Living the Lex life

I love the South. It's as if you enter a whole new world where people are nice and the pace is relaxed once you cross the Ohio River.

While our trip to Lexington was short, it was no different. There was a certain charm to the historic homes, hip food scene and rolling green hills.

The highlights ... so basically a detailed account of what we did.

Lunch at Doodles on Friday after we arrived. Doodles was recommended by Lex locals on the Run the Bluegrass Facebook page, and I loved the restaurant's emphasis on locally sourced ingredients.

I also loved that they had hot dogs and beans, which Miles had been requesting for at least 20 minutes. Let me tell you, there's nothing more inspiring than to hear a 20-month-old scream "HOT DOG, BEANS" from the back seat of a car.

As for me, I had the Super Veggie sandwich of the day, which was breaded, oven roasted eggplant, marinara and mozzarella. It was served with Doodles Flat Fries but I gave them to Mark, who was hungry after his grilled cheese and tomato-sausage soup.

After lunch, we headed to BabyCakes Cupcakes. I planned a one-day hiatus from my #sugardetox so I could celebrate my anticipated half-marathon finish with a sweet treat.

The shop was small but stylish, and it looked like much of the business is orders/catering rather than single cupcake sales. Nonetheless, there was a good selection of flavors. I went with Butterscotch, Mark with Red Velvet and Cookie Dough for Miles. I loved that the owner(?) was willing to cut the Cookie Dough Cupcake into four pieces so we could ration it out to Miles ... or so he could have a bite and Mark could eat the rest. I guess it was so good that Mark could not share and would deny his child that indulgence.

In a perfect world, we would have walked around downtown Lexington and took in the city but someone needed a nap. So it was to the hotel. I lived dangerously, canceling my room at the Hilton and booking a more affordable, last-minute room on Hotwire. I did this last year with the Martian race and ended up at the Motown Inn where the clerk offered to procure alcohol for us from guests checking in. Not the greatest experience.

We lucked out, though, as I did my best to narrow down our options and we ended up at the Crowne Plaza at the Campbell House. The hotel was gorgeous, rooms spacious and the elevators clean. I was more than impressed that housekeeping had the crib in our room before we made it there.

Except someone didn't want to sleep in it. Rather, Miles and I took advantage of the indoor pool while Miles napped. How cute is he in his skull trunks and girly life vest (which was at the pool)? Even cuter was just how much he loved the water. He now asks every day to "go fwimmin'." We tell him that he can in the summer.

Dinner became an interesting and rushed affair with a kid tired from no sleep + fwimmin'. We had planned to go to a local pizzeria downtown but upon discovering it was carry-out only, we were off to find "mac and cheese and pizza-pizza." By the grace of all that is holy, we were less than a mile away from Mellow Mushroom.

I had heard of the place via blogs and the like, and I was excited to finally try it out. I was also excited to drink, a rarity for me, but nearly required after Miles Meltdown No. 321 of the day. It was a Woodchuck Pear Cider, if you're curious.

As for the pizza? Loved it. I had the Mellowterranean on my half, and I took advantage of the carbo-loading excuse to eat the entire half.

There were a few more places that I had hoped to visit but time ran short. Of course, there's always next year ...

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Taking a bite out of NOLA

Beignets.

Oh, the beignets. There's a reason everyone talks about you when mentioning New Orleans. You are pieces of fried dough deliciousness only made better by the addition of powdered sugar.

If I could you every day ... well, I probably wouldn't. Just being honest. But on vacation? Yes. PUHLEASE.

Eating was one of the things I was most looking forward to about New Orleans, and I have to say that the city didn't disappoint. I told Pattie that I think you could spend your lifetime trying to eat everywhere and it was next to impossible to get all of the classics - and then some - into one trip. Especially a trip with a race when you schedules are off and foods are avoided to prevent any tummy issues.

Nonetheless, we still managed to enjoy some great food.

Stop No. 1: EAT

This restaurant was suggested to us by the hotel manager. It scored bonus points for being a couple blocks from our hotel and well-reviewed on Urbanspoon.

Its rating went off the charts when we realized we'd be dining with George Clooney.

Of course, the food was good, too. And well priced. I had Butterbeans with Shrimp, and Pattie had Crawfish Pie. A great introduction to NOLA cuisine.

Stop No. 2: The Rum House

I had found The Rum House on Urbanspoon and was totally pumped to try it. The fare wasn't traditional to the city but it was far different from what I'd get at home.

I had two tacos - Lamb Vindaloo and Calypso Beef - with a house salad. The salad had spinach, roasted sweet potato, toasted pecans, shaved red onion and goat cheese. With each bite, I had to promise myself that I'd re-create the meal at home.

And any place that serves Diet Coke in a giant mason jar is a winner in my book.

Stop No. 3: Sucre

Sucre is a sweet boutique on Magazine Street that specializes in French macaroons, chocolates and gelato. I had originally scoped out the place to try the macaroons.

And then we got distracted.

All things NOLA sundae with Bananas Foster Sauce, Brown Butter Pecan Gelato, Bread Pudding Pieces, Whipped Cream, Roasted Pecans.

To say it was good would be an understatement.

Stop No. 4: Oceana

Again, a selection by the hotel clerk. You can do all the scoping you want but people who live in the city and need to afford to eat in the city know where to go.

I had the Taste of New Orleans sampler - crawfish etouffe, jambalaya, red beans and rice and smoked sausage. I really liked the etouffe and could have eaten a whole bowl.

Stop No. 5: NOLA

The Holy Grail of our eating extravaganza. Pattie and I like to do one expensive meal when we travel, and we decided to go all celeb with Emeril's NOLA.

We started with the Fried Green Tomato Salad. It was amazing. It made me want to eat fried green tomatoes every day while watching Kathy Bates take out her aggression on a car in the Piggly Wiggly parking lot.

And then I had an unremarkable fish dish.

Followed by a fabulous Banana Pudding Layer Cake, split - of course. So good.

It was really important for me this trip to eat. Not to eat bad per se but not get so caught up in calories/weight gain/restriction that I failed to enjoy myself. While I did have plenty of sugar, I feel good that I split a lot of the worst items and balanced it all with lots of movement.

Of course, they were things we didn't have - gumbo, po boys, the traditional muffaletta. I guess there's always next year ...