Parlor

Beer

Blue Owl – sour mashed beers, tasting-style menu
Jester King – a bit of a drive but worth it, extensive beer menu
Live Oak – solid German-style beers
Craft Pride – drafthouse with Texas only beers; really diverse menu
Hops and Grain – tucked away in a warehouse on the East side

Merry Christmas!

From our spaceship to yours..

xmas-2016

On the first day of winter…

It was 70 degrees and sunny.

I baked cookies.

And the sunset looked like this:

Austin’s really pulling out all the stops our last week here.

McKinney Roughs Nature Park

We took advantage of the good weather during our last weekend in Austin to get outside and do a little hiking. We went on a Saturday and practically had the place to ourselves; it might’ve been because the day was overcast and humid or because it was the weekend before Christmas, but we weren’t complaining. Also, we should note that while it was 78 degrees that day, the following day had a 50 degree swing and didn’t get above 38 so we’re experiencing drastic temperature changes along with the rest of the country.

McKinney Roughs is located about 20 miles east of downtown Austin and has miles of hiking and equestrian trails. The entrance fee is $5/person, but we lucked out going on a day where they weren’t able to access the system so we got in for free. We hiked the Pine Ridge Trail to the Cypress Trail; it wound its way through a pine forest and meandered along the Lower Colorado River. The terrain was very different than what we experienced in Hill Country at Pedernales Falls – much less rocky and more pine than scrub grass.

The trails weren’t very long, but we got in a good 4 miles and took some time to let Snickers play in the river. She’s come a long way in her relationship with water since we introduced her to the Pacific Ocean back in January! Our favorite part (and her least favorite) was when a herd of cows came down to drink across the river and she proceeded to growl and stare at them for a good 10 minutes.

Hiking McKinney Roughs (alt title: we didn’t sleep well the night before)

All in all, it was a perfect way to get out of the city and spend a Saturday. And what Matt and Beth hike would be complete without a stop for some suds? We ended our day at Live Oak Brewing, which is located near the airport. They have a pretty solid rotation of traditional German style beers; we went with the Big Bark Amber, Liberation IPA, Schwarzbier (a black lager), and the Oaktoberfest. All were smooth and mild and perfect for drinking outside on a warm winter day.

Life Lately

For better or worse, we’ve fallen into a bit of a routine here in Austin. Matt has been working from home the majority of the time, which has been great, but also makes it very easy to forego going out to dinner or a show in lieu of popcorn and West Wing on the couch. Regardless, we’ve been able to do quite a bit of exploring and have found some great restaurants, walking places, and even a yoga studio [seriously, if you are in Austin and looking for a stretchy, sweaty, intense workout – check them out! We always leave a bit sore and drenched in sweat.]

Spicy margaritas at Lichas Cantina

We spent Thanksgiving here in Austin just the three of us (because Snickers counts), and it was great. We had a very leisurely day of sunning ourselves, cooking, and gorging ourselves. The weather was amazing that day – upper 70s and sunny – so we spent some time at the pool; quite the juxtaposition from the snowy pictures Beth and Casey sent us from Thorp! We made a relatively modest dinner all from scratch – even the bread for the stuffing! – and just enjoyed our time together. While we love our families, the quiet holidays together are some of our favorites.

Thanksgiving in Austin

We also went up to Chicago for Matt’s company holiday party. Coming from Texas I was not prepared for the snow and cold. The party was at a local winery and we enjoyed getting to mingle with his coworkers and put some faces to names. We might have imbibed a little too heavily and nursed hangovers the day after, but snuggling up in a hotel while the snow falls and blankets the city is pretty nice too. They got their first snowfall while we were there, and there’s just something really magical about big, fluffy flakes against a backdrop of twinkly Christmas lights.

We clean up nice

Looking a little “sister wives” – it might be time for a haircut

Matt stayed in Chicago for work after the party and I came back to Austin, welcomed by 75 degree, sunny weather. My parents were in town so we ate our way around. Since I was working they were mostly on their own, but we met up in the evenings for food. Ralph used to come to Austin for work back in the 90s so he suggested we go to the Oasis on Lake Travis for dinner one night to watch the sunset over the lake. We got there after the sun had mostly set, unfortunately, but the sky was lit up with flames and the view was still pretty spectacular. They also headed up to Waco to see Magnolia Market since they apparently watch a lot of HGTV; per them – “it was nice to see if you’ve got a free day with no agenda, but if it’s your destination it’s not worth the drive.” We did some walking around East Austin and Lady Bird Lake and just had some easy days. I think they loaded up on just as much chili, Tex Mex, barbecue, and margaritas in their week here as Matt and I have; food is definitely the best way to enjoy a city!

Sunset over Lake Travis

Lake Travis from the Oasis

We’ve got one more week here and we’re hoping to catch a show (Matt the Electrician is playing so that’s our goal), eat more food, and drink more beer.

Pedernales Falls State Park

Back in November we took a drive out to Texas hill country in search of some hiking. We’ve been missing the mountains a lot lately and were hoping to find something to quell that desire a bit. Hill country is quintessential Texas in our opinion – the terrain is rocky and arid scattered with scrubby trees. We chose Pedernales Falls State Park not only for its proximity to Austin (~1 hour drive) but for its proximity to Jester King Brewery (priorities).

We noticed that to get to any real, single track hiking trails you have to go about an hour west of the city in any direction. Luckily we had a beautiful, clear day so the drive was very enjoyable. Since it was Veteran’s Day weekend the fees were waived, but beware they charge a $6 entry fee per person! We chose to do the Juniper Ridge trail after talking with the park ranger, because it was less crowded and had greater tree coverage.

We set out to do an 8 mile loop starting at the Madrone Trail, hooking up with Juniper Ridge, and finishing back on Madrone. Our initial plan was to run the whole thing; we ended up running the first 5.5-6 miles and walking the last 2. The terrain started out pretty easy, but quickly got very technical with all the rocks and tree roots. Snickers had a blast being off leash and running between us. We only passed a couple of people at the beginning of our hike and one bike along the way (how they were biking through all those rocks was a miracle to us!), and we thoroughly enjoyed having the trail to ourselves.

Cooling off on the Juniper Ridge Trail

Sweaty family selfie

After a sweaty run, we made it back to the car and headed to Jester King for some delicious brews. It’s located on a working ranch so the grounds are expansive and ideal for hanging out on a sunny afternoon. Bonus: they have kid-free areas!