SLC Treasure for Southerners!

There's a place in Salt Lake City serving down-home comfort food that would make Paula Deen proud!! For any Southern transplants to Utah or locals who just want to try some great food, you need to head on down to 159 S Main St to the Bayleaf Cafe!

While I believe they're known locally for their chicken and waffles, I don't think you can go wrong with anything on the menu!! I will say I tried a dish called 2nd Coming (comprised of 2 split buttermilk biscuits stacked with 2 eggs and a pile of cheese and bacon, smothered with country gravy) and thought I'd died and gone to heaven!! Side dishes like cole slaw, collard greens, grits, succotash, hoppin' john and hush puppies makes me think I'm back in the South! (I didn't realize people knew what some of these dishes were out here) They've been named "Best Comfort Food 2010" by Salt Lake magazine's dining awards and "Best Late Night" in 2010 City Weekly Best of Utah! They're open 11am to 9pm through the week (except for Monday when they're closed) but here's the kicker: on the weekends they open at 11am Friday and don't close until 9pm on Sunday!! (Yes, you read that right, they're open ALL weekend) AND they serve breakfast all the time!!

Now I will be the first to admit that dessert is my weakness! I have not met a dessert yet that I didn't like! And I happen to be a huge fan of the dessert menu at Bayleaf. I was tempted to try more than one. They have favorites like strawberry shortcake, peach cobbler, nanner puddin' (that's how it's pronounced in the South and how it's written on the menu), apple brown betty, and a root beer float! When I first visited the Bayleaf, we went at 11pm figuring if it was open late, we might as well take advantage. You walk in past the grill to find tables that would be at home in a fifties diner. My table was covered with images of Willie Nelson. Now, I don't know if any of you realize that Willie has his own flavor of Ben & Jerry's ice cream (I promise there's a point to this) but he does and it's peach cobbler flavored. So since I was sitting at the "Willie Nelson table" I felt it only appropriate that I try the peach cobbler. This dish gets high marks from me! (but I may have to taste-test it again just to make sure, you understand)

Overall, I'm extremely happy that a place like the Bayleaf exists here in Salt Lake! If anybody wants to try it and needs someone to go with them, let me know!! I'll be sure to steer you in the right direction!! (though again, you can't really go wrong)

Visit www.bayleaf-cafe.com for more info!

(The above was written for one of my classes this semester, but I love this place so much, I thought it was worth posting here too!)

1000 Places to See Before You Die...

In 2003, the book 1,000 Places to See Before You Die came out.  I think I bought it the first time I saw it and have kept track of the destinations I've visited by checking them off in the book.  I know Patricia Schultz is in the process of creating the updated revision, but I still think I'll continue to keep track in my original.  Since I've been concentrating on school and haven't traveled recently, I thought I'd compile the list so far here along with some of my favorite pictures of some of the destinations.

Europe

1. London, England

2. Blarney Castle and Bunratty Castle, Ireland  

3.The Book of Kells, Dublin, Ireland

4. Aran Islands, Galway, Ireland

Dun Angus on Inishmore (Aran Islands)

5. Connemara, Galway, Ireland
6. Galway, Ireland
7. The Ring of Kerry, Kerry, Ireland
8. Horse Country Straffan (Kildare) Ireland
9. Vienna, Austria

Hundertwasser in Vienna

10. The Romantic Road, Bavaria, Germany
11. Oberammergau, Bavaria, Germany (I still count this even though I didn't get to see the play)
12. The Rhine Valley, Germany
13. Heidelberg's Schloss, Heidelberg, Germany
14. Bellagio, Lombardy, Italy

Boat to take us to Borromean Islands

15. Borromean Islands, Stresa, Lombardy, Italy
16. Cortina D'Ampezzo, Veneto, Italy
17. St. Moritz and the Glacier Express, Engadine, Switzerland

View from Gornergratt (took the Glacier Express from Zermatt up)

18. Zermatt, Valais, Switzerland

The United States of America
19. The Grand Canyon, Flagstaff, AZ
20. Lake Powell, Page, AZ
21. Monterey Peninsula, CA
22. The Pacific Coast Highway, CA (I haven't gone all the way to LA yet)
23. A Tour on San Francisco's Cable Cars

At the end of my cable car journey

 24. Kennedy Space Center, Cape Canaveral, FL
25. Everglades National Park, FL
26. Key West, FL
27. South Beach, Miami Beach, FL
28. Walt Disney World Resort, Orlando, FL
29. The Breakers, Palm Beach, FL
30. Savannah's Historic District, GA
31. Big Island, Hawaii

Black sand beach on the Big Island

32. Oahu, Hawaii
33. Bellagio, Las Vegas, NV
34. The Las Vegas Strip, NV
35. New York City, NY
36. Historic Downtown New York, NY
37. The Biltmore Estate, Asheville, NC
38. Great Smoky Mountains National Park, NC
39. The Lewis and Clark Trail, Columbia River Gorge, OR
40. The Heart of Charleston, SC
41. The Badlands, SD42. The Black Hills, SD
43. Bryce Canyon National Park, UT
44. Moab and Red Rock Country, UT
45. Park City and the Wasatch Range, UT
46. Mormon Tabernacle Choir, Salt Lake City, UT

Mormon Tabernacle Choir

 47. Zion National Park, UT
48. Monticello, VA
49. Colonial Williamsburg, Williamsburg, VA
50. The National Mall and Its Monuments, Washington, DC

Washington Monument

 51. Grand Teton National Park, WY
52. Jackson Hole, WY
53. Yellowstone National Park, WY
54. Mesa Verde National Park, CO

Okay, Here's the list so far!  What do you think?  What are some of the places you've been?