Adventures in Dining

Every so often I impress myself with how organized I can be. Last weekend we decided to drive up to Boston to see Don's Aunt Elva. Four weeks ago she suffered a stroke. At 97 you expect the worst. Fortunately she is not like most 97 year olds -- she lives in her old place and that night entertained family for dinner. She rocks!

Back to the topic: adventures in dining. Before leaving NJ I decided to research a lunch location halfway to Boston. We are one of those last hold outs for getting a Smart phone. Looking at the route, Danbury, CT would be the halfway point. I went to Tripadvisor's website and narrowed down the search until I found a sandwich shop. It found Amigo's Deli -- a restaurant serving Dominican food. It seemed to get good reviews. As a bonus, it was only a mile out of our way and was next door to a pizza place and a Chinese restaurant.

Don and I each had rice, beans and chicken for lunch. Ashley had a burger. The owner was very helpful. He explained everything and gave us a sample of oxtail and plantain. Yes, I tried them.

It was very good -- and cheap. We'd be willing to go again.

Rossi's

Rossi's. For Trenton area people the one word conjures up an image of a Rossiburger way too big for one person to finish, yet somehow we all manage to do it. 

Well, maybe it was too big for Ashley. She ate at least half of the burger.

When news started coming out that Rossi's planned to close their original location in the Chambersburg section of Trenton -- their home for 81 years -- and moving to Hamilton, we realized we wanted to have one last meal at Rossi's.

Other than the statewide ban on smoking, the place hasn't change in 80 years. No sign of a vegetarian entree. The burgers still get top billing. The new location will be near the Golden Dawn diner, but the exact spot is still a secret. The plan is to shut their doors in Trenton on May 31, and reopen in Hamilton in mid-June. We'll let you know if the burgers are still the same.

COSI museum (Columbus. OH)

1964 was a momentous year. Don was born. Ashley's school was founded. Wawa was started. It was also the year that COSI was started in Columbus, OH. 

When taking Ashley to COSI last might I made a stab at what the acronym stands for. I came up with Columbus, Ohio Science Institute. I got one out of four letters right. It stands for the Center Of Science and Industry. 

I remember visiting the place years ago when it was in its old location -- downtown near the original Wendy's. A "few" years ago (read that as more than a decade) it moved to the site of a former high school. Some elements of that old building have been retained, but it mostly feels like a brand-new place.

For Ashley the highlight was riding a unicycle on a high wire and waving to me down below. She had no troubles waiting 45 minutes with our friend Heidi and our cousin Laura.

I am very proud of her for doing that AND making it look easy. Many others needed the "hook" to come out and rescue them.

We did not spend nearly enough time in the museum. I loved roaming the halls of Progress. Back in the old building they just had the 1898 section, where you could see what life was like a LONG time ago. They have since added 1962, where kids could see what life was like a LONG time ago, while adult reminisced about those times. For instance, Heidi taught Ashley what it really means to "dial" a phone. Our phones are old by most standards, but even we have upgraded to push button phones. 

When we went we were lucky that their traveling exhibit was about Sherlock Holmes. Of course Laura, Ashley and I immediately through of our Uncle Drew (follow the link to visit his blog). Unfortunately we were not allowed to take pictures in this section. It was all so cool! Via a gramophone recording, Sherlock Holmes instructed us on how to solve a mystery. We had to study the clues and go to different stations to gather more information. In the end, only one of us (Heidi) got it right, but we all had fun trying.

There is so much more to do! Next time we need to bring Don and allow a lot more than just two hours.