Kayla A

A bowl of clam chowder and a plate of oysters on the half shell on a blue and white checkered tablecloth

We also enjoyed some Washington oysters on this trip including these cute little Sea Whips. Lots of cucumber/melon flavor.

A white and blue bowl of clam chowder

This bowl of clam chowder was the best thing we had on our trip. Not heavy or gloopy, loads of bacon flavor, clams not chewy. Funnily enough, at a restaurant called Bar Harbor when we were just in Bar Harbor a few weeks ago.

Greasy bag of burgers and fries from Dick's Drive-In

Got late night burgers & fries from Dick's on our first night in town. Fries were soggy but well cooked and had good flavor, burger was tasty too. Super simple menu (think even less customization than In and Out) but done well.

A Seattle style hot dog: caramelized onions, cream cheese, relish, mustard on a split hot dog.

Seattle food thread, starting with the Seattle dog.
I was unsure about cream cheese on a hot dog but surprisingly relish/mustard was the dominant flavor. Good and would eat again, but I prefer a Chicago dog.

Blue, white, and orange ocean-themed glass sculpture

Bronze and stone sculpture topped with glass squids

Persian ceiling - bright multicolor glass ceiling

Very tall glass sculpture that looks like a plant, bright green

Chihuly Garden & Glass in Seattle - did this on a friend's recommendation and were surprised how much we enjoyed it

If you ever end up in Cologne, Germany, there's a restaurant named Sonder there!

I have been wanting to get back into writing for a while now and finally convinced myself to do something about it, so I'm taking a fiction writing class starting tomorrow. Nervous but hopeful!

My recommendations are the patty melt and the honey butter chicken biscuit! Most of the rest of the menu is mid 😬

White jellyfish with yellow centers in a blue tank

Egg yolk jellies at the National Aquarium in Baltimore 🪼

A bowl of arugula salad with red and orange cherry tomatoes in background, bowl of pasta with tomato basil sauce and Parmesan in foreground

Putting my little cherry tomato harvest to good use with dinner tonight

A black cat sleeps in a blue and white bed in sunlight

Looks like a bear cub, acts like a dog. Clearly mislabeled at the animal shelter.

A glass bowl of green dandelion pesto sitting on a cream colored window sill

Dandelion pesto (made using dandelion greens) - good way to use up things I already had and pretty tasty

Rigatoni with marinated tomatoes, basil, and burrata in a beige bowl

Arugula salad topped with cherry tomatoes, burrata, and balsamic glaze in a beige bowl

Burrata night 🤤

Post your first and last photos from your most recent theme park vacation.
(FanFest edition)

Here it is, your moment of zen

But all that said, we had a great time and our expectations were met. We would do it again, though mainly for the low crowds and getting to enjoy an emptier park that looks great at night and less so for the special experiences.

It was really hard to keep track of all these different times. And it felt like there was not much to do after midnight, even though the event ran until 2 am.

That concluded our night! My criticism is that there were so many different closing and opening times. Nintendo closed at 5:30, reopened at 7, then apparently closed again. Jurassic closed at 12, BTTF at 12:30. None of this was in the app that I saw, just on TVs in a few places.

Bubbling cocktail on bar counter with beer in background

Man holds bubbling cocktail, with festive red lighting

We did all the rides we wanted to do in between FanFest stuff, everything was 5 minutes or less a couple hours in. We hopped on Jurassic World right before it closed at midnight, then got a drink after at the First Roll Tavern. #UniversalFFN

Flaming tire tracks and a spinning license plate left behind by the Delorean

Neither of us is a huge Back to the Future fan but we enjoyed seeing the Hill Valley set and thought the experience was well done, except for not being able to hear the actors very well over the background music. Good vibes in this area, though #UniversalFFN

Hogwarts Castle with fireworks projections

Hogwarts Castle with actual fireworks

Hogwarts Always was very good. Projections looked fabulous. #UniversalFFN

Starfleet officers react to an alien encounter

Star Trek: Red Alert was good! Felt a bit rushed but loved the sets and thought the actors' makeup was excellent. I would pay good money to just walk through those sets in a small group without the action. #UniversalFFN

Brightly colored signage for Quark's Cafe overlay at Hollywood & Dine

Photograph of Morn behind the counter at Quark's

Chicken sandwich with blue bun and fries. Good flavor but got very messy and soggy.

Burrito filled with spicy pork topped with jalapenos and radish - Bajoran Hasperat

Decided to try the Star Trek offerings at Quark's. We are big DS9 fans and thought the Morn picture was a great touch. Food here was better than we expected but not life changing. #UniversalFFN

Wooden rendering of Toad

Man tapping Power Up Band on a block in Super Nintendo World

We were hungry and the rain had picked up so we left the land at this point thinking we'd return later. When we did come back around midnight, they had roped off the whole land. We had seen a sign saying the rides in the land would be closed at 10, but didn't realize it would be the whole land?

Menacing stone Bowser statue

Red lighted Bowser logo in queue for Mario Kart

Man and woman wearing red Mario Kart visors

This was our first time in the land and rising Mario Kart. The line was very short, 5-10 minutes, so we didn't get the full instructional video in the queue. Took me about halfway through the ride to realize I was aiming with the helmet 😅
Fun but we didn't feel the need to repeat right away.

Man and woman smiling in Super Nintendo World

Picking back up! We did Mummy after D&D since it was a walk on, then got in line for Super Nintendo World. Had to wait probably 15 minutes to get into the land.

It's a wet and chilly #UniversalFFN tonight! Started off with D&D Secrets of Waterdeep once early access began. Great sets and actors! Had some trouble following the plot but enjoyed it anyway.

Woman holds beer wearing themed Jurassic World shirt

Back of woman in themed Jurassic World shirt, still holding beer

Very excited to rep my @harborandball.bsky.social Isla Nublar Margaritaville tee with my Isla Nublar IPA

Set of Water World show at Universal Studios Hollywood

Man holds beer in front of Jurassic World ride

Studio tour and Water World to kick things off, then Isla Nublar IPAs

(featuring my deep cut Albuquerque Isotopes cap)