saratoga springs

Something To Celebrate

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Thursday gave the Hubz and I lots to celebrate, first off his 31st birthday and secondly he became a lawful permanent resident!*  After our stressful morning interview we headed home to look into taking a mini-getaway to celebrate.  We were supposed to be going here:

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We had planned months ago to run the Disney Half Marathon but due to Neil hitting his head we decided to defer our entry fees to the 2012 Disney Wine & Dine Half next November.  We also decided to cancel our trip all together due to the fact we had no idea when Neil would get the letter for us to go for his interview.  We did ended up keeping our flight down due to the fact that it would cost us more to cancel it- crazy right?– and debated heading to Florida last minute since our flight wasn’t until Thursday evening but ultimately decided not to go because flights home were outrageous.  So we went with Plan B which was a debate over Boston and New Haven but we ultimately decided to head to Saratoga Springs, NY (I know not Boston or New Haven) because it was closer and less expensive.

First things first though we packed and then headed out for a celebratory lunch at The Farmhouse per the birthday boys request and then we hit the road to Saratoga Springs.

I ended up getting a really great deal on Hotwire for the Holiday Inn Saratoga Springs which was conveniently located right downtown within walking distance to a ton of eateries and shops.  We checked in and headed to the room where we promptly took a nap.

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After our nap I did a little research on places to eat and ultimately the birthday boy decided he wanted to try Chianti Il Ristorante a nice Italian restaurant only a 10 minute walk from the hotel.  We walked in and I was instantly impressed by the decor of the restaurante and the friendly staff.  We were seated and took a quick look over the menu before inquiring about their vegan options, there were surprisingly a number of options and we lucked out because  our server was well informed and helpful in making our decision.

I apologize now for the poor iphone photos but they’re all I have.

We started with the PAPPA AL POMODORO CON FARRO a quick peasant style tomato and farro stew, olive oil and crushed crisp olive oil croutons.  This was easily our favorite dish, if I had known how amazing it was going to be I would have ordered myself a bowl for my entree.

 We enjoyed this dish with (too much) tasty fresh bread with balsamic and olive oil to dip in.

 For our main course we both decided to get the special which was the Spaghetti Dai Monti which was filled with oyster and shiitake mushrooms that were pan seared with garlic, olive oil, white wine and truffle oil.  We also ordered a side of sauteed spinach with garlic just to add something green to our meal. Both the pasta and the spinach were delicious and the portions were huge so we ended up taking half our meals to go, but left just enough room for dessert, a nice bowl of lemon and coconut sorbets.

After our dinner walked back to the hotel and took a dip in the pool then it was off to bed for another fun filled day. (more to come)

Birthday Boy!

*I debated discussing our immigration journey on the blog but have  decided that somethings just need to be kept private however if you have any specific questions please feel free to e-mail me and I will answer your questions the best I can.

Visiting Saratoga Springs

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After our visit to the Woodstock Farm Animal Sanctuary we were feeling great but hungry so we snacked on our leftovers

and a few of these:

and one of these for our drive to Saratoga Springs:

After about an hour of driving we made it to our hotel for night which was a HUGE improvement over our Friday night hotel.  I used Hotwire my go to resource for great inexpensive rooms and we got the Hyatt Place in Malta NY just outside of Saratoga Springs.  Unfortunately my camera battery died during our visit to the animal sanctuary so I didn’t get a good shot of the room, however, the picture on the website is exactly what our room looked like so take a look:

After relaxing for a bit on the couch we finally headed out to see the town and get some dinner.  Our first stop was the Olde Saratoga Brewery which has a tasting room and the best part you can taste what you want and the only cost to you is what you want to tip- great right? Well we stopped in and tried 2 brews each before heading to dinner.

After brews we headed to downtown Saratoga Springs for dinner at Karavalli an Indian restaurant that I read about online and was drawn to their vegan menu options.  We started off with the Bhel Poori which was really interesting; it was like a savory rice crispy treat.  We then shared the CHETTINADU VEGETABLE: A Tamilnadu Specialty:Vegetables in authentic spicy black pepper and roasted coconut sauce and the KUNDAPUR VEGETABLES: A Karnataka Specialty:Vegetables cooked with coconut milk and dry red chilies, tempered with curry leaves and mustard seeds.

The food was amazing and there was so much of it that we had to take some with us for lunch on Sunday.  Although our meal was huge and we were pretty full we had a little room left (after a long walk around downtown) for one of these bad boys:

An Amazing vegan chocolate chip pumpkin seed macaroon.