Clinton Station Diner

Recently, we had a short excursion into New Jersey to take Sam to visit some friends. Sam is number two son. After dropping him off, we stopped at the Clinton Station Diner, a restaurant in Clinton, NJ . What an awesome Restaurant. The first thing I noticed upon entering was the line of fish tanks along the wall facing the entrance. The next thing that I noticed was the deserts, of which I would suggest you partake. Usually, I have found when deserts look that good, they don't taste very good, in this case, I was wrong. The cheese cake alone was worth the trip. Our server, Lisa Isabella Basile(love the sound of her name), was very helpful. She helped us choose two items that were huge in portion and taste. Oh, and the salad bar was one of the freshest and best selections that I have had in quite some time.

Another note worthy item is about "Mount Olympus" the world's burger. This thing is grotesque - it's so enormous. It's made of 25lbs of meat and the total weight of the burger with all the fixn's is 50lbs! Now, they will give it to you for free plus $500 if you and four of your closest friends can finish it in 3 hours. Not too shabby!

Skiing at Whistler

Here are a few pics of the ski trip to Whistler taken with the Lizzie Cam. We got extremely lucky, as it was reported there was record snowfall for January 2006 in Whistler. Unfortunately I did not take many pics and my camera also had a lot to be desired. Would have loved to have gotten some pics while up on the glaciers, but the weather was usually pretty severe up there, and taking pictures would not have been advisable. Most of the pics are of Blackcomb viewed from Whistler village as seen from The bottom quarter of Blackcomb(took me about 15 minutes to get down from there) There is also a pic of the lodge at the top of the Whistler village Gondola. There were three Gondolas, one at Creekside Village which was the furthest away, and the Whistler village Gondola and the Blackcomb Gondola. Well hope you like these pics. I would say Whistler is a must ski place...try to do so before the 2010 Olympics, which are going to be in Vancouver, and many of the events will be at Whistler.















The ski rental place we used was Summit Ski Bike Board. They were great, and very helpful. Especially liked the end of day Valet treatment. For a little extra, they even put our boots on the driers over night. After the first day of skiing, my legs were numb, and after talking with Dave the ski rental manager, I switched boots and skis and had a much better time for the rest of the trip.

THE FOOD AT WHISTLER

The food at Whistler was great. From the breakfast on top of the mountain for 15 extra dollars, which not only gets you a great buffet, but gets you up on the mountain for the first runs of the day. Quite a bargain. The other meals we ate were equally impressive.
For lunch for all but the last day where we ate up on the mountain, we ate at the Dubh Linn Gate Old Irish Pub & Restaurant.The waiting staff was friendly and pleasant and the Irish faire was quite pleasing. Oh, and a great selection of beer.
At the end of each ski day, we ended up at the Longhorn saloon for several pitchers of beer and pub fair. Seems like everyone ended up there, and a lucky few were able to get a massage from the on staff masseuse(there was quite a line of clients waiting for her skilled hands)
One night we went out for dinner at Citta Bistro for and played a game of music bingo, and thanks to Bobby, Lizzie's Brother, won a Candian Molson cooler, which will be auctioned off on ebay in a mystery auction.
But our favorite restaurant of the whole trip was the Rimrock Café. As a treat, Lizzie's brother, Robert, took us out our last night in Whistler. Scrumptious and very easily the best dining we have done in quite a while. From The Famous Gate Pinot Noir to the dessert, the whole meal melted in our mouths and left us feeling content and almost ready to go home. Our waitress, who was back working for the first night after breaking her leg playing hockey, was a delight.

GOING HOME

The next morning bright and early, we packed our rental, and headed off to the airport. One last comment about our trip that truly deserves mentioning. The flight was spectacular. We flew on Cathay Pacific Airline, which had been named airline of the year in 2005. I believe they deserved it and should get it in 2006 as well. The flight staff was unbelievably attentive, encouraging us to spread out. From the three choices of meals, the free drinks, and free movies...they have every other airline beat.

The only real problem of the trip was getting to and leaving JFK . We got lost both times, and if it had not been for the directions of my friend Richard, we would surely still be lost in Manhattan.