Travels in the South

I’ve told you before my friends.  My mom and dad have lost it. Totally.  This past weekend was one of “those” adventures – snorts.  They were looking for some adventure and wanted to try a place they had never been to before.  So they took off in Albert, mom’s little Smart car, and hit the highway.  Almost sounds like a song huh – snorts.

They ended up at this place called Mellow Mushroom – it’s a pizza joint which was right up dad’s alley.  He ❤ pizza.  Mom was somewhat reluctant.  First off because they sat right beside exhibit A to the left.  Pardon me while I say this but does that ‘mushroom’ look psychedelic?  It was kind of disturbing in a weird sense of direction.  Mom couldn’t take her eyes off of it.  There was just something about it that was just plain weird.

 That’s when mom got up to take a closer look at the psychedelic mushroom.   

It’s not all its cracked up to be – double snorts.  You get it – cracked up.  It really is around the head area.  What kind of restaurant is this place?  Mom shook her head, snapped a couple of pictures and sat down preparing herself for a psychedelic adventure.

P.S.  If you are ever out and about and see some crazy lady taking pictures at a restaurant, just call her mom.  That will probably be my crazy mom – she takes pictures of *everything* as you will soon see in this post.

Shakes piggy head.  At least it’s not all about me now.

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Mom has been on this DIEt thing lately.  It’s going okay. As she says, it’s all about choices.  So today she choose a Greek salad to start her meal.

Exhibit B to the left here.  She says if she starts with a good salad, it fills her so she doesn’t eat too much of a bad thing.

Which is good – I guess if you are living a DIEt kind of life.  Mom did say that this salad was delicious!  It had everything she loves – lettuce, mushrooms (which didn’t look scary like exhibit A), olives, peppers and feta cheese.

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Dad on the other hoof, went with a cheese covered pretzel.  See exhibit C here to the right.  Not only was it delicious and cheesy, they served it with a beer cheese dipping sauce.  It must have been great because daddy licked the cheese sauce dry and there were no crumbs left from the pretzel.

 Which is good because mommy kept watching him waiting for something to drop.  So much for eating a nice decent sensible salad huh?

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Now came the main course.  Mom and dad can never agree upon toppings for their pizza.  There solution is to always get a pie 1/2 and 1/2.  That way mom can have what she wants and dad can have what he wants.  May I present to you exhibit D to the left.  Drum roll – tongue hanging out – deliciousness.

Mom got the top side.  She ❤ white pizza with cheese, garlic and tomatoes – what’s not to love right?

Dad on the other hoof got the bottom side.  He gets the works… something this little piggy can’t discuss and think about.  But it looks good.  Of course a lot of pizza made it’s way home for lunch the next day.

You have to admit though, mom had hesitation at first with seeing the psychedelic mushroom – or maybe it was because of the psychedelic mushroom – the food was delicious!

 

National Sandwich Day

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here – 

Keeping my paws on the nuts of the world!

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Friends – this is an awesome day – National Sandwich Day!  Sandwiches are so varied in how you can make them – what bread, what meats, hot or cold, grilled, pressed, open or closed, condiments, toppings – sigh – let me slow down.  The options are out there my friends.  Do you know how the day got started?

English history says that John Montagu was the 4th Earl of Sandwich.  He was a heavy gambler and would spend hours at the tables in London’s gambling halls.  In 1762, he created the sandwich by putting meat between two pieces of bread.  This allowed him to stay at the tables longer to gamble.  Thus, the sandwich was made.

And do you know what Elvis Presley liked on his sandwiches?  Peanut butter, banana and bacon (sorry Bacon) and then it was grilled.  It does sound interesting in a round about way.

And do you have a Subway restaurant in your area?  Today if you buy a sub and a 30 ounce drink, you get a free sub to share.  Now that sounds like an awesome way to spend today.

 

Travels in the South

Okay friends – today’s Travels in the South is brought to you by daddy.  He likes to think of himself as a professional eater.  I’ll admit it.  He’s *almost* as good as me at packing some food way.  Almost.

Now there is one restaurant that is open seven days a week 365 days out of the year.  I’m sure a lot of you will recognize the name – Waffle House.  This is a southern restaurant chain that opened in 1955.  You walk in, the waitresses and staff get to know you and call you by name.  You order and can then watch the cook prepare your breakfast right there in front of you in their kitchen at the grill.  All of the food is prepared fresh – from waffles to omelets and everything in between.

Daddy has the craving lately for a new dish on their menu.  It’s called the Philly Cheese Hash Brown Bowl.  It starts with hash browns (cooked however you want them), topped with cheese and Philly steak.  Sometimes, dad even adds add a couple of scrambled eggs.  It’s a bowl that has everything.  You can also get the bowl with other breakfast meats…. but we won’t mention them okay.  Snort sand oinks.

 

Travels in the South

Hello sweet friends.  How was your Valentine’s Day yesterday?  In honor of the sweetest day of the year, mom/dad shared a little love yesterday as well.  They went out to dinner and afterwards enjoyed this delicious concoction.  And hey, splitting a dessert means half of the calories, right?  But who’s counting calories on Valentine’s Day – snorts.

This lovely creation is called a Margarita Cheesecake which is seasonal special at a local steakhouse called Logan’s Roadhouse.  Now, it’s like other cheesecakes made with cream cheese but it has Logan’s signature margarita blend on the graham cracker crust.  And don’t forget about the sliced strawberries all over the place.  Mom said it was – what was the phrase she used – delightful to the fullest!

So, if you are near a Logan’s Roadhouse, make sure you check it out for this wonderful dessert.  You won’t be disappointed.

 

 

 

 

Travels in the South

Hello friends – welcome back to mom/dad’s Travels in the South.  Today is a good one…. snorts – I say that every week don’t I?  Rolls with piggy laughter.  Well as you know mom/dad have been changing their way of eating.  It’s definitely a work in progress for sure.  Well, a couple of weeks ago mom took dad out for his birthday.  Dad wanted to go to a local steakhouse for dinner.

Dad went for a steak of course ❤   He ordered a prime rib and mom said since it was his birthday he could have french fries.  Nice of her huh?  Snorts!  Mom went with the strawberry fields salad.  Doesn’t that look awesome?  It has everything in it from nuts to grapes to strawberries to oranges.  Yummy huh?

 

Travels in the South

Are you asking yourself, “Self, just what is this creation on Bacon’s Travels in the South this week?”  I’m glad you asked my friends.  See last week for dad’s birthday, he wanted to go to our local Bojangles where he wanted to try this creation.  Now I’m going to let mom describe what it is… she says I don’t need to know what’s inside of it.  I think we all knows what that means.

This fabulous looking bowl is called the Pulled Pork Bowl.  It starts with Bojangle’s spicy Cajun pintos, then they add a sweet and smoky sauce along with pulled pork and topped with cole slaw.  Even I was questioning if this would be good or not.  In fact, I tried not to like the taste I got out of the hub unit’s bowl.. but I couldn’t help myself.  It was delicious!

So if you have a Bojangles in the area, stop in and try this creation – I think you’ll like it too 🙂

 

National Sandwich Day

Journalist Rocky the Squirrel here – 

Keeping my paws on the nuts of the world!

.

Friends – this is an awesome day – National Sandwich Day!  Sandwiches are so varied in how you can make them – what bread, what meats, hot or cold, grilled, pressed, open or closed, condiments, toppings – sigh – let me slow down.  The options are out there my friends.  Do you know how the day got started?

English history says that John Montagu was the 4th Earl of Sandwich.  He was a heavy gambler and would spend hours at the tables in London’s gambling halls.  In 1762, he created the sandwich by putting meat between two pieces of bread.  This allowed him to stay at the tables longer to gamble.  Thus, the sandwich was made.

And do you know what Elvis Presley liked on his sandwiches?  Peanut butter, banana and bacon (sorry Bacon) and then it was grilled.  It does sound interesting in a round about way.

 

Travels in the South

Hello sweet friends and welcome to another great edition of Travels in the South.  This past weekend, my mom/dad had to go to Alabama for a quick trip.  While they were gone, they stopped at a restaurant called Top O’ The River in Gadsden, Alabama.  Now this restaurant has special meaning to mom/dad.  You see it was over 20 years ago that dad and his family ate here.  They then told mom about it and mom and  her family ate here.  But mom/dad together have never been here.  So going to this restaurant was kind of like a coming home if you will.

When mom/dad arrived at the restaurant, there was not a single available parking space in the entire lot.  It was barely 5:00pm and there were 100’s of cars.  Mom says this is a sure sign of good food to come.  Finally mom spotted a parking space, they parked and entered the restaurant.  That’s when they saw lots of people waiting in line.  Mom/dad knew they were going to be in for a long wait so they put their name in and started looking at the menu.  You can see the menu here.  Amazingly, mom/dad might have waited less than 15 minutes and their number was called.  Mom/dad were ecstatic to say the least.  There were lots of big parties here that night so thank goodness it was just mom/dad.

Mom/dad got a fantastic seat at a booth next to the windows which was what – overlooking the top o’ the river.  Cute huh?  And what a view they had that you can see from this picture.  Beautiful and serene, lots of green trees and there were some ducks swimming around in the water.  Can you imagine what these trees are going to look like when Fall finally decides to get here?

The sweet little waitress came to the table and mom asked her what was good to get.  She said that there platters were awesome and way more food than one can eat… although the platters say for one.  So mom/dad said why not and went with the platter to share.  Boy, were they surprised when the waitress came back with some starters in the form of cole slaw and cornbread.

If you have never had southern cornbread, you are in for a treat.  Cornbread is one of mom’s specialties and dad says she makes the best. In fact here in the south, a good cornbread  will get you a good man… so says mom/dad – snorts.  But mom said this cornbread was fantastic!  Cornbread is made with cornmeal, milk, eggs, some people add a little sugar although mom doesn’t, and this cornbread had corn and jalapeno peppers.  This cornbread was served with a delicious creamy cole slaw and sliced onions on the side.  Mom/dad said they could just eat these starters and be just fine.  That’s country folks my friends – simple food for a fantastic experience.

But mom/dad ate all they could and before they knew it, it was time for the main course.  Remember the platter was suppose to be for ONE person? Well here is that platter in it’s glory.  There is boneless catfish fillets, popcorn shrimp, fried shrimp, chicken fingers, hush puppies and french fries.  Doesn’t that platter look simply amazing!  And the size of it compared to dad’s hand.  Remember, the platter was for one person.  There is no way!  Mom/dad were so glad they decided to share the meal.

They ate to their hearts desire both of them afterwards being so full and happy.  That’s what this experience was all about.  Enjoying each other, sharing a wonderful experience and just enjoying the time and scenery.  For a while, time stopped and mom/dad sat for a while and just relaxed for a bit away from everything.  And of course, you all know my daddy.  He’s never met anyone that he can’t talk to.  Today was no exception.

On the way out of the restaurant, he met the restaurant mascot, Mr. Catfish at the exit door.  They had a moment to discuss politics, the secret recipe for those wonderful catfish fillets and dad got directions home… that is after they visited the back deck of the restaurant for one last final view.

And that final view is what I leave you with today my friends.  A reflection of a great meal with some wonderful memories made.  And I have to ask you.  When was the last time that you had a dinner with family that you just sat in comfort with each other, laughed and just let everything stop for a moment.  Enjoy my friends.

 

Travels in the South

Today we continue our travels in the south series.  I’m going to take you back to Tybee Island, Georgia.  Why?  Because that happens to be one of the places in the entire world that mom/dad can get to for an escape of reality to find inner peace.  You believe that, right?  Snorts with piggy laughter.

So there mom/dad was in one of the many stores on Tybee Island, wondering around aimlessly looking for ‘it’.  You do know what ‘it’ is, right?  When woman know they need something but can’t quite put their manicured finger on what it is they need.  You follow me now?  So there they were in this store, mom looks up and says to dad, “There it is!”  Oh dear have mercy is what I think dad mumbled.  What was it?  Take exhibit A in the picture to the left.  For a moment mom thought they were in the South Pacific on Easter Island.  Where else would they be finding this ‘dude’?

You know Easter Island – There are mysterious moai statues that are huge – averaging 13 feet and weighing 14 tons.  Although they stand silent reaching for the stars, they speak volumes on how did they get there and how were they constructed which to this day is a mystery.  So was mom surprised when she found “Junior” here on Tybee Island, Georgia of all places.  Now, mom thought Junior would be awesome standing either on her front porch here at the Hotel Thompson or on the deck.  See, mom’s weird like that.  And I’m sure us anipals would have endless nightmares of Junior chasing us in our sleep.  So, this is the one time that I can say dad talked some sense into mom… this time.  But if Junior is still there the next time mom/dad visits the island, I can’t promise it won’t come home… yay.

 And another “it” that mom found while shopping endlessly for nothing, was a treasured Tybee Island rock.  You know this rock did make it home to the Hotel Thompson and is now treasured with our other pet rocks.  They all get along and have been talking non-stop about the beach and the fantastic water.  I foresee a pet rock excursion taking place to Tybee Island in the near future.  Do you?

Now, I’m stepping away from this part on food – take it away mom/dad ❤

For obvious reasons, Bacon doesn’t need to see this.  This creation is one of mine and Jim’s favorite breakfast foods while visiting Tybee Island.  We even introduced it to Jean/Bill from Canadian Cats and to Fozziemom/Fozziedad from All Fur One and One Fur All when they visited.

It is hash browns well done crispy sprinkled with chopped up fried bacon.  See, that’s why Bacon didn’t need to see this.  It is insanely evil and so delicious.  You won’t look at plain hash browns the same way.

Hope you enjoyed this week in our Travels in the South series.  Until next time

 

 

 

 

 

Travels in the South

Welcome my friends to another edition of Travels in the South.  Today I want to share another food experience with you from mom/dad.  You know those two are professional eaters what can I say.  That might be where I get it from, right?  Snorts with piggy laughter.

Well, there’s a certain restaurant nearby that was offering “Endless Aps”.  No not phone aps.. appetizers my silly friends.  Well mom also belongs to their food club where every time you eat there you acquire points towards free food.  Well part of the food club is that you get special things that you have to ask for.  For instance, chips and salsa come complimentary with your meal.  How about that?  BUT you have to ask and then show them your membership.

So mom/dad ordered some chips to start with… and did I mention they are endless?  Do you see where this post is going – endless – snorts.  Well daddy wanted to try all of the ‘endless aps’ that were on special.  Mom ordered a side salad and was going to sample things here/there which I’m sure was not how this was suppose to go but did this day.

Dad wanted to try everything so here you go – Potato Skins, Mozzarella Sticks, Pot Stickers, Fried Green Beans and Boneless Wings in a Tennessee barbeque sauce.  And nods head – you read that right.  Fried Green Beans which mom says is her new favorite.  Now, don’t drool too much on your keyboard my friends ❤