Ugh my frickin' stomach!

That's right. Beer and upscale breakfast is how we roll. Well...at least it is how we rolled last weekend. Before I share our gustatory adventures I must preface this tale with a big, fat raspberry to all of you who mocked the Haugen household for our slight addiction to Twitter/Facebook. See, both of last weekend's events were due directly to said addiction.

On Saturday Jo and I attended the Village Craft Beer Festival. This was an event co-hosted by Buckbean Beer out of Reno, whom I follow on twitter. Last week they asked who wanted free tickets, I responded, and Bam! said the Lady...two free tickets worth $40.

We sampled multiple beers from 17 Nevada brewers. We hung out on the lawn. We stared at Lake Las Vegas. We listened to a fair to poor cover band. We ate sammiches. Basically, we did nothing. Nothing with beer.

Then there was Sunday. And the Lord said "let there be brunch!" Last month JoAnna met up with a friend she had met...ready...that's right...on twitter, and had an amazing dinner at Simon, Chef Kerry Simon's restaurant at the Palms Place. While at this dinner she was invited back for brunch by the Vice President and Assistant General Manager for the resort.

So on Sunday we dressed up and went to Simon. And oh...my...God. Brunch at Simon is amazing. There is a full buffet of pastries, fresh fruit cut to order, hand rolled sushi, and a panini station. Not to mention the hand mixed cream cheeses, the peel-and-eat shrimp, and the Bloody Mary bar. There is also a selection available from the kitchen.

Jo had Simon french toast (brioche in Frosted Flake crumbs) while I had the breakfast prime hash.

Now, I will admit the crunch of the french toast was not my thing, but it was tasty. The hash, on the other hand, was amazing. The steak was tender, the egg and gravy seasoned to perfection with a hit of jalapeno puree to give the whole thing a kick. I thought I was in heaven. Fortunately, I had no idea what heaven was. As we sat back to let a bit of food digest, our waitress told us the special for the day. A crepe filled with roasted chicken and smoked ham covered in a cream cheese sauce. To quote my wife "when I dig into the chicken and ham crepe topped with a sunny side-up egg and a cream cheese sauce, I think there is a brief moment where I’ve actually died." (p.s. that is a link to her amazingly well written review of Simon on her newly minted, well read and reviewed travel blog).

We strolled in to Simon at 10 a.m. We slowly waddled out around noon. We didn't eat anything else for the entire day. It was glorious!

Kerry Simon is known for his whimsical take on upscale food. Simon's waitstaff all wear pajamas on Sundays. Included in the buffet line is a candy bar full of classic sweet tooth goodies. And his dessert plate is called Simon's "Junk Food." and has his famous cotton candy, a bit of caramel corn, and other assorted treats. It was a great way to end a fabulous meal.

So, to recap:

1) Ha ha...mock all you want but in two days Jo and I received 140 bucks worth of free stuff from twitter.

2) Beer is good. Craft beer is better.

3) Kerry Simon is awesome. So is his food.

4) go visit JoAnna's Blog

Peas,

Cory

Home from Burning Man

I've been home from Burning Man for nearly two weeks now ... and it's really amazing how much a person can change in a week.

I wasn't really sure what to expect at Burning Man, and it is actually quite difficult to put into words, but let's just say that Black Rock City, the temporary city that is built to hold Burning Man, is unlike anywhere else in the world. It is a place where people are free to be who they want to be. Obviously the law still applies - drugs are illegal, underaged minors can't drink, harassment is prosecuted - but the laws that the "default" world places on us that are moral issues, seem to be left at the gate. People stroll around in the buff. People make love on the playa. And, perhaps most impressive, is that no one else really cares. Why should they?

Burning Man is a mecca of art, which can be seen on the people, driving around the city on the art cars (mutant vehicles) and in the art installations scattered across the miles of dusty playa. The city is composed of nearly 50,000 people who live by the motto of radical self-reliance. We all brought our own lodging (a tent for me), food, water, goggles, dust masks and bikes. Almost everyone lives in a camp - I was in the Camp Nomadia Annex with a great crowd of people who spend most of their time traveling and work when necessary. I made friends with a girl who's been hitchhiking across Canada and the U.S. for the last year and a half, several people who live out of RVs, a couple guys driving around North America looking for the next great thing, a girl who has spent the last year in India and is contemplating where to go next, a handful of guys representing Matador Travel Network and, of course, the other Digital Vagabonding Roads Scholars. It was a happy and free group of people ~ very inspiring.

While the entire week was memorable, if I had to choose specific highlights, I would probably pinpoint staying up all night to watch the sun rise on the edge of the playa, taking "wedding" photos of my friend Erin in the middle of a dust storm, dancing the night away (twice!) at Opulent Temple, watching the temple burn, biking across the playa looking for hidden art and just generally questioning the way we live life outside of Burning Man.

I've written about my Burning Man experience extensively on Kaleidoscopic Wandering, and I encourage you to check out these blog posts:

Burning Man: A Life-Changing and Magical Experience

6 Life Lessons I Learned at Burning Man

A selection of my photos can be found here:

Images of Burning Man 2009

Also, if you read this blog, also enjoy Kaleidoscopic Wandering and are on Facebook (whew ~ now there's an exhaustive list!), you are more than welcome to join the Kaleidoscopic Wandering fan page on Facebook to stay up-to-date on new posts to the site. You can find the fan page here.

Neon on lights, techno music, stunning works of art and a new outlook on life ~

JoAnna