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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 19: Last Day in The Bay

I spent the majority of Saturday packing for Jamaica, and resting up. I did manage to make it out of the house for a quick bite to eat with Terazia, an extended family member I haven’t seen since she was like 7 years old. Now she’s 18 and going to college in San Francisco. Crazy how fast kids grow up!

We went to a cheap Taqueria, that I’ve actually eaten at before. It’s not the best Mexican food, but it’s cheap and quick. I ordered the nachos this time instead of a 90 pound burrito. They were great at first, until they got all soggy and it looked like baby diarrhea.

I packed and made the trek to the BART around 7p for my 1030p flight. It’s a damn good thing I looked at the flight information again at 6p, because I thought my flight was at 1130p. Next stop, Montego Bay, Jamaica!

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 13: Greyhound San Diego to LA

Not really an eventful day. I woke up and made my way to the bus since both Sam and JJ were still in jail. The Greyhound station in San Diego is so much nicer than the stations I’ve been to in Toledo and Las Vegas. Plus, with such a short trip, it was $15 for a 2 hour, non-stop ride from San Diego to LA.

Once I got to LA I didn’t do a whole lot. I am staying with an “acquaintance” from back when I was about 16 years old. We never really hung out, but I was friends with a lot of his friends, and we went to the same high school together. Luckily he was nice enough to not only let a stranger crash with him for a few nights, but to agree to drive me up to San Francisco as well!

After I got settled in, we went over to Don Antonio’s for some Mexican food (of course, what else). I ordered the cheese and onion enchilada plate, and the xango for dessert. I’d never heard of xango before, but apparently it was some sort of fried cheesecake, with cinnamon and sugar and vanilla ice cream. Whatever it was, it was delicious.

After dinner we went to a pretty cool place called Q’s Billiard Club on Wilshire Blvd and watched the battle of the Mannings (Giants v Colts football game). Not a very eventful day, but it was a nice welcome to Los Angeles.

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 11: Cheesy Lunch in North Park

Sorry New York, but I think I found a better diner. One of my favorite, fatty things to order at any diner is a grilled cheese sandwich, cheese fries, and a chocolate malt or shake. Most diners in New York don’t even have malts, and the grilled cheese is on two, tiny pieces of thin bread, and the cheese fries are made with a slice of Singles American cheese. Not at Marie’s Cafe in the North Park area of San Diego! I got a deliciously thick, crunchy, cheesy sandwich, along with shredded cheese melted on my fries. And of course, a real diner staple, the malt came with the authentic refill-tumbler which I’m always glad to see although I can never finish it.

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 9: Fresh Seafood

Wednesday was my last day of doing absolutely nothing. This stop in Montauk was mainly just to relax and enjoy some food and drinks on Mike’s family vacation, not much exploring or sightseeing. I spent the day packing, doing laundry, and resting up before another 13 hour day of traveling. The guys went fishing at 6am, and brought back some sort of sea bass and blue fish for dinner. It was incredibly delicious, moist, and tender, but the marinade was a bit too salty thanks to chef Michael T. Next up, San Diego!

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 5: So Much More Than Your Average Grilled Cheese

Saturday we started off the day in the most perfect way possible: enjoying the sunny skies while devouring some absurdly delicious grilled cheese. We went to The Grilled Cheese Grill which is yet another food truck in Portland. Except this one is way cooler. They have optional “indoor” seating inside of a school bus, and Trivial Pursuit cards to pass the time at each picnic table. For those of you in Portland, it’s located at 1027 NE Alberta Ave, at the corner of Alberta & 11th. I ordered the Gabby- four cheeses: cheddar, swiss, colby, jack, and mozzarella on white bread, and a cup of tomato soup.

Jessie & Shane both got the Jalapeno Popper with roasted jalapenos, colby jack, cream cheese, and tortilla chips on grilled white bread.

Jalapeno grilled cheese

Ruben got the Cheesus Burger, which was essentially a cheeseburger with two grilled cheese sandwiches on each side as the bun. I’m sure it’s been featured on thisiswhyyourefat.com. But if not, it will soon.

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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 4: A Full Day of Food Under $10

Today I got a driving tour of Portland, along with a ton of awesome food. We took a walk through Washington Park, mainly through the International Rose Test Garden. I’m not really a fan of roses. I actually think they look extremely generic and boring. But it was free, and the air smelled ridiculously fresh so I had a good time.

We got lunch at a taco truck called Taqueria Los Gorditos at 4918 SE Division St (at SE 50th Ave). I got a gigantic burrito filled with beans, cheese, scallions, sour cream, and cilantro for $4.

Then we went and got some of the famous Voodoo doughnuts, where I couldn’t settle for just one doughnut. I had to get two. I got the Portland creme, which was basically an evil-looking boston creme, and the Dirt donut, topped with white frosting and Oreo crumbs. Jessie got the Voodoo donut, and we brought back a Bacon Maple Bar for her boyfriend Ruben. Yeah that’s right bacon lovers. It had strips of bacon on top, and I hear it was quite delicious. All four donuts were $7.50, and worth every penny.

We stopped by Pearl Specialty Market & Spirits for a bottle of wine and vodka, where I discovered Oregon has a huge selection of local beer and wine. Reviews on those to come! Right now I have to go change into some comfy clothes, because after a day of fatty eating like today, I’m about to pop the buttons on my dress.

Me & Jessie enjoying some Pinot Noir.
Me & Jessie enjoying some Pinot Noir.
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All You Can Jet Food + Drinks

Day 1: Houston, We Have a Problem

Day 1 of my 30 day adventure saw a bit of turbulence, both in the sky and on the ground. But I must say that I’ve never had so much fun in an airport. As I’ve mentioned, this is my first experience with jetBlue, and so far they’ve been amazing! After passing through security at JFK, I grabbed a Sharpie and stopped by the “give us the scoop” wall to promote the blog:

I was even interviewed on video about my trip by some of the jetBlue staff. Maybe they’ll put it up on their website? Then I grabbed one of the free, comfy, AYCJ jackets, and a free donut before heading off to my gate. Free is my favorite price, especially when it’s actually cute and/or delicious!

Once on the plane, I enjoyed the luxuries of even more free stuff that jetBlue offers- a Doritos snack mix, Welch’s orange juice, and DirecTV. I didn’t have to pay for a legit meal until 6pm today!

About two and a half hours into the flight, I flipped past the weather channel to see that a tropical storm was tearing through Southern Texas, and the weather for Houston was looking similar to what I’d imagine tornado season in Kansas is like. The descent down to the airport was a bit bumpy, but thankfully the worst of the storm was on its way out of the area. Seriously though, where the hell did this Tropical Storm Hermine come from?

After landing safely in the pouring rain, I called my friend Matt to pick me up from the airport. He lives in Boston but was traveling for work so we decided to meet up down here in Texas. Somewhere along the line, after several discussions about airports, hotels, and cities, there was a miscommunication. He was in Austin, not Houston! I couldn’t believe it! After freaking out for a minute, I was able to quickly get in touch with a friend back in New York who used to live down here. Thankfully his friend Sam agreed to come pick me up and take me on a tour of Houston both by car and by foot. He made it to the airport in 45 minutes, and we spent the entire day driving and walking around in and out of the rain, checking out the city. The two highlights of my trip so far were 1) seeing the old Enron building:

and 2) the view from the Sky Lobby in the JP Morgan Chase building:

Sam set me up in a hotel for the evening, and is coming back in the morning for us to stop by a few more places before heading to the airport. I’m a girl on an extreme budget— so extreme that I’ve packed instant oatmeal and granola bars for the majority of my meals. I’ve already spent about half of my initial budget for the entire trip on this unexpected hotel room tonight, so I’ll really have to keep on eye on my spending for the rest of the month! Stay tuned for money-saving travel tips, and please, feel free to share some of your own!

We stopped for a drink at the Armadillo Palace, where I paid only $2.25 for a bottle of Lone Star. Then we had dinner at a Tex Mex place called Cafe Adobe, which quite honestly wasn’t anything special. Sure it was good, because I don’t think I’ve ever had any form of Mexican food that wasn’t good. But it wasn’t any better than some Tex Mex food I’ve had up in New York. I had the cheese enchilada, queso and guacamole tostada, along with refried beans and rice, and fried ice cream for dessert. I order fried ice cream any time I see it on a menu, so believe me I’ve had my share. This dish had pecans rolled into the mix, so that was a bit of a welcomed twist. Different, but good.

So far, Houston isn’t really what I thought it would be like. I think it resembles Florida in many ways, and Detroit in others. It’s a different kind of city than what I’m used to, especially New York. It’s very spread out, with lots of integrated neighborhoods. The ghetto isn’t necessarily sectioned off into one small area, neither are the super nice areas. It was hard to take pictures in the rain today, but I did manage to snap a few. Check em out here on Flickr.

Back to JFK tomorrow to get ready for Portland, Oregon!