Traveling by Nature

It is Foodie Friday with some bonus content from my girl’s day in Frisco, TX last weekend! I spent the Saturday with my mom, sister, and sister-in-law. And it started out as any great girl’s day — with brunch!

We met at the Biscuit Bar. A fun restaurant with anything biscuit related located on the Boardwalk at Granite Park. They make the biscuits fresh throughout the day in an open style kitchen where you can see them being prepared. They truly have almost anything you could ever want on a biscuit.

The interior is modern and cute with those neon signs hung on the walls that seem to make the best Instagram pictures. It’s one of the best spots for a weekend brunch, but they are open all day and have options for any meal, snack and even dessert. Truly “all you knead is love”. Get it?

We all tried something different and I went the traditional breakfast route with a bacon, egg and cheese biscuit. It was piled high with eggs, perfectly cooked bacon and a creamy cheese sauce. If you want something outside of a normal breakfast option I also highly recommend their Nashville Hot Chicken biscuit! You can really tell that the biscuits are fresh.

The four of us also split orders of both types of their tots – regular and sweet potato. They have a variety of ways that you can top your tots such as fully loaded (think traditional bacon cheese fries), cheeseburger, and even holiday style! We ate ours without any toppings but you can’t go wrong with any of their options. The tot baskets come with plenty to share with a small group!

Leaving brunch full and needing to walk off the biscuits, we went shopping at Stonebriar Mall. It was very crowded and we didn’t do much shopping. We headed to TJ Maxx to look for some good deals and I found a few great items!

I found a romper, two dresses, and a blouse for work, all under $60. TJ Maxx has been my go-to for a long time. I’m a bargain shopper and don’t like paying high prices for clothing. However, on this day I found a new hobby and may never shop at TJ Maxx or other discount clothing stores again. Read on to find out why!

We hopped over to Old Navy afterward per my mom’s request. I’m not a huge fan as their clothes never seem to fit me quite right, BUT I did find some great flats on sale for $7!

We drove a little outside of Frisco for a mid-day caffeine pick-me-up. My sister’s boyfriend is from California and he introduced her to Dutch Bros Coffee. From my understanding this is a West Coast staple, and they’ve started to make their way into Texas. Their menu is incredibly large and overwhelming and my sister guided me through the options. She highly recommends their indulgent coffee creations, but since I’m not a fan of sweet coffee I opted for one of their unique iced tea blends. I chose the Tropical which was a blend of green tea, blue raspberry, passion fruit and coconut. It wasn’t too sweet and was lightly flavored. And the color turned out so pretty! For your sake I hope you have a Dutch Bros coming soon near you!

Now, onto why my shopping habits will now change forever. My sister-in-law has been an avid thrift shopper since the day I met her. I’m not joking when I say 90% of the clothing she wears is from a thrift store and I always just assumed she really lucked out with the pieces that she found. I wasn’t thrilled about spending part of my Saturday at the thrift store, but I was so wrong! I found so many incredibly items, each one under $6. Some pieces still had the original tag on them and were heavily discounted.

As you can see, I took thrift shopping very seriously. I ended up with 22 items for just a little over a hundred dollars. And they were all quality pieces of clothing! Knowing now what I can find at thrift stores I will never shop at a discount clothing store again. I found items that were just as great and paid a literal fraction of the cost. If thrift shopping intimidates you I encourage you try it! Go crazy! Because you’ll get so much bang for your buck!

It was a wonderful girl’s day out and here are just a few ideas if you’re near the Frisco area the next time you have a free Saturday or want to get together with some girlfriends! And I must say, it was a very successful shopping day.

Last week during our last day in Charlotte we decided to take a break from the theme park and looked for some other places to visit before our evening flight home. After searching the internet we discovered that the Billy Graham Library was located just 15 minutes from the airport. Ministry has been a large part of my life for many years and I have great respect for Billy Graham, the most impactful evangelist of the last century.

We read that admission was free and we expected a short walk-through with a bookstore, but it was so much more! There is an entire Journey of Faith experience, a bookstore, a deli, outdoor waking paths, and his childhood home located on property. We ended up spending around a total of three hours here and I highly recommend seeing it if you’re ever in the Charlotte area.

We arrived at lunch time and decided to eat at the Graham Brother’s Dairy Barn, located inside the library. It was an adorable deli with soup, sandwiches, salads, and milkshakes. It was reasonably priced, as well.

I opted for the daily special which was a BLT on wheat combined with a side of potato salad and an Arnold Palmer.

Following lunch we began our Journey of Faith tour. This was a walk-through experience of Billy Graham’s life and ministry through the decades.

It started off with Betsy, the talking cow, who gives you information about what you are going to experience during the Journey of Faith. It was honestly adorable and gave me Disney vibes. Betsy’s helpful information was followed by a video introducing you to Billy Graham and his ministry.

The experience consisted of thirteen separate rooms. These would feature videos from his ministry, display exhibits of memorabilia from his life, and well-themed interactive scenes. The first few rooms depicted his early life, such as his first crusade in California where his ministry really began and a room dedicated to his late wife, Ruth Graham.

Possibly one of my favorite rooms was one where they showed clips of Billy Graham being interviewed by various talk show hosts over the years. It was so fascinating to see him unashamedly speak the Truth while conversing with characters like Woody Allen and Regis Philbin.

The tour even took you through scenes dedicated to his ministry overseas. Billy Graham mad an impact in all inhabited continents and led millions of people to Christ outside of the U.S.

One of the most emotional rooms was designed to look like Germany after the wall was torn down. Billy Graham had a large influence in this piece of history.

The Journey of Faith wraps up with one last video where there is an invitation to accept Christ as your Lord and Savior. It was very moving and a beautiful way to wrap up the tour.

However, the most magnificent part of the tour was the lit up cross leading to a mural of Thomas Kinkade’s “The Cross” painting. It was breathtaking.

We exited the tour and concluded our time by visiting the Memorial garden, where he and his wife are both buried.

The full experience ended by a short walk through Billy Graham’s childhood home. You can only see the downstairs and it consists of about four rooms.

This was a great detour before heading to the airport and back to Dallas. Once again, I highly recommend checking it out next time you’re in the Charlotte area!

We kicked off our Charlotte weekend at the favorite Cedar Fair Park – Carowinds! Aaron had been here a couple of years ago while on a business trip, but this was my first time to see the park that he talks about often!

When Aaron and I do amusement park days we have a specific way we plan our meals. It always starts with a big breakfast to fill us up and get us through the first half of the day, a just-as-big lunch/dinner in the middle of the afternoon and dessert after the park closes. So like usual we started off the day with a big breakfast at a Southern favorite, Cracker Barrel.

Aaron stuck with his typical pancakes and bacon, skipping the eggs, while I went big with the Old Timer’s Breakfast. This reminded me of breakfast at my Mimi’s house with scrambled eggs, crispy bacon, hash brown casserole, grits, and biscuits with gravy. Have you ever heard of a more southern breakfast than this? I knocked it out except for the grits because I prefer those paired with seafood.

After stuffing ourselves with breakfast we headed over to the park about 2 hours before they opened. Aaron has major strategies when it comes to theme parks and part of that is being one of the first in line to enter the parking lot. There were surprisingly a large number of cars waiting there given how early we arrived.

Now the absolute coolest thing about Carowinds is that it actually stretches between both North and South Carolina. I had never been to either so I crossed off states #31 & #32 with this trip. There are a couple of picture spots at the front of the park where you can stand right on the line that divides the two Carolinas.

Like I said, Aaron has a strategy when it comes to theme parks and it doesn’t end with our arrival time. He had already planned out which rides to hit in which order. He had a goal of riding the top 5 roller coasters at the park before we left for our second big meal of the day. So off we went to Intimidator. It’s a simple out-and-back coaster with lots of airtime (my favorite coaster element). It’s themed after the late Dale Earnhardt, one of the most well respected NASCAR drivers off all time. I believe his racing nickname was “The Intimidator” so the theming fits.

We raced over to Copperhead Strike after that. A double launch coaster with a slow (very slow!) barrel roll to start out the ride. It’s made by Mack Rides which is my favorite coaster developer. I wanted to love this coaster so much, but in the end it made me incredibly motion sick. I blame the loops.

We rode Afterburn, another of the top 5, and previously themed to fit the Top Gun movie. By this point I was too motion sick to take any pictures of this one or anything else for quite a bit. While we waited for me to gain back my equilibrium, we ventured over to a Cedar Fair favorite, Boo Blasters on Boo Hill. A (funny?) scary dark ride with laser guns and targets for some friendly competition.

And I would like to document a first! I beat Aaron in a shooting game, which never ever happens. I’m pretty sure he has tried to let me win in the past, and I even lost those times. So this was a historical moment for our relationship. The score card at the end of the ride said I was a “Master Blaster” – no big deal!

I decided to give my body a break and found some shade to relax under while Aaron knocked out some rides that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. It’s important to note when visiting any Cedar Fair theme park that you can get a free cup of ice water at any food station, which they have on every corner. Drink water while you are there!

Before heading out for lunch-dinner, we got in line for ride 4 out of the top 5, Fury 325! This coaster opened up back in 2015, but it’s still all the rage in the coaster community. As it’s name says, it stands 325 feet tall and is the tallest and fastest giga coaster in the world, taking you to speeds of up to 95mph. I don’t even what to see what the picture of me looked like on the ride. The ride starts off with a 325 feet climb and dropping you down the first hill at an 81 degree angle. It was insane and I now understand why it’s the rollercoaster Aaron mentions often.

We headed out for lunch to our favorite, Chuy’s. We luckily have been able to find one in most parts of the US and it’s always our go-to because we can fill up on chips & salsa (and their creamy jalapeño ranch) while splitting an order of chicken fajitas. I could probably eat Chuy’s everyday of the week and not get sick of it, but that wouldn’t be very healthy for me, would it?

We headed back to the park for the rest of the evening where we knocked out a good chunk of the other must-rides. Unfortunately, a size-able portion of the park closed early for their July 4th fireworks show. We hung around for a little while to see them, but since they started at 8:45PM and the sun hadn’t quite set, they were difficult to see in the bright sky and a bit disappointing.

As soon as we realized the fireworks weren’t anything special, we headed out before the rest of the park to beat traffic and find some dessert. We were so excited to discover that Charlotte has a few Rita’s Ice locations. These are not very common in Texas and we have to go if we find one when on a trip. If you’ve never had a gelati, layers of Italian ice and custard, then promise me you’ll find one and try it! In the spirit of Independence Day I went with Blue Raspberry and vanilla custard. The colors are patriotic right?

This wrapped up our Carowinds day perfectly. In case you’re now wanting to plan a trip here, I’ll make you aware that there is a water park located inside of the theme park too! We spent some of the next day there. Being a water park and that we were having fun and spending time together I didn’t get any pictures and it wouldn’t make for a very interesting blog post. I’d encourage you to bring your swimsuit and spend a couple of hours here during the hot summer months! It was a great way to spend The Fourth of July and we look forward to going back!

Question of the Day:

How did you spend July 4th? Comment below!

Hello from Charlotte! We decided to spend the long weekend out of town in Charlotte, North Carolina and we loved it! We flew in a little after 5PM on Friday, picked up our rental car, and headed towards Uptown for an evening walk and an attempt to find dinner.

We found cheap parking near the Panther’s football stadium where we took a walk around it before hitting some heavy construction.

The weather was perfect for an evening stroll so we ventured further into Uptown passing several beautiful buildings such as the Mint Museum and St. Peter’s Catholic Church.

Right to the left of the above church sat an area called The Green and it was a beautiful courtyard area that we walked through.

It was filled with cute street signs that had the name of authors on them that correlated with actual names of towns in the different states around the U.S. It was charming and eccentric at the same time, and I had to Google who some of the authors were as we passed the signs. Who knows, I may be picking up some new books to read soon!

The walking paths ended with magnificent book statues representing some classics!

We walked a little further past The Green deeper into Uptown in search of dinner. Unfortunately, we had a hard time finding something that we both agreed on and there were not many options to choose from. It seems the pandemic sadly hit Uptown Charlotte pretty hard as most of the restaurants were boarded up and permanently closed. Since it was getting late, and the sun was starting to set, we headed toward the Ballantyne area to check into our hotel and find some fast food before getting to bed.

I definitely recommend taking a walk around this area if you ever find yourself in Charlotte!

More Charlotte adventures to come later this week!

Let’s kick off a new weekly theme of Foodie Friday here at Traveling by Nature! This may be a delicious new restaurant I’ve tried around the country or world, a unique or strange new food, or a recipe I’ve made while being at home. This week it is the latter! I was blessed with a full week at home and that means meal prepping. I eat out so often with a full-time travel job that I relish the times i get to cook in my own kitchen. This week I tried a new recipe for lunch: Cajun Shrimp Zoodle Bowls. It brings home that Cajun flavor while sticking to a healthy meal option in the process. Let’s get started! 

Here’s what you need: 

– Bag of Medium Frozen Shrimp

– 1 Tbs. Cajun seasoning (I used Tejun)

– 1 Tbs. Oil (I used Coconut Oil)

– 1 Tbs. Garlic Salt

– 1 bell pepper (Can be any color; I used green)

– 1 Onion

– 2 large Zuchinnis

– Green onions, for garnish

To begin, in a bowl, toss thawed shrimp with Cajun seasoning and garlic salt. Make sure it is well coated and evenly seasoned. Heat oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Once hot, add the seasoned shrimp and cook until the shrimp is opaque and fully heated through, about 3-5 minutes. Once cooked, remove shrimp from the pan and cover to keep warm. 

Add in the sliced bell pepper and chopped onion to the pan. Cook until they begin to soften, about 5-7 minutes. You can add in a pinch of salt and pepper for seasoning, if you wish. Add the shrimp back in and toss to combine. 

Next, it’s time to zoodle those zuchinnis! There are many ways you can do this. Personally, I have a vegetable spiralizer that I used to make zuchinni ribbons. You can also buy pre-zoodled zuchinni if that is easier for you, as well. 

You can buy this Vegetable Spiralizer here. 

I chose to leave my zuchinni ribbons uncooked and ate my bowls as a chilled dish. You can serve to your preference.

Lastly, you can garnish your Cajun Shrimp Zoodle Bowls with green onion, and really any other topping you like. I topped mine with some sriracha sauce as well, because I honestly put it on everything! Enjoy your bowl chilled or heated up and you have a whole week of meal-prepped lunches or dinners that are flavorful and healthy! 

There’s a new place in Dallas that you have to check out! Especially if you are a big foodie! It’s called Eataly and it is the Italian Food lover’s dream come true. 

Eataly is located inside of NorthPark Center, a luxery shopping center in Dallas, Texas. It includes an entire Italian grocery market and several dining options within the space. 

Eataly includes several different service counters including dessert, pasta made in-store, meat, seafood, cheese, and a bakery. Everything looked so fresh and delicious that I nearly found it overwhelming with all the options. It was very crowded the evening that we went and we hope to return during non-peak hours to more fully enjoy the experience. Some of the lines were so long on a Saturday evening that we decided not to wait, but still took our time perusing the aisles and counters. 

I could have spent forever in this little produce area inside the store. It was decorated as what you might see at an outdoor farmer’s market and I just loved it! They had your typical produce that you could find an any regular grocery store, but also had some produce that would be more specific to Italian-style cooking and items that I had not seen before. However, even their regular fruits and vegetables looked incredible and fresh — just like everything else in the store!

I definitely recommend making this a destination for a fun date night or girl’s night! Pick one of their restaurants to dine at or make a meal out the different items from their service counters! Personally, we love picking up fresh Italian ingredients to make dinner at home together!

On Saturday we had the opportunity to check out a cool new business in the DFW area called VR Trip! Virtual Reality has become increasingly popular and entertainment venues have been popping up to allow you to experience this new world of technology without having to buy expensive equipment to keep around your home. 

The set up was very simple. There were about 8 personal VR stations located in the space. Each space included a screen displaying the VR world the user was in, a headset of the VR goggles with headphones, handheld remotes to control the games and environments and a mat to define the space to stay in. The headphones were a great touch as it really immersed you even more into the virtual world that you choose. In addition, the mat was helpful because otherwise you can very easily wander far without realizing it when submerged into the fantasy. 

The owner had the place organized in a way that was very open and not too cramped as I have experienced some of these places being. There were a couple couches throughout the building for those who weren’t actively participating in the VR (or for those like me who get motion sick way too easily!). 

There were about forty games or virtual settings to choose from, as well as, a couple of multi-player games that allowed to to participate with others in your group. 

There were some other pretty neat additions outside of the standard VR set-up, including a race car simulator and a rollercoaster simulator. I believe the owner told us that the race car was built from the actual inside workings of a Nascar model. This simulator is an additional cost at $2 per minute as it seems to be a bit more advanced it it’s technology. However, the rollercoaster simulator is included in the cost and had a variety of tracks to choose from. We were able to try out one of these, and while it is not anything like experience a real rollercoaster it is still pretty neat. The chair turns side-to-side and upside down to make you feel like you are truly riding the rollercoaster you are seeing through your VR set. 

Overall, this was a fun Saturday afternoon outing that I highly recommend if you’re in the DFW area. The owner was so friendly and extremely helpful in us getting comfortable with the technology. Visit their website and request a voucher for a first free visit! 

Oh, and if you’re anything like me, take some Dramamine before you go! 🙂