Weekend with My Parents

My parents were in town this weekend, which means we had an excuse to try new restaurants and explore Fort Worth like tourists.  My mom got in Friday night without any problems.  My dad, on the other hand, had a difficult journey that included two canceled flights.  He ended up arriving on Saturday morning, and after his extra long trip, I knew we had to show him a good time.

The first thing we did when my dad arrived was go to brunch.  I had read an article about Vickery Cafe, and it had also been recommended to me as basic breakfast place.  We were told to sit anywhere when we arrived at the low-key restaurant.  The waitress told us that they had new menus, which we found translated into slower service.  Regardless of the service, the food was good, straightforward breakfast food.  It was exactly what we all needed to start the day.

The new menus looked nice, but they didn't seem strange enough to merit slower service. 

 

 My parents and I each had an egg over easy with smoked ham and home fries... very good!

Hubby had a veggie omelet with hashbrowns.  He said the omelet had lots of veggies and that the hashbrowns were better than the home fries.

Saturday ended up being rainy, so we did much of our sightseeing from the car.  We drove around TCU and down Hulen Street.  We followed the Trinity River North from Oakmont Park to see where hubby had biked last week.  Then we went to Magnolia Avenue to have a snack at Avoca Coffee.  Avoca is another place that has been recommended to us and for good reason.  The coffee is not only fresh brewed but also fresh roasted in their roasting facility connected to the coffee shop.  Hubby praised his cup of coffee while I enjoyed a muffin.

Ahh... this tastes so good!

The muffin was so good that I forgot to take a picture until half way through... okay, maybe a little more than half way. 

We did a little more driving and just barely beat the rain home.  The rest of the afternoon was spent watching football and trying to get the dog to go to the bathroom in the rain.  We didn't want to venture too far for dinner since there were flood warnings in effect and decided on Hoffbrau Steakhouse.  Hoffbrau touts itself as the best steakhouse in Texas and as having the best chicken fried steak.  Both of these are slight exaggerations.  While the food was good and reasonably priced (for a steakhouse), it was not the best we had ever had.  That being said, it was all about the company and having my parents there was great.  We drank wine and ordered the Hoffbrau chips (homemade!) as an appetizer.  It was a fun (and convenient) night.

Sunday, we decided to try something more fancy for breakfast and headed to Tillman's Roadhouse in Fort Worth.  Yes, this is the same Tillman's we went to for dinner on Thursday.  We had been impressed by the atmosphere and food earlier in the week and thought it was worth a try for brunch.  Their brunch almost beats out their dinner.  With good weather left over from the storms, we enjoyed our brunch al fresco.  All the dishes were very good and satisfied our need for a more upscale (but affordable) brunch.

We all enjoyed their peppered popcorn appetizer.

They served a vanilla almond coffee that was the perfect accompaniment to the shaded patio.

The last piece of skillet monkey bread, which we shared as an appetizer.  It wasn't quite as gooey and sinful as I had hoped, but it was still good.

My mom and I split the eggs benedict, which came with smoked pork, a cheddar chive biscuit, and cheesy grits.

My dad ordered the banana chocolate chip pancakes that were served with a hefty side of fruit.

Hubby ordered the special, which was lemon pound cake french toast topped with a strawberry herb syrup.  It came with a side of two eggs and bacon... now that's a special!

Overall, it was a great (and very filling) weekend with my parents.  I dropped them off at the airport this morning, and now it's back to the work week and the regular routine... laundry, meal planning, grocery shopping... oh Mondays.

My mom made Maui the cutest pet bed.  It's no-sew, so it's so easy!  She cut too large fleece rounds.  Then she cut coordinating strips that get tied together.  Just add a little filling, and it makes a great pet bed... or the world's largest chew toy.