Neal "Emerald Dragon" E.'s Profile

The newest business in Gainesville, VA as of two days ago - yes, this 7-11 opened two days ago.

It's located off the section of Heathcote Boulevard between Catharpin Road and U.S. 29.

I stopped in today for some Advil gelcaps, a bottle of Gatorade, and some water.

The friendly young lady working the register thanked me for coming in. Knowing that the place was very new - I asked when they opened. She told they opened two days ago. I then welcomed them to the neighborhood!

Of course the place is all new and shiny. Very clean and well organized. This is the closest 7-Eleven to me and will now compete for my business with the Sheetz in Haymarket for certain trips: coffee, milk, water, Gatorade, soda, etc.

There are no gas pumps at this 7-11 - so they can't compete with Sheetz there.

This is the third 7-11 in Gainesville, VA. There used to be three 7-11's - two of which were casualties in the massive U.S. 29/LInton Hall Road/Gallagher Road interchange improvements. This 7-11 now returns the area to a total of three 7-11s.

NOTE: As I suspected - due to the newness of this retail complex, Google maps is currently unable to depict the map location of this business.

It's been a long time since I've had pizza from Pizza Hut. I am not among the PH haters out there. In fact, I've always enjoyed PH pizza - it's just that there is no PH that delivers in the Gainesville/Haymarket area.

Called ahead to place an order for pickup and then stopped on the way home to pick up the order. Ordered a large stuffed crust supreme pizza, with extra pepperoni and Italian sausage, plus 10 spicy Buffalo wings.

I'd forgotten how delicious and buttery the stuffed crust pizza crust is - particularly the area with the cheese. Delicious! The wings were also good - skin had a lightly crispy aspect to it which I like - I dislike wings with soft, undercooked skin.

I only had to wait a couple of minutes when I arrived to pick up my order!

For folks that want to eat in - this is a full service Pizza Hut.

I think this Shell has been around as long as there has been a strip of businesses along Route 234.

Stopped in for gas the other evening. Swiped at the pump and gassed up, no problems.

Strange interface on the pump. Most pumps the card slot has a vertical alignment - the card slot on this pump was aligned horizontally.

The receipt slot is positioned on the far right of the pump apparatus. It took me a few seconds to locate it - on most modern pumps - the receipt slot is right there with everything else.

After reading the rave reviews on Yelp for this place - and also having it recommended to me by the Vietnamese ladies at the Spa I frequent - I knew I had to check the place out. I was especially intrigued by the Cajun chicken option on their menu.

So I tried the place out on a Friday night. Ordered the 2 piece Cajun chicken, with sides of Mac and cheese, mashed potatoes and gravy, a biscuit, and a Diet Coke. I sat at one of the high top bar tables off to the left of the bar and planned to eat in.

The place is rather dimly lit (at least in the evening). Candles adorned each table and the bar and were lit and softly glowing. Over in one corner was a young man playing the acoustic guitar and singing - kind of like what you might see at lunch time in a Potbelly. Except there were some folks there actually listening to the music.

The noise was more than I cared to deal with - as I was still fighting an ongoing headache - so I changed my order to go.

When I got the food home, I found the pieces of chicken were both chicken legs - but somehow they had been butterflied/flattened out - yet were still attached to the bone. The flavor was absolutely rich, spicy, luscious, and delicious! The flavor is not what I would characterize as a traditional Cajun spice flavor - but it was still very good.

The sides were a mixed bag. The Mac and Cheese was very average and plain - the cheese was a bit to thin and creamy - I prefer something a bit thicker and cheesier. However, the mashed potatoes and gravy, and the biscuit - both hit the spot! The biscuit was flaky and almost perfect!

I can't wait to try more of their chicken variations!

Ordered their 8" Steak & Cheese Sub with a side of fries, and a large Diet Coke.  You order at the register, then grab a table and sit down (if you are eating in).

The guys running the place seem like they are the real deal Italian (or somewhere close by in the Mediterranean). I saw them greet a couple of other folks who came in with cheek kissing like you'd see in parts of Southern Europe/Mediterranean.

Anyhoo - back to the sub. I ordered it with mayo, lettuce, tomato, onions, and hot peppers. Sub bread was fabulous, meat, cheese, and the other ingredients - all tasty. Fries were excellent, hot, meaty, crisp. Food came up quickly. Guy brought my food out to my table.

There is not a lot of room to eat in here - but there are tables - about 10-12 I'd guesstimate.

The only reason I am holding back the fifth star is that I asked for hot peppers - what I got were bland banana peppers.

I would most definitely eat here again - excellent sub!

I used to live in the City of Fairfax when I was growing up. This became the Mickey D's we gravitated towards - as it was newer and nicer than the one on Lee Highway.

I don't visit this one as often as I used to - but it still periodically gets some of my business. Was waiting a bit for it to be time for my Doctor's appointment earlier this week. I hit this Mickey D's for lunch - via the Drive Thru - had the number #4 - Double Quarter Pounder with Cheese, large fries, and a Diet Coke.

Burger was hot and tasty, not overly greasy, fries were crisp - the fries could have been a little hotter, Diet Coke was icy cold.

The one thing this McDonald's needs to do is gut the restrooms and rebuild them.

**3.5 stars**

Yankee Pier is the old go to food joint when I'm flying United through SFO. I've eaten here a number of times over the years. It's never outstanding food, instead it has consistently delivered decent food: clam chowder, grilled salmon, salads, fish n' chips - have all been good.

A group of us ate breakfast here on the last trip through SFO - I ordered their breakfast sandwich - toasted bread with scrambled eggs, ham, and cheese, with a side of breakfast potatoes, plus coffee and a glass of ice water.

There were seven of us - and the place was busy - they still managed to get our food out to us in a short amount of time.

Sandwich was tasty - although I will say that the bread on my sandwich was a bit on the dry/overtoasted side. It could have used a bit of butter spread on it to lube it up. Potatoes were tasty! We got out of there and down to the gate just in time to board!

Will continue to eat here!

The second iteration of the Yelp Hot Sauce Tasting Party took place this afternoon - out in the country at the beautiful home of Bill and Cheryl B. - our hosts.

I arrived a bit early to whip up my famous Guacamole - it was a community effort as Bill and Cheryl pitched in and we had it cranked out in no time!

I also supplied some of the hot sauces, as well as some interesting beverage choices.

On hand were James L., Mikkela T., Mike T., Jesse C., Chris W., Brandon B., myself and of course our gracious hosts Bill and Cheryl B.

Once other Yelpers arrived - we waited until 2:00 pm to start the hot sauce tasting. We lined up all of the hot sauces - as best we could from mildest to hottest, took some photos - then issued the hot sauce challenge and the rules - anyone who wanted to participate in the challenge - was not allowed to drink anything during the tasting - AND - had to wait for ten minutes after the last hot sauce before being allowed to eat or drink anything. I believe we had either 6 or 7 participants - we all wrote our names down on pieces of paper and tossed them in a cup (for a prize drawing later for whomever made it through).

I should note that you could also choose not to participate in the challenge - and only taste a few hot sauces, or as many as you wanted, or even none!

We tasted 13 hot sauces - moving from left to right (see the attached picture of the hot sauces) with a locally made Peach Habanero sauce - made by a local BBQ joint - sweet and delicious with only a slight hint of heat. Then on to the Bahr's Habanero sauce and so on. Cheryl shook out hits of hot sauce onto our spoons. Somewhere around the midpoint - we lost a couple of Yelpers - I believe somewhere in here both Jesse and Mike dropped out.

We had hot sauces with a balance of sweet and hot, some with more traditional vinegar-based undertones, smoky, chunky hot sauces, - cayenne peppers, Serrano chiles, Habaneros, Chipotle peppers, and more. One of the most delicious hot sauces was made by Jesse C. himself! Made with Chocolate Habaneros he grew himself! Delicious hot sauce!

At the end, five of us made it through all 13 hot sauces - then we waited 10 minutes to see if anyone wilted. No one did - so Cheryl drew names out of the cup for various hot sauce/hot pepper related prizes. Then James wanted to try eating the Chocolate Habanero pepper - so James, Mikkela, myself, and one other (name to be updated later) cut the pepper up and ate it straight. Pretty hot IMHO - but not overwhelmingly so.

Then we dug into the food! Cheryl and Bill supplied some awesomely yummy and delicious food! Of particular note was her Tortilla soup - I can't say enough good things about this soup - I had three bowls of it! I was thrilled with her cranberry jalapeno salsa, the cornbread, and the Pumpkin rolls. I also ate three of those. Omigod were those good!

We then sampled two different Old English style hard ciders from Albemarle CiderWorks, a bottle of Rockfish Cyser (an ancient medieval beverage) - which is a mixture of mead and cider, and to finish it off - we drank a Blueberry melomel (a blueberry mead). Afterward, we enjoyed Mike's Honey ice cream - it was like having mead mixed in with vanilla ice cream - very creamy and delicious!

At some point we hit the basement to crank up Bill's HD projector and play Episode One: "The Phantom Menace" while playing a few rounds of pool.

A really fun and enjoyable day!

A full set of pix of the event are here:
http://www.flickr.com/...

What a fabulous, cool, wonderful museum! We visited here as a large group after a very long day of meetings - problem was - I was to tired to really focus on each exhibit and get into the learning in more depth - so I found myself skimming a lot - which I'd rather not do...

The exhibits on Climate Change, the rainforest, the downstairs aquarium, and the green rooftop - all were highlights.

We had dinner catered in the museum - food stations were located throughout the place - as well as beverage stations where one could get wine, beer, soda, and water.

I would love to go back when I have time and not mentally exhausted!

After our tour of Alcatraz Island was completed - we were picked up at the Island by the San Francisco Belle - a stern wheeler with three enclosed decks.

Upon boarding, we found snacks and beverages waiting for us on the first deck - cheeses and crackers were about on several tables, popcorn was available at the popcorn station, and other appetizers were spread around the room by servers. Cold beer, wine, and soda were available. A large HD projector was showing the Pittsburgh Steelers vs. Denver Broncos game.

At some point, we were requested to move upstairs for dinner - to the second and third decks. I went to the top deck, grabbed a table, and then some food:  Prime rib, roasted turkey, mashed potatoes with gravy, macaroni and cheese, vegetables, cranberry sauce, and a roll with butter.

Food was rather average. There were also food stations for Tex Mex and Chinese style foods. On the third deck - there was also a dance floor in the center of the deck with a live band cranking out rock and roll and dance tunes.

After dinner, I spent a lot of time on the upper observation deck outside - enjoying the night views of the Bay. We were privileged to see a live fireworks display as we cruised - launched from a barge out on the Bay.

The one rather unpleasant aspect of the cruise was docking - we were standing out on the front of the ship - they started up a rather noisy engine, which put out a lot of fumes.