The Journey...Final Course

NB: This will be the final entry in the journal of the epic journey, although the feeder reserves the right to dredge up some photos from time to time... this will probably get a bit long, so installment reading might be appropriate


Okay, let’s see, where were we.. oh yes…After our (previously documented) eating spree in the Crescent City we headed east again, constantly reminded of the results of a recent sporting event held there lately.



We decided to take a little detour to drive through Biloxi, and there were still reminders of Katrina





After crossing the boot heels of Mississippi and Alabama, we finally got to the sunshine state



by “P-Cola with some familiar images on overpasses



And, no matter where you are, there are local restaurants..



Finally, after nearly 2000 miles on I-10, we turned right at Lakeland, Florida headed south to visit some friends in the central part of the state. After dealing with restaurants for a while, it was nice to have two lovely home cooked meals there, and I even got in a little birding



What turned out to be our final “food experience” fittingly was dessert-like. Plant City is a little town that is sort of the hub of the produce belt, so there’s lots of stuff. A local (and not so local) legend there is a place called Parkesdale Farms and groves.





They’re famous for produce, but mostly for their (jumbo) strawberry shortcake. People come from miles around (that famous city) to stand in line



for various preparations of ripe strawberries, cake, and mounds of whipped cream. Mostly you go there for the experience.


We got ours,



and i ate most of it


After a restful couple of days with friends (there’s that word again) we headed north toward home. The original plan had us stopping in either Charleston or Savannah, but by this time days on the road, motels, roadfood meals, took its toll and we decided to just beat feet and come home to the digs.

So our last night on the road was spent in Florence, South Carolina, another one of those spots that seem to exist for letting you stay overnight as there is every motel chain and box restaurant you’ve ever heard of clustered by the well traveled I95. We stayed in our mainstay Fairfield Inn, and on the way to the place we noticed an Outback. Now, in all our travels I don’t think we had a steak once, and the thought of that seemed appetizing. So, after lugging the mounds of luggage (we travel heavy) to the room, we got mildly DFD’d and headed out. We got to the place only to find people standing around outside. Uh oh (it was Saturday night). Undaunted we go inside, and encountered the cheery young lady at the stand and said we wished to have dinner for two. “yes, sir, it will be only about 80 minutes, will that be all right?” Excuse me, 80 minutes means an hour and twenty minutes? “well, yes, we’ll let you know, is that okay?”. I don’t think so. What followed was a visit to several other similar places (even the dreaded OG) and were met with the same crowds and varying amounts of waiting time, all over 40 minutes. Crestfallen, we stopped at Burger King for a bag of reality and retired to the room to eat off yet another ottoman.

Next day we traversed the rest of I95, over the Nice Harry bridge, and found our way back home. So now remains notes, pictures, credit card bills, receipts from a myriad of restaurants, a few menus, but mostly the memories of meeting friends, sharing food, and most likely a once in a lifetime journey. By golly we did it! And through it all, I can honestly say we were always

DFD

Walking on the River....

Hello again, a long weekend of off site training halted our journey (and yes, it’s about to end) as we were leaving Arizona…

Leaving Eloy, we headed east again through miles and miles of “next facilities…” beautiful scenery,



some dust storms





and a unremarkable stay in a God forsaken hunk of Texas called VanHorn Texas (why exactly does that town exist?—sorry Mike) just sort of plunked in the middle of nowhere, and maybe “middle” is the key, as it provides a stopping point in a long journey…



We finally put the long stretch of desert behind us with a visit to



We’d never been there before but knew of the famous creation of those clever civil engineers



Known as “river walk” and in fact secured a night’s lodging in a Courtyard that backed onto the walk where in fact you can walk



Or ride



A relatively short travel day allowed time for our own stroll. It’s a pretty nice place. There are several little cafes and restaurants along the way where you can sit, sip, munch and stare at the never ending parade of tourists..






After doing a bit of “the walk” we retired to a balcony overlooking the water and enjoyed a glass of wine. It’s always hard to do a one time visit to a city you don’t know much about, and it seemed that this was the right place to sample some Mexican food. A little scouring of the internet led me to eschew some of the river walk places, and we selected a place called Rosario’s, which seemed to have pretty good reviews of appropriate food. It was just beyond walking distance so we opted for another cab ride.

A few short blocks got us to a corner restaurant that was almost storefront with lots of windows looking out on a non-descript street. It was obviously a popular spot as the large bar area was pretty much filled with the people you would pretty much expect to see, having a good time. We were shown to a table in the back room where most of the dining was done, and shortly moved to another table when it was discovered that the top of our first table appeared to be held on with only one fastener as it rocked precariously. Our server (name unknown) said they needed to fix that. The ceilings were very high, one of those where the support structure is exposed and painted black. But, along the ceiling there was a neon snake like light that continually changed hues. It wasn’t the only source of light however so reading the menu was easy. The standard bowl of salsa and chips were delivered, and it was some of the best I’ve had. Probably ancho chilies and it was more of a sauce than salsa with a delightful smoky taste with just enough heat to tickle the tongue and not sweat the neck. I ordered a “standard” margarita, which turned out to be fishbowl size. I never get frozen, and this was nicely prepared with a salted rim.

The menu had a bewildering number of choices, starting with (about ten) Antojito’s, then running through Especialidades, Parrillas, Sopas y Ensaladas, Platos de Enchiladas, (sic) Favorites, with each category containing 8 or so options. What’s a tourist to do? Well, we started with a split order of Angelica’s Ceviche Fino: Delicate white fish, thinly sliced red onions and jalapeño peppers marinated in fresh lime juice and tossed in an oregano vinaigrette, served with avocado, cilantro and homemade tostadas. For the main plates, after much thrashing I took the Chile Relleno: Poblano pepper stuffed with spiced beef, potato and raisins topped with our delicious ranchero sauce and white cheese. The nuance of the raisins sort of tipped the scales to that. MFO opted for a little more adventurous Carne de Puerco en Chile Cascabel: Tender pork tips in a chile cascabel sauce. All of course were served with rice and refried beans. Other dishes available were beef tounge, grilled sweet breads, crispy tripas, chicharrones guisados, many preparations of shrimp, fish, pollo, etc., on and on. It would take a long time to eat your way through this menu…

About this time the Ceviche arrived, and it was just great. “Fresh” is the word that came to mind throughout the meal, and the starter certainly embodied it. The fish was indeed delicate but had flavor, and the onions and peppers were “just sliced” fresh. A great starter. Another (small) margarita later, the main dishes arrived. I wished I had the camera gear (and the nerve) as each plate was just gorgeous. Beautiful colors, nice aromas, and everything tasted just great. Service remained attentive; the clearing staff were dressed in all black and carried on conversations in Spanish. Sometime I gotta learn that language. By the way, the raisins in the fresh stuffed chile were just great touch..Other diners were in various stages of DFD, but in this very informal place it didn’t matter. Everybody seemed happy.

I’m sure there are other more upscale places to eat, but this meal capped off a wonderful afternoon and evening in San Antonio. I think that town deserves a longer visit. If you do go, put Rosario's on the schedule, and you wouldn't have to consider how you

DFD

Lunches and Friends, Second Take...

After meeting our friend in Yuma Arizona (and the Cracker Barrel experience), we slogged on to Eloy, where MFO’s brother lives in retirement (sort of). They live in one of those communities plopped onto the desert which contains a golf course (thanks to irrigation), recreational facilities, and stuff like that. Incidentally, Eloy claims it’s the sky diving capitol of America, and judging by the numbers of people we saw dropping from the sky, it’s likely they’re correct.

Up the road from there is the megalopolis of Phoenix, and it is there that another friend now lives. Besides being a long time associate at McDonnell/Boeing and then Pax, we’ve remained good friends and I have always appreciated his outlook on life and his advice of “we must learn to be content”. I’m still trying to learn that. Anyway, we arranged to meet in Gilbert, on the Southern side of the big city at a little restaurant called Romeos Euro Café. On the drive up to meet him, I added to my growing collection of restaurant signs





Also along the way, we were ushered by the silent sentinels of the desert



Aided by the new Droid’s GPS feature we found the place with no difficulty, although we did arrive somewhat after our targeted meeting time.



It is in a building with several other businesses, and basically it’s a wine store with tables kind of like our Blue Wind Gourmet. High ceilings, with an “open kitchen”, and there are lots of interesting wines to look at.



Between our tardiness and our friend’s early arrival, he was on his second cup of coffee and was really ready to talk when we arrived. It’s such a treat to see friends you haven’t been with for a while, and we had lots to catch up on. All agreed that the first order of business was to have a celebratory glass of wine, and after getting up to read the blackboard of by the glass selections we chose a Viognier. After it warmed a bit, it showed nice fruits and was quite tasty.

Finally turning our attention to food, we were given the menu which was like a small notebook. An amazing array of choices available with several different cuisines represented, although generally of Mediterranean heritage. Lots of Greek and Italian dishes like Mediterranean Stuffed Gyros, Fillomousaka, Sausage Sophia (Italian sausage with bell peppers, garlic, capers, mushrooms, pine nuts, zucchini and scallions in olive oil and herbs). But there was also Paella Barcelona (Shrimp, chicken, clams, Italian sausage, hearts of artichoke and palm, spinach, red bell peppers, onions, whole garlic,
peeled tomatoes and brown rice), Wiener Schnitzel, small plates, appetizers, salads, sandwiches (a Pita Reuben), “subs and burgersubs” you name it.
After some deliberation, our friend chose the Wiener Schnitzel (reflecting his Germanic heritage), MFO got the Broiled Chicken Salad (Grilled chicken, tossed with artichokes, roasted red peppers, black olives, green onions, walnuts on a bed of lettuce with a lemon mustard sauce). I got a dish called something like “Bacon Wrapped Shrimp with garlic bruscetta on linguine”. When I ordered it our server (by this time a good friend of our companion) said, “Well, I have to warn you that that dish is all about the bacon, and not about the shrimp”. Bacon wrapped shrimp is always good so I said I’d take my chances and go ahead and get it.

When we ordered another glass of wine, the helpful lady said that three glasses of by the glass was about equal to a bottle, so we said, sure, bring it on..

After some pretty tasty side salads, the entrees were delivered to the table



Notice my shrimp in the foreground (and the schnitzel and salad behind). Indeed it was bacon wrapped, but maybe better described as “bacon encased”. The only hint that shrimp was involved was their little tails sticking out. Perceptive readers may recall a dish called something like “Bacon Explosion” which was documented in a feeder a while back which was basically sausage wrapped in bacon, then more bacon, and finally a lot more bacon. Well, this immediately brought it to mind. When I cut into it I had to sort of peer closely to make sure there actually was shrimp in there. Yes there were, but look at the proportions



That is not to say that the dish was not tasty, you can’t miss with bacon fat, but after about two of the little packages(aided by the pasta), the appetite quailed and I couldn’t finish it. It was very good, but maybe I should have heeded the advice of the lady. The other dishes at the table were good and of equally hearty proportions. For dessert we had another glass of wine (the bottle apparently had a leak).

This time the food enhanced the experience of seeing a good friend, and next time you’re in Gilbert, I’d recommend a stop. Just think twice before ordering the bacon wrapped shrimp. There are a lot of other good menu choices while you are

DFL

Lunch and Friends : First edition......

We have often extolled the value of friends. As time moves on, so do some of them, and we got a chance to renew bonds with a couple of them. We’re now leaving San Diego on I10, headed East at last (time warp). After leaving the lush green hills around San Diego, you’re soon into the desert



Mother Nature has her fun with the landscape and gives you some bizarre things to look at



Mile after mile (next facilities 65 miles) goes by and pretty soon the land flattens into down right desert with all the neat plants, widely spaced, vying for whatever moisture there is. Ocotillo, Cholla, Manzanita, and other adaptive forms of plant life adorn the landscape.



As we approached Yuma, there began to be evidence of more plentiful water and palm trees appeared sometimes



I wonder why out here in the middle of nowhere (figuratively speaking) my cell phone still works? Hey! Look at that palm tree!



Pretty soon we were not far from the Mexican Border, and got a look at “the Fence”



We had chances to talk to the nice gentlemen of the Border Patrol occasionally



Yessir, we are indeed American Citizens. Would we have all this stuff if we were smuggling something? (thought, not said). We were continually waived through – have a nice day sir.

And you never know what you’re going to see along the way




Back to the friends part, one of our good friends from Historic St. Mary’s City relocated to Yuma, and thanks to the “I’m a palm tree! I’m a palm tree!” cell towers we arranged to meet for lunch. Expediency, location, and ease of getting to led us to agree to meet at a Cracker Barrel near the freeway. A welcome sight to see actual buildings and miles and miles of sand, cactus (next facilities 45 miles), and without much thrashing, we found the place. I think I am proud to say that this was the first time I’ve been inside the ubiquitous road side haven of “hominess” although desert southwest and down home is a tortured juxtaposition.

We were fearful that a wait was required due to the people hanging around outside, but closer inspection revealed that most were outside because smoking was not allowed inside. Upon entering, you find that you’re in the “gift shop” with all sorts of candles in jars, preserves (just like grandma used to make – 12,000 cases at a time), buttermilk pancake mix, and other country items. Want a “military” rocker? Look no further.. Anyway our request for three for lunch resulted in being ushered from the packed gift shop to the equally busy dining area. “Rustic” might characterize the décor, with booths fashioned out of rough hewn lumber (no splinters). We were approached by “Hi I’m” and given our choices of Breakfast (served all day) or Lunch Menus. We chose the latter..it’s loaded with choices of sandwiches, salads, sides, low carbs, and platters. Somehow, the letters “g, a, and d” has been misplaced at Cracker Barrel. There are “Fancy Fixin’s”; “Salads n’ Stuff”; “Vegetables n’ Sides”; and if you want something to drink it’s under “Beverages n’ Juices”.

I finally settled on the Country Chef Salad (Fresh greens topped with a bounty of oven roasted turkey breast, sugar cured ham, hickory smoked bacon, shredded Colby cheese, boiled egg, tomato, all topped with a wedge of Colby cheese, red onion and our own sourdough croutons), and MFO selected the (sic) Home Made Chicken Salad (Our own chicken salad is made from scratch with chicken tenderloin and served over fresh greens, with boiled egg and tomato all topped with a wedge of Colby cheese, and our own sourdough croutons). Notice the communality of several ingredients? And, our friend decided to go straight for dessert and chose the Fruit Cobbler (today’s offering was peach).

In the dead period between ordering and actually being served, we had a good chance to catch up on old times, what’s happening now, and where we’re headed. Again, food aside this is what makes it nice.

When the food arrived, it actually was fresh, the lunch meat in the chef’s salad was moist, the bacon was good (you can’t miss with bacon), and they supplied enough blue cheese dressing to satisfy me. MFO said the chicken salad was “okay”. The dessert was ample and was cleaned up with no effort.

After finishing conversation and meal, we fought our way through the gift shop again into the “it’s a dry heat” sunshine. It’s so fun to see friends, have good conversation and find that new locations don’t diminish the friendship, and new jobs can be fun. For today, whatever we wore, we were

DFL

Click, Snap, Twist.....

The sounds you hear are the locks being closed on the memory box for the epic journey.










No more “where shall we get gas?”; “what’s that noise?”; “how many more miles?”; and other travails of day to day travel. But also safe are the wonderful meals, great times spent with family and friends we don’t see enough of, the awesome scenery and a realization of what a large and beautiful country we are blessed to occupy. Somehow flying over the landscape doesn’t give you the same feel as driving over it mile by mile by mile. Over the course of the weeks, we drove through 13 states (and not the puny little ones either), and put 7721 miles on the Momster who performed pretty well for a lady of her age. The beauty of nature is awesome: oceans, mountains, deserts, hills, bayous, swamps, rivers, bays and cities. I think it will take some time to recall all the little joys we had, from the home made signs for boiled crawfish to the little road side stands of fresh food



and the realization of how many restaurants still exist that are not chains.



Oh, yeah, and there was that lovely dinner with friends, and gosh, there’s a sandhill crane, boy, look at those rocks!, Hi Ed! Nice to see you, Roger! John and that leisurely lunch. Real Italian food in Louisiana… the countless “Hi I’ms…..” and the truly good service.

So, there are still a few stories to be told. And, despite the fact that we’re back in the digs, if the readers will indulge me I think over the next few days we’ll re-live a few of the memories..

And maybe not so coincidentally, a second lock box closes, as today marks the end of my first year of “retirement”. Mr. Garcia’s line of “what a long strange trip it’s been” applies not only to the physical journey we just completed, but also the mental journey that I am still in the midst of. It has not been as easy as I thought. It’s damn hard. Since this is just a snippet, we’ll leave some more deep thoughts for another time..

Journeys are always educational, maybe not always what you thought, but you do learn something about yourself. I know I took away some lessons that will apply to future ramblings. Like leisure travel requires hard work….

Second worst roadside sign: “Road Work Ahead”

Worst roadside sign: “Next Facilities 95 Miles”

But, through it all, we were always

DFD