a trip to venice.

no, not venice italy. jean and i visited our parents in venice, florida over the weekend. my mom had a surprise birthday party on saturday and she had no idea we were part of the surprise. she was in such shock, that she didn't come near us for about 30 minutes. needless to say, we all relaxed and had a good time after some yummy filipino food.

i really enjoyed the new restaurants we tried during this trip. angelo's italian market was super cute. it was just down the road from my parents. market turned restaurant with just a few tables inside. we were not able to sitdown and eat (reservations required), but ordered some lasagna to go. jean found the case full of italian sweets.


mom took us to lunch at a thai bistro that she seems to frequent. we were headed to the outlets, so we shared a few dishes for fuel. i am not a big sweets person, but i definitely enjoyed the thai doughnuts with a peanut dipping sauce. little pillows of dough that were warm and melted in your mouth. the sauce had just the right amount of sweetness to it.















all mom kept talking about was a restaurant with the best fried chicken around. she claimed it was the best she has ever tasted, crispy on the outside, juicy on the inside, salted to perfection. well, of course we had to go try it! it was an amish
resturant called Troyer's Dutch Heritage. as you can see, i had to try it all. the buffet had just the right amount of choices. not too overwhelming. by the way, the chicken was wonderful (but still comes in second to jan's fried chicken). they made everything from scratch and even had a storefront with lots for sale. bread, cheese, pies, cookies, peanut butter, meat, salsa, preserves! i had to get a small strawberry pie for us to try. is it wrong that i had it for breakfast?

you can't go to florida without having seafood. Captain Eddie's Family Seafood. fried seafood served in a gigantic boat dish, of course. ok, it wasn't the best thing for me, but it was really good. i had the coconut crusted shrimp and catfish. the coleslaw was creamy yummy, hushpuppies were perfect and a stella to wash it down with.

i'm beginning to enjoy venice more and more now!