All Amigos are not created equal

What: Chocolate raised donut from Winchell's, a donut chain now found mostly as a display case in Amigos, a Mexican fast food restaurant in Lincoln.
Where: 56th and Highway 2
When: Uh, November? Maybe? I'm sorry. I need to be better. Maybe I need a donut journal to go with my donut blog. Hmmm...

So I've talked about Winchell's before because I've tried them before. And never really been impressed. Probably because most of the time I got them late in the day and you know they aren't actually being made inside of the Amigo's place.

I finally got one in the morning. Or at 11am. Which is by definition definitely morning. We stopped between churches. And that sentence means exactly what it sounds like. Two church services on Sundays, stop for food in between. We had a lovely brunch of breakfast burritos and donuts while reading the local Strictly Business magazine thingy.

Here is my chocolate donut:

It was lovely. I'd say the step above Dunkin Donuts. The chocolate icing has a really good flavor and the donut itself isn't too sweet so that you feel sick after eating it from the sugar rush. 3.5/5

Moral of the story: Second chances are so worth it. And don't go to the Amigos on 14th and Pine Lake. Just trust me.

Hole in One Donuts

What: Maple raised
Where: Wildwood, FL
When: Monday, December 23rd, 2013

Sometimes it isn't about the donut. It's about the experience. And the conversation.

This Christmas some pretty awesome stars aligned, and two of my best friends from middle school were both in Florida at the same time as me and the same time as each other. I couldn't tell you the last time this happened. Possibly when we were all still in high school.

It wasn't the easiest to get together, as I had no car and one of the friends was about two hours north of us. But we worked it out for the one closest to me to come pick me up from the airport, and then we would drive to Wildwood, FL to meet the other on her way to Tampa with her sister.

There isn't a lot in Wildwood. Basically it's where the Florida Turnpike and I-75 intersect. So it's full of travel plazas and convenience stores and cheap restaurants for truckers. After all the hoopla with my bag and late flight, we probably got there at least an hour and a half late. We met at the Steak and Shake. Connected to the Hess Station. That had Hole in One Donuts inside.

 From the sign it looks like a pretty legit donut bakery. The case was fairly empty by this time, but they had maple. I couldn't resist. They also had some other interestingly named donuts...let me just leave this picture of the case here for you...

After our lovely linner at Steak and Shake we still had some random hanging out to do, so I got my donut and we sat outside the gas station in Wildwood, FL and caught up on life. Then we walked across the street (which in and of itself is an adventure in Florida as pedistrians are not the norm but 7-8 lane massive streets are). We were looking for cigarettes. Not for me. We found them in the second gas station (so the third that I was in of the day) and then continued to walk around. We may have hung out behind another gas station for awhile looking for air ferns. We may have loitered outside a gas station. We may have been those people.

It was a great way to start my Florida vacation and so exciting to see such old friends all together again and tell funny stories and catch everyone up and talk about jobs and friends and life. And realize that we still had a lot in common after over 15 years of friendship.

Oh yeah, and the donut was ok. For a gas station donut in Florida. Nothing like Casey's. I'd say 1.5/5. But 5/5 for experience.

Louisville, Nebraska

Louisville is a tiny town in southeastern Nebraska, between Omaha and Lincoln. It is home to an adorable downtown and a Subway with a Goodrich counter inside. It also has the closet liquor store to Platte River State Park.

None of these things have to do with donuts, but I did have a donut last time I was there. It was just eh, it may have been old. It was saran wrapped and sold at the downtown diner but baked somewhere else.

Here is a picture:

Now back to why I love visiting Louisville.

Every November they have an open house weekend, this year was the 9th-10th. The stores there have special sales, and possibly my favorite part, snacks to munch on while shopping! This was the second year I have gone with my aunts and I hope it continues to be a tradition. It's a nice start to Christmas shopping, especially when I find more amazing mugs for my brother-in-law (this years was one with a photo of some Chippendale dancers on it, I don't think I took a picture before I sent it to him, but he did inform me that I won Christmas based on it).

There is also a "store" there called Art Chicks that has fancy lunches for groups of women. I can't really explain how ridiculous or amazing this is, so I will just have to find a picture of the time I went there with my sister and her two best friends the year I graduated high school. Here you go:

Next time you're in Nebraska (which I'm sure will be soon, everyone comes to Nebraska to visit all the time) and you're looking for some small town excitement, check out Louisville. It's my favorite daytime tiny town. I'll have to tell you about my favorite nighttime tiny town some other time.

Christmas in Florida

Every year I spend Christmas in Florida because that is why my parents currently reside. This year was especially busy because a lot of friends from middle and high school who are not always in town were going to be around, my best friend was getting married, and my new boy friend was going to be coming down to meet my parents for the first time.

So of course, with all this craziness, I lost my luggage for the first time ever. Now, I've never sat down and counted how many times I've flown. But I started flying by myself in the 7th grade and made yearly trips to Nebraska from then until I graduated high school. Then came college in Boston and more trips, and then traveling abroad and visiting friends all over the US. So I'd say about 40 plane trips, so maybe 100 flights. And no lost baggage, until this year. It wasn't even a short layover either, it was over an hour. Who knows.

But here are my tips so that you don't lose the important stuff or your mind.

Your carry on should always have:
phone chargers
money, gift certificates
important medicine
snacks
jewelry
anything not easily replaced
for overseas flights or flights where you aren't going home (and therefore don't have a stash of clean underwear at your destination) at least one change of clothes

You should also always know what your bag looks like, even if it's new. This includes the brand, how many exterior pockets it has, and any identifying marks. I've never been one to tie colored ribbon on my black bag because I can spot it from a mile away because I know it so well, but this trip I realized the ribbon isn't always for YOU, but for other people who don't know what their bag looks like. So the colored marker isn't admitting you're an idiot, it's admitting you don't quite trust everyone else either.

Thankfully my bag showed up the next morning still in STL, so it was put on the next flight to Orlando and arrived at my house by midafternoon. Phew. That was a close one.

Pumpkin Donuts! (slightly old...this is from November)

So fall is my favorite food season. I think it might be everyone's. Although summer is my favorite beer season. But fall wins it with apple cider donuts and pumpkin donuts for sure. Which means I can't let fall pass completely before I get those. So far I haven't been successful. I was mildly successful in getting fresh Casey's donuts Tuesday morning, but no apple cider donuts yet.

 If you haven't heard me talk about Casey's donuts yet, Casey's is a chain of convenience stores in the midwest that sometimes have full kitchens in them with pizza, subs, and made in store donuts. Think Wawa, but not as fancy. And not all Casey's are as nice. In fact, I also recently went into a super crappy Casey's that had none of these food offerings. So yeah, not as consistent as Wawa.

I know you all love my babbling.

The point! I got three of the moistest donuts I've ever had, including a chocolate cake donut with maple frosting. It finally hit me why their cake donuts are so good. They actually taste like cake! And who doesn't love a reason to eat cake in the morning! The raised were also good, mostly because the chocolate frosting had so much flavor and tasted like something besides wax.

I have no pictures of these delicious donuts, probably because I was sharing them with some friends and we ate too quickly to pause. My next couple reviews will have pictures, and I only know this because I found the pictures on my camera and was like, oh crap, I forgot to review these donuts! Ooops...