Restaurante Casa Colonial by Ricardo - Comayagua, Honduras

Restaurante Casa Colonial (Colonial House Restaurant) Also know as Ricardo's is located in the Central Park of Comayagua, Honduras, next to the cathedral.  We got the chance to eat there on our family trip into the town.


According to my husband this is the best restuarant in Comayagua.  I think most people would agree.  It is a great place filled with art and antiques.  This is the front room of the Ricardo's.




We sat in the middle room.  It had a romantic fill to it.  Behind this room is a large outdoor patio and clean restrooms.  There was no AC inside, so next time we will sit outside.



Pictured here are what they called Enchiladas.  We would call them tostados or chalupas.  These enchilades were phenomenal.  Probably they best thing we ordered!



These are the tacos, also very good.



I got the typical plate "Plato tipico".  It came with plantains covered in cream, rice, grilled steak, cheese, beans, and salso.  It was good.



The jalapeno steak with rice, potatoes, and beans.  The grilled potatoes were the second best thing on any of our plates.  I don't know what they season them with, but they were excellent. 

Military Lounge at Miami International Airport

Miami International Airport. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

     The Military Lounge at Miami airport can be found in Terminal E before you go through security.  It is a little hard to find.  You will see a sign directing you to it just to the right of security.  You have to follow the signs through a winding hallway.  To get in you must show your military id and your flight info.  You do not have to be traveling on orders to use the facility.  We were going on our family vacation when we used it.

      It is a large lounge with two rooms set up for families.  In the partial kitchen they have free food like pizza pockets, hot dogs, chips, drinks, coffee, and pastries.  There are also bathrooms, living room, computers, and free wi-fi. They have books, dvds, toys and more.

     In the separate family rooms are two futons, blankets, sheets, pillows, tv with cable, and vcr. 

     I was so grateful this lounge is there.  It was wonderful to relax with the children during our seven hour lay over.  It took my stress level down.  My husband was also very relieved when he called and found out we were at the military lounge. 

     If you are looking for a way to give back, this lounge or one of the other lounges in a major airport is a great way.  They run off of volunteers and donations.  The one in Miami serves around 2,000 people a month.  I can guarantee if you donate to a military service like this you will make a difference. 

 

Family Travel posts I enjoyed this week #TT

Here are a few family travel blog posts I enjoyed reading this week.

500 Places with Kids has an article about ziplining during their family vacation in Mexico.  It looks like so much fun and makes me want to take my kids.

Mo Travels has a post on her experience at the Disney Princess half marathon.  I thought this was very interesting to read about, because I had the opportunity to meet Monique just a few days before she ran it.  Based on what she had told me about it I couldn't wait to read how it went.  I am actually motivated now to maybe do this myself one day.

To Europe With Kids has an article on some of the best views they've seen on their family vacations in Europe.  The views are from the steeples of various churches.  Her pictures are beautiful.

Two Kids and a Map has a post up about traveling with her mom on their "miliary family vacations".  This hit home because she was a military brat and that's what my kids are.  All the things she mentions her mom doing for the military moves, is stuff I do for my own kids. Turning a military move into a family vacation is difficut.   I hope my kids look back and have good memories of all the things they have done and not "I had to drive in the car for 10 straight days"

Honduras - Day of driving

Here we go again. If it isn’t bad enough we went for 18 hours straight yesterday, we now have to drive the two and a half hours to the military base. As previously mentioned there are no traffic laws and people drive however they like. My husband is driving us back in a huge van. Although he drove up yesterday this is more or less his first time driving in Honduras. He hasn’t driven a car since January 8^th! He would not appreciate what I am about to tell you, but he drove insane. There were moments I actually shouted. It was scary, but we made it.  I am beginning to wonder if this family vacation is worth it.  Maybe it should be our family expedition!
 
Once at base we see the hooch we will live in.  Now don't let this picture fool you.  It is not as nice as it looks.  This is the picture my husband sent me before we came down.  I asked him if he photoshopped it and he said no.  You can't see the holes in the door and walls in this picture!

We walked to the bathrooms, so we will know the way. We get a tour of things we need to be able to find: pool, tennis courts, rec center, laundry, bx, post office and the hammock shop. What more could you need. We went to the bx and got some pizza pockets for lunch. There’s a microwave in the hooch! We have just enough time to re-pack, because we are now catching a bus with 11 other people to the city of Copan, Honduras for a family weekend getaway.

When seeing the bus there are no happy feelings, but the inside is better than it seems. That’s my view from the back seat.  We get loaded up and Marcos our driver puts the pedal to the metal.  Marcos is intense, but pleasant. He is a short, plump man in his 40’s with a buzz haircut, thick eyebrows and a mustache.   Marcos doesn’t speak any English and he doesn’t mess around. It’s a holiday weekend and he is in a hurry to get home; which is three hours away from where he is taking us. His driving is so much worse than my husband this morning I can’t believe it.  By some miracle, I nor my children throw up.  Shockingly, six hours later we roll into Copan and immediately greeted by Cana Banana, our guide.

Cana Banana seems thrilled to see us. He was standing on a corner and our bus driver just pulls over and he jumps on the van. This skinny man with black curly hair and the darkest tan of anyone we’ve seen is going to guide us around. He too has a mustache and appears to be in his forties. In fact all the older Hondurans seem to have a mustache. He speaks good English.  He picked up English as a tour guide years before. Now he is the go between guy; setting up all of our activities, watching our things while we do those activities, translating, recommending restaurants and all that other fun stuff.  Everywhere we go the next three days he appears and everyone in the entire town seems to know him.

Mr. Banana walks us through the the central park to get to our hotel.  The park is incredibly crowded.  Everyone is watching the painting of the carpets.  Hotel Camino Maya is cute and we get checked in very quickly.  We go back to the plaza to watch the process of the carpets.  I have never heard of this process and I am unsure of what they are trying to make them look like.  Everyone is hungry so we head back to the hotel’s restaurant and enjoy a late dinner and call it a night.
Hotel Camino Maya                         
(504)2651-4646 /4446/4518
info@caminomayahotel.com
http://www.caminomayahotel.com/