Fulton's Crabhouse.....Disney World, Orlando, Fl 32830

It was my birthday and my new friend, Yolanda wanted to take me out while I was visiting Tampa. So we drove down to Orlando, she knew how much I loved seafood and wanted to drive to this restaurant outside of Disney World. So we went to above mentioned restaurant. The restaurants, shops, stores outside of Disney World are amazing and the atmosphere is purely tranquil. It was nice cool place to visit in the middle of December. Temperature was about 75.

At Fulton's Crab House, reservations are extremely recommended. I must say the food was really good and really pricing. We started off with this amazing crab dip, they actually gave me the recipe for it. I will try and make it one day. My main course was the "Lobster Narragansett (see pic)"....that was a two-pound lobster stuffed with scallops, shrimps, mushrooms, cheese; and surrounded by red potatoes and vegetables. It was very good, might of been too many mushrooms for my liking...but I thought it was pretty good. After a couple of drinks, we were too stuff for deserts. I thought the overall experience was very nice and tasty.....this would be probably a little bit over priced for the budgetly challenged.

After dinner, we walked around and got some Jelly beans for the candy shop and looked at all of the other sites that outside Disney Qorld had to offer. It was a nice time had by all in Orlando and a cool December 17th evening. If you ever in the area, this would be a nice place to try...if this is overly priced for you...there are a lot of others places to eat in this area.

www.fultonscrabhouse.com

G's Rating

Food............ 4 1/2 G's

Price............ $$$$$

G & M Restaurant & Lounge....Baltimore, MA 21090

Since I want to be a travelin' chef/critic. I thought it was time for me to rate some of the restaurants that I been to around the world. My first visit will be the above mention restaurant in Baltimore. When I think of crab cakes, I think of Maryland. I asked around and wanted to know the best crab cake place in Baltimore. Well I kept hearing the name "G&M". Actually, my brother had visited Baltimore and one of our childhood friends "Derrick" took him there before.

All I can say is "WOW". These had to be the most spectacular crab cakes that I ever had in my life. I being a Midwestern boy, love me some crab cakes. I had them at some good places and not so good places. But one thing I found out with the Maryland lump cakes....there was meat and I mean meat throughout the crab cake. Just enough ole bay seasoning to give it so much rich flavor. Most crab cakes that I experienced, throughout the years, had more bread or filling then crab meat; and the meat was usually kind of shredded. But there was meat a plentiful. Me being a healthy male thought I could eat two of these monsters....no can do. Not only are they overflowing with crab, they are very big. Since I was on my way to Amsterdam and did not want to take them on the plane, I tried to stuff myself but was only able to eat one and half.

G & M is located about 2 miles from BWI and yes they do ship. Price for the cakes are $12 for one and about $23 for two. Well worth the price. If you are ever in Maryland, please visit the best crab cake place on the east coast. And if you cant make it there, you can always order from their website http://gandmcrabcakes.com/

G's rating....
Food.... 5 G's
Price.... $$

Love's Mystery, God's Answer

I never been a poetry writer, but one night I was thinking about relationships lost and how they turn. I thought of this poem. I had to write it down before it faded a way. So here is my first attempt at writing something inspirational. Could not think of a name for my poem, but thanks to the lovely Katrina Campbell, she gave me the name

When the love was strong...
I looked to my right and you were right there
I looked to my left and you never left my side
I looked behind me and I saw that you were watching my back
I looked in front of me and there was a window with you in it and you had a light and opportunity

When the love faded............
I looked to my right and you had left
I looked to my left and nothing was right
I looked behind me and you had turned your back
I looked in front and the window became a mirror and all I could see was you walking away.

When I found my strength back.......
I looked to my right and God said "I've always been right here"
I looked to my left and God said "I've never once left your side"
I looked behind me and God said "I've always had your back"
I looked in front and the mirrow became a door and God said "Take my hand child, and follow me"

Instead of trusting people to watch your sides
Know that God is at every side to watch over you.

By Gregory Elgin Kindred
Written October 20, 2006

Anne Huis Openhartig (Anne Frank's House)

Amsterdam, Netherlands.....the history person in me just had to see this. We were in Amsterdam for a day and my No. 1 priority was to see this house. It is kind of eerie when you walk in and see where this little girl and her family hid for almost 2 years. Going up the steep stairs behind the bookcase (for the historically challenged....her family and friends secret hiding place was behind a bookcase in her father's former business). The stairs are very steep, its almost like you are walking up a ladder. Her father was the only one to survive and he wanted the house preserved like it was back then. So there has been no added new furniture or fixing of anything. It was truly a significant historical adventure.

I wish I could of taken pictures inside but this was strictly forbidden. Did not want to get thrown in a Dutch prison. But the memories are etched in my head for all of eternity.

The sad part is that almost 1/2 of the people I talk to, did not know who Anne Frank was.........people should pick up a book sometime. But maybe this was not required reading for everyone.

Pass The Dutchie From the Left Hand Side

I was trying to decided if I was going to call this post "Red Light District" from the TLC song or the title that I decided on in the display. But walking down the streets of Amsterdam, I had to go with the title that I supplied. If you are into drugs especially weed, this is the place to be. They actually have menus for the different types of drugs that you can buy. Anything from weed to heroin. You can smoke from a joint, blunt, or a bong. Now me, I dont indulge in those types of pleasure....but for the curious minds.....some smoke cost you about 6 to 8 Euros. The person I was with said that had the street value of about $80. People smoke in the coffe houses on the streets, everywhere. I think I got sick smelling weed after a while.

The other reason why a lot of tourist come to Amsterdam is because of the Red Light District. Not only can you get drugs in the red light...you can buy pleasure there also. When you enter the district....they actually have red lights...so you know where you are. There are about 200+ women in windows with redlights trying to get you to come in. You get to see all types...big small...black, white, asian, etc. Its almost like window shopping...no pun intended. Amsterdam is not the cleaniest city that I have ever visited. There is trash every where.

Other than that....I had the pleasure of visiting the Anne Frank House...see post of aboove. Also got a chance to partake in the Heineken Experience. You get to see how Heineken was made and invented...plus you get to interact with some games. They also give you tokens for 3 beers while you are there. You can get more from families who are there but don't drink.

Overall, Amsterdam was OK. It was a place I wanted to see but would not probably go back unless a group of people wanted to go. Not much food to write about...they eat pretty much meat and potatoes.

Tidbit about Heineken

Each of the Heineken President added a special feature to the label. Can't remember his name, but one of the Heineken guys added the smiling e on the label. If you look at the label....you will see that the e is kind of sideways....like it is smiling.

Top Of The Morn To You Laddie

Visited Glasgow (for the geographically challenged, its in Scotland) while on my adventure around the world. Not much to write about it. I was there a total of about 6 hours. I was able to go see the rolling hills of Scotland. It was raining, damp, and gloomy. Not I see why the Scots are so pale....they get no sun at all. By the way, they actually talk like that.

My Favorite 3 Inspirational Videos

DMX - Lord Give Me A Sign: Pepsi Smash Exclusive Performance
Yolanda Adams - This Too Shall Pass
Kirk Franklin - Looking For You

Our Deepest Fears.......

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate.
Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us.
We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous?
Actually, who are you not to be?
You are a child of God.
Your playing small does not serve the world.
There is nothing enlightened about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you.
We are all meant to shine, as children do.
We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us.
It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone.
And as we let our own light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same.
As we are liberated from our own fear,our presence automatically liberates others.

By Marianne Williamson
This Poem is sometimes attributed to Nelson Mandela but its by Ms. Williamson, Nelson used it in his inaugural speech.

Going to the Big Pink Taco

That is going to be the official name of the Arizona Cardinals new stadium. I had the pleasure of going to the first game in the stadium. My god-mother let me have her ticket because they were playing my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. The stadium is pretty nice. It has retractable roof and a retractable playing field. It is very state of the art. Make sure you take your credit card if you want to buy something for the concession stand. Unlike Brazil where a beer was $1.30, these are about $7.00. Food is ok. The game was kind of boring....my Steelers only played their starters for a one series....the Cardinals kept theirs in for about a quarter and half. Seems like they did not want to lose their first game in the stadium and they did not. Cardinals fans were bragging because they beat the champs...I was like this is preseason...and at the end of the game no one was handing out trophies, confetti was not raining down, and no one was making a "I am going to Disney World" commercial....ROFLMAO

España

Spain was a wonderful experience, especially historically. I learned so much of Spain's history, culture, wars, artist, religion, food, etc. I would definitely recommend Spain as a travel destination in the future. My only problem with Spain is that the people are not most friendly people in the world. They are somewhat rude.

They were so many things to see and do in Spain. Went to the both of the Royal Palaces, museums, Valley of the Falling, topas walk, Picasso exhibits, churches, etc. The art was fabulous over in Spain. A lot of it dealt with the cruxifixation but you would expect that over in Spain. I think historically I liked Madrid a lot more than Barcelona. Maybe because I only spent a couple days in BCN and spent 5 days in MAD. Barcelona seem to be more spread out and prettier, were Madrid seem to have more history and everything was centrally located.

The food in Spain was ok. Now I did enjoy the topas, they were like cheap little sandwiches. Everything else was ok. For instance, my cousin and I ordered a fried seafood platter. Now in most European countries they keep the head on their seafood especially shrimp. Well in this instance not only do they keep the head on, they did not even take the shell off. Now you have battered shrimp with the shell still on. After you took the shell off (batter came off) basically you had a regular cocktail shrimp. One of the drinks I enjoyed over there was a Granizada (its like a lime and lemon slushi...see pic of that and topas) they are very tasty and refreshing. Also, the ice cream is to die for....you can find ice cream almost everywhere in Spain.

Bull fighting in Spain is horrible. Since I was use to what I saw on American TV, I did not know exactly what they did to the bull. They stab the bull many times and you can see blood running down their backs. It was really gross. The poor bull is running around with knives and spears in their back. I was rooting for the bull.

Overall, I think Madrid and Barcelona was in enjoyable. Make sure you speak a little espanol when you go over there.....or they will be ruder to you. But if you are looking for good eats, Spain is definitely not the place to go.

Tidbit about Spain
The Spainish eat the 2nd most ice cream in the world. The way they have ice cream shops all over, that is not hard to believe.

Food: Topas,Paella, Flan, Gazpacho, Churros, and Chocolate
Drinks: Granizada, Cerveza, Sangria, Spanish Hot Chocolate

Atmosphere...............................................B
People........................................................C-
Scenery......................................................A
Food...........................................................C
History......................................................A+
Beauty.......................................................B-
Beers/Drinks............................................B+
Adventure................................................B
Cost...........................................................B
Overall Experience.................................B

O! Xocolata

What do you do when you see a statue of an african queen made entirely out of chocolate. Well you smell it and dig your finger nails into it to see if its solid chocolate. Welcome to the "Museu de la xocolata" (Museum of chocolate) in Barcelona.


This museum tells you everything that you ever wanted to know about chocolate plus it has a bunch of statues that are strictly made out of chocolate. From Mary holding Christ (see pic), Louie Armstrong, to Lady and the tramp. Plus the chocolate that you buy is to die for. Some of the best chocolate that I have ever had.

Sagrada Familia Church

Sagrada Familia Church is located in Barcelona, Spain. This church was built in 1882 by Antoni Gaudi (1852 - 1926). As you can see the church is still being built. They don't expect church to be finished for at least another 50 years. There are many interpretations of his orginal plans. As we walked through the chuch, workers were still working on the building and there were materials roped off everywhere.

This church is amazing. In the front entrance, there are carvings in marble of Jesus from his birth to ressurrection. There are many other carvings in the building. On one side of the church is a square box with numbers in it, if you add the numbers up...up, down, across, or diagonally they add up to 33...for 33 years of Christ's life. The church depends strictly on private donations and entry fees, that's why its taking so long to be built.


Can you imagine a church in the USA taking almost 200 years to be built. Its amazing, I hope that I am around in 50 years so that I can see the finished product.

For Everything Else..........

Traveling to Spain................................$27.10
First Class Upgrade..............................$100.00
Staying in Hostel...................................$36 Euro
Eating Topas while watching world cup......5 Euros
Seeing the Royal Palace in Madrid..............8 Euros
Seeing the great work of Picasso.................8 Euros
Eating Ice Cream in Barcelona ...................2.40 Euros
Topas and Granizada(see pic)...................5.40 Euros
Being stranded in Madrid with one Euro in your pocket because Visa canceled you credit card.........Priceless

Somethings money can buy, for everything else (especially if you don't want to get stuck in
Spain) there is Mastercard

Recepción al mecca del jamón (Ham Espana style)

I did not know that Spain was the capital of ham. They eat so much ham in Spain. They even have a ham museum (museo de Jamon), as you can see from the picture. It is not an actual museum, but its like a pub and/or deli. There are many different kinds of ham hanging all over the place. Some type of ham is usually the main meat in Topas. Topas are like sandwiches, or sometime pieces of meat, olives, or something. Spain is know for their Topas walk. That's where you go from place to place and order topas and beer or sometype of drink. Usually if you order a Topas and have a drink...they give you one of the house special topas for the day. And Topas are very cheap.

O! Canada

Never been North of the border, so I decided to visit Canada for a day. Our neighbors up north and very nice. It was kind of cool up there, so it was nice to get out of Phoenix for a day. Just traveled around Calgary for the day. Went by the saddledome to see where the Flames play. Interesting time in Calgary. Will go back for a longer visit next time.

Picture of downtown Calgary to the left

Food: Perogies
Drink: Good ole Molson

American Stuck In Spain

What happens when an airline that services your planes go on strike? When you are flying stand by, you get stuck in Spain. Never imagine that I would get stuck in a foreign country, but what I imagine came true and then became a nightmare. After Ibernia airline went on strike, they service our planes in Spain, a bunch of their clients bought tickets on US airways so that they could get back to the states. A flight that was undersold by 24, all of sudden became overbooked by 25. I was stuck in Spain. I had 20 Euros left and my bank card. After I use the internet and made some calls, my money started to dwindled. Now I found out that BOA had blocked my card because I did not informed them that I was going to Spain. They saw some charges coming from there and wanted to be safe.

My cousin tried to wired me money to Western Union, but I got to the shop 10 mins after they close. I even tried to go to one on the streets of Madrid and got there late. Now I am stuck in the middle of Madrid. I was able to borrow a euro from an American on the street to get back to the airport. BOA after they took block off my card, they then canceled my card. Luckily I was able to swipe it and get a hotel room for the night at midnight. Even though my card did not work the next day....I did not have to sleep on the streets of Madrid. I was able to get a flight out the next day..but it was a nightmare for that 24 hour period.

Hola de Madrid

Welcome to Madrid, Spain. Madrid was a very interesting city to be in.....from where we stayed, everything was centrally located. Most stuff was about a 20 minute walk from our Hostel. Never thought I would stay in a hostel, but it was pretty nice. Besides walking up the 5 flights of stairs, it was very clean, and she even had internet for the residents.

In Madrid there is so much history. From the Royal Palace, the Prado (Art Museum), Picasso exhibit, Spanish Civil Was, Napolean taking over Spain, and the Spanish way of life; its a wonderful country to visit. The Art was fabulous, never saw so many pictures of the crucifixion from so many different interpretations. But you must take your walking shoes, I think we walked at least 10 miles a day. Next time I go I will definitely learn more Spanish, they habla pequeño inglés.

Went to this monastry where the nuns baked fresh goods. We found it in a Rick Steves book. You can't see the nuns and every thing is done behind this wall. From there we spent a day in El Escorial to see another palace and the valley of the fallen (where 50,000 are buried from the Spanish Civil War). It was very interesting being in the old palace. They have many crypts where many former Kings and Queens and their kids are buried.

Tidbit about Library in the El Escorial Palace
They have some of the oldest books in history in that library. Back in the day, if you checked out a book wrong or did not bring it back. You were kicked out of the country...country as in Spain...not the library, or city, but the country.

Primera Clase a Madrid

Having flown to many destinations and overseas, I was looking forward to flying to Spain; especially flying firstclass. Since the upgrade was only $100, I thought I would give it a try. It was absolutely wonderful. Not only were the seats so comfortable and recline almost to 180 degrees, it was like you were in a whole new world. I have flown first class domestically many of times; this was well worth the upgrade. Our menu consisted of a choice of Maryland Crab cakes, Texan Chili Spiced Filet migon with a chilli sause, and others. I choose the filet migon entre', which was spectucular. With the assortment of hot bread, followed by an excellent dessert...you felt like you were in a nice restuarant. An after dinner drink or three...LOL....an assortment of movies and the 7 hour trip to Madrid seem like only hours. First class is the only way to fly international...now I definitely have to stay at US Airways.

Viva! Las Vegas

Went to Vegas for the weekend for my cousins surprise going away party. He is getting ready to fight that man's (Mr. Bush) war over in Iraq. I will pray for him and hope that nothing goes wrong over there.

His sister set up a surprise party where both his sisters, father, cousins, and girlfriend was going to meet him in Vegas. He called me that Saturday and asked me what I was doing for the weekend. Wanted me to come to Vegas because he thought only his sister (Anjeanette) and cousin (Nina) were going to be the only two there. He said he did not really want to spend the whole time in Vegas with just those two. I told him that I could swing some things and come up there. He was pleasantly surprise when everyone else was there.

The best time was going to the gospel brunch at the house of blues. It was a very spirtual brunch and performance. Got to sing with one of the singers and go on stage and perform with the group. It was pretty exciting. The food was great.....had lots of canjun food

Food: Gospel Brunch (Cajun), Bellagio buffet (Crab legs and anything else)
Drinks: Anything you want in Vegas

A Chef In The Making

This is the day I am going to pursue my dream. I always enjoyed cooking and with god's grace I now can pursue that dream. I will be attending Scottsdale Culinary School and get an Associates degree in Culinary Arts.

Hopefully, I will succeed and one day become the master chef that I have always pretended to be....well that I am actually am already. Cooking has always been a passion and a dream, now its a passion and not a dream.

Brasil: Let's Blame It On Rio

What can I say about Rio. It was amazing. My cousins and I had an awesome time. From time that we landed, it was none stop fun. That are so many photo ops in rio; scenery, beaches, women (lol), mountains, and almost everything. And I have about 200+ pictures to prove it. We went to Christ the Redeemer (Mountain with cross on top of it)...that was pretty nice. Took a picture with my arms extended like christ, I thought it was nice. Received some mixed reactions about it. Went hiking through rain forest and one of my cousins went hang gliding....view from top of mountain was awesome.

Food and drink in Brasil was very good. Brazilian resturants like to serve meat on skewers, and they will continue to bring you different types of meats until you say stop. They had this parmessan crusted filet migon that was to die for. We were well fed, I never seen my cousin eat so much meat. Drinks were very good also. They have this drink called Caipirinha and if you dont watch it, you can get messed up easily.
Went to a Brazilian Soccer game, never really cared for soccer but it was a blast. Crowds dancing in the stands, setting off fireworks, and their passions for their team was unbelieveable. Plus you could get a beer for about $1.25 and it was pouring plentiful. No 3rd quarter cut off on the the alcohol there...LOL Everything about Brasil was nice. Prices of food, drink, souvenirs, and etc. was very reasonable and very negiotable. I spent more on souvenirs then anything while there.

I would definitely recommend Rio and someday I would love to go back. Did I say it is very cheap in Brazil?

Tidbit about Brazil
To say hello in Portuguese, you say Obrigado

Food: Brazilian BBQ, Feijoada, Po de Queijo
Drinks: Caipirinha, SKOL Cerveja (beer)

• Atmosphere....................A



• People............................A+



• Scenery..........................A



• Food..............................B+



• History..........................C-



• Beauty.......................... A+



• Beers/Drinks.................A-



• Adventure....................A



• Cost..............................A



• Overall Experience.......A+

Philly Steaks in the City of Botherly Love

On a recent trip to the eastcoast to visit my cousin in Baltimore. My cousin, her roommate, and I decided to take a road trip to Philadelphia. Philly has so much history, American History, and it was nice being at the center where it all started in America (the good and bad).

We went to get one of the famous philly cheesesteaks in Philly and I must say they were as good as advertised (My cousin and I eating one in picture). Went to see the Liberty Bell. Ended up staying the night in Philly and going out to a club to have some fun. Had an enjoyable time on the east coast. Will not rate this city, only international cities.

Food: Philly cheesesteak
Drink: Good old American drinks

Crabcakes In BWI

Baltimore is known for its Crabs. Had the best crabcakes in my life in Baltimore. Not much to write about the city, only there for a day to see my cousins.

Food: Lump Crabcakes and Seafood
Drinks: American

INDY: Road To The Dome

When one of my best friend's friend offered me Final Four tickets for a buddy pass, I had to jump on that. I actually asked my friend why the hell did he have to ask me anyway. This would be my 7th Final Four and 4th in Indianapolis. I can't say that the games were all that great, actually all three of them were blow outs. I was hoping that George Mason would pull off the upset and make it to the finals. But Florida cut down the nets this year. Plus I got to see and hear "One shining moment in person", if you don't know that's the song they play to show the highlights of March Madness.

Food: White Castles, BW3's, Jack's Pizza
Drink: Baltimore Zoo, Banana or Stawberry Shake (Steak n' Shake)

I Told You That We Will Be Back And Told You That We Would Win!

As I walked out of "The Hoosier Dome" on a cold Nov. 28, I uttered that to Colts fans after they had just beat my beloved Pittsburgh Steelers. Told them that I would see them in the playoffs in this exact same building. So on a cold Jan. 15, I was estatic win the Steelers crushed the hopes and Spirits of the Colts. Not only did they beat them, they manhandled them....even though the refs tried to give them the game. In the end, the best team won. The Dolts will never be able to beat Pittsburgh.

By the way, three weeks later....The Steelers won the Superbowl