Sacramento, CA

Luckily I get to go to Sacramento, CA for work on occasion. I love it because I get to go home and see the family, friends, and state that I miss so much. While my trips to CA are rarely action-packed, it is wonderful just to be home again.

Dad, Roger, and I went to Tao San Jin, my favorite Chinese food place on my first night back. I am such a Chinese food snob that I refused to eat Chinese food in Utah and I haven’t found a satisfactory place yet in Reston. I had my favorite chow fun with black bean sauce and it was as delicious as ever.

My friend Katie and I had a chance to catch up on the weekend over breakfast at the Sugar Plum Coffee Shop. Katie looks fantastic and every time I see her it just reminds me how much I miss our instant messaging and just general hanging out. She is the best. I also want to give a shout out to Katie for finding the absolute best volunteer work for her ever. Her job is to pet cats in animal shelters for an hour one day a week. For an avid cat lover like Katie (but not a creepy, crazy cat lady kind of way) it is a win for both her and the cats.

I also saw my friends Shariyah and Derrick. They are an adorable couple and they deserve the best of everything. We drove around in my cool Mustang rental car and went to the Riverview Lodge in Antioch. If you like seafood, the Riverview is a great place to eat. It has a nice view of the San Joaquin (if you can call the river nice) and the décor has been the same since the 1940’s, which I love. My mom swears by the crab louie salad. Katie and Shariyah are my friends from Bank of America and we all have lived to tell the horror stories. Next time I go I hope to see my other Bank friends.

In Sacramento I went out to dinner with Larry, Jody, and my dad. I love seeing Larry and Jody as often as possible. I was also totally jazzed to spend so much time with my dad while back home again. We ended up going to Frank Fat’s which has often been highlighted as the best Chinese food in Sacramento. If you ever go, the Honey Walnut Prawns are to die for.

My dad and I also headed to the Rusty Duck. We had an excellent meal. The fish at the Rusty Duck is always fresh. It has a very classic steakhouse look and vibe. I also enjoyed the intimate atmosphere and good service. The chef even came out to introduce himself, which I love (but only if the food is good).

My students and I decided to go to dinner and a movie after class. Near the theater were a variety of chain restaurants, including Hooters. I said I was up for anything except for Hooters because they objectify women. One of the guys in my class turned to me and rightly observed that, “You wouldn’t be the one objectifying them.” He had a point.

Back in Antioch my dad, Roger, Diedra, Mary, and I headed to Bridgehead Café. While Bridgehead is not my favorite place to eat, you cannot beat the welcome you get as a regular. The place has been owned by the same family for forever and you can tell they love the place. If you like chicken fried steak or fried chicken they are both very good.

Dad and I also headed to Prevots in Antioch. They serve continental cuisine that is pretty classy for Antioch. They have a marvelous rack of lamb and their bread is always served fresh from the oven. Unfortunately, is it located in a not-so-great part of town and I don’t think the place gets the recognition it deserves. If you go before 6:00 pm you can get a three course dinner for about $15.00. It is amazing.

I have been worried that all of my blogs revolve restaurants. Aside from enjoying eating far more than I should, I love anything related to restaurant reviews and travel advice. Also, when traveling for work, there isn’t a whole lot of time for sightseeing and wacky adventures. I have to eat and I have a very small window in which to go out and see the world. Enough excuses – I like dining out.

Next trip – Portsmouth, VA.

Akron, OH "Flee to the Cleve"

I have put off writing about my trip to Akron because I never thought I could adequately represent how much excitement I had in Ohio. I know that sounds strange, but Akron turned out to be one of the coolest trips I have been on so far. I also ate very well because they really like food, especially fried food, in Akron.

First off, my hotel was circular and I mean circular. I stayed at the Quaker Square Inn which used to be a grain silo for Quaker Oats back in the day. Everything there was round and old fashioned. The inn also smelled like a grandma’s house. I don’t mean that in a bad way, it just smelled of old furniture and baking (they made homemade oatmeal cookies daily). They also had an old railroad train car that the Inn converted into a diner. It was fun to sit in the train car and have a side order of nostalgia with my lunch.

I worked with the Akron Police Department and they are a fantastic group of people; very friendly, considerate, and hospitable. They took excellent care of me while in Akron and introduced me to some nice restaurants. I had my very first taste of fried macaroni and cheese at the Lockview. Fried Mac and Cheese highly decadent and surprisingly good. It is very rich, so take it slowly.

At Bricco I had fried dill pickles with garlic aioli and a well-cooked, moist pork loin. I don’t really like dill pickles that much, but it just goes to show that everything taste better when deep fried because I loved those blasted fried pickles. I had great time that night because many of the officers came out to dinner with me and then took me on a tour of Akron. There are some lovely parts of the city, especially the neighborhoods with brick streets and large trees.

On Wednesday I had to “Flee to the Cleve” as they say on 30 Rock and drove up to Cleveland. I decided that it was essential for me to go to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame juts out onto Lake Erie and the water really made the setting lovely in the sunlight. The building itself is architecturally interesting with a large glass pyramid. I spent quite a bit of time in the museum (what a shock!). I would have to say the highlights were:
• Madonna’s bustiers from the Blonde Ambition tour
• The hand written lyrics of John Lennon’s “In My Life” which is one of my favorite Beatles songs
• The guitar that Paul Simonon smashed on the Clash’s “London Calling” album
• And the red jacket from Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” which 8 year old Jen would have died to have seen
I really enjoyed all of the videos and credit given to the roots and founders of rock – especially one of my favorites, Sam Cooke.

The new Iron Chef, Michael Symon, is from Cleveland and has several restaurants in the area. I tried to get into both and could not get a reservation at Lola and I couldn’t find Lolita. It got totally lost in Cleveland trying to get back to Akron because of construction; a 40 minute trip took me over and hour and a half. Good times!

I had the opportunity to go out on a police ride-along with the Akron PD. It turned out to be one of the most exciting and enlightening experiences I have ever had. I got a tour of the police station, attended roll call and went on patrol for 4 hours. I rode with Officer Evans in one of the more sketchy neighborhoods of Akron. We drove around and answered a few minor calls. Then we got to ride lights and sirens across town to a 30 person gang fight. It was so cool to go that fast. When we arrived at the fight, one of the suspects started to flee and Evans followed him down alleys in the car which rocked. Evans jumped out of the car and chased him down. It was straight out of an episode of “Cops.” I sat in the squad car with the suspect for a few minutes (I was in the front seat so no worries) and the suspect kept asking me to roll down the windows. I did not. I got to witness a gun shot residue test and how they process gang members. I got to ride lights and sirens again because a fight broke out again in the same location a little later in the evening. I also got to go to a homicide crime scene and watch them process the scene. I am so grateful to the Akron PD for letting me tag along.


When in Akron you must eat at Luigi’s. It is, hands down, the best pizza I have ever had in my life. It is also a local favorite of the Akron PD. I went out after my ride along (around midnight) with the captain who set up my ride along. If you order a salad you can add mozzarella cheese on the top. When they talk about cheese, Luigi’s isn’t kidding; you can’t even see the salad because of all the wonderful, fresh mozzarella cheese. I cannot emphasize enough how fantastic the pizza is…just know that they don’t take credit cards so go with cash.

Who knew Akron would be so awesome?