Mitchell's Fish Market

I didn’t grow up as much of a fish eater, but over the last few years I’ve had the chance to enjoy a lot more seafood and have really grown to like it. Plus, a lot of it is good for you.

Recently, I had the chance to dine at Mitchell’s Fish Market in suburban Indianapolis. There are 19 locations in the United States, most of them in the Midwest. In fact, I’ve stayed near the Milwaukee location several times but had not had the opportunity to go there.

The food at Mitchell’s was outstanding. The menu changes daily based on the fresh fish that they have flown in that day, but my wife and I were both very pleased.


We started with the Chesapeake Bay crab cake and a cup of lobster bisque. The crab cake was delicious – the perfect blend of seasonings for my taste. I’ve had some crab cakes that had some strange flavors mixed in. This was great.

The lobster bisque was very creamy, and also very good.


For entrees, my wife chose the mahi mahi prepared Shanghai style. According to the menu, that’s the signature way of preparing their fish. The fish comes steamed with ginger and scallions and is served on a bed of sticky rice, spinach and rice wine soy sauce. Delicious.

I chose grilled swordfish seved Oscar style. This hearty fish came topped with crab meat and a hollandaise sauce. It was accompanied with some very nice garlic mashed potatoes and a variety of vegetables.


No meal, especially for me, is complete without dessert – preferably chocolate. Most of the desserts at Mitchells are huge, so sharing is advised. My wife and I opted for the Triple Mousse Chocolate Cake. Wow. We were not disappointed. It truly melted in our mouths, and despite the fact that we had probably had more than enough food for the night, it went down nice and easy and didn’t leave us filling overstuffed.

Overall, it was a great experience.

Princess to welcome guests on embarkation day

Princess Cruises will bring back the practice of allowing passengers to bring guests onboard with them for lunch and a ship tour on their embarkation dates. The "Bon Voyage Experience" (for a $39 charge per person) will include priority embarkation, a four-course lunch in the dining room (with wine), a guided ship tour, and a souvenir photo.

If the guest book a cruise later, the $39 will apply toward their booking. The program starts in March at the ports in Fort Lauderdale and Los Angeles, rolling out to New York, San Francisco and Seattle by May.

These guests will be capped at 50 per departure, their visits must be pre-booked, and they must be accompanied by a booked, sailing passenger.

Faith-based travel continues to grow

Menlo Group recently completed a study on behalf of Globus Vacations and found that 4.5 million travelers have already taken a faith-based vacation. With the Oberammergau Passion Play coming up in 2010, another 9.7 million will be added to that number this year.

If you've been thinking about taking such a trip, you won't regret it. Visiting the holy sites around the world can lead to tremendous spiritual growth and an enhanced understanding of historical events.

I don't have immediate plans for another faith-based trip, but certainly have another trip to Israel as well as visiting sites of the early church on my "to-do" list for the future.