The Hostel in the Forest

My magical weekend was a three day stretch that I won't soon forget. It was so full of beauty and happiness that a part of me doesn't want to share it. I want to keep these warm, happy feelings inside my heart, and these warm, happy memories inside my mind, and lock them inside of me, hoarding them all to myself. A delicious secret.

But that wouldn't be very nice. Sharing is caring, after all, and once in a great while, something that is "too good to be true," really is too good, and really is true. Something like that is worth sharing. So I present to you... The Hostel in the Forest.

I arrived at the hostel just a few minutes after my best friend, Kate and her hubby, Brandon. We were meeting here as a fun little get-away/vacation before they pressed on to Maine. The magic began just after narrowly missing the entrance. We both got a kick out of the extremely bumpy ride down the long, winding driveway. As I bumped along, I rolled down the windows for the first time that day and listened and marveled at the tall trees and the warm sunshine beaming through their leafy branches.

Kate & Brandon were set up in a hut with no walls, just screens.

My first night was spent in the Collaboratorium, which is much more hostel-like. The bottom floor is filled with bunk beds and funky paint EVERYWHERE.

The top floor has an art studio that we were told we could play in, but we never had the time.

There was also a hammock, which I successfully conquered.

I realize that doesn't look quite "successful," but I swear I made it all the way in! It was snug.

Once our bags were dropped, we set off to explore the grounds.

We had a lot of fun around the lake.

This place is about as earth-friendly as it gets, from recycling to composting.

(this includes - colorful! - composting toilets)

As colorful and cheery as these are, it was a little creepy (for me) to go to them in the middle of the night, even with a flashlight.

They also grow much of their own veggies, but you'll be reading more about the food in a later entry.

The showering situation is pretty nice. Freeing, even! It uses filtered sulfur water, so there's that eggy smell, but being able to shower in the fresh forest air pretty much makes up for that.

So there is your introductory tour of the hostel in the forest. Coming soon: dinner at the hostel, where I slept the second night, CHICKENS!, and Jekyll Island.

Wordless Wednesday: My Magical Weekend

[More to come...]

The Bricks

Between a fun photoshoot with friends in a vintage shop involving large silly sunglasses and even larger and even sillier floppy hats, and finally watching Bridesmaids, some friends and I gathered together at The Bricks in Ybor. The Bricks is not a vegan restaurant, but we had all heard that they were vegan-friendly, and when we heard "peanut butter bar," it really piqued our interest.

Since we arrived during happy hour, we decided to settle in with a drink. Along with plenty of water, I ordered their Rooftop Razz - sun tea with raspberry Stoli. Simple and delicious. What a great summer drink!

We decided to kick things off with the Taste of the Bricks: house-made hummus, house-made salsa, and house-made white bean curry dip. It sounded like a good place to start, but it ended up being kind of disappointing.

My friend Amber described it accurately when she said the hummus was "sparkling." To me, 'sparkling' meant 'vinegary.' It was a shock to the tongue on the first taste. The white bean curry dip was missing something, too. The consistency was more paste-like, and I prefer my hummus and hummus-like dips to be more on the creamy side.

And then there was the salsa, which is best described as watered down. Ho hum.

Pressing on, I ordered the Portabelly off the sandwich menu, minus the bread and cheese. (FYI - our server told us the only bread that's vegan on the menu is the pita. This made the "peanut butter bar" less accessible to vegans AND those who are wheat-sensitive.)

Not a bad 'shroom.

It wasn't long before we got rowdier and my pictures got blurrier. For the grand finale, we split the Brickin' Nuggets -- I HAD to get SOMETHING with peanut butter on it!

Sliced apple & sliced banana, dipped in peanut butter, topped with granola and some kind of strawberry drizzle. Kind of like a good breakfast! Very simple.

Watch out -- toothpicks can become weapons!

So, the food at The Bricks was mediocre, but the atmosphere is cozy, my drinks were great, and my company was even better.

Feeling Folksy at Ella's

It wasn't long after I moved to Tampa that I heard about Ella's. "Ya gotta go to Ella's!" "I love Ella's!" "It's a really cool place!" and, the biggest selling point, "They're vegan-friendly!"

Still, it took me six months to finally mosey on down to what could quite possibly be the cutest little whorehouse in Texas restaurant in Tampa.

I love when places have funky art and junk all over the place, don't you?

You ready to get to the food? We're getting closer.

I am by no means a boozer, but some of the drinks at Ella's sounded very interesting. Sangria is always tempting, but I decided to go with the Bloody Ella. The homemade tomato juice and BBQ rub rim sold me. ("Rub rim" sounds funny. Go ahead -- say it! Rub rim. Rub rim. Rum rib.)

Their tomato juice is impressively fresh and delicious!

Ella's is known for their hummus of the day, also homemade. I'd heard about their pumpkin hummus (in the autumn months), their PB&J hummus, and their apricot hummus. On this particular night, they had a sweet chili pepper and jalapeno hummus. I had a taste and kind of had a moment: It was AMAZING!

So creamy and smooth and flavorful... And they sprinkled chopped cilantro over the top... Perfection, my friends.

Since I had rounded up the vegan troops for my first taste of Ella's, the fine folks there put together a nice little vegan special that night: sauteed asparagus with roasted eggplant over mint couscous with yellow heirloom tomato coulis. Ooh la la!

But as much as I FREAKING LOVE asparagus, I just wasn't feelin' the special, so I ordered the Good Burger, the lone veggie burger on the menu, sans bread to save my guts. [I did get a taste of the special from my friend Lisa's plate and it was light and summery and good.]

Avocado is so good on other things. The burger itself was really good, too: full of beans and veggies.
The Good Burger comes with sweet potato fries, but I wasn't really digging those, either. They were kind of too fried, if that makes sense.

Other folks at the table ordered the Hippy Pizza (which I did not sample because that would be wheat overload)

and the Sulu Panang Curry (I did taste this, and it was quite good. I was impressed to see some lotus root action).

Closing Thoughts on Ella's Americana Folk Art Cafe
* totally cute atmosphere
* fun drink menu
* rockin' hummus
* decent menu -- would love to see a hearty, VEGAN salad and a vegan dessert or two make it to the menu
* a little on the pricey side, in my opinion.

Still, the hummus and the drinks shall bring me back!