On top of that, after loading said road vehicle with stuff to transport to STL in 95 degree heat, the driving portion was livened by rain in varying intensity as we passed through the mountains of West (BG) Virginia.
Of course, there are always diversions along the way, such as this juxtaposition of opposite ends of the spectrum:
Plus vehicles such as this gem:
Or “Jack on Wheels” – no doubt headed for Tennessee Bourbon country
With all of this, our first day ended up being about ten and a half hard road hours, but we made our intended destination of Lexington, KY, aka Horse Capitol of the World. For a change and to reward ourselves we stayed at the Marriott “big house” instead of our normal Courtyard or Fairfield accommodations. Due to our cross country drive earlier in the year, we somehow climbed into the “gold” category, but when we checked in, we were told that they were sorry, the concierge level was full, but we could of course enjoy any amenities we wished. Unfortunately due to our late arrival and the tiredness of our driving team, we decided to stay in the room and do room service.
Of course, loyal readers know that the Feeder always has a firm grasp of the obvious, but it was very apparent that the clientele of the top facility in the Marriott family is quite different from the “lower end” properties. Shorts and flip flops are replaced by tabbed front shirts; “tats” are (at least) not visible, and hair cuts are very tidy. There is no judgment here, just an observation. Of course all this comes with a price tag, but hey, it was only one night, and after the drudgery of the loading of furniture and monster TV’s we deserved it.
So after “refreshing” a bit, we reassembled in one of the rooms, and enjoyed a couple of cheeses, Whitley’s peanuts, crackers, and a very nice bottle of Sterling Chardonnay. You can always travel in style with a little planning. After, we turned to the room service menu, and guided by our MOMSTER II friend, between the three of us, we ordered bowls of onion soup, and potato soup, a chicken ceasar, and I braving acid reflux I had a Reuben (somewhat a benchmark) sandwich. The room service menu was fairly extensive and not really all that expensive. I think my Reuben (and fries) was all of eleven bucks. As we solidified our order, we noticed in the dessert section a (as I recall) “Kentucky Sweet Cake”. When you’re in Kentucky, do as the Kentuckians do, and we ordered up a slice.
After enjoying a bit more of the wine, a knock on the door brought our food, nicely served on real plates, with real silver and linens. What a nice touch.
The food was quite tasty (as would have been shoe leather at that point), but the always objective Bottom Feeder would have to say that it was quite edible. Maybe my corned beef in the Reuben was not carved fresh, but it was thicker sliced than your “lunch meat” and had some taste. The fries were the “skin on” type and were tasty with a shake of salt.
Finally we turned to the “Sweet Cake”. I am not sure I could describe it accurately, you might check out a recipe, but it is sweet, almost pound cake like, but spicier, and there was a nice glaze on top that was very sweet. I think the hotel version didn’t include the alcohol ingredient which might give it a bit of a bite, but it was good.
Oh, I forgot. Although we had a very nice glass of wine at hand, I looked at the wine list. This is room service, mind you, but look at some of the selections (yes, and prices) toward the end of the list. This isn’t your Annie Green Springs, or white zin, there are some big boys in there.
So ended the first of our “road days”, and bellies full and mind suitably calmed we turned in. and for once we didn’t consider
DFD
No comments:
Post a Comment