El Nopalito | Eugene, OR

This will be my first specific blog post related to food. You may have noticed I added Food and Travel categories to my site. It seems, as I head full-on into retirement, those are two areas of our lives that are rising to prominence. So here it is.

El Nopalito, in downtown Eugene, is a short walk from our house. We had walked by it several times in the last couple of months (they opened at this location in July) and kept saying we need to try them out.

Last evening, we had that opportunity. And we were NOT disappointed!

Chips and Guac

We started with the Chips and Guac. Everyone seems to do theirs slightly different and some are too salty, have weird flavors of spice combinations, or even dry (or greasy), stale chips. El Nopalito nailed it. The chips were fresh, crispy and not greasy at all. The guac had just the right amount of salt and seasonings. It was excellent. We immediately felt we were off to a good start and anticipated the next round.

Carnitas Taco and Fish Taco

We wanted a variety this first time, so we each got one taco. As is now common in most Mexican restaurants, the tacos are reasonably-priced street tacos, so they are smaller. That’s OK, because we also ordered a quesadilla. I had the Carnitas, which was smoked pork and very flavorful. They have four salsas to choose from and we tasted all four and settled on two. I can’t remember which two, but they were all good. Brenda had the fish taco and thought it was very good as well.

Our only criticism was I felt the Carnitas could have used some jalapeño (next time) and Brenda felt the fish taco was good, but not the best she had ever had. All in all, though, they were very tasty and flavorful.

Tinga de Pollo Quesadilla

OK, so don’t let this picture fool you. The quesadilla was probably my favorite of all that we ordered. Doesn’t look like much, but it was very tasty. Tinga de Pollo is generally a shredded chicken, braised in a chipotle-tomato sauce and spiced. So while all you see here is a flour tortilla, inside is…wonderful! The combination of chicken and spice was perfect. I will definitely order this again. And I won’t share it with Brenda!

We WILL be going back. I’m anxious to try their margaritas and a few other items on the menu.

RATING:
Food: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Service: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Atmosphere: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Victoria 2025 | Day Six

Our last day, as we were getting ready to leave, it started to rain bit. Our timing for the trip was impeccable. We were taking the noon ferry from the north end of the island, to Vancouver, then down to Seattle. I have to say this was the first trip I didn’t obsess about locating superchargers along our route. And the attached picture shows why. Between Vancouver BC and Seattle, there are no less than a dozen Superchargers in the 140 mile leg. Charging would NOT be a problem.

Screenshot

We had a great view of Pike Place Market from our room, the hotel was very nice and we were ready to get home.

All in all, it was a wonderful short vacation. It was also economical for “fuel” costs. We spent just $63 to drive 900 miles.

Not too shabby! 

Victoria 2025 | Day Five

Friday was our actual anniversary.

First, we toured Parliament (we had not done that on our first trip to Victoria), walked to a coffee shop (and had awesome coffee), then over to Fisherman’s Wharf for lunch. I’m starting to eat fish, but the fish and chips for lunch (even though Brenda said they were good) were just “meh” for me. But we did find a street vendor selling dried, pressed seaweed and kelp art that was beautiful. Our dining room pictures from New York in 2003 had faded, so we bought some replacements.

I had made dinner reservations at an Italian restaurant (Il Terrazzo) that came highly recommended. I was glad, because they were packed. However, dinner was excellent and so was the service. There is an Il Terrazzo in Portland we liked as well, but they are not connected.

Victoria 2025 | Day Four

Our fourth day was all about Butchart Gardens. It had been about 40 years since we were there and it’s just as nice as we remember. Gorgeous flowers and greenery and the weather was absolutely perfect. Sunny and at times a bit overcast, but in the mid 70s. 

Victoria 2025 | Day Three

I have traditionally bought yellow roses for Brenda on our anniversary. Since we were going to be in Victoria on the actual day and since we would be leaving Victoria the day after our anniversary, I decided to have them delivered a couple of days early so she could enjoy them longer. I didn’t think they would travel well. She liked them.

We spent Day Three at the Royal Canadian Museum. We got to see John Lennon’s Rolls Royce (complete with actual record player). Very nice museum.

That evening, we walked over to Chinatown. Everything said it was phenomenal. It was nice, but VERY small. Only a couple of blocks wide and three blocks long. None of the Chinese restaurants in Chinatown looked appealing, so we ventured out a few blocks to Hope Key. It had great Yelp reviews and the owner was named Brenda. So it seemed natural. 

We got into a great conversation with her and found out her husband’s name is also Bill. Wow. Such a coincidence! And yes, the food was excellent. Highly recommend!

Victoria 2025 | Day Two

The next morning’s breakfast was amazing. Only one other couple was staying at the B&B and we engaged in a good conversation. We then packed up, then headed up to Hurricane Ridge.

Hurricane Ridge is probably our favorite National Park hike anywhere. This was now at least our third time there. Sadly, the lodge burned down a couple of years ago during a renovation project, but we had decent weather and packed a lunch to carry in and carry out.

The weather was decent. A bit more overcast than we hoped, but very nice nonetheless. Cold (it’s almost 6,000 ft elevation), but we enjoyed a picnic lunch anyway.

I had scheduled an evening ferry to Victoria so we could arrive around dinner time.

Victoria 2025 | Day One

Unlike our recent Chicago trip, this one was to be a road trip. We find we really like road trips, listening to an audio book on the long drives and just enjoying the scenery.

We left, as usual, around 10 am and headed north. This is our “normal” for a couple of reasons. First, it let’s us have a comfortable, unrushed morning, and second, it puts us at the Vancouver supercharger right around noon for lunch. You see, there’s a Thai restaurant we really like in the shopping center adajcent to the charger, so we can “fill up” while we eat. And we did just that.

Our first night was at a B&B we really enjoy in Port Angeles and we rolled in right around 4:30. This gave us time to unload the necessities from the car and head out for dinner.

We tried a new spot, the 929, A Woodfired Grill. We had heard their halibut was to die for. But the water had been too choppy that day and they didn’t have halibut. We “settled” for the smoked salmon linguini. Oh. My. Word. It was phenomenal. If you’re ever in Port Angeles, go there.

We settled in for the night and looked forward to a wonderful breakfast the next morning.

Chicago 2025 | Day Eight

Wednesday morning, we started with breakfast at The Good Eating Company, bid farewell to our server there (who recommended a cafe in Portland for us). Then decided to just check out and head to the airport. Our flight didn’t leave until about 4:00, but we were tired and ready to go home.

We were glad we did. There was some construction going on around the Blue line and the airport was packed. We had a comfortable ride in, had lunch and bought some salads for dinner on the flight and hung out. It was comfortable timing, with just enough margin to not feel rushed.

We arrived home around 10:00 pm and Brenda’s brother shuttled us home and we could sleep in our own bed. All flights were good, connections good and a very enjoyable experience.

Chicago 2025 | Day Seven

Tuesday we took the subway down to the Field Museum. We had walked so much and it was just a little farther than we wanted to walk this day, so we took advantage of our transit pass and took the red line down.

We had visited the Natural History Museum in New York and that still probably has to be one of our favorite museums. We had kind of expected a similar museum experience at the Field, but it’s just a “normal” museum. 

Not as many pictures this day. We were winding down. Usually a good vacation for us is right at a week. And we were at a week. We finished our day off with a second dinner at Maharaj. And it was just as good as the first time. A wonderful bookend to our trip!

Chicago 2025 | Day Six

Monday was the Art Institute, largely because they are closed Tuesdays, the Field Museum (our other museum stop) is open every day and we were headed home Wednesday. Our breakfasts so far had been at a little spot next to our hotel. Average muffins and poor service so we went on an online search. I found the Good Eating Company a few blocks from the hotel. WAY better! And they had good Americanos. We ended up eating there Tuesday and Wednesday, our last day in Chicago.

The Art Institute had a special Freida Kahlo exhibit for an extra $5 so we opted for that. Interesting, but glad we only paid $5.

What impressed me the most was Van Gogh’s self portrait (small, about 12 x 18 inches), Wood’s American Gothic (also small), and Seurat’s La Grand Jatte. I had studied these in college, but to see them in person was awesome. La Grand Jatte is 10 x 12 FEET in size. Impressive use of the equivalent of late 1800s pixelating.

So many other things we saw there; we could have spent two or three days and not seen it all.