As Seen on Triple D: Zydeco's

Justin:  So we eat a lot.  Triple D (Diners, Drive-Ins, and Dives) is one of our favorite shows.  We watch it all the time.  Over the course of watching it, we decided that if we could, we would visit at least one Triple D recommended restaurant whenever we can...mostly during vacation hot spots.  We've been to so many since, we thought we'd start a new segment on our blog entitled, As Seen on Triple D. Keep in mind we are not professional food critics...just fans of the show and lovers of eating food.  So we won't get all fancy and talk about the amount of paprika in something or whatever.  Just sharing another thing we love to do as couple.

NAME: Zydeco's


LOCATION: Mooresville, Indiana


WHAT WE HAD: White beans and rice, garlic soup, gumbo,  black cat, baronne street shrimp, bourbon pecan pie and a gator whiz shot to top it off.

WAS IT GOOD:  
Nicole:  Ohhhhhh yeah, it was. I haven't tried much in the New Orleans cuisine, but this shit was the bomb!

Justin:  I think this was the first out of Illinois restaurant we went to and the first time we thought that going to one of these on trips or on the way to other places would be a great road trip/vacation tradition.

N: This restaurant is in a very little town in Indiana.  When we got there and saw the sign, I knew it was going to be fun.  They even had flower seeds outside with little baggies for you to take home.  The seating in the main room is not very large and it had fun decor.  Lawn umbrellas and fun lights strung up everywhere. Along with your fork and knife they have a set of mardi gras beads at your place.  The waitress came up, told us we needed to put the beads on and took our drink order - Gator Whizz!  It was an odd name, but it was good!  I will definitely have more Gator Whizz in my life.

J:  The decor and food was amazing.  In our last post we talked about having a shot partya and I think Gator Whizz would definitely be on that list.  The seafood was great and it had a lot of flavor.  The white beans and rice felt like a dish I would eat every day.  Actual my dad makes something similar so it felt like home cooking.  

N:  Being that I haven't tried very many New Orleans style dishes, we each got a few different things to try, and everything was just awesome.  I dream about going there for more spicy shrimp dishes and gumbo.  We couldn't get enough of each others dishes and even though we were stuffed, we had to get the bourbon pecan pie to try.  It was delicious!

J:  I would recommend this place to anyone who loves seafood and N'awlins style cooking!

Good Irish Times!

Nicole: Hey There!  I'm about half Irish and Justin is none, but we live on the south side of Chicago so you GOTTA celebrate St. Patrick's day!  St. Patty's day is one of my favorite holidays, you wear green (my fave color), attend parades, drink, and everyone is in a jolly mood.  It doesn't get any better.

This year to celebrate we met up with our fave twosome and headed out to Irish Times Pub.  We had awesome (all you can eat) fish fry, tasty Guinness, and great company.  There were even bagpipers!  It was an all around good time and a great way to celebrate the Irish heritage.

Justin:  I love pubs.  I don't drink a lot but I love going to pubs.  It's something about the atmosphere that just makes me really enjoy being in a cozy, warm place with good food and great friends.  Jeff and Aireen are great friends.  Aireen and I used to go to the same grammar school and we rekindled our friendship a few short years ago.  It's been a blessing and honor ever since getting to know them.  Whenever we think of some place to go we always call these two.  We seriously wish we were neighbors.  Nicole ALSO forgot to mention the car bombs!  That's my drink/shot or whatever.  I think I downed four that night...which I needed after the hellish weeks I've been having.  We actually talked about shots quite a lot as we plan on having an epic shot party in San Diego in a few weeks!

We topped the night off with a viewing of 21 Jump Street.  HILARIOUS.  Nicole fell asleep but it's all good she'd seen it already and she knew how much I wanted to. 

N: The next day we headed down to central Illinois for my friend Kristie's big 3-0 celebration.  We took our time getting there and stopped for lunch and a letterbox on the way.  It was a cemetery box and one of the easiest letterboxes we have ever found. It was a great start to our letterboxing season.

All my Girls Weekend girls were in attendance, it was so great to see them so soon after our official girls weekend, I felt spoiled!  Kristie's husband Jeffrey grilled out for all of us and he even made an awesome cake for her.  Sadly, we couldn't take any pictures because we left the camera at our lunch stop...

J:  ... Yeah I was pretty upset about that since we got our first letterbox of 2012 and we wanted it documented.  My camera fell out of my vest when I took it off.  Luckily I called the place (yeah it was a Pizza Hut so what!?) and they kept it for us til we could pick it up the next day.

N: We had a late night of game playing and chatting and then it was to bed for everyone and up the next morning for breakfast before we all went our separate ways.  I already can't wait for the next girls weekend that we already have in the works!

A little wine with that drink?

Justin: So it seems that after Louisville we kind of just forgot about this preview into our lives.  To be honest after Louisville I planned to have a free month of August to catch up on side work and relax from crazy fun of the convention season.  I guess that meant taking a break from updating you folks on the crazy life we lead as boyfriend and girlfriend.  Ok it's not crazy but it's exciting enough for us and we like to share.  :)

Taking a break from the blog didn't meant we took a break from doing fun things with people we love.  A couple months back I won a wine basket from a raffle my co-worker's mom set up.  I don't remember the exact organization (SORRY it was a loonnnng time ago...but not in a galaxy far, far, away.)

Anyhoo the wine basket was filled with goodies including a free wine tasting to Cooper's Hawk.  Months past and during that time we've had the pleasure a few times, with hanging out with the lovely Aireen Arellano and her truly awesome husband Jeff Loftus.  They have expressed a huge interest in Cooper's and have praised it's fine food and wine.

So after many busy weekends we found time to get together and spend the date with one of our favorite couples.  

The wine is incredible and that statement is coming from someone who does not drink wine.  But the way the tasting was set up is it was like a scorecard and a scene out of the movie, Sideways...where Paul Giamatti dumps the tasted wine over his face.  Great scene, great movie...right Nic...*crickets.  After getting a little tipsy we had lunch reservations.  Man it was pricey but it was very very yummy.  I ordered the crab cakes and they melted in my mouth.  I'm not sure what Nic's take on the experience was but I bet she could tell you it was...amay za za zing.  Nic...




Nicole:  Yes, the whole experience really was amazing!  I've been wanting to go to Coopers Hawk since we won the tasting and am so glad we had the opportunity to go with such amazing friends!  I'm not a huge wine drinker but it was really great to see and taste the subtle differences in each wine.  It really made me appreciate it more and made me want to maybe get into drinking it a little more.  Wine Club anyone?  The food was great and it is definitely a place that I would love to go back to sometime.  I know there are a few more locations so I'm interested to see what each one has to offer.

A weekend away helps the love stay...

Justin:  This past Saturday, my good friend asked me to help him with his Youth Group's Art Jam for his Church out in Geneva, IL.  More on that here.

Afterwards, we all went to this pub called, The Claddagh.  And if you know me, you know I dig pubs.  The atmosphere, the food, the car bombs, I am a big fan.  It was already in the plan to hang out after the Art Jam but it became more of a necessity when I found out my good friend, Eric, is getting married in June!  Say whaaaaaa!?  Now if you know me and my crew, then you know Eric goes by the name of Sinister E.  Not the one I would have picked to get married first from our lil squad of friends.

Not a lantern ring!

Anyways the night was just what Nicole and I needed.  A mixture of good times formulated by alcohol, food, and reminiscing.  Nic and I have gotten into some spats lately mostly because of how stressed I get at work.  So a change of scenery and step away from our usual "comfort places" really helped relieve some of that stress and made us completely forget about the stupid he said, she said bs fights that come and go ever so often in a relationship.

Captain Morgan Apple Cider!

Car Bombs!

 

One last photo to call it a night

 It was that kind of night that really made the rest of the weekend great.  On Sunday we had breakfast at Blueberry and caught a movie.  Then we had dinner with Nicole's family at Buca di Beppo. Talk about Italian sunday dinner.  Yum.  [sorry no pictures of the feast] I finished off the night working on some art whilst Nic dug into her latest kindle book.  I fell asleep watching RED on Blu-Ray and Nic snored happily to sleep.

I say weekend away because we definitely kept away from the bullshit stress that was getting to us (me) these past few days.  Also these past weekends have been filled with family get togethers or events/meetings planned months prior.  So even though I had a scheduled thing this weekend, it was different from what we have been doing these past two months.  It really helped us forget about everything that was really stressful and the best part is having it stay forgotten.  No need to relive the whys of everything and just start from this point.  A point of feeling great and happy not just as a couple, but individually.  You got to love yourself before you can learn to love another.  It's that kind of growth that keeps the love...where it should be.

Thoughts my dear?....

 Nicole: I agree, this weekend was just what we needed.  It put our minds at ease, gave us some laughs, lots of smiles, and some shared and individual new experiences.

We both got some "me" time Saturday during the day and went off doing our own thing.  Sometimes I feel like by spending time away from each other, we are actually growing closer.  It gives each of us time to sort through our thoughts, enjoy our own company and space and when we come back together, the love is magnified.

The Art Jam on Saturday night was awesome!  If nothing else, it provided lots of laughs.  I participated in the Jam and as I told Justin, who had never seen my drawing, I can't even draw a stick person very well. I realized that I couldn't draw when I was in second grade so I stopped.  The drawings on Saturday look like I started right back up where I left off!  They look hilarious!  My drawings were all quite embarrassing, but I still had a great time doing them and I think I got my creative juices flowing again.


Justin: errr I have to interrupt you here my love and show everyone the masterpiece you did known as, "Tea Party".

I love it!

Now I love this because of the fact that she participated and she tried...I LOVE that about her.  It was great.  So is this drawing.  It makes me smile. I think I'm going to frame it when we move into our first place together.  Now back to you my love....

Nicole:  After the Jam we headed to the Pub, as Justin said, and the good times just kept flowing.  It's amazing what a little away time from the usual routine can do.  It was full of laughs, stories, and just living in the moment.  No planning.  Now if you know me, you know that I love to plan.  I have things scheduled in my planner all the way through to December.  Yes, seriously.  But sometimes, you just gotta go with the flow.  No plans, just enjoying.  Sometimes a little risk or "who knows" is even more fun!  I'm thinking we should have a few more of those moments in the coming year :o)