Kelly and Alan Take on West Lafayette Part 1.

First, I would like to thank all my readers and friends for the kind and positive feedback on my blog. I have never had some many people tell me they have read and enjoyed it before. My stat count even hit a high of 22 last week! As someone as modest as I am, it makes me really happy inside to hear people say they find it interesting and enjoy reading the blog. I'm very flattered and thank you! I hope you all keep reading! It's nice to know that my dad and sister aren't my other readers (though I really appreciate you both :)!)

I had a fun filled weekend with my dad who came to visit for my sorority's Dad's Day. Dads from all over come to hang out with their daughters, tailgate, watch the football game (which turned out to be horrible), wine & dine their daughters and go out to the bars. Since I go to school so far from home, I knew this weekend was going to be a blast. My dad spoils me with nice restaurants, shopping sprees to Wal-Mart (hey that's big for a college girl!) and of course free drinks at the bars. If anyone remembers from last year, my dad was a big hit. He is one of the most outgoing and personable people I know. Plus, he is always smiling! Nothing to hate about that! I am so lucky and grateful that he was able to come visit for the weekend.

The first night he arrived, he took my boyfriend and I to Bistro 501 which is a little French Bistro in downtown Lafayette. College towns aren't really the place to find fine dining, especially here. There are miles and miles of chain restaurants like Texas Roadhouse, Outback Steakhouse, Cracker Barrel, Bob Evans, etc, but there are only about 5-6 nice restaurants by Purdue's campus. We went here last year and enjoyed it, so we decided to go back. The menu seemed smaller, but I knew I wanted some kind of meat (of course). My dad and I decided to split a salad and the rack of lamb. He was complaining that he hadn't eaten any vegetables lately and we had to make my mom proud! We also ordered a side of pomme frites (basically special French french fries), my favorite! My boyfriend got the steak frites. Each main course came with either a salad or soup and since my dad and I had ordered a salad, we got French Onion soup and the boyfriend got a salad. It was a great dinner. I would highly recommend it to anyone that is trying to impress a date, their parents or a nice graduation dinner. The lamb was cooked perfectly to a medium rare, but my dad didn't enjoy the sauce. He said it was a little too sweet, but I guess I was too busy stuffing my face to realize. Wes' steak was cooked to perfection!

French Onion Soup.

The Parisian Salad. Figs, walnuts, dried berries, etc.

Rack of lamb with green beans and mashed potatoes.

Wes' steak frites.

Pomme frites with an excellent garlic and mayo dip. And my first ever martini. Now I know to sip slowly...ek!

Harry's with my dad and friends. Thanks for the drinks!

Alan approves and takes a shot with us!

I have decided to split up this weekend into two posts, come back for Part 2 when Kelly and Alan Take on Purdue Football and Bluefin Bistro.