Sound on Sound, Part Three: The Final Chapter

Having eaten next to nothing all day on Saturday, we devoted Sunday to culinary delights... and let me tell you: some of the culinary delights we found were beyond delightful.

Our first stop? Bella's Cafe. Located in New Haven, Connecticut, this adorable restaurant was rumored to have the best breakfasts in the area. And guess what. The rumor is true! The place was hopping when we arrived, but we only had to wait about fifteen minutes to be seated. While we waited, we met a nice man (Robert from Boston) who was also at Saturday's concert. He shared all the same opinions we did regarding the venue, bands, and fans... He was bummed to have missed some of Caamp's set, so I gave him my business card and told him to check out my blog since I'd posted some videos. The best part is that he did check out my website because he sent me a nice email letting me know!

Back to Bella's, though. We were seated very quickly and the entire waitstaff was so kind and friendly. I had the most delicious pistachio latte. In fact, Jody and Erin also had pistachio lattes and we all loved them immensely. They were sweet, but not overly so, and were served in giant mugs that were fun to drink from.

For breakfast, I had these incredible salmon cakes served with spinach, sun-dried tomatoes, potatoes, two poached eggs, and a delicious maple-mustard sauce. It was served in an adorable wrought iron skillet-type thing on a wooden platter. The presentation was great! The taste was even better!

Erin got some eggs, bacon, potatoes, and a GINORMOUS croissant. She then proceeded to cut the croissant in half, stuff it with the fixings on her plate, smile brightly, and exclaim, "Look! A breakfast sandwich!"

Jody opted for eggs, sausage, potatoes, toast, and a short stack of French toast.

We all tried the French toast.

Guys, my mom makes really good French toast. My mom, in fact, makes really good everything. But I'll be honest: Bella's Cafe serves the best French toast I've ever had in my life. The texture was absolutely perfect: soft in the middle, slightly crispy on the outside. And the taste? The taste was out of this world. If you are EVER in New Haven, you MUST go to Bella's Cafe and order the French Toast. You won't regret it.

Jody was really taken by the potatoes. Even more so than by the French toast, I think. She asked the waitress about the seasoning and the answer was "Adobo seasoning." Jody has determined that she will now "put Adobo on [her] mayonnaise." You'll have to ask her about this; I don't usually season my mayonnaise, but apparently Jody does.

Afterward, we walked down the street and stopped for lattes at a coffee house called Pistachio Cafe. Erin and I both got small pistachio lattes, wanting to compare them to Bella's pistachio lattes. Both were good, but Bella's served the better latte, hands down. Jody got a cardamom latte that tasted like Christmas. It, too, was tasty.

From there, we drove past Yale just so we could say we saw Rory Gilmore's alma mater, and then we got on the road to head back to New York. We needed to drop Jody at her house, but on the way... we stopped at Angry Orchard!

I'm not a big cider person. I can drink it, but I don't love it. When in Rome, however, one does Roman things. I was at Angry Orchard, so I drank cider.

We each got a flight. Jody and I chose three dry ciders; Erin got three sweet ones. There was a mango-raspberry cider in Erin's flight and I gave it a try. It both smelled and tasted like Haribo gummy peaches. (This is a compliment because I like Haribo gummy peaches.)

Jody and I enjoyed our dry flights for the most part. One was called New Post (I think), another was called some other kind of Post, and the name of the cider in the middle escapes me at the moment, but it was disgusting. To quote Jody, "This smells and tastes the same way I imagine a lavatory might." We didn't finish that one.

After Angry Orchard, we dropped Jody at her house, said hello to her pups, exchanged several goodbye hugs, and then Erin and I got back on the road. It was a lot of driving... Four hours to her house, forty more minutes to mine.

At five o'clock, as a sort of mobile-and-legal happy hour, we each had a little square of pistachio baklava that Erin purchased at Pistachio Cafe. Now let me say this: even though Bella's had the better pistachio latte, Pistachio Cafe's pistachio baklava is one of the best things I've tasted in a long time. Flaky... sweet... crunchy... gooey... Oh. My. Goodness. I'm drooling just thinking about it!

So think about that decadent dessert for a moment... and then imagine how less-than-delicious our dinner was when, needing very much to empty our bladders as we navigated the highway through the mountains, we found the only restaurant around: an incredibly sloooooooooow fast food joint known as McDonald's.

I'm not going to critique this meal. It's simply not worth my time.

On the way home, we hit some of the worst rain I've ever driven in. It was comparable to the deluge that I drove through when Kristin, Kristin's husband, Kaila, and I went to see Dispatch at Merriweather Post Pavilion. THAT was the worst rain I've ever driven in, and the rainstorm lasted for the entire day. This storm only lasted about twenty to thirty minutes, but it was a little extra scary because my back right turn signal went out on our way to Connecticut and I haven't had a chance to fix it yet. (I didn't put this in the blog yesterday because my mom reads my blog and I didn't want her to worry, but it's on my list of things to get fixed tomorrow.)

Anyway, we survived the deluge and Erin got home and then I drove down to Gettysburg and reunited with my pets and now I'm writing this blog before crashing on the couch to watch some mindless television and snuggle the pups.

Before I sign off... Mad props to the Jeep for getting me to New York, then to Connecticut, back to New York, and then back to Pennsylvania. He may be eighteen years old, but he's still a trustworthy little champ. I love that guy!

And last but certainly not least: many, many thanks to my two favorite students of all time, Scotty and Nate, who made sure the pups and kitten-faces were cared for in my absence. I hired Scotty to housesit and Nate came along for the ride, sending me an adorable picture of the four of them (Scotty, Augie, Nate, and Arlo) in my kitchen on Saturday night. I love those boys!