Williamsburg Trip Complete Part II

As you now know I've been back on the board since Sunday. I returned to Rhode Island on Saturday evening. Besides Williamsburgh this adventure also included a Wedding on Long Island and Thanksgiving in Albany. I'm going to give a run down of the restaurants I visited some of which I have visited previously. For most breakfasts I went to the local bagel shop (on Long Island) or Coffee House (Richmond and Albany), or took advantage of the continental breakfast at the hotel.

I left for my trip on Saturday November 22 and headed to NY. I had a huge excellent messy Slice of Lasagna Pizza for lunch at Pizza Roma in Merrick NY. It had an excellent combination of Mozzarella, Ricotta and Ground Beef with a crisp crust and zesty sauce. I went out that evening with friends to the Black Forest Brewhouse. Although hardly a road food stop,this brewhouse has a german motif, however the food is far from it.The beer was quite delectable and hoppy and the very healthy tuna salad with wasabi dressing was stellar.

On Sunday I went to my friend's wedding. It was an Persian Jewish Orthodox Kosher wedding. This was a quite lavish black tie affair which began with an ornate buffet which included several persian dishes, and an open bar. After the 2 hour buffet, we headed to the Chapel for the hour and a half ceremony which was done completely in Hebrew. After the ceremony we headed back to the buffet room for a sit down dinner complete with a full persian "pop band". The main course arrived around midnight, by this time all the people at my table left, which also led to my demise at around 12:30 AM, besides I had a big trip to Richmond the next day.

On Monday I left Long Island around 9:30 am and arrived in Linthicum Hts, just south of Baltimore at around 1PM. I headed again to G & M carryout and Restaurant for their baseball sized Crabcakes without filler. I had the crabcake sandwich with coleslaw. These cakes are so good that tartar or cocktail sauce would competely ruin it. i also enjoyed the people next to me jabbering away in "Balamerese". It kinda sounds like cockney english. I got to Richmond around 3:45 PM. After a brisk 4 mile walk around the city I stopped at the Richbrau Brewery for couple of pints and then headed to Freckles Restaurant for their delicious artery clogging Fried Chicken Dinner. This comes with delicious spoonbread and sweet tea. I also had the broccoli (hey you have to have one healthy side) and Marcaroni and Cheese was was a little dissappointing.

The next day I drove to Williamsburg and spent all day there listening to Thomas Jefferson give a speech, and touring the Governor's palace, capitol and Jail. Also ventured into the many merchant's shops for demonstrations from the blacksmith, cobbler, silversmith etc. I left for approximately one hour to head to Pierce's Pit BBQ for lunch. The Pork had the redolent flavor of smoke and comes with the tomato vinegar bbq sauce which seems to be popular in Virginia. The sauce was good too, but of course will be dissapointing to North Carolina Folks,however I must remind you that this is Virginia and not North Carolina. The meal comes with Coleslaw, Hush Puppies and French Fries, however I substituted the sweet potato sticks for french fries. They were delicious logs, thicker than fries. They were crunchy on the outside and sweet and soft on the inside. That evening I returned to Richmond and went to the River City Diner for a dissappointing ham steak dinner. The Ham was flavorless and it was not country ham as advertised in the Yellow Pages,however the green beans were good with bits of pork in them and the mashed potatos seemed to be homemade.

Well, that's the first half of my trip. I will continue with the second half soon.

Thanks for the write up - I love to read about everyone's trips. The Persian Kosher wedding sounds like a trip in itself!


Looking forward to part II.

What is lasagne pizza???

Cool! Looking forward to more...

Part II of the trip...

Before I continue with part 2, I'm going to address Lone Star's question.
Lasagna Pizza is basically your typical slice of Pizza (sauce and mozzarella) with ricotta cheese and ground beef added to the mix. It's usually a thick slice that needs a knife and fork, or you'll be in store for a very messy experience.

Now, on with the trip. I left Richmond on Wednesday morning, however I stopped at McLeans for a traditional southern breakfast before heading back to "Yankee Territory". I ordered the Country Ham special. The Ham was substantial and salty "a real man's ham", not at all the wimpy ham steak I had the night before. The meal came with scrambled eggs with american cheese, biscuits and grits with red eye gravy. I was in "Ham Heaven that morning. I headed North up to Baltimore very concerned about holiday traffic, however I didn't hit any. I stopped in Baltimore for lunch and went to Chap's pit beef on Pulaski Highway. Pit beef is similar to a Roast Beef sandwich with a helluva lot more flavor, it's made a little differently, I believe it's marinated and cooked on a grill. The sandwich is usually served on a Kaiser Roll or Rye Bread, I chose Rye Bread. Condiments include onions, horseradish, may and bbq sauce. I generously loaded mine up with onions and horseradish with a spritz of mayo and bbq sauce. I had mine with a side of fresh cut fries generously loaded with cider vinegar and old bay. Of course I sat down and listened to the other customers yammering away in "Bawlimerese".
After leaving Baltimore I avoided 95 like the plague and took 83 and 81 to Scranton via Harrisburg. I arrived in Scranton at around 4pm. Before a vigirous walk downtown I stopped at the coney island shop for a snack, a split weiner on a bun loaded with chili. Absolutely delicious! I then proceeded to walk to Cooper's Seafood House for a couple of Brews. The Stoudt Brewing company offered a House Brew which was so so, similar to Yeungling but a little more hoppy. I then had a Brew described as Summer Wheat Ale from Black Rock Brewing out of Wilkes Barre which was outstanding. A little darker and more flavorful that your typical summer wheat beer. Definetely the highlight of the trip as far as brews are concerned. I then headed to Salernos's for Old Forge Style Pizza. It ordered a Yuengling and waited over an hour for my order of four cuts. The Pizza was not served piping hot like last time, in fact it seemed to have sat for a while. It was still good. Light and toasty crust, zesty sauce and the "american cheese" with a little bite to it. I was a little dissappointed that it took so long to serve and was not piping hot. The waitress explained that this is their busiest time of year.
The next day was thanksgiving and I arrived in Albany after a three hour drive at around noon time. Nothing notable to report.
The next morning I drove just over an hour to Wilmington Vermont to Dot's Diner for delicious filling breakfast of Berry Berry Pancakes served with real Vermont Maple Syrup and a Side of the Best Corn Beef Hash on this planet. Even the coffee was outstanding. The restaurant has a very homey feel with wood panel walls and fireplace. For lunch I returned to Albany and had a slice of chicken parm pizza at I Love NY Pizza in Albany. For Albany the Pizza wasn't bad, on Par with mediocre NYC Pizza. The next and last day I had lunch at the Troy Brew Pub in Troy NY (just over the hudson from Albany). Had an above average Pale Ale and a decent Southwestern Salad certainly not Road Food. After saying good bye to family I headed back in my Tercel for the three hour drive to Rhode Island.
I managed to avoid holiday traffic for the entire trip

I've had this happen several times in Virginia, usually in newer type places that are straining to come off as down home. Menus list "country" ham and waitstaff assure you that it is the real thing but what you end up being served is something that looks and tastes like it came out of a can.

quote:

Originally posted by wanderingjew


That evening I returned to Richmond and went to the River City Diner for a dissappointing ham steak dinner. The Ham was flavorless and it was not country ham as advertised in the Yellow Pages,however the green beans were good with bits of pork in them and the mashed potatos seemed to be homemade.

I am sooo envious