Today’s Matchbook Monday is from Daniel’s Broiler, a Seattle (Washington) area steakhouse.
Daniel’s has three locations:  Leschi, Lake Union and Bellevue and offers a menu full of steak and seafood choices.  Steaks start around $40 and seafood selections around $30.  The Valrhona Chocolate Cake (served warm, with a gooey molten center and vanilla ice cream) is a personal favorite, and is almost worth the drive just for dessert!
This isn’t my favorite of the Seattle area steakhouses (nor is it second or third on my list), but the Leschi location offers a lovely summertime view of Lake Washington (Seattle’s largest lake), …read more

Today’s Matchbook Monday is one that I picked up on a visit to Mazatlan just awhile back.  The Playa Mazatlan is one of the few hotels that I’ve been to recently that still allows smoking in the rooms.
Playa Mazatlan is located in the Golden Zone (or Zona Dorada, if you prefer), an area on the beach that caters to tourists with hotels, shopping, dining, and nightlife.  While there is much to do is this area, I much prefer the historic center of town, about 15
The hotel has about a quarter mile of sandy beach, great for lounging, and …read more

Today’s Matchbook Monday comes from best gal pal Anita, and is from a trip to Germany a few years back.
The Gerbermuehle Hotel (click on the English version) in Frankfurt (60594 Frankfurt Main) is a designer hotel, located on the banks of the Main River.  It was a former flour mill, and its evolution from mill to hotel is the story of the love of literary great, Goethe.
Providing a mix of old and new, both quaint and contemporary, the hotel has all the modern features that a traveler could want.  One unique summertime feature is a 500-seat garden, consisting …read more

The Muckleshoot Tribe, part of the Coast Salish culture, owns and operates the Muckleshoot Casino in Auburn, Washington.  Like many Native American casinos, the gaming and related industries provide jobs for many tribal members.
This casino operates the expected games, some new twists on old favorites, and has a separate smoke free facility.  It is located at 2402 Auburn Way South, in Auburn, Washington.
Several restaurants are on property, and one of my favorite menu items is the pho offered at the Pho Noodle Bar.  It may be because the high Asian patrons have been demanding good noodle soup, but there …read more

Today’s matchbook of Bateaux Parisiens comes from Jon at Travel Photo Daily.  He said that he just came across it, but that is was at least five or more years old.  It brought back lots of great memories of my trip to Paris last fall, so a very big THANKS for the contribution.
Bateaux Parisiens is a cruise company that conducts sightseeing, lunch, and dinner cruises on the Seine, along with operating a river-boat shuttle called Batobus.
I opted for an evening sightseeing cruise, and for an hour we cruised the Seine while the hostess pointed out a number of attractions.  …read more

One of the fun results of writing the series Matchbook Monday is digging through my own matchbooks and discovering fun places that I have been, along with the memories of times well spent.  I’ve heard from many readers that they enjoy that same experience.
But everyone in awhile I come across a matchbook that evokes no memory at all.  And that’s the case with today’s matchbook from the West End Cafe.
I had to do a little searching to find out where the West End Cafe is located.  Turns out that it’s located at the Circle Hotel, an affiliate of George …read more

Today’s Matchbook is from Joe’s Seafood, Prime Steak & Stone Crab, with locations in Chicago (60 East Grand, the corner of Grand & Rush Streets) and Las Vegas (3500 Las Vegas Boulevard South, The Forum Shops at Caesars).
The restaurant is an extension of Joe’s Stone Crab in Miami Beach, expanding the menu to include items that can keep it operating year round, even when stone crabs aren’t in season.  Joe’s takes the concept a whole lot further with an extensive selection of seafood flow in daily and signature steaks, combining it with the classics from Miami.
Both locations are open …read more

Today’s Matchbook Monday was picked up at a recent event that I attended, and simply says “Pick Abilene.”  It was a giveaway from the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau as part of an event promoting Abilene as a destination for travel
Since you have to know a little something about a destination, before you can decide if you want to go there, I did a little research on what Abilene has to offer.
Abilene calls itself the “Friendly Frontier”, positioning itself as a balance of traditional Old West heritage and contemporary city.  It is in the central part of Texas, …read more

This matchbook is one that I found in the back of a drawer, but still one that brought back some fond memories.  It’s from a restaurant that no longer exists, Citarella, the Restaurant, although it’s parent company still remains in business as a terrific venue for gourmet shopping and food, including take out.
The restaurant was located at 1240 Sixth Avenue (corner of 49th) near Rockefeller Center in New York City.
My experience there occurred on a layover one Christmas Eve.  Working, and being away from home, on a holiday is never a fun event, but you make the most of …read more

You had to know that it was just a matter of time before a matchbook for Italy appeared!  But I forgot (or lost) so many of the ones that I picked up.  Fortunately, my friend Anita picked up some, and this one came from a restaurant that both of us enjoyed on our respective visits to Tuscany.
Ristorante il Cantuccio is located at Via delle Cantine 1, in Montepulciano. 
The restaurant is divided by a brick arch fireplace, and offers a typical Tuscan menu.  Order a liter of wine while perusing your choices.  You can’t go wrong with the bruschetta …read more