Archives for October 2011

Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars

October 31, 2011

These Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars have a nutty crust, creamy pumpkin cheesecake, and a yummy streusel topping. This recipe is perfect for fall baking.

Post Contains Affiliate Links. Read my full disclosure HERE

It doesn’t even matter if it is still hot out, or if the calendar reads ‘August’, people get fall baking on their mind once school starts up again. And, most of the time, people are craving pumpkin treats. Cracking open that can of pumpkin puree is a sure signal that fall is here (or fast arriving). It’s exactly why people enjoy their PSL’s and start to whip up pumpkin treats with pure abandon. Be sure to make these Pumpkin Cheesecake Bars because they are a great fall treat.

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Spark the Event: Day 1 Recap

October 28, 2011

I had the pleasure of attending Spark : The Event this year. This was the 3rd Spark, so I will often affectionately refer to it as Spark #3. Every since I learned about Spark from Liz Kartchner’s blog from the first event I knew that I would have to make it out to Utah and get to get my creative juices flowing and have a lot of fun.

I will save you all the horrendice details about my trip to Utah. In summary it involved a cab ride, tears, lots of photo calls, texting (which I hate), stress, running, and 2 plane rides. We arrived in Salt Lake City 3.30 east coast time so my mom and I were very tired but VERY relieved to be there. We were able to enjoy our Thursday in SLC, Park City, and to have a great photo session with the super talented (and funny) Collin Kartchner– to be shared later.

So that brings up to Friday- the first day of Spark….

Registration started at 8 but we were up bright and early!

Noah’s Event Center was the facility that housed Spark. Margie and Team did a lot of hard work decorating entire building. Out first glimpse at Noah’s was this entry with the book paper lights and vintage luggage.

Welcoming decor greeting all the attendants.

The Main Hall was elaboratly decorated with ribbons, yarn, pom poms. fabric wrapped hoops, and sewn paper garlands.

Margie explained how all the decor has been reused from her own stash or old from second hand stores. She also said that when they break down the event the pieces will get a new life when it is transformed for another Spark.

Each table had a center piece, which had been used and transformed previously! Giving something old a new life makes that piece so much more special. Each setting had a box and note book for us to use during and after attending Spark.

After checking out the Main Hall, we went back to the 2 vendor halls to check out the shopping we could do. Each vendor was special in their own way from specializing in handmade shirts, vintage clothes, baked goods, an

At one of the tables I found this amazing vintage pink metal cake carrier. Such an amazing find for jsut $12!!!

And then we began! Margie came up and talked to us about what Spark really means and how we get to become Spark Sisters from the event. We get to make special connections with other creative women who each bring a different skill and perspective to the table.

Mindy Gledhill took us on an activity that had us writing down goals, people we admire, and things that make us happy in our new Spark journals. She also serenaded us with some songs. I really love her music so you should check it out too! Love the song Anchor.

We all broke up into our groups to attend the morning classes. My favorite morning class was the jewelry making class taught by Cathe Holden. We made nest necklaces. We used shimmery beads to represent eggs and wrapped around them with wire to create the nest. I used to different colored wires for an extra level of detail. Lastly, I stamped on a metal tag to complete the necklace.

Group A also took the stamp carving class in the morning taught by April Meeker. This class was a bit more difficult but still rewarding because it was something completely new for me. Knowing how the pressure of the carving tool, as well as what you carve out, allows you to create a unique handmade stamp.

Then all the groups broke for lunch. Mom and I grabbed our lunches and immediately headed outside to enjoy the beautiful view.

We had a post lunch update where Margie introduced Amy Tan. In addition to having her own business of designing handmade shirts, she has her own scrapbooking line with American Crafts.

I loved the 2 hour long junk journal class where we took an old book and began to transform it to create an album for a scrapbook. I had altered a book previously for a Liz Kartchner class but this was very different and fun. I love how you can start with an old book and apply various techniques to alter it to get such different effect and finished product. I am going to complete my junk journal and use it as the scrapbook for the long weekend in Utah.

After the junk journal class we had our session with Amy to make hour reverse applique shirts. I love the process and I can really see myself making more shirts for gifts and myself. I love hand sewing so the process was fun and relaxing. The best part of the class was hearing about Amy’s vast experiences as a small business owner of a fashion line called Amy Tangerine, who creates specialty reverse applique tops. She explained how she was discovered, she started the shirt alteration business with a vendor market fair in NYC and how the rest became history.

After dinner we particiapted in make and takes from 7-9pm. There were several stations throughout the building that had different designers and product manucturers set up having us do quick crafts. My favorite was the earring station on the roof because I liked the pace of the craft and the look of the earrings. Friskar’s set up was also really fun because we made Halloween flags. I’m so predictable and boring that I only used orange and black to design my flag. Of course mom used all the color possibilities on her flag.

And that was DAy 1 of Spark the Event #3.

Stay tuned for my Day 2 recap!

Charlotte Motor Speedway- Charlotte Vacation {3}

October 27, 2011

Price and I recently went on vacation in Charlotte, North Carolina. We had a fantastic time visiting the Queen City. I will do a series of blog posts recapping some of the fun things we did while down there. I hope you enjoy!

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While we were visiting Charlotte, we decided to head over to The Charlotte Motor Speedway. The speedway is located in Concord, NC, which is not that far from the city of Charlotte. A quick ride on I-85 and we were there to check out the track and the gift shop.

I was really under dressed for the day since it was a lot cooler than I anticipated. The wind was pretty strong so we only hung around on the grandstands for the bit. We watched one of the many race schools/driving experiences that are offered at the speedway.

After a bit of watching the racing school drivers on the track we signed up for the Speedway Tour. For just $9 a person, we had a 45 minute tour that started from the main building and took us around the track while our guide told us various things about the track. The best part of the tour is when you go out on the track to experience the feeling of the banking. Going 85 miles an hour in a van is no where near as fast as a NASCAR stock car, but it still is a lot of fun

Check out the angle in the photo!

We took a video while we were going around the track!

While going around the speedway and the track we learned history of the speedway, starting with when it was built in 1959 by O. Bruton Smith and Curtis Turner. From there the track has had an interesting history as it has hosted countless races at its track and been the setting for movies, including Talladega Nights.

The tour guide explained how the world’s largest high definition television debuted during the May race at the track. The 32-and-a-half-ton TV is 200 foot-wide, 80 foot-tall and created by Panasonic. The face of the TV is made of 158 and is illuminated by nine million LED lamps. Pretty impressive!

One of the really cool things we learned was that there are condos at the track. People thought it was foolish for Smith to build forty condos over turn 1 in 1984. However, they were so popular that another 12 luxury ones were built in 1991. Over the years there have been families that lived there and as a result school buses would have to stop at the track to pick up the kids.

The tour took a stop at the Winner’s Circle for some photos.

We had a great time at the tour. It was a fun way of learning about the race track and the history behind it. And of course I had to go back and watch clips of Talladega Nights to see the track in it. ha!

If you like NASCAR and are in the Charlotte area I suggest you swing by the Charlotte Motor Speedway so you can have a quick tour of the track to learn some cool facts about the track while you take a spin around in a van. You won’t soon forget those 24 degree turns!

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‘Miss C’ LO

October 26, 2011

My niece Cara is turning 1 in a less than a week. I love her to death. She is just so adorable. It has been amazing to see her grow so much from this adorable little newborn. Over the year I have seen her every few months so I have the chance to document her growth. I took these photos at the end of August. I can’t wait to see her next week to see how much she has grown.

I am so addicted to my Studio Calico kits that arrive every month in our building vestibule every month. (Price is less excited… ‘great more stuff’) I love the kits but I really love getting to see awesome design inspiring layouts from the design team. I looked back on layouts from Stephanie Howell and Kelly Purkey for each of them for inspiration.

When I saw these layouts I knew that I wanted to keep them in mind for future inspriation. I loved the use of these butterfly chipbaord peices that Stephanie used in 2 of her layouts. Kelly used airplanes in her layout but I was looking at how they radiated from a central point on her page. Keeping the looks of all these layouts in mind, I got to work to create this page about Cara.

I am not a butterfly person. I actually was bummed when I first saw these since I have gotten quite a few butterfly things over the year since I have been subscribing to SC. And yet, Stephanie’s layouts sold me on actually using these Sassafras ones.

If you happen to like what is including in the Field Guide kit, including the butterflies, I suggest you hop over to Studio Calico and buy a kit, while it is still available!

Caprese Bites

October 24, 2011

I have really been struggling with coming up with any ideas. This always happens to me when we begin to transition from light summery meals to warm, heartier ones. I don’t want to slip awa from my light fresh salads and grilled chicken, and to dive into roasted root vegetables or heavy stews just yet. So at this point I spend more time wandering around the grocery store or Haymarket, where I get the majority of my fresh vegetables. However, during one visit to Haymarket I spotted pearl tomatoes and knew exactly what I wanted to make… Caprese bites!

Grabbing some mozzarella balls and fresh basil this came together easily and quickly. I decided that the simplest approach would be to make the tomato the vessel for the mozzarella and the basil. Basil is really flavorful so I would not need much so just a little piece could be layered with the cheese and tomato, possibly even hidden entirely so it would surprise the person enjoying the caprese bite.

I decided to create 2 different sizes of caprese bites allowing serving to be flexible. Halving the tomatoes makes more smaller bites which could be appealing when needing to serve a large crowd. These are perfectly bite size.

I also decided to make larger bites by only slicing part of the tomato and scooping out the inside guts creating a larger cup. This would allow the entire mozzarella ball to snuggly fit inside the tomato with the basil leaf. This makes for a larger bite for someone but I think that serving these could be a bit easier as someone would just need to snag one with a toothpick.

Caprese Bites

*Makes 20 or 40 caprese bites, depending on preparation*

Ingredients

20 Cherry Tomatoes
10 or 20 Mozzarella balls
10 to 20 Fresh basil leaves
Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Salt and Pepper

Process to prepare 20 bites

Wash tomatoes and basil leaves
Cut a small portion of each cherry tomatoes at one end. Scoop out the wet flesh and seeds.
Rip the basil leaves in 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.
Lay a piece of basil leaf into the tomato cup, and then carefully add the mozzarella ball.
Repeat the stuffing process for the rest of the 19 tomato pieces.
Slice a sliver of the tomato to make a flat bottom to prevent it from rolling around.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper prior to serving.

Process to prepare 40 bites

Wash tomatoes and basil leaves
Halve cherry tomatoes and clean out the wet flesh and seeds
Halve the 20 mozzarella balls
Rip the basil leaves in 2 or 3 pieces, depending on size.
Lay a piece of basil leaf into the halved tomato, and then add the halved mozzarella ball, curved side down.
Repeat the stuffing process for the rest of the 39 tomato pieces.
Drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper prior to serving.

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Love Cousins- Studio Calico 10.2.11 Sunday Sketch

October 22, 2011

I loved the simplicity of this this sketch. The strips could be anything which I found really appealing. Strips of paper could help used up your scrap stash. Ribbons would be cute. Rows of embellishmens like buttons. I have so many little bit and pieces in bins and, as Price would point out, floating around everywhere so it’s a good way of using things up.

At my dad’s birthday party this summer I spent most of the time taking photos of my niece and 3 nephews. At one point Cara was laying on the floor so we had the boys lay down next to her so we could get a picture if all of them. Simply distract a 10 month old with an iPhone and you can get her to stay still long enough for a photo.

I dug through my scrap box so I could get some strips of paper to work with the sketch. I decided to use the patterns since there was not adominate color in the photo. Since there was no common color I decided to just make the randomness of the patterns to make the layout work.

I had these adorable chipboard embellishments for such a long time. I just had to get them but didn’t know what to ever do with them. I pulled them out because of the colors and I figured the animals would be a cute add on for the kiddie page. Plus it would work well with the faux bois patterned paper.

IIDA NE ‘Ashion Show Videos

October 21, 2011

A follow-up to my previous post about the IIDA NE 2011 Fashion Show, I have completed 2 videos recapping the night. Check them out!

I made this using a Magic Movie feature thing with my flip software that grabs 4 seconds of each video segment creating a mash-up. This shows our set up backstage and then the show itself. It’s a fun way of getting to see what we did for 4 hours in under 2 minutes!

When it was our turn to walk I gave my coworker my flipcam while I ran down to the end of the stage and took photos. She accidentally turned the camera near the end so just turn your head and go with the flow… do it! Our moon man won the crowd over with his moonwalk at the end. 🙂

It was such a great night!

Apple Picking at Mack’s Apples

October 19, 2011

I love apple picking. I really do. I remember this one time when my mom took my dad brand new WHITE Acura and took us apple picking. Well it got suck in the mud. Ruh-Roh! Even with a car wash there was still evidence that car was filthy from our muddy shoes. Needless to say that my dad was less than excited when we got home. Ha!

Well, thankfully my recent apple picking trip did not involve any stuck cars or really messy shoes. Instead we had a great time at Mack’s Apples in Londonderry, NH. I had sent out a tweet asking for some suggestions for places to go to that is a quick drive from Boston. Rachel (Baked by Rachel) responded by telling me about the great time she just had at Mack’s Apples. Then she posted a blog post about it and I was hooked.

Outside of the Farm Market, they had wooden bins of pumpkins and squash, as well as pallets of autumnal flowers.

This “Know Your Apples” chart was very helpful. I took a photo of it just so that I could remember which were the best apples to get for baking pies.

The Farm Market is opened a bit earlier than the U-Pick fields so we wandered around the store looking at all the different books, plates, jams, fruit butters, pickles, and decorations that were available for purchase.

While Mack’s doesn’t make their own cider donuts WITH sugar, they have donuts on hand that they have some brought in from the Chichester Country Store. We picked up a pack of them because cider donuts without sugar are just plain old boring.

The Honeycrisp… it seems to be the ‘it’ apple in recent years. Look how big these beauties are!

Breakfast of champions… splitting a chocolate and a pumpkin whoopie pie that we picked up from a school fundraising table.

The directory outside the store explaining which U-Pick field had which apples directed us to U-Pick Field #3. We went there because we wanted to focus on getting baking apples and this field had a large variety of apples that suited our needs.

U-Pick Field #3 is really 2 fields on either side of a road. We parked on one side and headed over to the farm stand that was set up. We wandered around that field for a while with little success since most of the apples had been picked over and the remaining ones were too high, even for Price to reach. Thankfully, when I went over to ask the woman working there a question about squash blossoms I overheard her telling another family that the field across the street had JUST opened so there would be a lot of apples there. So I hurried back to Price and told him the good news.

The other field was PACKED with apples. We were able to wander around while having a lot of options at our finger tips. I really appreciated that they stagger the opening of fields so that fields are not picked clean so early in the season.

The only real criticism we had of Mack’s was that the steaks at the end of the aisles indicating the type of apples were not really labeled. There were plenty of markers but not all of them were actually labeled. We wanted only baking/pie apples so we did not want to pick anything that was more for sauce or salads so the selection was very important to us. We would have to walk to the front of the orchard to see what each aisle was labeled and then to continue back down them looking for apples. I think that if they were to improve their signage it would make for a much easier apple picking experience.

We sampled some of the different varieties of apples that in U-Pick field #3. All here delicious and sooo fresh. You can’t beat an apple that you just pull off the tree and then bite into.

I’m not always such a smirky jerk… the sun was in my face.

We highly suggest going to Mack’s if you are around Boston or the border of New Hampshire. It was a large beautiful place that was very affordable. The selection of apples allows for the opportinuty to be able to pick ones that will use your needs.

Mack’s Apples

603-434-7619

230 Mammoth Road
Londonderry, NH 03053

Boston Brunchers 1 Year Birthday Bash at ICOB

October 18, 2011

Having the opportunity to attend the Boston Brunchers 1 year Birthday Brunch was a little dream come true. Getting to eat an amazing brunch with new bruncher friends I have met over the year while celebrating the success of the group that the very talented Renee (Eat.Live.Blog) started… Sign me up! I can’t lie… I really did set an alarm so that I could grab one of the 20 tickets released at first. I ran over to the computer to get to sign up while Pricer was looking at me like I was crazy. “but it’s the birthday brunch!!!!”

This brunch at Island Creek Oyster Bar live up to the hype. Great company, -amazing food, and a fun filled swag bag.

I was so tempted to only post the above photo because I could have written an entire blog post just about that lobster roll. When Renee released the menu options prior to the event I was really excited because everything sounded amazing. I don’t even like smoked salmon but the dish including the homemade bagels even intrigued me. But the obvious choice for me was the Lobster Roll ($19). I’m glad that I made that choice! The lobster roll was so jam packed that I needed to eat some of the lobster out with a fork before I could attempt to pick it up. The sweet lobster meat was lightly dressed and served on a buttery, toasted rosemary roll. As you can see, the lobster roll was served with a side of creamy coleslaw and super crunchy potato chips.

As a thank you to Renee for all the hard work she puts into the group, Katy (RecipeCan) organized donations to get some gifts. Renee quickly put on the apron while continuing to open the rest of the goodies, including some mini Le Creuset pots

The photo on the right shows what food bloggers do at every chance… Snap photos. Even Tom (BostonTweet) had to snap some pics.

Each table was greeted with a basket of pastries ($11) that included some scones, cinnamon rolls, and muffins. I selected the donut muffin, which reminded me of the ones I’ve made before.

My runner up choice for entree was the French Toast, which Sean (BostonMo) picked. The generous serving looked decadent with its large slices of bread that were soaked in a sweet egg mixture and the topped with caramelized bananas and crunchy almonds.

While I have really enjoyed the various brunches I have attended, this brunch at ICOB stands out for it’s fabulous food, attentive service, and heat packing Bloody Mary. Pricer and I have been on the search for the best Bloody Mary in Boston ever since we took a trip to NOLA and had incredible ones at The Absinthe House. While the Bloody Mary I had was very different than those infamous ones in NOLA, I can say this was one of the best I have ever had. I know I need to come back with Price so he can try the ICOB Bloody Mary’s an weigh in.

A HUGE thank you to Renee, Island Creek Oyster Bar, and all out of fantastic sponsors:

America’s Test Kitchen
Barefoot Wine
Biba
Biltmore Bar & Grill
Boston Ballet
Boston Center for Adult Education
Boston Food Finds
Cow and Crumb
Cumberland Farms
Dorado Tacos & Cemitas
Dore Creperie
Doves and Figs Kitchen
Eversave Boston
Foodies of New England
The Four Seasons Boston
Haircuttery
Harvard Common Press
iParty
Klout
KO Catering & Pies
Langham Hotel Boston
Phillips Candy House
Pinkberry
Pretzel Crisps
Popchips
Stages of Beauty
Stonyfield
USA Pears

IIDA Boston 2011 Fashion Show

October 17, 2011

Last Thursday’s IIDA* New England 2011 Fashion Show was a big success. It was a lot of hard work but worth it in the end.

It was my first year involved in the fashion show as I had previously been busy with school commitments. It was great to start with this year since it had a great theme of ‘Iconography’. We had to select something iconic to create costumes based upon. We selected this image of Buzz Aldrin on the moon. We focused on creating a male costume that was similar to the typical astronaut suite. For the 2 other costumes we created 2 female costumes that were a bit more fun with a focus on future space fashion. A little different than Zenon fashion, no?

Besides the great theme, we had great products to work with. Part of the fashion show is to creatively use products that we use in our design projects. This year we partnered up with Stone Source for tile and store, Spinneybek for leather, and Cambridge Architectural for metal mesh. They ended up working so well for our theme.

Here is a run down of the event…

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We had to get costumes over to the hotel so a few of use left early so we could set up and get our 3 lovely models all set up. Once everything was up on the 7th floor staging area we headed down to the lobby for a celebratory drink. We ended up with shots of Patron…

Back up stairs.. let the work begin! Lots of makeup and an announcement…

We started with a shimmery base white coat on Laura. Then silvery base coat on Megan…

I added the blue to Megan’s hair since her accent color was blue. Alissa added lots of dark base to my coworker/model Brett…

Having a great time and some other teams getting ready…

We decided on bands on all of models’ faces so they were added in the different colors to match their accents…

On goes the red accent on Laura. Then A LOT of glitter on top of all of that… (click the R picture to enlarge it)

Megan getting some touch ups. I think she looks amazing here…

Anna, a hairstylist prior to switching careers, working on Laura’s hair…

Geared up! We had to get our models dressed up in preparation of judging. The gear is hot and heavy so we had to time to correctly so they would not get too tired or sore from wearing it…

Obviously you should take embarrassing photos of your coworkers as well as the models…

Judging time! (yeah I know there is a girl getting dressed behind us. no big!) Megan explained our theme and the materials we used to the judges prior to the big runway walk…

The hours flew by preparing for the event but it started! Former coworker Mai is a co-chair so she was one of the beginning MC’s. There were more introductions but then it was time for the show to start!

Title: “Poche”- inspired by graphic patterns used in drawings

Title: “WeARHOL”- using iconic Warhol images, such as Marilyn

Title: “The serpent. The ultimate icon.”

Title: “The Beatles(ography)”- yellow submarine (L), Octopus’s garden and strawberry fields(R)

Title: “Dweller Among the Clouds”

Title: “All Hail McQueen”- they painted the models on stage with paint sprayers

Title: “Paint by Numnbers”- including Holly Golightly from Breakfast at Tiffany’s, Shepard Fairey’s Obama, and Warhol’s “Turquoise Marilyn”

Title: “Living Popart”

And ours… “Man on the Moon”

Brett walking down the record 90′ long runway in front of a record 1,000 person crowd…

The flag was made of a large wood dowel with a sheet of foam core attached to it. It was then covered in tile and leather…

Megan at the end of the runway posing in front of the judges…

Laura making it down the runway…

Brett handed off the flag to Megan while he did the moonwalk to a cheering crowd prior to walking back…

Title: “Magic Kingdom Come”

I wish I had a better picture of the main headpiece. It was detailed beautifully. Each of the costumes were stunning. Look at the costumed guy on the left, and then to the woman at the lectern standing next to him to get a perspective at the size of each of these 3 costumes. Crazy…

Title: “Icon of the Virgin”

In total there were 22 submissions, including a few schools. I missed a bit of the ones after us since I ran back up to the room to get a scissor incase Laura wanted to cut off the HEAVY metal mesh skirt that was digging into her hips. She sucked it up and wore the skirt for the final procession of all the models.

Then the awards…

WOOOHOOOO!!! We won an award!!! We were awarded with Best Interpretation of Theme.

After Bergmeyer’s “Magic Kingdom Come” we were bummed since their peices were stunning so it seemed like we had no chance for any of the awards. Thankfully we got one of specific awards while they picked up best in show.

In all the night was a blast. I don’t have photos of the after party since I didn’t want to spill anything on my camera and what happens at the after party, stays at the after party! I got home after 2 and Friday was a l-o-n-g day but it was so worth it.

*IIDA= Institute of International Interior Design Association.

NASCAR Hall of Fame- Charlotte Vacation {2}

October 12, 2011

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I feel like you can’t not visit the NASCAR Hall of Fame when visiting Charlotte. It would be like completely skipping Fenway Park in Boston. Both are located in the city proper and essentially go hand in hand for sports in the area. Charlotte is home to NASCAR so stopping by the Hall of Fame gives you a good chance of learning about the rich history of the great sport of NASCAR.

While I really enjoy NASCAR, I think that anyone could enjoy visiting the Hall of Fame. The exhibits and design of the space are overall really pleasing for a variety of audiences.

Like old cars… it has you covered with actual cars used back in the day.

Like hands on activities… you can play with equipment and tools.

You’re a smarty pants… plenty of computer related games and quizzes. And honestly the majority involve just general logic that you could figure out without know anything about NASCAR.

Computer games have you hooked… no problem! There are racing games that simulate racing at that weeks track so it’s constantly changing.

Get my point?!?

This is a newly designed museum by the firm Pei, Cobb, Freed & Partners. It opened in 2010 and was awarded the McGraw Hill Best of 2010 Award of Excellence in Architectural Design. Just looking at the building from the outside you can tell that it conveys speed. The swooping and twisting facade piece pulls from one side of the round front and detaches to become an entry awning. Once you step into the space you are greeted with shiny metal, carefully crafted details, and well lit spaces that guide you from space to space telling the story of NASCAR.

Along the track that swept up the entry hall, there were little plaques that provided information on the car featured or race tracks. As the track went up the ramp it’s banking increased so you could start out on the lowest point learning about a flat race track like Indianapolis Motor Speedway (9 degrees) and end with Bristol Motor Speedway (36 degrees in turns). They even had some piece of track so you can compare them, showing how the banking and surface effect the performance of the car.

In addition to the change in banking of the track, the cars progress in time as the track ramps us. The track starts with older cars (see 2nd photo from top) and proceeds to visually explain how the stock cars changed over time. The above photo is near the end where you see current day cars.

There are 2 sections of track that you can step on that let’s you know just how steep the banking it. The first section is not difficult to stand on, but the second portion which is at the portion of track with 33 degree banking is very hard to stand on. Feeling this makes me feel impressed for the track officials that run out when crashes occur… very tough!

This hall focused on the newly inducted Hall of Fame drivers. Obviously Dale Earnhardt was included in the inaugural year. The induction for the 2012 members occurs in January and at the time a new series of cars and displays will be in that room.

After the Hall of Honors on the 3rd Floor you walk into the NASCAR Performance Race Shop. This interactive area shows how technical the cars are and how much science, math and skill is involved in adjusting the cars to allow them to perform their best at each different track.

In addition to the Performance Race Shop area there is the Kids Zone, Transporter Simulator, Inspection, Qualifying, Pit Road, iRacing Simulator, and the Food Lion Race Week exhibit. Each of these areas give you a behind the scenes look at different aspects of racing. Many of them are hands on like the Pit Road area that has a situations testing your speed, agility, and strength for taking off tires or jacking up a car.

One really cool thing about the Hall of Fame was how it embraced new technology. This was a cart of tools and parts. Each of them had a QR Code and attached to the cart was a scanner. After you scanner an item the computer on top of the cart would refresh and give you information about that item.

One of the mini exhibits is a hauler. This provides you with a glimpse into the storage in the hauler, as well as what is stored inside. Pull out drawers and glass front cabinets showcase the equipment used. At the front of the trailer there is an area that allows for multiple computers to be set up. This allows for the crew chief to work on strategy while accessing previous race information, as well as weather, since that plays a big part in the races.

When you first enter the Hall of Fame you get a card which provides your attemtance, was well as holds your profile. You set up your info on the card so you can play along with the games at the various stations on the 3 floors. When you create your profile you pick which driver you want to be you guide to create a personalized experience. Both Price and I picked Kasey Kahne.

The 4th Floor houses collections that are even older than NASCAR itself. One such exhibit explains how auto racing began as an by product of running moon shine. From there, the various exhibits feature different events in NASCAR history as well as the people involved. For example, there are statues of the significant people involved in the start of NASCAR honoring them. One of the most interesting areas, as least to me, was Artifacts Hallway which is a long corridor that has glass cases on both sides that are filled with memorial for different drivers.

One of the biggest moments in NASCAR history is featured in the Modern Era exhibit. The 1979 Daytona 500 race is infamous being that is was the first time i the entire race was being televised lived nationally and that captured a memorable crash that resulted a fist fight on the last lap of the race. The photo on the right is on the actual cars involved in the wreck with leaders Cale Yarborough and Donnie Allison. If you happen to not be aware of the ending of the race check out this video of it.

One of my favorite parts of the day was getting to ride in the simulator that allowed you to race on the current week’s track. In this case, we raced ‘at’ Dover. It was a little confusing to start but you can quickly get the feel of it and have a lot of fun. But don’t get black flagged since your time is cut short, be sure to do those pass thru penalties!

The only thing that I was really disappointed with was the gift shop. The merchandise is really focused Jimmy Johnson, Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr, and Tony Stewart. I felt that they missed the mark in providing a bit more variety. I wanted to gift something small from Clint Bowyer but the only thing I found was a hat. I would have been happy if they had just one standing display of stickers for the rest of the drivers since I could have at least gifted decals to different people.

Aside from the gift shop, I was really happy with the time we spent there. The package deal we purchased allowed us entrance into the Hall of Fame, a hot lunch (3? choices available), and a simulator ride for $28 a person. Plus they offer a children’s rate as well as military and senior discounts. It was a great value and a lot of fun.

NASCAR Hall of Fame

400 East Martin Luther King Blvd
Charlotte, NC 28202
(704) 654-4400

Open daily 10 am-6 pm, Closed Christmas

http://www.nascarhall.com

@NASCARHALL

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Chow Down Uptown- Charlotte Vacation {1}

October 7, 2011

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Prior to leaving for Charlotte, I checked the Yelp website for some ideas on things to see and do while we were down there from Thursday night to when we left early Monday morning. One of the events that I saw was a food truck rally called Chow Down Uptown the was occurring night that we arrived. This was a gathering of food trucks in the central part of the city- what we commonly know as downtown. (I learned that Charlotte calls their downtown area Uptown because of the Billy Joel song “Uptown Girl”) I love the food trucks in Boston so I knew this would be a sure thing.

We arrived during rush hour, which wasn’t bad at all, at least compared to New York’s or Boston’s. We had the local NBC news on while we were settling into our hotel room. Sure enough, there was a piece on Chow Down Uptown, so I knew it some something meant to be.

The event was held at NC Music Factory. We didn’t really get to explore the venue but I thought it was a nice space. The space is in fact a series of old factories. We breezed through one space and I could see how they kept a lot of the history alive with the old pieces that were left intact. The food truck rally was held in a lot next to the amphitheater.

We missed the rush by the time that we arrived since it was on the latish side. The night was perfect for the event. We thoroughly enjoyed the weather, especially in comparison to some of the fall nights that we have in Boston.

We had a hard time choosing what to have for dinner. There were several food trucks that offered great things, such as burgers, philly cheesesteaks, BBQ, and tacos. I liked the diversity of the menus items that we had to choose from.

-some very friendly food truck vendors-

We ending up getting our dinners from Maki Taco, an Asian inspired food truck. The smells coming out of the truck were incredible. Since we arrive a bit late we missed out on some of the menu items. They ran through their current offerings and still everything sounded amazing. I got the chicken hibachi and Price got 3lettuce wrap chicken tacos with fresh sauteed veggies. The hibachi was exactly like that I have ordered at restaurants, but with 1/3 of the price tag. I’ll settle on a manageable portion without the show for great food at an amazing price. Price’s tacos were great too. We are not sure if it was because we arrived late and they modified their menu to serve more people but they were served the tacos on romaine lettuce leaves, this made it difficult to eat, we would suggest using Boston bibb lettuce instead.

-Both of us enjoyed our dinners so much-

Next up.. dessert! We decided on the Southern Cake Queen cupcake truck because the selection of desserts looked so good. Price got a Willow cupcake, I got the Turtle, and we got a Charleston Chewie to split over the weekend. Each were impressed with the cupcakes we had, really enjoying the flavors and texture of each of the cupcakes. I loved the Charleston Chewie, it reminded me of a really rich blondie.

-Willow Cupcake and a Turtle Cupcake-

It was a great night out introducing us to what Charlotte food trucks have to offer. The food was great, and the Southern hospitality really shown through as we got to talk to the vendors. Grant, the founder of Maki Taco, was eager to share with me what makes his food truck so special, it was great to hear about his passion to serve local, fresh ingredients. They considered everything from the food to the printing of the shirts, which are made in the US and printed by a local company. Plus he explained that they JUST started- really just a few weeks old- so they were so excited to attend the event! And Emma, of Southern Cake Queen, asked if I was a part of Charlotte Food Bloggers as I was busy snapping away by her food truck. I explained I was not and that we were just visiting, which prompted her into sharing some things about the city. I just loved the friendliness of everyone!

If you want to find out about more Charlotte food trucks then check out Roaming Hunger, which lists food trucks by cities.

Follow the food trucks we visited:

Maki Taco

Southern Cake Queen