Holy Antebellum's Batman!

I love Oakwood. It is that simple. Why? Just look at this street view. That's right, you can't see very far because the lush tree lined streets prevent it. I love how you have to look where you're going when you're walking because the roots from the trees have pushed up the sidewalk over the years. It has character. But mostly this neighborhood reminds me of Roanoke, Va, where my dad grew up. The street where he grew up is quite reminiscent of the streets in Oakwood, minus the mountains (minor missing detail from Raleigh).  

So! Speaking of archetecture- Coop and I went on a walk and thought I'd share some of my favorite homes located on Blount Street. 

Here we go!

First stop: The executive mansion- currently housing ole' Bev and fam. Fun fact: when walking your dog, do not linger too long or you will be followed until you are deemed to not be a threat by obvious government vehicles. And yes this indeed happened to Todd and Cooper. Although Todd was unsure why he was followed home. Everyone knows that on the protective scale Golden Retrievers are rated low and the only weapon Todd had was a filled poo bag. Your tax dollars at work? You be the judge.

Governor Zebulon Vance (Hey oh! Those names sound familiar!) decided enough was enough! The governors needed a swanky place to call home, and thus Samuel Sloan designed this quaint shack and convict labor succeeded in bringing his vision to life.  You can tour the first floor and garden tours are available. If you are visiting the museums, may I suggest parking near Bev's abode. Why? Because when the gardens are full grown, they have a tendency to hang over the gate, and the kids and I have been known a time or two to sample the blackberries that always seemed to have an invisible sign that said "pick me" on them. 

Moving on down the street.....

This is the Heck-Andrew's house. My readings told me this is built from French influences after the civil war and is considered to be in the style of Second Empire. Now do what I did which was go to Second Empire restaurant and see if you can spot the similarities in style! And know you know where the restaurant got it's name from. (Bonus!) 

I think it looks like a gingerbread house, but then again, I have not studied architecture.

Now onto one of my favorite homes, and huh! How about that! It is for sale you say? Hmmm... if only I had the time and the financial backing, A girl can dream.  Behold! THIS is the Lewis-Smith house. 

This was built before the civil war and is the oldest home on Blount Street.  It needs a little fixing up. Understatement of the year.

Just so you can get a feel for how large this is. Check out the side view. Obsessed. 

Looking across the street we have the Merrimon-Wynne house. Now, don't judge, but this 200+ ton home was not a Blount Street native but is a transplant. That's ok I didn't judge the new guy on the block, either.  Blount street is an equal opportunity house acceptor, although those less than 2000 square feet need not to apply.  

With twin wrap around porches and 9 fireplaces, you wouldn't be judging either. 9 fireplaces? Someone is going to be hoping for some snow. This one is also for sale, if your looking to be in debt for the rest of your life. 

This house is the Jordan House and is the last of the gargantuan homes on Blount Street and neighbors Peace College. 

This is a Queen Anne style home, that like many of the downtown homes had been previously converted into apartments. I will say a redeeming quality is the large corner lot that it is situated on. This was the point where Coop and I turned around and took photos of a few home's we missed along our route.

The Capehart House is also a Queen Anne style home and is another mammoth residence. I am thinking I like the way people thought about their home's prior to 1900. 

Aldophus Bauer who assisted with the planning of the executive mansion designed this home, and like I said before, not bad, not bad at all.  This house is also a transplant home with it's original location being on Wilmington street. I think I just like the tower on this one. All homes should have towers. I think I should drop ole' Bev a note for some type of official decree on this matter. 

This is another house that gets stunna' points for it's height. This is the Hawkins-Hartness House. And I have to say if it didn't have the height factor I would easily confuse with the Capehart House.

I must say the porch on this one is also very impressive. But sadly no one lives in this home. It serves as offices, which I think is ashame because again I wouldn't mind adding my name to this deed.

This concludes Cooper and I's mansion mission. It should be noted that many of these homes are part of the newly visualized Blount Street Common's project. I'll believe it when I see it because the townhomes that were built are looking mighty pitiful in their abandoned area. I drive down Blount Street everyday on my way home from my place of employment, so I am keeping a watchful eye on the progress. 

No worries, tomorrow I'll review a downtown local eatery where I was able to get the inside scoop on some new developments! For those who are wondering, I had to return Cooper back to his owners. Sir Rupert will return to his rightful position as supreme male animal in our home.... at least for now.

The following sites were researched in the making of this post and can be referenced for further reading:

Executive Mansion

Heck-Andrews House

Lewis-Smith House

Lewis-Smith House

Moving the Merrimon-Wynne home

Merrimon-Whynne House

Jordan House

Capehart House

Hawkins-Hartness House

Seafood sausage.... say what!?!

Before we get into today's blog post I would like everyone to give a warm welcome to Cooper. Sadly this hunk of fluff is not mine, but I do call him my pseudodog. He belongs to the kids for whom I used to nanny...but I not only get to still see the kids on the reg, but from time to time get to take care of Cooper as well. Just look at him! And also notice the vacuum on standby for his visit because when he comes so does a considerable amount of shedding.

Ok onwards to today's post. Side story:  Sir Rupert, our cat, had to have some surgery... with the surgery came twice daily syringe squirts of pain meds directly into his mouth (fun fun) and an antibiotic to be given in wet food. Sir Rupert usually only gets dry food, but when you need some dank pet food where do you go?

TRADER JOE'S!!!

For those of you who shouted pet smart just leave this website now. Fun Fact: Trader Joe's started in Los Angeles. I for one am not surprised in the least bit.

One cannot possibly go in and just purchase pet food, which is how the hubs and I found ourselves in the frozen foods section looking at this:

Once again, don't adjust your cheater reader's, this says: "seafood sausage." When Todd and I saw this my reaction was: "Ughhh", and his was; "Ewww! We gotta try this." So in the basket it went and in the freezer it stayed until last night when I decided this was what we were having for dinner.

I slapped those babies on the grill and waited to see what this "shrimp, scallop, and mild white fish" concoction tasted like. It is wrapped in pork casing, so those with strong aversions to pork products you can easily remove the casing and gently grill without falling apart.

As side items I decided to make spicy broccoli in order to finish up the pepper's I received in my produce box. I wish I could say I chopped a head of fresh broccoli, but to be honest I came home from work, started reading my book, passed out and napped like it was sophomore year of college.  Since it was almost 8 when I started cooking I went the fresh-frozen route. (Don't judge me too hard, I am human remember? I am the one who can't get themselves to the farmer's market). I cooked the broccoli and drained the water.

I then cut up one of these bad boys and tossed it in:

I then chopped 2 cloves of garlic and put that in the pan with 1 tbsp of olive oil and 2 tsp of red pepper flakes.

Mmmm- roasty. Other side item was a simple spinach salad with feta, cucumber, grape tomatoes and shredded carrots. And this my friends is what the finished dish looked like:

Ok let's get real. What did I think of the seafood sausage?

  (Disclaimer: I ate really weird things as a kid: in my lunch box there may or may not have been several instances of celery with cream cheese and olives or perhaps multiple sardine with a dab of mustard on a saltine moments) 

It was ok.... tasted mainly of shrimp. Now I am not a calorie maniac by any means (there's a good chance I let out a chuckle or too when I wrote that), but each sausage only had 110 calories, 370 mg of sodium and 3.5 grams of fat. So not bad health-wise when you compare it to a comparable size Johnsonville sausage which has 270 calories, 810 mg sodium and 22 grams of fat. I'm pretty sure I could feel my feet swell and cellulite virtually manifesting itself onto my thighs and just by typing that, but that is neither here nor there, the important thing is I would probably buy this again, but would not serve straight up. I would switch it up and serve over some type of noodle and perhaps a little of "Sara's Bangin' Noodle Sauce." 

Just to keep your interested piqued, Miss ladybird herself has agreed to guest blog with some of her food travels down in Nola (that's New Orleans Louisiana for those not down with the lingo). So get pumped!