On our spring break ski trip to Boyne Mountain, our favorite spot to eat was easily Forty Acres Tavern. They are located slopeside at the base of the Hemlock lift. They had plenty of tables set up outside and the weather was ideal for this!

Entrance

Happy hour runs 4-6 everyday but Friday and Saturday, featuring $5 craft beers. I recommend Petoskey Brewing Everett’s IPA.

Beer

As far as food goes, their fried chicken sandwich was very good. It a large panko fried breast topped with provolone, coleslaw, spicy pickles, and lemon sriracha aioli on a brioche bun ($17). Their onion rings are also very good.

Fried Chicken

I would also recommend the loaded grilled cheese, which actually has cheese grilled to the outside and inside of the sandwich. It is stuffed with aged cheddar, provolone, feta, applewood smoked bacon, caramelized onion, avocado, and tomato aioli on Texas toast ($16). Their sweet potato fries are also very good and go well with this sandwich.

Loaded Grilled Cheese

Our service was great. Prices are high, but as to be expected on the slopes. I would definitely go back for more!

The Fifty West Burger Bar has been our go-to spot recently. It’s a genius concept, especially during the pandemic. They have repurposed their sand volleyball courts to create socially distanced outdoor dining opportunities. This gives families with kids a great option so their kids can play in the sand while waiting for food orders, or for mom and dad to finish a bonus beer before departing.

Sand Volleyball Courts Repurposed

The burger bar is a pretty simple concept. First select the burger, single house-ground patty for $6 or a double for $10. They also have beyond burgers for $9, organic grilled chicken for $7, or even a flat-top beef hotdog for $4.50. From there you pick your style, ranging in price from free for the classic up to $2 extra for the Missouri or the Utah. All styles are named after states along U.S. Route 50 and feature flavors from each state.

Kansas Chicken

On our first visit, I tried the Nevada with chicken ($8) which adds buffalo bleu cheese sauce, crispy onion straws, and pickle. My wife had the Kansas with chicken ($8.50) with smokey bbq, American cheese, bacon, coleslaw, and pickle. Both were great and on other visits, we have also enjoyed the Colorado with spicy green chile salsa, ghost pepper jack cheese, and jalapeno as well as the West Virginia with apple butter, American cheese, bacon, and caramelized onion.

Nevada Chicken

Crinkle-cut fries are served on the side ($2.50) and a side of their fry sauce can be added for 50 cents. Trust me and just go ahead and order the fry sauce!

Crinkle-Cut Fries

There is a kids menu ($5 each) with a burger, chicken sandwich, flattop dog, or chicken tenders. Our daughter also enjoyed the pita plate ($8) which has pita bread, carrots, celery, cucumber served with hummus, guacamole, and fresh corn salad. And she also loves their shakes (kids for $4, regular for $5).

Pita Plate

While the weather is fantastic outside, be sure to stop by the Fifty West Burger Bar and enjoy some great food in a wonderful setting.

I think my favorite restaurant experience during our recent Florida vacation was the New Pass Grill & Bait Shop. My family and I stopped in for lunch after a visit to the nearby Mote Aquarium. This is a great spot for outdoor dining, with a desk and beach overlooking Sarasota Bay. Orders are placed at the counter and your name is announced over the speaker when your order is ready for pickup.

Waterfront

My wife ordered the New Pass Stuffed Tomato with chicken salad ($9.99). Choice of homemade chicken or tuna salad stuffed in a fresh ripe tomato served on a bed of lettuce, onions, pickles, and greek peppers. Once you start slicing this up, it is essentially a salad topped with chicken salad. The chicken salad was tasty and no dressing was required for the salad.

New Pass Stuffed Tomato

I ordered the chicken salad sub ($8.99) and onion rings ($4.99). As you can see in my photos, the servings are plentiful! The sub was really good, and again a quality traditional chicken salad with celery and mayo. Our kids enjoyed the grilled cheese with fries ($6.99).

Chicken Salad Sub

The food at New Pass Grill & Bait Shop is simple, but serving sizes are large, and the view is spectacular. Worth a visit!

My family and I are spending some time in the beautiful Anna Maria Island, Florida weather while kids are doing their distance learning. The first house we stayed in was very close to Anna Maria Island Beach Cafe, which sits on the public Manatee Beach. We headed that way for breakfast our first morning on the island. Orders are placed at a window and a number given to place on any of the well-spaced out tables in the sand. The food comes quickly and is surprisingly good! So good we had lunch at the same spot later that same day.

Island Wrap

For lunch, I ordered the Island Wrap with blackened chicken ($7.99). The wrap was packed with delicious blackened chicken and the chutney added some sweetness to compliment the spicy seasoning. I also ordered onion rings ($6.99) which seemed a little pricey upon ordering, but the serving size was so generous that it was enough for our entire family!

Onion Rings

We also had carryout one other afternoon last week. This time I had a solid chicken salad wrap ($7.99) and sweet potato fries ($7.99). Again the serving of sweet potato fries was huge. These fries were more like curly chips, thinly spiral sliced potatoes. I didn’t like these as much as the onion rings, but the marshmallow dipping sauce was interesting. My wife liked the blackened fish tacos ($9.99) so much she ordered them both times. The kids were huge fans of the grilled cheese ($4.99) with fruit or fries. Overall the food was good, the service was fast, and their outdoor dining space is very nice!

Happy New Year! Below is the list of cities that I visited in 2020 with at least one night spent in each place. A much smaller list than in past years. I hope to return to a more typical number of cities this year!

• Cincinnati, Ohio *
• Kingston upon Thames, United Kingdom
• Stanton, Kentucky
• LaFollette, Tennessee *
• Williamstown, Kentucky *
• Oregon, Ohio

* Those cities marked with an asterisk were visited multiple times on non-consecutive days.

See also: 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015 | 2014 | 2013 | 2012 | 2011 | 2010 | 2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006