Sunday, May 15, 2011

Art

Mr. Z and I took an impromptu trip to Dubuque this weekend and had a really great time! It was a weekend filled with two of my favorite things, good food and fun art. In fact we found art everywhere we looked!

Our first stop was in Dickeyville to see The Grotto, a beautiful shrine erected by a Catholic priest in the 1930s.


It's made up of colorful rocks, shells and glass and it's quite a site to see.


Next stop, Dubuque. A river town filled with tug boats, and barges and locks... oh my!


Dubuque also features an "elevator" or little street car that makes its way up a very steep hill in the middle of downtown. After a tasty lunch at The Bank (a restaurant that used to be a bank and still features old, original vaults) we took a spin up the elevator. It was a little scary, but lots of fun.


After our trip up and down the hill, we walked over to the river walk, which features some beautiful art.

These two horses are amazing.


The attention to detail is unreal.


Another stop along the river walk was this old phone booth converted into a prayer station. We weren't sure if this was another piece of art or not. Either way, it looks like it's being used (knee pad is worn) and it's pretty cool.

After our walk about town, we stopped back at the hotel for a cocktail and then decided on a place called Pepper Sprout for dinner.


I had the bison tenderloin with balsamic onion jam and horseradish cream sauce over garlic mashed potatoes. Yes, it was as amazing as it sounds. I think (I've never tried) it's hard to get bison right, because it's so low in fat it dries out quickly. But this was seriously delicious stuff.

And we even found art at the restaurant.


Don't be fooled. I ate my entire meal, these are Mr. Z's leftovers.

Most of today was taken up at the National Mississippi River Museum and Aquarium.

When Mr. Z and I go to museums, we have a plan. We pick a time and place to to meet up and then I cruise the museum stopping at all the audio/visual displays and anything else that's pretty or sparkles and he reads every single sign and description posted. So you see, every time I go to a museum with my mister, I can plan on substantial "me time" built in at the end and Mr. Z gets to take his time pouring over the artifacts.

Today, I spent some of my extra time snapping photos (do you see Mr. Z way back by the propellers?).


Of course we couldn't leave the museum without saying hello to our favorite river friend Samuel Clemens, a.k.a. Mark Twain.


All in all we had a wonderful weekend. If you haven't spent time in Dubuque I highly recommend it!

Saturday, May 14, 2011

The incredible, edible egg.

One of the things I like best about weekends is making breakfast. Especially when our neighbors are supplying us with fresh eggs from their backyard chickens.

This morning I whipped up two different egg dishes to suit our individual tastes...


Mr. Z enjoyed a two egg scramble with chorizo, red onion, bell pepper and cheese along with two pieces of peanut butter toast.


I fixed myself two open faced sandwiches on wholegrain toast with cream cheese, sauteed red pepper and spinach and an egg on top.

Both plates filled with protein and nutrients to start the weekend off on the right foot!