Travels in the South

Daddy is doing Travels in the South today – take it away pops!

Sometimes you get the craving for some really good barbeque.  And for obvious reasons, we don’t tell Bacon what really good barbeque can be.  So the other day, I took the wife to a local place that has the best ribs.  As you can see in the picture above, you get a lot of food for just a little over $12.00 – and it’s good and solid food.  You can get the ribs in different flavors too – regular barbeque, bourbon or you can add more pork to it in the form of little pieces of bacon on top of your ribs.  I showed some respect for the pig and didn’t get bacon added to it.  I just couldn’t do that – LOL.

 

Travels in the South

Oh my friends – mom/dad found the *best* local seafood restaurant.  It is called Fishers of Men and they are located at 1500 Mt Zion Road, Suite 20, Morrow.  They are open everyday except Sunday.

Mom/dad went there one Saturday night to check it out and they have since been back repeatedly.  Why?  Let me tell you why mom/dad like it so much.

The food is authentic.  As you’ve read on my blog, mom/dad like to travel and they like to eat.  They’ve eaten everywhere.  And this place can hold their own with some of the other restaurants they’ve been to all over the world.

The atmosphere is home. You go in, order and pay for your food.  Then you  find a comfy spot and wait smelling all of that deliciousness being created in the kitchen for your order.  There’s no rush to herd you out of the restaurant like some places do.  Everything is cooked fresh to order so it comes out sizzling hot.

And let me tell you one more thing.  You may go in as a stranger but you will leave as family.

When mom/dad went the first time, they ordered two of the whiting and shrimp dinners.  That’s four pieces of whiting and thirteen shrimp with fries.  They didn’t have any clue how much food they would get.  Look at all of that food!  And yes, dad said they snorted it all down – can you believe that?

There is a LOT of pictures below that mom/dad wanted to share with you – no they didn’t order everything at once – snorts with piggy laughter.  As I’ve said, they have been there many times in the past couple of weeks.

As they like to tell one of the owners Arlene, they are working their way through the menu.  Today, I wanted to share with you some of their fabulous food.  And, if you are in the area we highly suggest you try this place.

You will not regret it!  In fact, as mom/dad try more of their food, you might see them here again on Travels in the South.

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Now try not to get too hungry looking at these gorgeous pictures!

In no particular order, the following pictures are:  scallops (sweet, succulent and flaky on the inside like they should be); crab sticks (we had to ask what these were too!  crab meat breaded and fried); oysters and catfish; whiting and shrimp; whiting and the best seafood salad and clams.  And let me add by saying there french fries are crispy and there onion rings are out of this world!!  Mom/dad have also tried their wonderful cole slaw and grits.  Yes grits are good for you!

 

#fishersofmen #seafood #oysters #crabsticks #whiting #scallops #shrimp #clams

 

Travels in Chicago

Oh friends – I have a good one for you today.  But for some reason, mom says I can’t be part of it.  She wants to talk about it.  So without further ado – take it away mom ❤

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Thanks Bacon.  Friends, for obvious reasons in the pictures below you can tell why I didn’t want Bacon here today.  No oinker should be around alcoholic beverages – LOL.  No really there is b.a.c.o.n. involved in this posting and I didn’t want the little guy to get his feelings hurt.  Carrying on with our Chicago, Illinois trip several months ago, I wanted to share a breakfast place that we went to for some fabulous food.  There is a restaurant close to my sister called Richard Walker’s Pancake House.  If you are near one, RUN to it.  They have the most fab food ever.

Of course every good breakfast needs to start with a solid drink.  Today was no exception.  We are on vacation and vacation knows no time.  My sister started with a Blood Mary with a slice of bacon.  THUD!  To say this restaurant has fabulous bacon is an understatement!  Mix that bacon with vodka and you have a party starting up right there and then.  I started with a Mimosa… gotta keep that orange juice flowing, right?  And of course the hub was the designated driver – snorts – so he had a Coke Zero straight up.

The muffin you see in the picture – that is a carrot cake muffin.  Gobble nom nom.  It was delicious!  We cut it all up and shared it together.  All it was missing was some cream cheese icing on top of it.

What we ate for entrees:

My sister went for the pancake looking picture.  That’s actually potato pancakes that was made from Idaho potatoes with a tad of fresh onion and served with applesauce and sour cream.  Now, before you go eeww, you have to try it before you knock it.  I was like yeah okay until I was personally hand fed a bite with sour cream.  Now I can’t get them out of my mind and want some…daily!  So yes upon our return trip to Chicago, this place is on the list for some potato pancakes.

I went boring style with scrambled eggs with cheese and bacon.  Okay the bacon wasn’t boring.  It was the most delicious bacon I’ve ever tasted here in the states and that’s saying a lot.

The hub unit went for the Classic Eggs Benedict.  Underneath that sinful hollandaise sauce was canadian bacon and poached eggs.  He made more grunting noises eating that meal than certain people make on certain television shows.  That’s all we are going to say about that – HAHAHAH

So I gotta ask – what was your favorite meal/picture?

 

Travels in Chicago

 No trip to Chicago, Illinois is complete without a visit to Portillo’s.  All I can say is bring an appetite!  You will want to try one of everything… and I think we did.  We were visiting for three days and visited Portillo’s twice.  Does that tell you anything about their awesome food?  This place is so busy that the line can be seen during the day out the door!  And to hear people order is a treat in itself.  Some people know the lingo of how to order while me the virgin of ordering just explained what I wanted – LOL.  On the first visit, we *had* to try an Italian Beef – loaded!  The Italian beef comes in two sizes – regular and big.  We went regular this day and still had enough to share.  It’s made with their famous thin sliced roast beef topped with sweet peppers.  And here’s a hint for you – there’s three ways to order it.  Standard with a splash of ‘gravy’; Dipped which means the whole sandwich is dipped into the ‘gravy’; or Dry with very little ‘gravy’.  “Gravy” is referred to the natural juices from the slow roasted beef.  This day, we went dry.  We didn’t want to wear the gravy all day if you know what I mean – ha!  And it was delicious!  The meat was tender, the sandwich was juicy and it felt like we belonged there eating this Italian Beef all of our lives.

The next day – yep the NEXT day – we had to come back and try some more delicacies again.  Since the beef was so delicious the day before, we thought we would try it again in a different form.  This time we split a Beef-n-Cheddar Croissant.  The same thin layers of Italian beef with cheddar cheese all over it on a nice toasted croissant.  Closing my eyes just thinking of this yummy sammy – it was that good!

Which one was better?  It’s hard to say.  Both of these were so delicious…. maybe I need to try both again before I can make a decision 🙂

 

Travels in Chicago

Last November, mom/dad traveled to Chicago, Illinois.  Or should I say, mom planned a trip and told dad absolutely nothing about it until the car came and picked them up at the Hotel Thompson the morning of departure.  Mom had already packed everything for their adventure.  Why Chicago?  Well first up, my Aunt Tina lives there with my cousin Sherlock Bones.  Second up, daddy has *always* wanted to go to Ditka’s Chicago.  Are you asking yourself what is that?  Well Mike Ditka is a former football player, was an awesome coach and a television commentator.  He coached the Chicago Bears back in the day which was one of dad’s favorite teams.

In the next couple of weeks, we will be highlighting some of the food that everyone enjoyed during their trip to Ditka’s Chicago.

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Like in this picture.  This is an appetizer called Coconut Crusted Shrimp.  It is settled in a bang bang sauce with a basil oil.  A little spicy on one hand but delightfully sweet on the other hand to balance the shrimp.  And that is also a piece of fried lemon on top of the shrimp.  It was a wonderful way to start the meal.

 

Travels in the South

Surprise – surprise – surprise.  Just goes to show you that every once in a while mom listens to her body…. especially when it screams, “Eat a salad sometimes!” LOL

Last weekend, mom/dad went out for brunch.  We won’t discuss what daddy ate – probably another hamburger – snorts with piggy laughter.  But mom got a salad and I have to say it looked pretty darn good to me.  It had all of the regular stuff – croutons, red onions, tomatoes, cucumbers, shredded cheese with light Thousand Island dressing.

See mom can be good…. at times.

 

Travels in the South

Hello dear friends.  Welcome to another week of Travels in the South.  This week, we are focusing on daddy and his hamburger passion.  He loves hamburgers.  I mean really LOVES.  Every time we go somewhere, he has to try their burgers out to see how they are on the taste scale.  This week is no different.

This hamburger was so big that the restaurant had to put a huge steak knife in it to hold it together in transit to the table.  It’s a one pound patty, cheese, and gulps – bacon, with pickles and a hard fried egg.  Talk about getting all of the your food groups into one plate.  And if you haven’t noticed in the past with dad’s burgers, he likes a little mayo on his burgers – no ketchup or mustard or tomato or lettuce.

What did dad think of this concoction?  He gave it two thumbs up and said he would order it again.  What do you like on your burgers?

 

Travels in the South

One night last week, mom was craving pasta.  Not just any pasta but a New Orleans Pasta from a local restaurant.  Look at this picture.  Wouldn’t you crave it too?  Mom doesn’t usually crave pasta but when she does, she always goes for this one.  It has penne pasta, shrimp, chicken, smoked sausage, peppers, onions and a spicy homemade Cajun alfredo sauce.  Doesn’t it look yummy?

The only thing mom hates about this pasta are the shrimp.  Why do they keep tails on the shrimp when they serve it in a pasta like this?  Mom has to stop and take the time to remove all of the tails so she can jump right in and eat.  What do you think about this pasta?

 

Travels in the South

We all know by now that dad has no limits when it comes to eating.  He doesn’t get these things every day or sometimes not even every week.  But this is another one of his favorites – blackberry pancakes with whip cream.  Of course there is thousands of worth of calories in this dish – that dad gets either for breakfast or dinner.  And no he never finishes it all but enjoys every bite he can get down.  And we won’t talk about how he flies like a kite the rest of the day if he eats it for breakfast.  Snorts and rolls with piggy laughter.

 

Travels in the South

Go ahead – check this dog out – snorts with piggy laughter.  Do you remember the Courthouse Tavern that mom/dad went to a couple of weeks ago?  You can check that posting out here.  Well, Houdini had a spa appointment this past Saturday in that same area.  So since they were in the same area, guess what mom/dad decided to do.  Yep – visit the restaurant once again.

This time, dad again went for a hamburger.  Shaking my head –  he’s so predictable.  But mom, she wanted something different.  She went for what they call a Jazzy Junkyard dog.  All beef (thank goodness-snorts) with a side of steak fries.  Now those fries are just the way mom likes – not soggy but crispy and wonderful.  And on her dog, she added cheddar, some kind of meat she told me I’d probably be better not knowing and fresh jalapenos.  You want a bite, don’t you?

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Mom said the hot dog was awesome but she didn’t care much for the bun.  The bun was toasted and although that gives a great flavor, the bun was kind of stiff and hard which is not good.  So if she orders it again, she will ask them not to grill the bun.