{"id":19,"date":"2011-11-06T15:12:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T20:12:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/boardingarea.com\/blogs\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/"},"modified":"2013-04-23T14:00:22","modified_gmt":"2013-04-23T18:00:22","slug":"my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/","title":{"rendered":"My Favorite Things – Top Hotels and Restaurants"},"content":{"rendered":"

Having spent the last 6 years of my life on the road, I\u2019ve seen a lot of interesting and unique places. I\u2019ve been to all 50 states and 4 Canadian Provinces. I\u2019ve been to the UK, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Thailand, and Singapore and this month I\u2019m headed to Australia and Fiji.<\/p>\n

Ironically, I\u2019m writing this post from my home base, Charleston, South Carolina. This is the longest time in 6 years that I have been at home and on November 15th I start year 7 of travel. In 2012, I\u2019ll focus solely on international travel and expect to add a lot of amazing destinations to this list.<\/p>\n

I just got Oprah\u2019s O Magazine December 2011 issue filled with her favorite things. The magazine inspired me to think back about my travels and my favorite things. So here they are:<\/p>\n

FOOD<\/em><\/strong>:
\nNYC – Morimoto<\/a> \u2013 The Carmel Apple Tourban -a free-form apple souffle sitting on apple confit topped with a housemade cotton candy, accompanied by vanilla bean ice cream and carmel glaze. Morimoto is one of my favorite restaurants, but this dessert is one of my all-time favorites\u2026.#2 behind the Pot de chocolate et Cr\u00e8me at Church and State in LA.<\/p>\n

LA \u2013 Church & State<\/a> – the Pot de chocolate et Cr\u00e8me \u2013 a chocolate coffee custard w\/cr\u00e8me. The Pot de chocolate et Cr\u00e8me is to die for. It\u2019s my #1 favorite of all time. I could order it for my appetizer, for my main course and for dessert and be totally happy!<\/p>\n

Philadelphia – Abners<\/a> – The best Philly Cheesesteak I\u2019ve ever had. On the University of Pennsylvania campus in University City, this is a place you must visit.<\/p>\n

Sylvia ,NC – Lulu’s<\/a> on Main – they make their own salad dressings that are to die for. I went twice in the same week \u2013 that\u2019s how good it was (it had nothing to do w\/the fact that there\u2019s not much else in town!).<\/p>\n

Bar Harbor Maine – Guinness and Porcelli’s<\/a> – a fabulous Italian restaurant in a very small town. We ate here at least once a week over year-long project in Bar Harbor. The Sausage and Fennel Cream Pasta was my favorite. If it\u2019s still on the menu, I highly recommend it. They also have fabulous Cr\u00e8me Brule. Guinness and Porcelli\u2019s is definitely worth a visit. Granted, eating here with one of my best friends in the world, Casey, made it all the better!<\/p>\n

Anacortes, WA \u2013 Adrift – a very cool place. The food is all locally grown and the restaurant features local art and sustainable wood floors and furniture.<\/p>\n

San Francisco, CA \u2013 First Crush<\/a> Restaurant and Wine Bar- has the best desserts in San Fran in my opinion and great dessert wines! The
\nvalhrona triple chocolate mousse was amazing.<\/p>\n

Beverly Hill, CA \u2013 Bouchon Beverly Hills<\/a> \u2013 my all time favorite restaurant. I love Chef Thomas Keller\u2019s Beverly Hills restaurant. You can\u2019t go wrong with anything you order.<\/p>\n

HOTELS<\/em><\/strong>:
\nThe JW Marriott Phuket Resort and Spa<\/a>, Thailand \u2013 the hotel was amazing and the food was exceptional. One of the most beautiful beaches in the world.<\/p>\n

The Le M\u00e9ridien Khao Lak Beach & Spa Resort <\/a>, Thailand \u2013 a little slice of heaven. The Le Meridien offered one of the best meals in Thailand in their Italian Restaurant \u2013 the smoked salmon Bruschetta has become a staple at all of my parties (the head chef was kind enough to provide me the recipe.)<\/p>\n

The Stanford Court Renaissance<\/a>, in San Francisco CA \u2013 the hotel is a fabulous boutique hotel with exceptional service. Located on Nob Hill, the Stanford Court has a perfect location (on two trolley lines) and amazing views of the city.<\/p>\n

I\u2019ll keep adding to the list of my favorite things so keep checking back.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Having spent the last 6 years of my life on the road, I\u2019ve seen a lot of interesting and unique places. I\u2019ve been to all 50 states and 4 Canadian Provinces. I\u2019ve been to the UK, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Thailand,…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[44,742],"tags":[743,23],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"yoast_head":"\nMy Favorite Things - Top Hotels and Restaurants - VeryGoodPoints<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"My Favorite Things - Top Hotels and Restaurants - VeryGoodPoints\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Having spent the last 6 years of my life on the road, I\u2019ve seen a lot of interesting and unique places. I\u2019ve been to all 50 states and 4 Canadian Provinces. I\u2019ve been to the UK, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Thailand,...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@first2board\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@first2board\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"First2Board\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/\",\"name\":\"My Favorite Things - Top Hotels and Restaurants - VeryGoodPoints\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2011-11-06T20:12:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2013-04-23T18:00:22+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#\/schema\/person\/11811aec9aa59c274de6f41bcca32036\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"My Favorite Things – Top Hotels and Restaurants\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/\",\"name\":\"VeryGoodPoints\",\"description\":\"Just Another First2Board Blog\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#\/schema\/person\/11811aec9aa59c274de6f41bcca32036\",\"name\":\"First2Board\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/545481aa7c8fa44d3c4661258a2b5f49?s=96&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/545481aa7c8fa44d3c4661258a2b5f49?s=96&r=g\",\"caption\":\"First2Board\"},\"url\":\"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"My Favorite Things - Top Hotels and Restaurants - VeryGoodPoints","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_title":"My Favorite Things - Top Hotels and Restaurants - VeryGoodPoints","twitter_description":"Having spent the last 6 years of my life on the road, I\u2019ve seen a lot of interesting and unique places. I\u2019ve been to all 50 states and 4 Canadian Provinces. I\u2019ve been to the UK, Paris, Switzerland, Germany, Thailand,...","twitter_creator":"@first2board","twitter_site":"@first2board","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"First2Board","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/","url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/","name":"My Favorite Things - Top Hotels and Restaurants - VeryGoodPoints","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#website"},"datePublished":"2011-11-06T20:12:00+00:00","dateModified":"2013-04-23T18:00:22+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#\/schema\/person\/11811aec9aa59c274de6f41bcca32036"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/2011\/11\/06\/my-favorite-things-top-hotels-and-restaurants\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"My Favorite Things – Top Hotels and Restaurants"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#website","url":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/","name":"VeryGoodPoints","description":"Just Another First2Board Blog","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#\/schema\/person\/11811aec9aa59c274de6f41bcca32036","name":"First2Board","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/545481aa7c8fa44d3c4661258a2b5f49?s=96&r=g","contentUrl":"http:\/\/2.gravatar.com\/avatar\/545481aa7c8fa44d3c4661258a2b5f49?s=96&r=g","caption":"First2Board"},"url":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p39prY-j","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/first2board.com\/verygoodpoints\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}