Thursday night I was delighted to attend this year’s Taste of Blount.  Coming from San Francisco, a city of predominantly non-chain restaurants, I was interested in sampling food from a variety of locally-owned and operated eateries.  This year saw representation from Aubrey’s Restaurant, Foothills Catering, Foothill’s Milling Company, Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar, Peerless Restaurant, Sweet Celebrations, The Miles Family 411 Restaurant, The Oaks Dining Room and Bar, The Palace Cafe and Uptown Catering, The Tomato Head and Vienna Coffee Company.  Major chains were also represented by Chili’s, Candy Bouquet, Domino’s, Honey Baked Ham, Lenny’s Subs, Marble Slab Creamery, McAllister’s Deli, Panera Bread, Food City and Aqua Clear Water Systems.

I arrived at the Broadway Parking Garage with my Dad shortly after the gates opened.  It was obvious which were the popular locations based on the massive lines that were already in place.  Dad and I decided to move through the left side first, until we reached the dessert booths, then backtrack and move over to the right side.  I kept track of everything, since I am such a big foodie, and because we would be voting on Favorite Food, Favorite Beverage and Best Presentation later on in the evening.

On to the food:

Aubrey’s

Aubrey’s offered Oven Roasted Prime Rib and Grilled Shrimp on what seemed to be a scoop of some risotto-type dish.  There was also supposed to be a Chocolate Turtle Cake, but we never saw it.  The rub on the Prime Rib was great and tasted like it involved some peppercorn.  It was also cook pretty close to perfect, so Aubrey’s gets bonus points for good taste and proper cooking for the masses (a sold out crowd of 500).  The Prime Rib was also my Dad’s choice for Favorite Food.

Dad enjoying Aubrey’s Prime Rib

The Miles Family 411 Restaurant

The 411 offered up diner delights - Fried Pickles, Fried Mushrooms and BBQ Pork Mini Sandwiches.  I skipped on the sandwiches, because of my pork allergy, but reveled in the just-right breading on the Fried Mushrooms.  The Fried Pickles were good, but an acquired taste for many people.  Dad and I both gave the Fried Mushrooms a thumbs up, but only I appreciated the Fried Pickles.

Foothills Catering

Foothills Catering showed to be a more sophisticated booth than many other the options available at the Taste of Blount.  Note to organizers, put them next to Foothills Milling Company or The Oaks next time.  I think they would be in like company and better appreciated.  Some of the people arriving to this booth after visiting Domino’s and the 411 seemed to be a bit disoriented by the Tropical Tuna Bites.  Besides the Tropical Tuna Bites, Foothills Catering provided us with Spiced Lamp Pita Points with a Mango Salsa and Asparagus wrapped in Parmesan Encrusted Phyllo Dough.  While I found all of these samples to be delectable, my Dad was put off by the seared tuna in the Tropical Tuna Bites and anything with asparagus.  He did mention that if you only ate the part inside of the phyllo dough, it was good.  I delighted in the Spice Lamb Pita Points with a Mango Salsa and it was my choice for Favorite Food.

 McAllister’s Deli

We chose not to eat at McAllister’s Deli because I have eaten their multiple times and I need to conserve my stomach space.  However, I am a sucker for their Famous Sweet Tea.  Dad and I both grabbed a cup of that nectar of the gods and it was a landslide winner for Dad’s Favorite Beverage.

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Maryville’s very own Daily Times has launched a photo sharing site: Spotted.  Under “You Spotted” Maryville citizens get the opportunity to share their personal photos as well as photos of Blount County events and locations, while “We Spotted” is set to highlight photos from “The Daily Times.”  While writing this post, I noticed that there are no photos under “We Spotted.” Nor are there any Staff members listed.  Come on DT!  If you are going to launch a photo sharing site, you should have photos of your own up and ready to go.  Currently there are 37 members, which isn’t too bad for being live for less than 24 hours.

So how do we benefit from this kind of site? What makes it better than the options that are already out there? Flickr already has a Blount County group if you are interested in Blount County photography.  And I don’t know about you, but I don’t need to see any more pictures of grandbabies (which currently seems to be the most popular subject on Spotted)!  What I am hoping to see is The Daily Times getting involved.  “We Spotted” has a section for upcoming events and I would love to see that put to use as a convenient location for all Blount County upcoming events.

But does The Daily Times benefit from Spotted?  Possibly.  First there is the additional opportunity for advertisement.  Then there are the Terms of Use.  The Terms of Use state:

If you post content on the site (User Content), you remain the owner but grant to Company a non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free, worldwide fully sub-licensable right to use the User Content and to reproduce, modify, publish, create derivative works, distribute and display such content throughout the world in any media, whether now known or hereafter created or developed.

While this is no surprise (other photo sharing sites make similar disclaimers), could it be possible that user submitted photos might be used in The Daily Times, thedailytimes.com or blountcountyvoice.com?  Newspapers solicit their subscribers for photos and this makes available another avenue of photo submission.

I am very interested to see if Spotted takes off.  Let’s also hope that The Daily Times makes it a site worth using, by contributing its own content to the site in the future.

If you are looking for something to do tonight, why not head to downtown Maryville and enjoy the Taste of Blount County.  Tickets are $25 and can be purchased from the Chamber of Commerce.  Local restaurants will be represented, including Foothill’s Milling Company, Lemon Grass Thai Cuisine and Sushi Bar and The Miles Family 411 Restaurant.  Bringing a picky eater? The “chains” will be there as well: McAllister’s Deli, Panera Bread and Domino’s Pizza are just a few.  Hope to see you there!

Just what you have all been waiting for: a recap of my post-Bar trip to Asia.  I figured I should get this out on the blog before I head off to my next big trip in Europe.  But back to the story at hand.  In case you haven’t heard, the Husband and I went to Hong Kong and Tokyo (with a long layover in Thailand) for a little bit more than two weeks at the start of August.  I have already posted all of my pictures from my trip on Flickr, so I will only highlight a few photos on this blog.  So without further ado…

Ashley in Asia: Getting to Hong Kong

Taking Off

Doesn’t he look so excited?!?

Our first day was really a day of travel.  We started off bright and early on a flight out of Knoxville to Chicago a took a nice long 6 hour plane-break (a.k.a. layover).  While waiting for our Chicago to Hong Kong flight I started the first of three books I had brought with me on the trip.  I do not sleep on airplanes, so I always travel with at least one novel.  For the ride out I read Fire in the Blood by Irene Nemirovsky.  We finally boarded the second leg of our flight and sat in an airplane for 16 hours and 25 minutes.  Yes, it takes that long to get from Chicago to Hong Kong.  Nothing exceptional happened on the flight, besides the fact that I finished Fire in the Blood, started City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau and watched a couple of movies that were so boring I can’t even remember what they were!

Tip: I make sure I select a vegetarian meal for my food preference.  If you have a food allergy or know you you prefer a certain type of food, it might be available as an option on your next international flight.

Mmm… Airplane food! I always request a vegetarian meal.

The Arrival

We finally made it to Hong Kong.

We finally arrived in Hong Kong on the evening of our second day traveling to the other side of the world.  The first stop was to the Hong Kong Tourist Center.  There are few locations inside of the Hong Kong Airport, and they are all helpful.  I already knew I wanted to grab the Hong Kong Walks brochure, as it included walks to all the sites in Hong Kong that I wanted to see.  Hong Kong was also offering a “Summer Temptations” program.  There were multiple brochures covering this program, one which included coupons for stores and attractions (even one for Buy One, Get One Free Ice Lollies at Disneyland!).  All of the “Summer Temptations” brochures included a little ticket that had you collect stickers at popular attractions.  Once you collected three stickers, you could redeem the ticket for a little cookie and tea bag gift tin.  Conveniently, there were redemption locations in the airport, so we waiting to redeem them on the way home.

Tip: When traveling to a new city, always check out the local Tourist Information Center for free maps and discounts on places you are planning on visiting anyway!

Tip: On your way out of the airport, if you are going to be taking the metro(MTR) into the city, make sure you stop and purchase tickets as soon as you get through Customs. If two people are traveling together you can purchase a special ticket that is cheaper than buying two tickets into the city.

Safety first!  MTR always reminds you to hold the escalator rail.

The Accommodations

Arriving so late meant that we headed straight to the guest house to check in and get some sleep.  We chose to stay at the Alisan Guest House at Causeway Bay.  It was simple, yet adequate, close to food and the metro, and inexpensive.  That makes it the perfect place for us to stay.  I am all about budget traveling.  The cheaper you can travel, the more places you can go and the longer you can stay.  The only exception I make is when Disney is involved.  I have such a passion for Disney, that I let that be the big splurge of a trip.  Every now and then I will also put a little extra money out for food, but most of the time I will not participate in fine dining (one meal for the price of three and you have to pack extra clothes and shoes).

The shower in the bathroom and the heater (turn it on 10 minutes before you shower!)

The Alisan Guest House is on the 4th and 5th floor of a busy Hong Kong side street.  The ladies working check-in in the evening are polite and quick to get you checked-in and settled into your room.  The rooms are sparse, with the shower sharing the same space as the toilet and only room to walk next to one side of the bed.  There is a television and (most importantly) an air conditioner.  That is one luxury I can not give up in the summer heat.  Pack your own toiletries, but Alisan will supply the sheets and towels along with a communal refrigerator that includes complementary water.  If it is available, ask for a room away from the street.  We slept in a room on the street side of the building and had neon lights flooding our room throughout all hours of the night.  But even with that nuisance, I would still return to the Alisan Guest House during a future trip to Hong Kong.  It was safe and clean with friendly staff, which is what I always need in a place to lay my head!

Tip: When I was researching accommodations for Hong Kong, I noticed that many smaller places do not book their rooms more than 60 - 90 days in advance.  Don’t be surprised if you run into this trend, you can still get a good room at a reasonable price.

The lovely bed at Alisan Guest House with our luggage on top.

Coming up: Ashley in Asia: Hong Kong’s Temples and Parks

Want more? See all the photos on Flickr 

All of my photos are posted up on Flickr, which means I am one step closer to posting a more detailed review here!  There are a lot of photos, so I have convieniently broken them in to the following categories:

Hong Kong (including the Olympics) - 361 photos

Hong Kong Disneyland - 353 photos

Bangkok - 16 photos

Japan (Tokyo & Yokohama) - 292 photos

Tokyo Disneyland - 323 photos

Tokyo DisneySea - 147 photos

Which reminds me… I have about 2 months worth of my 365 Days photos to still upload.  I had moved some over to an external hard drive so I had room on my laptop for the trip.  Now I have to go back and find them and get another 60 photos uploaded!  Crazy, huh?