Wes & Erica finally travel!! - part 1: Ft. Wayne, IN -- Where to eat

Kenny and Dominique were wonderful hosts!

I've been wanting to take a trip that required airplane travel (even though I prefer the convenience of my own car) and overnight hotel stay for a while now and in late June, it finally happened!! Wes and I went to Fort Wayne, Indiana to see one of my old college roommates. Dominique & I met at OU and crossed paths during our study abroad semesters; then we were roommates for a bit when we returned to Oklahoma. She is one of my only friends from college that I still keep in touch with (we actually send each other post. LOL) I haven't seen her in probably ten years so I figured it was about time for a reunion.

Wes & I have never been to Indiana and we found Fort Wayne to be a charming town. I really liked the old neighborhoods and we both liked the style of their narrow multi-storied houses. I did not enjoy its roads and was relived that Dominique drove us around everywhere. There were "diverging diamond interchanges" that are supposed to be safer for traffic but they looked so confusing. And the roads curved and forked at every intersection without any warning. It's a pretty small town so I'm sure everyone else gets around just fine. The airport was a breeze to get through! It had a therapy dog (named Murphy) for passengers to pet after we got through the security check point, which was kind of hilarious because the Fort Wayne airport was literally the least stressful airport that I've ever been to. Fort Wayne is quite a bit smaller than Oklahoma City so we were able to see all of the sights in about a day and a half. I usually blog chronologically but I think I'm going to split this up categorically -- food, places to go and things to do.

Cindy's garbage breakfast (mine) and two egg plate (Wes's)

FOOD (the main reason why I travel) -
       Bagger Dave's (☆☆☆☆) - Wes & I arrived pretty late so there weren't that many dinner options for us when Dominique and Kenny picked us up from the airport. We decided on Bagger Dave's because they have all day happy hour on Thursdays and it was just a block or so away from our hotel. The restaurant is known for its hamburgers but I ordered the Twisted Mac n' Cheese, which was very cheesy and rich. It was macaroni and cheese with several difference cheeses and crumbled pretzel bits on top. Wes ordered a hamburger and said it was pretty good.
       Cindy's Diner (☆☆☆☆☆) - go on a weekday morning; there was no wait!! Cindy's Diner is a tiny retro diner in the middle of Downtown Fort Wayne. It's only open for breakfast and can seat a maximum of fifteen people at a time. It has been there, in its original building, since Fort Wayne had a Downtown. The restaurant is known for its "garbage", which is potatoes, onions, eggs, ham and cheese scrambled together into a loaf and served with toast and jelly. It was delicious. Coffee is served in vintage mugs, which added to the cozy vibe.
       Coney Island (☆☆) - we really lucked out on getting seated at restaurants. We never had a wait, even when we went during popular hours. Kenny absolutely loves Coney Island so I won't say anything bad about it but Wes & I didn't find anything special about their food; at least it was cheap and fast. The baked beans were sweet... like grotesquely sweet. I really think Coney Island is franchised because the restaurant was set up exactly like the one in Oklahoma City's Downtown and the hamburgers and hot dogs tasted the same, too.

       DeBrand Fine Chocolates (☆☆☆☆) - the chocolatiers were really nice and tours are offered on Tuesdays and Thursdays (we went on a Friday so didn't get a tour). They have really unique flavor combinations. We all split three squares from their Connoisseur Collection: the Brazil (which tasted bland  and not chocolaty enough for me), Rosemary Citrus (my favorite; it was very tart) and Chai (Wes's favorite). There was so much to choose from! And a lot of it looked too pretty to eat.
       West Central Micro-creamery (☆☆☆☆☆) - the BEST ice cream that I've had in a while. The ice cream is made in small batches inside of a house-turned-creamery. They have rotating flavors; their upcoming ones are Blue Moon and Mint White Chocolate Chip. I was pretty upset those weren't on the current menu but I got the Vegan Lavender Lemon and it was amazing. It didn't taste like coconut or nut milk, which is the issue I usually have with vegan ice creams. I sampled the Strawberry Cheesecake and Pineapple Orange (which is what Wes got). They were really good, too. They have ice cream flights where you can get four tiny scoops of different flavors, which is what I should have gotten instead of a waffle cone. But, no regrets... it was so yummy!
       Rise & Roll Bakery (☆☆☆) - Dominique really wanted us to try this place; I thought their pastries were okay but not the best. I got the cheese danish (which was way too glazed and hard to eat), she got the pecan roll (I wish I had gotten that because it was actually really good) and Wes got the cinnamon caramel donut (dubbed "Amish crack"; I didn't like it, maybe because I'm not Amish. LOL). All orders come with a free small coffee and free refills, so that was nice.

       Sweet Monster (☆☆☆☆) - rolled ice cream doesn't necessarily taste any better than regular ice cream but it is certainly so much prettier! We shared the Peanut Butter Time, which was peanut butter flavored ice cream with Reese's and Nutter Butter on top. Kenny and Dominique got the strawberry shortcake.
       AA Poke (☆☆☆☆) - fairly average poke restaurant. Wes and I took an Uber there for a late dinner and the ingredients were still fresh. I got the salad with yellow tail and various toppings and Wes got the rice bowl with tuna and salmon.  My only complaint would be that the portions weren't very filling. An aside -- Fort Wayne is pretty small so the pool of Uber drivers isn't spectacular. The driver who took us to the restaurant smoked in her car and the one who took us back to our hotel drove recklessly. And weirdly enough, they were both named Brandy/Brandi.
       Firefly Coffee Shop (☆☆☆) - this place had a super awesome vibe but I thought the coffee was just so-so. I got the raspberries and cream iced latte; way too much raspberry syrup. I could barely taste the coffee. Wes got an iced coffee and said it tasted pretty average. The coffee shop had a really nice and large patio (a lot of the places we went to had patios but I didn't see very many dogs. Sad face). It was decorated with handmade artwork and had jewelry, art and decor made by local crafters for sale.

       Mahnin (☆☆☆☆) - Fort Wayne has a populous Burmese community and this is one of the most well known Burmese/Thai restaurants. This place is genuinely authentic. The staff was so friendly! I got the stir fried seafood over glass noodles and Wes got the Burmese fried noodles with pork. We both enjoyed our meals very much. Our meals came with traditional soup, which had a little too much ginger. I thought my meal was over peppered (too much black pepper) but I think that's how it was supposed to taste. This is one of Dominique's favorite restaurants.

       Conjure Coffee (☆☆☆☆☆) - another one of Dominique's favorites. We had a lot of coffee throughout our trip and this was my favorite spot. I got the iced mocha. It was served with a metal straw! The cafe had a hipster vibe but the staff was really nice (and not arrogant). I had the root vegetable hash with arugula and corned beef tongue for breakfast. It sounds crazy but was really good. I would definitely recommend it. Wes got the coconut strawberry oatmeal and enjoyed it. Everything was very filling and worth the price.

It probably sounds like all Wes & I did on this trip was eat but we actually did quite a bit of sightseeing. Dominique took us all over Downtown and we had a full trip. Dominique likes to get the most out of her vacations so she really jam packed our days with activities. I think we convinced her to take it easy but we still did quite a bit. Oh, you probably noticed our weird unicorn/mermaid figurines. Dominique and I traveled with/photographed My Little Ponies on adventures in college (before it was cool) so I had us go to Barnes & Noble for these Mermicornos. I still found it humorous but I think Dominique grew out of it. Next blog post will chronicle our touristy adventures!