Norwalk This Way
Yesterday Kate and I spent the day in Norwalk, Connecticut, with some of her friends from work/school. It was a jam-packed day filled with aquariums, supermarkets, and tequila. Here's the breakdown of what we did...
Started the day off at the Norwalk Maritime Aquarium. It was a bit underwhelming, especially when compared to other aquariums in the general vicinity (Mystic, I'm looking at you). Also, aside from having some sharks, some fish, and a animatronic dinosaurs (WTF), they had a meerkat room. Yes, a meerkat room AT THE AQUARIUM. Don't believe me?
Anyway, we watched "Dolphins" in IMAX, and then it was time to leave.
After that, we went got some lunch at Basso Cafe. I chose to have arepas for lunch, which are Venezuelan breads made of corn meal (I believe), stuffed with avocado chicken salad and black beans with cheese. It was delicious, and we all left full and happy.
Next stop was Norwalk Cove Marina Mini-golf. It was an uninspired course, which also featured a "fake" hole. I came in second place, behind Kate by one stroke (which was lost on the aforementioned fake hole). Oh well, she definitely cheated.
After that, it was chocolate time! Stopped over at Chocopologie Cafe, which is the premier chocolate establishment in Norwalk (I don't think there is any competition). I went simple, with a chocolate milkshake. It had a bit of a dark chocolate taste to it, which I loved. Kate got a frozen hot chocolate, which was also incredible. We also tasted some of their handmade chocolates. The raspberry, lemon, and thyme chocolate was out of this world!
We left Chocopologie, and Kate and I dropped off her friends so they could relax at their hotel, and we went to possible the greatest attraction that we've ever traveled to: STEW LEONARD'S.
If you are unfamiliar with this establishment, Stew Leonard's is, and I quote, "The Disney World of supermarkets." And I can wholeheartedly agree. They have EVERYTHING. They have a petting zoo, complete with a singing mechanical chicken. They have free samples everywhere (nothing like being a fatass). They have singing animatronic milk cartons in their dairy section. This was, hands down, the best part of the trip. Definitely continued the "Tom and Kate's WTF Tour 2011."
We picked up our friend again, went to Main Street. There, we stopped in a Black Bear Saloon. After some brewskis, we stopped at a local arts/music festival which actually wasn't that bad. It was at this festival, that Kate and I summed up our relationship perfectly:
It was also here where I got some video of one of the world's best dancers (video coming soon).
Our last stop of the night was dinner at Red Lulu Cocina and Tequila Bar. The theme in the restaurant was kind of spooky. It felt very "From Dusk Till Dawn" to me. So, since it was a tequila bar, I of course had to get some. I ordered the "Aye Guey!" This consisted of a shot of tequila, a shot of straight lime juice, and a shot of sangrita (which apparently, means "little blood." Thanks, Wikipedia!). Now, when I say "shot," it was more like three shots of each. So yeah, it knocked me on my ass, but I LOVED it. Dinner was pretty standard, as I ordered pulled pork tacos. This place was definitely more about alcohol then food. That's not to say the food wasn't good, it just wasn't anything different than a million other Mexican food establishments.
After dinner, we departed from Norwalk, got stuck in 2.5 or so hours of traffic, and jammed to shitty pop music on Kate's iPod. We arrived home, and I immediately passed out. What a weekend!
Today, it's off to see Rock of Ages. Review will be up at some point today or tomorrow.