Last night we celebrated our first new years as a married couple with two of our great friends.  We started the night by going to dinner at 18 Seaboard.  None of us had ever been and we love trying out new places.  

The restaurant has a classy and contemporary feel.  Its beautiful brick walls, high warehouse ceilings, large paneled widows, and perfect lighting made for a spacious yet intimate dining experience.  We started out with the wood fire grilled fresh bacon.  I know it sounds like we just ordered a side of bacon but this is not at all like your typical side of bacon.  This dish had two slices of thick cut bacon grilled until tender, served with spiced apples and a whisky reduction sauce.  

For my main dish, I had the Cracklin’ pork shank.  It was the equivalent to the beef short rib, except it was from a pig of course.  The pork shank was seared on the outside to give it a crispy coating, much like a homemade pork rind, and the inside was tender and full of flavor.  The meat just pulled away from the bone like a short rib should.  It was then served over a bed of creamy cheese grits, sprinkled with blue cheese crumbles and a bed of cooked spinach.  The cheese grits were locally ground from the Old Mill of Guilford and the blue cheese added another level of cheesy greatness.  

We then moved on to dessert, my favorite part of a meal!  We had the hot mug of chocolate cake.  Yes, it was literally chocolate cake baked to perfection in a coffee mug.  The cake was moist on the inside and had a chocolate syrup coating on top.  To cool down the hot cake, it was served with homemade marshmallow fluff to make the perfect pairing.  And since it was new years eve, every dessert was complimented with a bowl of freshly made cotton candy!

After dinner, we then headed to the square to watch the acorn drop and bring in the new year!  Traffic was heavy and it took us some time to get through traffic and find a parking spot to walk to the countdown.  We finally park at 11:52 and make it just in time to watch the acorn drop.  Following the countdown, was a bright and colorful display of fireworks (my absolute favorite) and a few photo opps to document the night.  Happy New Years!!

Hello 2012 and goodbye 2011! Welcome y’all to the first posting of my very first blog! While 2011 was a great year, I became Mrs. Roberts :) and traveled Europe for our honeymoon, I am looking forward to what 2012 will bring. I’m super excited to start this blog, it being my first one ever, and want to thank my wonderful hubby for setting up my first blog.  I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I will enjoy writing it!