Task 38 - SailFest 2012

(38) Visit 10 Festivals of Fairs (07/20)

Festival: SailFest 2012Location: New London,CT

Website:www.sailfest.org
When: July 6 - 8, 2012Rating: 4-Stars
Sailfest is a 3 day festival in Southeastern Connecticut. It includes amusement rides, lots of free entertainment, Tall Ships and of course the Annual Fireworks. This year the Fireworks are presented by Garden State Fireworks and are sponsored by the Mashantucket Pequot Tribe and Foxwoods Casino.

They are held the Saturday after the 4th of July. Every year since I was a kid I have gone and watched these fireworks. We have tried a variety of viewing locations from the railroad tracks to Fort Trumbull. This year we modified our routine and rather then sitting on top of the hill where we would miss most of the ground fireworks we sat down at the bottom with a better view of the barges.

The fireworks are also usually put on by Grucci Brothers but Garden State Fireworks didn't dissappoint and with out having ready the program I wouldn't have known it wasn't Grucci.

Bowling - AMF Town & Country Lanes

Facility:    Bowling - AMF Town & Country Lanes

Location:  AMF Town and Country Lanes
                  405 Boston Tpke
                  Shrewsbury, MA 01545

Rating:      3-Stars

With a Groupon in hand last night Dan and I went bowling. I had a groupon for 2 hours of bowling including all equipment rentals and lane fees. It was fun we played 6 games with me winning 4 and Dan taking two. The first two games I squeaked out a win while Dan easily took the next 2 games. The 5 was a shutout with me easily taking the win and the final game I managed to take the lead and finish it off.

Task 30 - Sultan's Turkish Restaurant (Waterbury, CT)

(30) Eat in 10 New Restaurants (51/20)

Restaurant: Sultans Turkish
Location:     586 Plank Road
                     Waterbury, CT 06705
                     (203) 591-8450

Website:      sultansrestaurantct.com

Rating:        4-stars

It was about 9:45 and after having driven over 700 Miles on our second leg of the trip from Florida to home we found ourselves driving through Waterbury, CT. Having seen this restaurant from the highway during other trips that took us to this area we thought we would give it a try.

the interior has a definite Turkish feel with the finishes and the music playing. It was warmly lite and the colors and fabrics were rice. The place was lightly occupied but given the time that was not a surprise and it was also worth noting that everyone in this restaurant was Turkish or at the very least of middle eastern decent. I would say that is a good indicator of the authenticity of the dishes.

My father and I selected the signature dish Sultan's Kebap. It is marinated eggplant thinly sliced, wrapped in lamb and drizzles with a house sauce and garnished with fire grilled tomato's and peppers. It was not to dissappoint. The lamb was tender and the eggplant melted in my mouth. The sauce was light and flavorful with rich undertones that didn't over power the dish. It was superb and I cleaned my dish without any issues.

My mother had the Lamb Sautee. I tried a small bite and it too was delicious. The lamb wasn't as tender as mind and the sauce was more potent but it was definitly tasty.

I had water to drink since i have sworn off soda and my parents both had Turkish tea whose arromatic scent filled the room and made you feel like we might have been in Istanbul.

For desert we shared a Kunefe which is described as baked chredded phylllo dough with a cheese filling, sweetened with their chefs special home mare syrup and served hot. This one fell flat for me. First we had to have it re-done since the first came out and was a bit burnt. The second when we really got to try it the cheese wasn't what I expected and I didn't enjoy it. My parents however seemed to think it was great.

I would definitly come back since my dinner was fantastic and the service was top notch. We waited for nothing and they were all very polite and attentive. The best part was that by checking in on Yelp we got 15% off the entire bill.