Tuesday, September 30, 2008

Smoked Turkey from Smokey Bones in Sanford, FL

Smoked Turkey at Smokey Bones
I ate at the Smokey Bones in Sanford, FL. I ordered the smoked turkey. It was served with garlic bread, and apparently two sides. The waitress asked me what SIDE I would like, and I picked the corn. When the food came, there were two bowls of corn on my plate, so I'm assuming I should have received two SIDES. I would have picked something else if it was offered besides a whole lot of corn.

Otherwise it was okay barbecue, although I have had better smoked turkey elsewhere.

Sunday, September 28, 2008

Eating Louie's Pizza at Halloween Horror Nights

Bloody Mary
I went to the second night of Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios in Orlando, FL. It was a fun event, but wasn't exactly up to par as to what the event has been in the past. There were eight haunted houses this year, and I went through six of them. I will return to go through the remaining two. Some of the haunted houses seemed to have a lot of potential to be really good, but didn't quite work out right. Others were just plain bad. Out of all of the houses I went through, there was nothing that was really a huge standout.

My personal favorite house of the night was called The Hallow. It was filled with all sorts of classic Halloween imagery like Jack-o-Lanterns, scarecrows, cornfields, witches, and lots of other good Halloween stuff. This house could have been really good, but the actors in the house really seemed to be lacking. There were times where I would go several scenes without seeing a single actor, and when there was a monster, they just stood there. There was lots of potential here for improvement, but I still enjoyed the house.
The Hallow
Another one of the better, but still mediocre houses was the Body Collectors house. It was one of the houses with lots of potential, with great sets, characters, and the occasional good special effect, but something just seemed off in the house. I remember liking the original Body Collectors haunted house from a few years ago a whole lot better. I'll need to give this one another try.
Body Collectors
Dead Exposure was a haunted house that I found really didn't work too well. Before going to the event, I was told by someone who went the night before that this was the best house at the park. I thought it was one of the worst. I found it to be lots of improperly used strobeing blacklights with an occasional glow in the dark zombie. The story had to do with someone taking pictures of zombies or something, hence all the flashing, but it was nothing obvious. It really didn't work, but the only redeeming factors were the people in the floor and ceiling...
Dead Exposure
Reflections of Fear was the house that featured the events icon, Bloody Mary. The house seemed to be about phobias, but again, it didn't work too well. Out of the houses I went through this was definitely in the bottom three. The only cool thing in here was the claustrophobic hallways that you had to push your way through. Thinking about it, I don't think there has ever been a haunted house in this location (Jaws line) that I liked.
Bloody Mary's Reflections of Fear...
Then there was the Doomsday house. This was just as bad as Dead Exposure, but in a different way. I had no idea what this house was supposed to be. There were biker type people, people with chainsaws, and times when it seemed like the house had a nightclub vibe. It seemed very similar to the setup and execution of last years Texas Chainsaw Massacre house, but at least I had some idea of what was supposed to be happening in that house. I don't think I saw a single actor in here either from entering the house until I was three quarters through.
Doomsday house.  How stupid...
The remaining house that I went through was called Creatures. It seemed to feature rednecks, giant worms, and aliens. It took way too long for me to figure out what was going on here. The first half of the house seemed to feature no creatures, and just bars filled with people talking with southern accents and shooting at stuff. Then the second half seemed to completely switch to large animatronic aliens. It was a bit strange, but had some pretty nice sets and the aliens were cool. I think I'll need to try this one again when I go back to go through the remaining two houses.

While the haunted houses seemed to be lacking this year, the scarezones were wonderful. Upon entering the park, there was a Wizard of Oz themed scarezone called Path of the Wicked. It had the Wicked Witch taunting the crowds, the Cowardly Lion, The Scarecrow, the Tin man, Munchkins, and some very cool flying monkeys soaring over the street.
The Path of the Wicked
The Path of the Wicked
The Path of the Wicked
The Path of the Wicked Scarecrow
Tin Man
Flying Monkey at HHN 18
The Asylum in Wonderland scarezone was also very cool. It was a nice area poking fun on what could be considered Disney characters. Lots of fog, good lighting effects, and all of the characters seemed to be very good at ganging up on certain people here...
Wonderland...
The White Rabbit...
Another really good scarezone was The Skoolhouse. This scarezone seemed to be related to the Hallow haunted house with the classic Halloween theme. An old school house was built, and all of the actors here were dressed up as trick-or-treaters, all holding the classic Jack-o-Lantern candy baskets. Beyond the schoolhouse, the scarezone continued into a wooded area where all of the trees were covered in Jack-o-Lanterns. It was a very well done area, and one of my favorites.
Photobucket
Schoolhouse Scarezone
Pumpkins in the trees in the Schoolhouse scarezone
HHN 18 Forest of Pumpkins
HHN 18 Forest of Pumpkins
The American Gothic Scarezone had some interesting monsters, but I didn't walk through this area after dark to get the full effect.
American Gothic Scarezone
American Gothic Scarezone
American Gothic Scarezone
American Gothic Scarezone
The Streets of Blood scare zone really didn't too much for me. Lots of people walking around in Victorian clothes, but that seemed to be about it...
Stage Coach
The remaining scarezone called Fractured Tales was another very cool area. It featured fairy tale creatures and was a very fun area overall. The scarecrows at the entrance of the area were great...
Fractured Tales
Scarecrow
Scarecrow
Hungry Pumpkin
Pig Man
Little Bo Peep Ate Her Sheep...
Fractured Tales...

The majority of the shows this year weren't anything all that great, although Brian Brushwood's show is always fun to watch.



Oh yes, FOOD!

On this visit, I had some pizza for dinner...
Eating at Louie's at HHN 18
Eating at Louie's at HHN 18
Eating at Louie's at HHN 18
As far as theme park pizza goes, Universal makes good pies. Most theme park pizza is overpriced personal sized pies that seem to be nothing more than bad frozen pizzas. At Universal Studios, there is a restaurant in the New York section of the park called Louie's Italian Restaurant. Here, they make full sized pies rather than the personal sized pizzas. The taste of the pizza, the willingness of the employees to do special orders on the toppings, as well as the imperfections in the crust lead me to believe that the restaurant employees are actually making the pies in the back instead of just heating up pre-made frozen pizza.

On this visit, I ordered a Garden Vegetable pizza, minus the mushrooms. It was a good pizza, but I had problems with the crust and the toppings. I thought the pie could have been cooked a little bit longer to make a slightly crispier crust, although it seemed consistent with the pizza I have eaten here in the past. A generous amount of the toppings were piled onto this pizza. There was no lack of green peppers and onions, but they didn't seem to be cooked into the pizza too well. The toppings seemed like they were piled onto the pie halfway through cooking, so not all of them stuck to the cheese. It was a minor thing, and the pizza held together for the most part except for the occasional bell pepper that decided to escape.
Garden Vegetable Pizza
Garden Vegetable Pizza
As far as theme park pizza goes, this was a good pie. If you compare it to non-theme park pizza, it would be average, but still tasty.

Something interesting did happen while I was eating the pizza though. A guy in a wheelchair rolled up and dropped a business card with an American flag pin stuck through it. My initial thought was that he was handing out church propaganda to all of us pagans that were enjoying our Halloween event, but it was worse than that. He was begging for money. The card talked about how he was deaf and for a donation of $3, we could keep the pin to help with his expenses. I wonder if those expenses included the admission that he paid to get into the park, which would have cost somewhere between $30 to $70. As we were eating, he probably made about $50 in ten minutes before coming back the section of the restaurant where I was sitting and collecting his card. By the end of the night, he must have made a huge amount of money. Whether he was really deaf or not, no one should be subjected to being solicited for money while eating when you pay an overpriced admission to get into a theme park.

Other than that, Halloween Horror Nights was good, and so was the pizza...
Louie's Italian on Urbanspoon

Saturday, September 27, 2008

Sushin Bento Box

I went to Sushin, located across the street from Bayridge Sushi in Longwood, FL to give their lunch specials a try. I ordered a Spicy Chicken Bento, which started with a bowl of miso soup. The seaweed in the soup was very chewy.
Miso Soup
The box was served, filled with the chicken, rice, salad, and a California roll. The sauce on the chicken kind of reminded me of the chicken samples given out in mall food courts, but it was still tasty.
Spicy Chicken Bento Box
I do prefer the bento boxes from Bayridge Sushi and Fuji Sushi due to the greater variety of food served in boxes, but Sushin has the cheapest lunch bentos in the area. Still good...

Monday, September 22, 2008

Halloween Candy Corn

Brach's Autumn Mix
Target now has their Halloween department set up, and a bag of candy corn was purchased. Eating one or two pieces of the candy is good, but beyond that, the candy gets sicky-sweet. For some reason the non-traditional pumpkin-shaped candy corns tasted the best, although it's all the same candy.

I still want to try a a few of Hershey's Candy Corn and Pumpkin Spice Kisses that I originally saw at Hershey's Chocolate World. It's all too much candy though!
Candy Corn

Tuna Sandwich from Subway

Tuna Sub from Subway
I split a twelve-inch tuna sub with someone at the Subway in Sanford, FL near Seminole Community College. It was on wheat bread and was topped with lettuce, green peppers, black olives, onions, pickles, mayo, oil & vinegar, and salt & pepper. It was nothing exceptional, but at least Subway doesn't use the nasty chunk-light canned tuna anymore and now uses the better chunk white tuna.

Chef's Trio @ Romano's Macaroni Grill

I ate at Romano's Macaroni Grill in Lake Mary, FL and ordered the three course dinner that was offered called the Chef's Trio. It started out with a Caesar Salad:
Romano's Macaroni Grill Cesar Salad
That was followed with a plate of Fettuccine Alfredo:
Romano's Macaroni Grill Fettuccine Alfredo
And a slice of Lemon Passion Cake for dessert:
Romano's Macaroni Grill Lemon Cake
The meal wasn't anything exceptional, but was an okay deal for $11.99 in this type of restaurant.

Saturday, September 20, 2008

Digino's Pizza

Digino's Pizza
Someone recommended that I give Digino's Pizza in Lake Mary, FL a try. I did and it was an okay pizza experience.
Digino's Pizza
When I first picked up the cheese pie, I didn't think it looked too attractive when I opened the box. It appeared that there was way too much cheese on the pie, with a small puddle of sauce showing through in the center. Looks can sometimes be deceiving though, because I was pleasantly surprised when I got home and tasted the pizza.
Digino's Pizza
The cheese and sauce were well proportioned, with just the right amount of each. My only two complaints was that I found the sauce to be a little too sweet, and the crust could have been a little bit thinner to get more like true New York Style Pizza as advertised in the restaurants window. Otherwise, it was an okay pizza. It was far from the best pizza I have eaten, but I have had many far worse pizzas as well.
Digino's Pizza
On my second slice, I decided to add some toppings that hardly anyone else will eat. I put about three cloves of fresh chopped garlic and almost half of a can of anchovies on the slice. I have discussed the my thoughts on anchovies in the past, and I will restate that they are one of the most unappreciated pizza toppings out there. The slice was stinky, but it was good!

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