A Quick Trip to Newcastle

Ben and I made a last minute decision to head up to Newcastle for the night on Saturday. One of my good friends was visiting Newcastle from Brisbane and I hate to pass up the rare opportunities to catch up with her. Plus, Ben and I both used to live there and now that we are big city slickers we always love going back, seeing our friends and family and enjoying the more relaxed lifestyle.

We got there Saturday lunch time and met my friends at a new cafe in the Hunter Street Mall called Ground Floor. It was a really cute little spot which actually used to be a Gloria Jeans franchise. Nice to see it turned into something a bit more charming. After a good catch up we parted ways before meeting up again for dinner. In between, Ben and I took a short stroll to Newcastle Beach. It was such a warm Winter day. Hard to believe I was wearing sandals in August (and that's coming from someone with perpetually cold feet!). While waiting for my sister to get home from work, Ben and I bought a bottle of sparkling red and some plastic cups and sat in my car enjoying the afternoon sun streaming in. It was bliss.

For dinner we went to a new-ish mexican restaurant called Casa De Loco (or House of Crazy!). I'd heard good things about this place and it didn't disappoint. We feasted on soft tacos, quesadillas, tostadas, stuffed jalapeños and more. The drinks were also flowing and it was hard to choose from the extensive cocktail list. We eventually settled on some white sangria and then my sister, one of my friends and I got a little daring and ordered a cocktail which had some kind of jalapeño soda in it. Let's just say our throats and stomachs were well and truly warm after that!

After dinner we took a short walk to The Grain Store which is also a relatively new bar (although the building itself has been there quite some time and it used to house a bar by a different name). It's a really cool space but it was so busy and loud that it was hard for us to talk. We had a few drinks but decided to move on to another pub nearby. A few more drinks and most of us were ready for bed. Old age is certainly getting to us! 

This morning Ben and I visited my sister who was working for a few hours. She recently scored a second job at Miskonduct - a retro clothing store with a cute cafe out the back. We grabbed a couple of coffees before meeting my friends again, this time for breakfast at Talulah. We had another delicious meal with great company to finish off a short but sweet weekend away. Before heading home my sister kindly gave both Ben and I a hair cut so we are feeling fresh and ready to tackle the week ahead! Hope you all had a smashing weekend. xo