Most recently, the burger I ate at Rex 1516 in Philly.

I love it with seafood, especially dusted on shrimp or salmon before searing.

Hand patted burger grilled over charcoal on brioche. I'm flexible on toppings.

lately, Ben and Jerry's cinnamon buns

raspberries, or avocado

Thanks for all the comments so far!

@Erin and cranberry - I was concerned about the evening travel not being great after a big meal and such, so may be I will continue my search for the hotel.

@IfYouCookIt - I will check out priceline - I've always been wary of the sites where you don't actually pick the hotel itself, for fear of ending up someplace kind of sketchy, but that may be the way to go.

Also, cranberry, thanks for the restaurant suggestions - a few I've heard of and a few I haven't. I will check them out.

Looking forward to hearing what some others have to say as well.

tacos

I cook with the bone in skin on thighs a lot. Three suggestions of the top of my head for the braising:

Braised with bacon and leeks - brown, then braise in dutch oven with white wine, and shallots. Pull chicken out, skim fat to your liking, then saute leeks and bacon, add back the chicken and a splash of cream. This is awesome.

Smoked paprika - braise with can of diced tomatoes, onions and smoked paprika

Coconut curry - braise with curry paste/mirepoix, add coconut milk at the end of cooking

It's not really baking, but what about creme brulee? I always think it feels like a "special" dessert, good for a holiday.

party at someone else's house.

I eat semi-paleo and love it. The concessions I make for myself are that I eat some white rice, some peanut products, and limited sugar and alcohol. I would highly encourage you to give it a shot for 30 days and see how you feel. As mentioned above, marksdailyapple is a great web resource, although his primal eating plan is slightly different from strict paleo.

Additionally, as scotchncoffee said, it's not technically a low carb diet, although it is lower carb than the standard american diet. Especially if you are active, there are lots of "safe" starches you can eat.

It's better to ask. When I was a bartender, I would typically not pour a glass of our most expensive (sometimes well over $15) without the guest having seen the list, for just this reason. $15 is high, but could be average at some restaurants. Did you happen to notice if the $15 glass was the most expensive on the list? I'd be a little more peeved if that was the case. Also, some bartenders may interpret that the guest who asks for a recommendation but doesn't ask for the list or price, doesn't care how expensive it is.

As I guest, if I am concerned with price, I almost always ask to see a list first, and then if I want, I will seek a recommendation from those in my price range.