A Walt Disney fans trip to LA and Disneyland

The second half of my Spring trip to LA was mostly about Disneyland and visiting some Walt Disney sites.

First day at Disney and I wanted to try the chili in a cone at the Cozy Cone.

The Chili cone turned out to be watery and had a lot of gristle so i went back for something else.

The manager was nice and let me switch to the BBQ pork cone which was delicious.

Lunch for the first day was at one of the older restaurants in Disneyland the Plaza Inn for some fried Chicken

This is one of the best deals in Disney if you share a meal. 3 pieces of chicken mashed potatoes, green beans, and a biscuit for $17.50

When we stopped back at the Homewood suites on south Harbor I was surprised to see they had left me a birthday gift.

A chocolate twist and a Boysen Apple twist made a great dessert treat after dinner. find these in front of the castle at Maurice’s Treats

Next we went to Carthay Circle in California Adventure to celebrate my Birthday again, this is the Carthay Circle Escarole Salad

Free bread is always good

I choose the Thick-cut Pork Chop which may have been the best pork chop I have ever eaten.

A free birthday dessert ice cream makes it even more special

The California food and wine festival was going on and I wanted to try the Apple bacon Whoopie Pie at the Gold rush booth, I got it and was not very impressed.

The next day we rented a car and went to see some Walt Disney sites in Griffith park such as the Carousel that inspired Walt to create Disneyland and we saw Walts train shed from a distance since it is only open on Sundays. we were rushed for lunch so I stopped at a long time LA burger institution called the Habit Burger Grill, voted best burger in the US by Consumer Reports. 

We got the double cheese and a new super salad and Sweet Potato fries and all of it was fresh and good.

After attending a Conan show we had reservations for  A well known Walt Disney Favorite the Tam O'shanter

The free bread was a good start, I was surprised at how good the dark bread was, it was more of a sweet bread.

tasty Shepards Pie, one of my favs

My wife got the tam burger with no bread

I got a ENGLISH TRIFLE for a Birthday dessert, Score! it was like a strawberry shortcake

We sat next to Walts favorite table, I learned that this room was used as a reference for the 7 Dwarves house.

The next day we went on a walk in Walt's footsteps tour in Disneyland

This is the Dream Suite we toured

The tour also included a lunch from the Jolly Holiday restaurant I enjoyed the Roast Beef and Blue Cheese on Traditional Baguette

and the wife had a tasty Jolly Holiday Salad with Chocolate cake

That evening we went to Catal at Downtown Disney and had another great meal and got a discount due to me signing up for the Birthday club.

 we started with the BACON WRAPPED DATES

This was one of the best salads I have had, I loved the house made granola.

The main entree was a Roasted Chicken with Butternut Squash

Our waiter took very good care of us and brought this dessert out.

Back at Disney I have seen the cream cheese pretzel has a lot of high marks and I agree it was very good.

Lunch the last day was Disney Corn Dogs and Corn on the cob, again with some of the best food of this kind I have had.

Last meal this trip was a Cafe Orleans Disneyland the La Salade de Maison was a nice start

Then the big finish was pommes Frites and a Monte Cristo Sandwich, these were also very good but don't eat too much it sits very heavy.

I also had some Disney popcorn for breakfast the next morning but I ate it too fast to get a pic.

Grand Canyon eats with a View via Amtrak Southwest Chief

 This is the first half or our Spring 2016 trip, It involves a overnight ride on the Amtrak Southwest Chief from LA to Williams AZ then on to the south rim of the Grand Canyon.

I was unsure about our food options on the train and I have heard good things about Philippe The Original on the Food channel and other places.

The sandwich was very good and juicy (we opted for the single dip Beef) the potato salad was nice also and I was surprised to like the cole slaw which I normally don't like. It was sweeter than most.

Basic early 1900's interior

This is the LAX Union Station in LA

Fancy large room that does not seem to be in use at Union Station.

one benefit on booking a sleeper car in the lounge at the Depot

Ready to Ride

We are on our way just before sunset

Here is the Amtrak Diner car

The food was included with our sleeper car also and it was good, here is the Herb Roasted Chicken

I had a nice steak

We stayed for Dessert Greek yogurt cheesecake and  chocolate cream tart

After switching to the Grand Canyon railway and arriving at the Grand Canyon, our first meal was at the Arizona room in the Bright Angel Lodge. This place seems to have a view from every table

We got the Agave Citrus Marinated Chicken and opted to hold the Green sauce (I think it was tomatillo) on the side and it is a good thing because I did not care for it but the Chicken was ok. The Market Salad was nice though.

This Peach Blackberry Streusel pie was the star of the meal, can I have more please?

This is the big resort called El Tovar, we had dinner in the bar and breakfast in the restaurant.

This is the Brat and a bowl of chili, the brat was very good and the chili warmed us up on a cold night along with the "Barn Burner Drink (cinnamon schnapps and Hot Chocolate)

Next morning time for a stellar Breakfast at El Tovar.

I enjoyed some banana bread french toast with some prickly pear syrup that the waiter recommended.

we also had some Oatmeal

Next up its Lunch at the Bright Angel lodge

Ponderosa Chicken Club with Sweet Potato fries, it was all good

we also had the Supai Spinach and substituted chicken for the Smoked Rainbow Trout

My birthday was this week so I got a nice Brownie Sundae dessert to finish the meal, this might have been the best meal we had here although the breakfast was top notch too.

The Grand Canyon railway back, we enjoyed some fruit and pastries and drinks.

While waiting in Williams AZ for the Amtrak we had the option of a buffet at the hotel but we opted to walk across the street to the Pine Country restaurant.

Free bread yay

Roast beef dinner was filling, we did not have room for dessert after snacking on the train.

Pine Country pie rack

just a quick pic of the breakfast on the Amtrak train back.