The Sights and Smells of New Haven Part 2

Hello from Pennsylvania! And thanks so much for putting up with my hectic schedule, I’m back!! I’ve been back in Williamsport for three days now and am slowly but surely getting back into the school routine. Yesterday was my first day of my second-to-last semester of college! Such a crazy thought. I think this is going to be a great semester! Before I start recapping school to much I want to catch you guys up on the rest of my vacation in New Haven, CT. It was the BEST time and flew by way too quickly! Josh and I are going back in March and I already can’t wait! If you didn’t read my last post, my first New Haven recap can be found here. Now where did I leave off…

Oh yes. This cute guy and I woke up early one morning to head into downtown New Haven to explore the shops and restaurants. Our first store was J.Crew (surprise, surprise) and after that we walked up and down the streets popping into cute preppy stores that caught our eye. There were so many fine clothing stores with the cutest stuff. By lunchtime we worked up quite an appetite, so Josh suggested a vegetarian Indian restaurant he had heard a lot about.

I was craving Indian and was so excited to try Thali Too. Its extra exciting when you can eat everything on the menu!

We started off with a cheese and spinach bread. It was amazing.

And then for our main dishes Josh ordered a spicy vegetable curry while I ordered Saag Paneer. It was made of the most amazing spinach with fresh tomatoes and huge chunks of cheese. It was absolutely delicious!

We browsed around a co-op grocery store in downtown and an awesome spirits shop before heading over to a coffee shop Josh loves called Bru.

The owner was so nice and the drink and food menu was so creative. I got a blueberry scone and a Nutella latte. Both were out of this world, but the latte especially stole my heart. It was so good!

After an afternoon of meandering we met up with Josh’s parents to head to Bar, a famous pizza place in New Haven. The atmosphere here is incredible, they brew their own beers and have a ton of pizza options. I tried a rose for the first time and loved it.

We started off dinner with a salad Josh and his parents raved about. It had spinach, pears, gorgonzola cheese, and candied walnuts. I could have eaten this whole plate as a meal!

I paced myself though because we had a lot of pizzas coming out! We ordered a small white pizza with potatoes, and a large cheese pizza.

As well as a large spinach and garlic pizza. All of them were amazing but the potato pizza was my favorite. Its so hard to describe but it tastes like an amazing creation of hot yummy cheesy potato-ey goodness.

The next day was a hang out at home day while Josh and I worked on getting ready for the next semester. It involved article reading, book ordering, and lots of kitty cuddles. Meet Grey, the sweetest little kitty in the world. We think she’s deaf. I love her and despite my allergies want to kidnap her and take her home with me.

I also want to kidnap Brewski. I call him the moo kitty. He is so adorable and loves drinking water from the tap. Such a happy guy.

Because you can never have too much pizza, for dinner that night Josh and I ordered a pepper and onion pizza from Est. Bar is so good and so incredibly popular but I think my favorite New Haven pizza that I’ve had so far has to be Est. Its chewy, cheesy, and so incredibly flavorful!

We also shared a Hard Cider with our pizza. I love finding beers that I like! It was really good.

The next morning we woke up early and went to Manjares with Josh’s mom. If this sounds familiar to you its because we had gone there a few days earlier for tapas for dinner. As good as their tapas are, what they’re known for is breakfast.

Particularly this breakfast. Hello French Toast of my dreams. Its homemade bread toasted to perfection with an amazing syrup. And the side of fruit helps me trick myself into thinking its somewhat healthy! ;p

It was a very coffee vacation! We wrapped up breakfast with lattes and then hit the road for a fun day downtown!

I love art galleries and was so excited when Josh’s mom suggested checking out the Yale University Art Gallery.

They had some awesome exhibits. My favorite was the Impressionists section and the Asian Art wing, where this picture was taken. How beautiful is this metal flower?

After the art gallery we stopped at Woodland Coffee and Tea for yet more awesome coffee! I’m surprised I’m not going through coffee withdrawal as we speak.

After coffee we decided to have lunch at a vegetarian restaurant Josh and I spotted a few days before when we were browsing New Haven. The place looked gorgeous and we were excited about the idea of finding another vegetarian restaurant.

As soon as we sat down I knew this was a good place. I could not decide on what to order off the menu, everything sounded way too good! And our waitress was so incredibly sweet. It was the perfect experience.

I ended up getting one of their daily specials. It was tofu marinated in an Indian sauce with avocado, tomatoes, lettuce, and a pepper salsa and it was so so so good. It came with a side of sweet potato fries that were out of this world. I ate everything on this plate.

Josh got the spiced lentil nut patties and they were just as good as they looked. When our food was delivered our jaw literally dropped. It was all so beautiful!

And the best dish of them all, which is really saying something since they were all so incredible, was what Debbie ordered. This sweet potato quesadilla was quite possibly the best quesadilla I’ve ever had. We have plans to go back for dinner in March and I’m already agonizing over whether to get the quesadilla or to branch out and try something on their dinner menu, which sounds just as incredible as their lunch menu! If you’re in the downtown New Haven area and looking for a place to eat I cannot recommend Red Lentil enough! The chef traveled all around the world to accrue these amazing recipes and you can tell they are made with such passion and love. The atmosphere is gorgeous, the music so happy and relaxing, and the staff so proud and knowledgeable about the food they offer and why they do it. I was completely blown away by my meal.

After lunch we did a little shopping and then picked up apples, cheese, bread, and jam for dinner later that night. We made sandwiches in the living room while we played card games and had the best time.

Saturday was our last full day in CT and Josh’s parents were so sweet to suggest a trip to Mystic Aquarium. I grew up visiting aquariums as my dad is a huge fan and was really excited because I heard they had a penguin exhibit! If you haven’t noticed from reading this blog I LOVE penguins!

The cutest sea lion sunbathing on the rocks. It was in the mid 60’s the entire day with bright blue skies and sunshine. It was perfect.

The penguin exhibit was SO awesome! They were cleaning the pool the day we visited so the guy in the tank actually held up the penguins for us to get to see. It was such an awesome experience getting to be so close to such cute, happy, amazing animals.

We saw the most adorable statue and had to get a picture with it. It was such an amazing day!

We checked out the indoor exhibits and got to see some pretty interesting fish. I thought this one was super cute but apparently it can kill you in three different ways. Thank goodness for glass.

By this time we had worked up an appetite so we headed over to the Penguin Cafe in the aquarium. This was my first time being at an aquarium/zoo/theme park/ water park cafe since becoming a vegetarian and I was preparing myself for limited to no food choices. I saw they had a veggie wrap on the menu and when I asked the guy behind the counter what was in it he told me that unfortunately they don’t make those fresh and they were out of them that day. He asked if I was a vegetarian and when I told him I was he listed off a number of items not on the menu he could whip up for me. He then explained how most of the guys working there aren’t just burger flippers, but graduates from the Culinary Institute of America. I was really impressed and when he listed falafel as an option I was sold. Josh ordered the same thing and it was an incredibly delicious meal. Hands down the best food I’ve ever had from a cafe in an attraction.

After our awesome lunch we headed to see the sea lion and seal show. I was so excited for this! The animals are so well trained and so incredibly loved. They also have such awesome personalities! I was really impressed to find out that Mystic is a rescue and rehabilitation center. Their goal when they take in animals is to place them back in the wild, the ones who stay are the ones who have become too domesticated and are kept for their own safety. It was such an informative show!

After leaving the aquarium we headed to the shops nearby to do a little browsing. There were so many interesting stores with so many things to look at and see. We browsed a cheese shop, a general store, a kitchen store, a clothing store, and an awesome fudge store. There were so many things to look at!

After a fun day we were super hungry for dinner. After driving back from Mystic we headed over to Carmines for our farewell dinner. It was one of Josh’s favorite Italian restaurants growing up.

It was such an adorable place with the such charm and character.

Our bruschetta appetizer was delicious.

As was the salad.

The star of the show was definitely my main dish. Being a Tuscan restaurant the dishes were very meat and fish heavy. When the waitress listed the specials for the night she mentioned eggplant roulettes as an appetizer. I asked if they could be turned into a meal and voila, eggplant roulettes along with an additional dish of ziti with marinara that I didn’t get a picture of. The filling in this roulettes were out of this world.

For dessert I opted for the cannolis. I’m such a predictable eater. If there’s cannolis on the dessert menu, chances are I’ll order them. I’m so glad I did, they were so good!

I had a few sips of Josh’s cappuccino after dinner. I was stuffed.

Sunday had us waking up bright and early as it was traveling day. I was so sad to go. 🙁 I really lucked out in that not only do I have the most amazing boyfriend in the world, but he has the most amazing parents. They are so easy to be around and to talk to and it just feels like I’ve known them for forever. They are so sweet to include me in their traditions, one of which is Cafe Romeo for breakfast before catching the train back to State College.

I wouldn’t say I’m not a morning person, since that implies I don’t like them, its more hat I am usually half asleep for most of them and usually don’t make much sense. To start a traveling morning off right I ordered a big chocolate mocha. It was so good.

For breakfast I got the egg and veggie wrap. It was delicious and the perfect fortification for a busy day. After a wonderful breakfast and sad goodbyes Josh and I headed for the train that would take us to New York. As sad as I was to be leaving CT I was SO excited for what awaited us in NYC. One of my best friends, Ulric, goes to NYU and our schedules finally matched up so that we’d be in the city at the same time. I couldn’t wait for Josh and Ulric to get to meet each other!! They’ve certainly been hearing about each other for long enough! ;p

Josh was excited to introduce me to The Ginger Man. The last time he was in the city he went there and fell in love with the atmosphere, the beer, and the food. Consider me sold!

To start with we ordered a flight of beers. I was so excited to get to do this because I am still developing my taste and preferences for different types of alcohol. Hoppy beers are not my thing, to be quite honest most beers aren’t. I’ll save those for Josh. He’s been so awesome in introducing me to unusual beers that he thinks might be more my taste. My flight included two sour beers, a hard cider, and a framboise. He knows me so well, I loved them all. Ulric isn’t a big beer drinker either and ordered exactly what I got and loved them too! There is hope for me with beer yet!

For lunch I ordered a bowl of vegan lentil soup (made with the beer they brew at the restaurant) and a half a panini filled with peppers, pesto, and mozzarella cheese. Everything was so incredibly good!

Josh and I loved the framboise so much we decided to share another glass of it. Apparently its pretty rare so it might be the last time I have it for a while. I’m glad I got to enjoy it while I did!

And I was so glad to get to see this guy! Something I wish I could tell my highschool self is to cherish the time with your friends while you have it. Once you all head off to college and move far away you’ll never get the days of hanging out at each others houses watching Greys Anatomy and eating endless Hershey Bars back. I was so incredibly lucky to have the best group of friends in high school and I miss them like crazy now that we go months (and months and months) without seeing each other. I was so glad Ulric and Josh had such a fun time getting to know each other and that Ulric got to discover there are beers he likes! Also major thanks to Ulric for rolling my suitcase all the way across the city to the Megabus stop. You rock! <3

And the best part of this winter break without a doubt was getting to spend two weeks on vacation with Josh. Its so easy to get so busy in life with schedules and deadlines that work and school create. Time to just enjoy each other and the day is such a precious gift and one I enjoyed every single second of. <3

And that was my trip to New Haven! It was wonderful in every way! I hope your breaks were great and that you are adjusting back into your normal schedule well. I sure do miss sleeping in til whenever I want! My first class tomorrow starts at 8am and I already know I’ll need to be hitting up Starbucks before I go! Thank you guys for being so wonderful and still coming back and reading my blog after such a long hiatus. With my blog being so new I get so excited building up readers and I worry when I can’t post for a while people will stop coming back. Thanks for proving me wrong! 🙂 I’m officially back to my regular blogging schedule and will be back tomorrow with a super fun post I am really excited to share with you guys!