Restaurant Review: Toast Cafe

I mentioned Toast Cafe a couple weeks ago when I shared this picture:

We were definitely curious. Any restaurant that would pay to get a toast costume has to be special, right? Then Maggie (a loyal reader) told me that she'd been to the Toast Cafe and it was her favorite place to eat in the area, so it became a must see (and eat) for us.

Toast Cafe is located in Davidson, NC, home of Davidson College, which looks like a very nice place and when the weather gets a little nicer I think we'll go and explore.

Our first visit to toast was for Saturday brunch. The restaurant has wooden floors and weathered wooden tables and chairs. The windows are full of posters for Davidson College events. It reminded me of being in Northampton or Amherst, MA, so you know that made me happy.

Our server brought us a basket of cornbread with a little container of applesauce which we enjoyed while perusing the menu. Chris had a pancake with raspberries and pecans, sausage and an egg. I had an omelet with avocado, tomato and bacon (lots of bacon) and a heap of real fried potatoes. We were both very happy with our meals, as well as the strong iced tea. I ate too many of the potatoes, though, and had that "why did I do that?" feeling for a couple hours afterward.

Within a few days we were out and about and decided we needed more Toast. This visit was even better than the first. We shared a gigantic serving of mac and cheese w/crab, bacon and Gruyere. We brought some of that home to enjoy later. We shared a tasty turkey burger with avocado and tomato. Chris also had clam chowder which he enjoyed.

All in all, we are big fans of Toast, though they still don't seem to have any particularly fancy toast so the name confuses me.

We are marking our calendars for March 18, when Mr. Toast will walk Toast To Toast to raise money for charity. Click here to find out more. Will there be a giant stick of butter following him?

Winter In An RV Part Two

During the winter everyone worries about frozen water pipes, including us. When you pull into an RV site you hook up to the water, electricity, and cable TV. Campers provide their own water hoses to connect to the water outlet at the site. The water hose generally rests on the ground, so in cold weather freezing is likely.  In order to prevent the hose from freezing it needs to be insulated. I've seen people who simply cut water noodles (you know...those things you use at the pool) and put them around the hose. That might work to a certain level of cold temps, but it's not foolproof. Other options are to buy a heated hose (about $100) or heat tape (about $20). We have heat tape.

It was a two person job to wrap the hose with aluminum foil, then the heat tape over that, and finally covered with foam pipe insulation secured with good old duct tape. The heat tape plugs into the electricity at our site and keeps the hose warm.

Our MH has a water reserve tank that holds enough water for us for about a week. That's what we use when we're traveling and stop to have lunch or use the restroom. Recently at the KOA there was a water problem (not sure what it was, other than that the whole campground was without water) so we relied on the water in our holding tank. It still goes to the water heater and works just like when we are getting water straight from the KOA. Fortunately the water was only out for about a day, but if it had lasted longer, we would have packed up the MH and gone to another campground or truck stop to get more water. Not ideal, but better than being without water.

We had freezing rain recently and many houses were without power. Although the power didn't go out here at the KOA, if it had, we could have just run our generator. It runs off of gasoline and powers everything in the MH. It's noisy and costs us money since it uses gas, but it's better than being without power.

Oh...I nearly forgot my contribution to keeping us safe in the winter. I'm so proud! The steps to get in and out of the MH are metal and with cold air and freezing rain I was worried that they'd be covered in ice...but they are retractable so we just pulled them in a night (also discourages visitors) to keep them ice-free. Ta-da!

I know most of you are dealing with a harsh winter so I hope you are all staying warm and safe where ever you are.

Winter In An RV Part One

A couple weeks ago I bragged about the sunshine and warm temps. Well, payback is a bitch. It's in the single digits and the windchill is about zero. In addition, we don't have winter coats, though we do have enough other items to layer and be warm enough for the short periods of time we need to be outside.

So...how do we stay warm inside? We have a furnace that runs on electricity or propane. We prefer to run it on electricity since that's provided by the KOA and the propane we pay for ourselves. However, the propane heat seems to be warmer so when it's extremely cold, we use propane.

We also have the electric fireplace...I'm sitting in the leather chair typing by the fire right now.

Overall, we are able to stay pretty toasty. The biggest issues are related to the floor...first, it gets pretty cold. Remember that our floor is a couple feet off the ground so the cold air is blowing beneath it. Fortunately, we have a ready supply of warm socks and knitted slippers. The other floor related issues have to do with Dooley.  His bed is on the floor, so when the floor is cold, he's cold even in his toasty bed. Where does he go? Our bed, of course. We are all big fans of the electric blanket.

Dooley is also afraid of...well, he's afraid of about everything except squirrels and carrots. Our MH is a bit different from others because the ac/heat unit is located below instead of on top so when the furnace kicks on, the floor rumbles and makes noise. This sends Dooley into a panic induced palsy where he shivers and stares at us. If we're in bed, he jumps on our heads, literally, or lays on Chris' chest panting is panic-stricken dog breath into his face.

How does Dooley stay warm when he goes outside? With a custom made dog sweater! 

Lynne's Visit Part II: Birds and Burgers

Lynne, being a better guest than I am a host, found Wing Haven Gardens in Charlotte, NC and suggested a visit there. Click here to go to the Wing Haven site. 

Wing Haven is in a residential neighborhood. It's a house built by Eddie and Elizabeth Clarkson in 1927 as well as the gardens they created over several decades. It was a lovely way to spend a chilly morning, very peaceful and relaxing.

A couple things of note: you enter the house to pay for your tour and get info. There was also the tiniest powder room I've ever seen or used. Seriously, it was smaller than an airplane restroom and filled with knickknacks from the 20s and 30s. It made the RV bathroom seems spacious. And sadly lacking in knickknacks.



Before we toured the gardens we watched a video about the Clarksons, who seemed to be a lovely, if a bit eccentric, couple who were devoted to each other, their gardens and birds. They were so devoted to birds that they raised an entire family of bluebirds and one in particular slept inside their house, on top of a book in their bookcase. Afterward Lynne and I had the same thought: what about the bird droppings? Ewww. 

We enjoyed our walk through the gardens and I was glad that we were able to go at our own pace and not follow a guide.

After our adventures in nature, went in search of lunch. We stopped at a shopping center with an interesting assortment of stores and happened upon Sir Edmond Halley's Restaurant. Lynne had a turkey burger and I had a French Dip. Both sandwiches got good reviews as well as the roasted brussel sprouts we each got as side dishes.

All in all, a fun day and a much needed visit from a friend. Thanks Lynne!

A Visit From Lynne

My dear friend, Lynne, dared the elements and triskaidekaphobia to drive down here on Friday the 13th for a visit.

And what would be a visit from Lynne without some Zumba? Lynne is a certified Zumba instructor who is adding aqua Zumba to her repertoire of torture fitness classes. So one of our first activities was to suit up and get in the pool at her hotel...wait, I was the only one in the pool because she stood on the deck to lead the "class". Fortunately the pool was empty. Imagine the reaction of an unsuspecting hotel guest walking by the pool---they hear the theme song from Hawaii 5-0, Lynne is Zumba-ing away on the floor near the pool and I'm thrashing  in the water.

I can't believe we didn't make more friends.

After that we went in search of dinner. We drove 15 miles to make a 3 mile trip and found Unwined, a new wine bar and restaurant where we had drinks (dark beer of some sort for Lynne and I had a yummy drink made with gin, honey and lime). The sweet potato tots were awesome. Click here to see the interior.

Up next...our trip to a bird sanctuary...tiny toidies...and other adventures.

A Toast To Me

It's my birthday! Thanks to everyone who sent goodies and good wishes.

We've all seen the sign wavers who stand on street corners trying to persuade drivers to buy their mattresses or get their taxes done by a nearby business.

On a recent outing, we saw this guy

Mr. Toast advertising The Toast Cafe! Woohoo. You know how I love toast.

I looked The Toast Cafe up online and it seems to be a local chain with about five restaurants in the Charlotte, NC area. However, their menu did not indicate any sort of toast specialties. I would have expected toasters at each table with a basket containing a variety of breads, butters and jams. Of course, just imagine the smell when everyone burned their toast.

Our investigative team (Chris and me) will be venturing out to the Toast Cafe in the next week or two. Stay tuned for more.

Wardrobe

I'm sure when you all think of me you think "wow, and she's such a sharp dresser". I know. It's a curse.

Before we took off on our adventure, we read many blogs by full timers. One said something like "Bring half or less of your current wardrobe with you and after a few months you'll realize you still only wear 10% of those clothes."

Very true for us.

When you see the same people every day at work, I think there's a feeling that you need to vary your wardrobe so you don't wear the same thing over and over. Even if anyone around here noticed that we wear the same (clean) clothes repeatedly, they're probably doing the same thing.

Again, I think this is similar to my recent post about stuff and what's important to you or not. I've never been someone for whom clothes were very important, so being without an extensive wardrobe is hardly a problem, but for others it might be.

Besides, once you've worn a bright yellow KOA t-shirt, you've reached the pinnacle of fashion.

Ha!

Not Running on Four Wheels

I'm sure there are a few folks who believe we're not operating with all four wheels on the ground.

And here's photographic proof that they are right.

Remember the post about getting the jacks fixed? This is why that was such an important repair. Our current site is very uneven and if we didn't have the jacks, we'd be tipping down on one side pretty significantly.

This is the front passenger side tire. It's about 8" off the ground, so we are supported by three tires and the jacks. Without the jacks to raise the left side of the MH, we'd be tipping 8-12" on that side and would probably be sleeping w/our heads lower than our feet.

FYI--the bright yellow blocks  that are stacked beneath the jacks (this is all the stuff Chris does when we get set up while I walk the dog) are to keep the jacks from getting pressed down in the dirt which could be a problem when it's time to pull them up and leave.

Feels Like Spring

If we had a scratch and sniff feature on our blog, I'd post a picture of the open window next to me and you could scratch to smell the fresh warm air. It's like spring.

We have a goal of not seeing snow (in person) again. So far, so good.

Look, a selfie! I'm grimacing because the sun is in my eyes. And because I need a haircut.

 

But, I'm sitting in a lawn chair and wearing shorts. It's better if you just trust me on that vs. posting the photo proof. Trust me.

Why We're Dedicated

On a recent post, faithful reader and commenter, Robin, said "sounds like you're pretty dedicated to the RV lifestyle."

Yes, as a matter of fact we are.

As I have mentioned before, this is something we'd thought about and hoped to do "someday" and when we headed out on the road, we did so with only about a week's worth of planning, if you could even call it planning.

So, what have we discovered about this lifestyle that makes us dedicated to it?

First, we both like to travel and see the country and we'd rather take off and experience it long term rather than a week at a time while we spend the other 50 weeks of the year waiting for our next trip.

Neither of us is particularly home-proud, so it's not like giving up our house was a big deal. Why would we want a house that stays in one place?

We like the challenge---can we really live in 400 sq feet? How can we make money on the road and make it stretch as far as possible?

We feel like we are living life on our terms, not someone else's. If we don't like where we are, we are willing to pack up and leave if necessary.

Ultimately, for us, it is about freedom. The freedom to explore, make our own decisions, and the freedom to dream of what's next.

It's not for everyone, but for us, it works.

What's It Take To Be Satisified?

I read an article on Yahoo this morning saying that people in poverty are now living in the size homes that the middle class lived in 20 years ago. Basically saying that what we think we need to be satisfied keeps growing.

I'd add a link to the article, but due to unbearably slow internet service at the KOA, I gave up. Apparently I need decent wifi to be happy, but I think that's totally reasonable.

I like to think that I have lived a pretty simple life and haven't gotten too deeply caught up in the accumulation of stuff, but even in our limited space, there's too much. When you look at every square inch and wonder at the best use of the space even the purchase of a colander becomes questionable.

When we left our house in Ada, we either gave away or left 90% of our kitchen things. We kept a couple good pans and knives and some mugs. Thankfully the people we bought the MH from left dishes, silverware, pans and a toaster.

Recently we placed an order with Amazon and the question came up as to whether we really needed a collapsible colander. A regular colander would never be worthy of the space it would take up, but a collapsible one could be easily stored. But did we really need it? We've made due for over six months using a large strainer thing-a-ma-jig with a handle. It's usually a two person operation, but it's not like Chris is out working in the garage when I need to strain some pasta or I'm upstairs soaking in the tub when he needs help.

For some reason, deciding that we don't need a colander made me feel good. We don't need no stinkin' colander.

I'm sure most of you have colanders in all shapes and sizes and that's fine. It's not about the colander, it's about deciding for ourselves what we really need.

In other news...I have spinach dip on my keyboard so must stop now to clean up.

Fire At The KOA

Chris happened to be taking Dooley for a walk just moments after this fire started. He called to me and we watched from a distance.

There was lots of popping and cracking and we were glad the wind wasn't blowing because it likely would have spread to the campers on either side.

It spread quickly but once the fire department arrived it was out quickly.

 

As far as we know, no one was injured. The owner, who appears to be a 20-30 year old construction worker, was at work.

I think the campers on either side were empty, either unoccupied right now or the owners were at work, so it's good that someone saw it as early as they did.

 

It was scary, but we're glad it wasn't worse.