Nino's Italian Restaurant - Vero Beach FL

11/26/10
We smelled Nino's all day as we walked around Vero Beach. As dinnertime approached we walked over and gazed at the menu. When it was time to eat, we went in. The smell was garlicky and great. We discussed ordering a pizza, which looked to be their specialty. But I thought the Gnocchi with Bolognese sauce looked great. Bill went for the Spaghetti and Meatballs. He also ordered a side of sausage. For appetizers we got a mozzarella and tomato salad, and some fried ravioli.
The service was fast a cheerful. The food was delicious and plentiful. Bill is a real critic of Italian fare and he was delighted.
As it turned out the owner, Croce, was sitting in the next booth. He chatted us up and even gave us a free cannelloni and espresso.
Vero Beach was overall unfriendly and snooty. But Nino's had us leaving with a good taste in our mouths.

Islander pt. 2 - Vero Beach FL

Arg. Mary Jane was so nice!!! But after our walk on the beach she called us into the office. Said she needed to talk to us. Seems she double booked our room. The Updikes had reserved the one room here with a king sized bed for Friday and Saturday. So we had to move all of our crap to a different room. One with two queen sized beds (Bill says they are queen size - they feel like doubles to me). And no coffee maker. And a loud a/c unit (the other one was loud, too, but this one is even louder). The blush is off the rose for us here at The Islander. We will not be staying another night. By the way it is now 6:30 pm as I'm posting this and the &%#$% Updikes have yet to arrive. Oh yeah. The TV remote in our new room doesn't work either.

The Islander Hotel - Vero Beach, FL

11/25/10 to 11/26/10
We planned to spend two nights here, actually. We had a really hard time finding a place to stay in this very ritzy and nice tourist town.
First we went to The Driftwood Resort. They had a room, but only for Thursday night. Nothing Friday.
Next we called The Reef. They said they had a beachfront one-bedroom condo we could rent for Thursday and Friday night for $175 a night. Lovely. When we arrived, we were greeted by a very heavy smoker - she smelled like a wet ashtray and half her teeth were broken. All was well and we were checking in when Bill pointed at the truck and asked where we should park it. She said "The Holiday Inn". She had at least a dozen reasons why we could not possibly stay there. It really was awful the way she treated us. So we left.
We called the Vero Beach Hotel and Spa. First they asked what the purpose of our visit was. Bill said we were heading home from Florida and had decided to take a few days to enjoy the beach. Then he was told they did have rooms available. For $387 per night.
Finally, we called The Islander. The lady there, Mary Jane, was really nice. She was fine with the truck and said she had a room with a king bed for both nights for $175. Yay! The room was cute and clean. So happy. Mary Jane also offered to let us partake of Thanksgiving dinner with them. Super nice. We didn't do it, but it was very nice to offer.

Vero Beach Resort - Vero Beach, FL

11/24/10 to 11/25/10
After working all day, we dropped the trailer off at the TA, then just ran across the street to this rather seedy place that Bill said used to be a Day's Inn. Calling this a resort is a misnomer. It was just a little hotel with an IHOP. We did our laundry here and rested up, preparing to hit the beach Thanksgiving Day (the next day).
NOT a resort - just a motel. IHOP food was normal IHOP. It was good.

TA - Vero Beach, FL

11/23/10 to 11/24/10
Spent the night in the truck here.
This was a great night food-wise. We both ordered from the lite-n-fit menu. I had the chicken breast meal, and Bill had a stir fry. I hate that I didn't photograph them. They were absolutely delicious, lovely, and filling. Next morning we had oatmeal. Also very nice. It was served with brown sugar, milk, butter, and raisins - all on the side so we could do our oatmeal how we wanted to.
Excellent food.
The showers were typical. Clean and serviceable.

Petro - Reddick, FL

11/22/10 to 11/23/10
We slept here in the truck. This was a lovely truck stop with a huge lot, very nice store, and fabulous showers. The restaurant was an Iron Skillet. Were sat in the restaurant for about 15 minutes before our order got taken. We finally got drinks, and then proceeded to the salad bar. Below average salad bar. No cucumbers or peppers or anything like that. We basically had bowls of lettuce with dressing. An hour later we still hadn't gotten our food, although we'd been promised half off our meal. We finally stormed out in a huff and walked to the BBQ restaurant across the street. Which was closed. Arg. Ate dinner at Wendy's that night which was fortunately located next door.

Flying J - Gulfport MS

11/21/10 to 11/22/10

We spent the night in the truck here. There was a very helpful staff here. The showers were small but clean. Denny's was the restaurant here. We had breakfast there. The service was typical Denny's - slow.

TA - Slidell LA

11/21/10
We ate dinner here and got some fuel. The restaurant was clean and pleasant. The waitress tattooed but professional and attentive. Bill ordered the "Chicken Fried Chicken and Eggs" off the all-yoou-can-eat menu. It was tasty but the gravy was lumpy and sparse. The hash browns looked like they'd been cooked twice.
I got the sirloin steak dinner with a baked potato and veggies. The veggies were gross. Sitting in a puddle of water. Potato was not cooked all the way. Steak was thin but tasty.
Overall not a very good meal.

Ramada Inn North - Houston

11/20/10 to 11/21/10
This is the Ramada Inn on I-45 in Houston. When we checked in, we were impressed with the helpful nature of the gentleman behind the desk. We asked for extra coffe, as we always do, and were told he would deliver it to our room shortly. And he did! The room was nice enough. Good bed and pillows. Limited channels on the television and no list of what channels were available. The restaurant was good. We ordered room service and the woman told me we could pick up our order in the bar if we'd like, thus saving the 17% surcharge for room service. So we did. The food was average - edible but nothing special. Breakfast is served only until 9:00. We did not eat there for breakfast.

Most importantly, there was some sort of convention or there the night we stayed. It was a fundraiser of some kind which was over around midnight. This gathering of 200 people got completely out of hand. There were crowds rushing back and forth in front our room, pounding on doors (including ours). There was fighting and yelling. Eventually, there was also gunfire. We were quite terrifed. We called the front desk. No answer. We were afraid to look out the window for fear of attracting the attention of the crowd. Silence finally descended around 2 am.

Upon checkout, we were told that the gathering had gotten out of hand and that's why no one answered the phone at the desk. The gunfire was the security guard shooting his gun into the air to try to disperse the crowd. No apologies from the desk clerk.