So Saturday morning, we headed over to Chris and Pat's to meet the group to head to Omaha to go to the Zoo. On our way there I picked up a Mocha and a Cheddar and roasted red pepper dashish from La Mie. I gotta say that it was really good. I love that place :)

So we drove west to Chris and Pat's. We were the first to arrive at the meeting point, but were eventually joined by Holly, Jerry and Renee, and then Madd, Dusty and Jen.

We headed out (a bit later then my suggested start time), and due to some confusion got mixed up as to where we were meeting up next but got on the road all the same. Jerry, Renee and Shannon and I were all in Jerry's car and Madd, Dusty and Jen were in Jen's car. Chris and Holly were in Holly's car.

The car ride was nice, Jerry, Renee Shannon and I talked about various topics and it made the trip go a lot faster. We stopped in Council Bluffs and hit a Subway (of the availble restaurants in the area, this seemed to be the only option) for lunch.

Then we took the last part of the road trip and then arrived at the zoo. Parking was scarce, but we eventually found a spot and headed towards the entrance.

We headed around the zoo, which was quite big. The Desert Biome was pretty cool, lots of diffrent anmials and versions of deserts, although I expect, the desert is far more vast and sparse. We headed down to the big cat's exhibit...I gotta say that I like the big cat's exhibit in the Kansas City zoo better. It seemed more natural and less "hey look at the big tigers over there" although it did make it easier to actually see the cats...

We headed around to the Orangutan forest and then the Gorilla Valley. In there we saw a young gorilla playing with a couple of children through the window. Running back and forth with the children. It was quite cute. On the other side of the habitat, there was also a baby Gorilla that was very cute.

It was very windy outside. It was threatening all day, but it was pretty much just windy.

We went and took pictures of bears, and headed around. We were going to take a train ride and get a quick tour of the big animals, but we missed the last train ride...So we walked it and took a quick tour, becuase the thunder was starting to become frequent. We skipped the penguins (something that Jerry wanted to see) and the aquarium and headed up to the Jungle.

The Jungle was pretty cool. Humid in there, waterfalls and lots of animals mixing together. It was built to look like you were on a jungle path...and it kept to that through the entire exhibt. We even went to the lower level where it actually seemed like you were walking in the Jungle.

We came out, and it started to rain a little, but just a very light rain...so we headed out.

We headed north to the Old Market and went to a place called the French Cafe.

Front, as we were leaving:

Above our table:

It was fairly fancy and I was not only surprised that we were seated (we were all wearing shorts), but that we were seated right away...Of course after a while it seemd like we were seated in a private dining area (away from the other people), which was fine as far as I was concerned.

We were seated at two tables, with Jerry, Renee, Holly and Chris at one table, and Shannon, myself, Dusty, Jen and Madd at the other.

Shannon ordered a Tequila Sunrise, and I ordered a glass of the Hans Fahden Cabernet Sauvignon. It was really good. I'm gonna have to get me a bottle....or two...or three...

We ordered baked brie for an appitizer, but it wasn't just baked brie it was "Baked Brie en croute with a fig compote". Several people ordered their french onion soup.

The Baked brie was very good...Served with figs and a some greens as a garnish. very pretty.

-- Please Note: While writing this George the Kitty is running around the house like he's possessed ---

-- Please Note: Gracie the Kitty apprently is also possessed ---

But here's where the amazing comes in. Dusty gave me a sample of his French Onion Soup.

Wow.

That's what I have to say. It was oniony, but not so strong that it was over powering, and a strong black peppercorn taste. It was so good. I would be willing to drive all the way to Omaha just to get that soup. It was just amazing. Holly was getting full and wanted to save room for dinner so she let me finish it. Happy belly.

Next up came some salads. It was an interesting mixs of greens, including several things I didn't recognize, but very good.

Then dinner.

I had le canard laque aux riz sauvages (plum honey glazed duck breast, duck leg confit, wild rice pilaf, balsamic reduction) and Shannon had la queue de homard tempura (tempura fried lobster tail, sweet and sour lobster sauce, citrus cous cous).

I'm am growing into a big fan of duck...The duck and it's sauce was a delight...(and here is where I'm going to not try to remember, cause I didn't take notes (Like I do sometimes) and it's the day after (not the night of), so it's not as clear in my mind). I was very happy with the duck and the pilaf. Shannon's lobster was very good too. It was great.

Shannon's Dinner:

My Dinner:

The desserts. Shannon had a Chocolate volcano Cake, which had a warm chocolate suace in the middle. It was very good. Verry good. I had a creme brule, and so did Jen (she was very happy with it). It's so relatively simple yet so good.

Shannon's Dessert:

My dessert:

After dinner we chatted for a while.

And here's the test...Did I feel cheated when the bill came? Absolutly not...And it wasn't cheap either (the most I've ever paid for two people). I would love to go back. I also want to try the other places too.

Walking back to the parking garage, there were a group of religious fanatics using their children to pass out pamphlets. I really wanted to tell the child that gave me a pamphlet to tell their parents to stop using them to promote their religous beliefs. I know why they do it. It's hard to say no to a child, who gives you something. It seems awfully devious to me to do that.

The party broke up and Jerry, Renee, Chris, Holly, Shannon and I, headed towards the hotel and Shannon, Dusty and Madd headed back to Des Moines.

After checking in, we went to Dave and Buster's. Which is kinda like a chucky cheese for Adults....a bar, video games, games to earn tickets...It was kinda of tricky too, because unlike chucky cheese, where everything costs a token, these had credits with cards you fill up and they used a diffrent amount of credits per game. So 2.1 or 5.2 or 6 or 10 or whatnot...I won one ticket jackpot (320 something tickets) and several other tickets. It was OK, but when your not winning 'em for a kid for their prizes, it's just not as fun. Shannon ended up with a little bear and a little rainbow colored unicorn.

After a bit, We headed out. Chris and Holly headed back to Des Moines and the rest of us back to the hotel.

We had planned to go back to the old Market in the morning, and we did...but pretty much everything was closed (because of easter). Their were a few resturants open, and a Leather and Wool shop...which turned out to be good, since Shannon had pack light, and didn't bring something to wear if it got cold, so we bought her a nice pull over in the store so she wouldn't be chilly.

After stopping at a coffee house, we headed home.

It was a nice weekend.

We'll deffinately have to go back to the old market sometime when things are open.