restaurant

The Backwoods Inn

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Dad and I got up late today, had a nice ham and egg breakfast and then headed out on the trails with no specific destination in mind.

As is often the case in our neck of the Adirondacks, we ended up only a few miles from The Backwoods Inn (previously known as Ham’s Inn) around lunchtime.

It’s an awesome little local bar/restaurant. The top of the bar has pictures of the locals embedded in a clear coat of some kind. There’s a Newfoundland that likes to wander around inside and out and greets every snowmobiler that comes through the door.

The menu is just typical American food: subs, wings, burgers etc but the food is excellent and their portions are insanely huge. They have a multiple-pound-burger that’s free if you eat it all. Even their normal sized burger is too big for most people.  Dad had a regular burger and could only finish half of it.  I had a grilled ham and cheese and couldn’t even come close to finishing the fries.

Its located on route 56 in Parishville right near the route 3 intersection. Filled with local flair and great food.  If you’re looking for it from the snowmobile trails it’s on 73 on the eastern most section of 7A right along route 56.

Eat there if you get the chance!

Rehearsal and Dinner at Portland City Grill

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The rehearsal went off without a hitch at the beautiful Aerie at Eagle Landing.  Because Smitty wasn’t flying in until Saturday morning, I acted as a stand-in groomsmen, which was a first but fun.

Sunset over PortlandAfter the rehearsal always comes the good part… the dinner.  For this particular event we ate at the Portland City Grill on the 30th floor of the US Bancorp building.  The view was incredible, and we were blessed with a gorgeous sunset way up over the west hills.  Pictures can’t do it justice, and since I only brought my 50mm portrait lens (without a polarized filter through glass at night) my pictures of the city and the skyline were all but useless.  Since it was also Michael’s birthday George and Stacie had a cake for him which was absolutely delicious!

You’ll just have to trust me, the view from the Portland City Grill is well worth the cost of a meal, it truly is spectacular.

A Boat and a Plane

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Sailors Lost

Today we had a real early start. We left the hotel at 6:45 and dropped our bags at the airport. From there we headed to The USS Arizona Memorial at Pearl Harbor. We learned a lot of interesting things and saw even more. There was a museum at the memorial which had several interesting displays. The most moving of which was a display containing the items corresponding to one of the sailors lost on the USS Arizona. It contained his diploma, his purple heart, the telegram sent to his mother notifying her of his death and several other times of importance pertaining to his life.

Flying High

The memorial itself is very somber but an empowering part of American history. You felt a sort of pride stepping onto the deck of the memorial with the American Flag flying high above. It was inspiring to learn that even the survivors of the USS Arizona still to this day request to be buried at sea with their shipmates. When requested, they are cremated and Navy divers are commissioned to place them amongst the wreckage.

After visiting the memorial we caught a quick taxi ride back to the airport and it was on to the Big Island. Once arriving on this rainy paradise, we grabbed our rental and went out for a joyride. We took the ‘scenic route’ (which was labeled as such) and happened across an amazing overlook and trail head to the shoreline below. Since we didn’t have anything else planned we took the trek and we’re glad we did. The tide was coming and the waves were furious. Check out the photo album for some amazing shots from our mini-hike.

By the time we made it to the end of the ‘scenic route’ it was time for dinner. We found out how different Hilo is from Waikiki as it took us almost an hour to find a restaurant (we weren’t being picky, we couldn’t find ANY). However; once we found one, Hilo Bay Cafe, we determined the food was worth the search.

Another great ending to another great day.

Aloha,
Rachel and Randy