Viva la VISSSSSSTA

So, I always start off with info about Adam, so I decided to flipflop a bit and start off by sharing one of the really cool things I did this weekend. On Saturday, I went to Viva la Vista, which is a "Taste of" kind of festival here in the downtown area. Many of the wonderful restaurants that are here in Columbia were represented, and you basically could buy tokens for a dollar and get a "taste" or "tapas sized" portion of some of their most popular food for a few tokens or even just for one. Here are the different things I tried, and keep in mind that this was probably 1/30th of the wonderful things there. I want to give a little review of each, so that if you're here in the Columbia area you might be inspired to go get some of these great things:

*Jillian's - Mac and cheese (Really creamy, very mild cheese, good ratio of cheese to noodles, it reminded me of Yesterday's mac and cheese if you like that...I'd like to do a taste test with them and see which I prefer haha)
*Blue Marlin - Shrimp and grits (Best I've had since moving to the South, had some pieces of andouille (sp?) sausage and some Cajun seasonings that gave it a bit of a kick, slightly buttery undertones, this is a dish I would definitely order if I went to the restaurant); Pan-seared sea scallops (nice texture to the scallops but could have used a little more seasoning)
*Liberty Tap Room - Blue cheese potato chips (Sometimes called "wing chips" down here, these were thinly sliced potatoes that are fried and are crunchy, but they aren't like a traditional potato chip because they retain more of an actual potato taste, the blue cheese dip on them was absolutely amazing, it was a melted creamy dip and was so much better than the traditional blue cheese crumbles that go on top of wing chips)
*LongHorn Steakhouse - Shrimp and lobster chowder (Good consistency but lacked the "seafood" flavor I was expecting, tasted like a regular potato and corn chowder except when there was some shrimp or lobster in the bite)
*Cupcake - Mini mint chocolate chip cupcake (Wish they sold this size at their store on a regular basis because two bites of their decadent cupcakes can really be plenty, their mcc cupcake has always been my favorite and I wasn't disappointed at all, tastes like an Andes mint...if you haven't visited this store in the Vista do it NOW)
*Motor Supply Company - Sugar bacon dipped in bittersweet chocolate (Tried this basically just so I could say I did it and was surprised at how good it really was, I always wonder about this "savory and sweet" thing on Food Network and now I totally get it)
*Gervais and Vine - Seared jumbo sea scallops w/ rosemary oil and white balsamic reduction (Excellent texture, perfectly seasoned and cooked, balsamic reduction was a little too salty but overall these were amazing), Marinated & grilled veal skirt steak & house-smoked bacon skewer w/ balsamic syrup (Veal was very tender and almost sweet, and the bacon and balsamic gave it the perfect salty compliment, truly an excellent dish, something I would order at the restaurant), Spanish shrimp "lollipop" (Cold shrimp in a spicy marinade with very light crunchy flakes on the outside)
*Ruth's Chris Steakhouse - Rosemary-crusted tenderloin sliders w/ creamy horseradish sauce (Amazing...so well-cooked and seasoned, wouldn't expect anything less from them), Sweet potato casserole (perfect balance of sweet potato to brown sugar topping, wasn't overly sweet, best "side dish" of the day)

That's all I was able to try, not because I was out of tokens (this stuff was CHEAP) but because I was so full! You wouldn't think that you could get full from little bits of food, but it was all so rich and it was so hot outside that I was gulping water all afternoon. I do also want to give a shout out to a few places that were there but that I didn't get anything from only because I've been there numerous times and know how amazing their food is. Those places are:

*Five Guys Burgers and Fries - By far, my favorite burger place in the world. So cheap, so fresh, so delicious. They were selling huge portions of fries for a dollar yesterday...unbelievable. If you've never had a Five Guys burger, give it a try. You wouldn't believe the kind of burger you can get for the same price as a fast food one. Can't say enough good things about this place.
*Nonnah's - Love their desserts...usually pass on their food, not such a fan, but maybe it's because their desserts make it hard to like anything else there.
*Mellow Mushroom - Fabulous pizza, calzones, salads, etc. Best dough in Columbia, most options for building your own pizza/calzones but their house pies/calzones are so good that you really don't have to haha.
*Wild Wing Cafe - Love their wings, love their wing chips, love their drinks and waitstaff...great karaoke and local music. One of my favorite "casual dining" places in Cola, along with Carolina Ale House and Carolina Wings and Ribs.

Annnnnnnnyway, now that you've heard everything there is to hear from Dawn Traynor, Food Critic Extraordinaire, here's what is going on in Adam's life. He returned to his base about a week and a half ago and is quite happy to be getting to sleep in his regular bed again, use the internet regularly, etc. They've been doing a lot of local work recently, so he has actually had some more time on his hands, which he's using to play in a poker tournament, set up a fantasy football league, and play video games. He just went through some special driving training so he can drive these crazy vehicles called MRAPs that can drive over an IED without sustaining major damage, so the next time they head out into the field he may be at the wheel. Also, I'm not sure if I've posted this before, but he was recently promoted to Staff Sergeant, so we're all very proud of him. Because he's been back on his home base, he's had much better internet access, so we've been able to be in pretty close touch. Just being able to be in touch like this has been wonderful for us and it's helped a lot with the separation.

Anyway, hope all is well with everyone. I'll try to be better about posting, but if you look, you'll see that I stopped posting literally the week that school started up again haha I'm sorry! I'll try to get up one post a week or so...until then, be well!

D