Tuesday we took the grandkids to Alto Pass for a "hike" down Quetil trail.  It's a fairly easy down and back trail with the first part having bluffs on one side and several trails on the other.
To say they loved it would be an understatement especially the two boys.  Dooter would take off and get ahead then have to wait while the rest of us caught up.  They both wanted to take some stairs up to the top where the scenic view is located but that was too much. 
It was a beautiful day so after we left we took the jeep to Hutchins Creek and drove it through the water where it crosses the road.  We turned around and let them play in the water for while.  The cold water didn't bother Greyson but it did some with Brinley and Dax.
After we left down there we made our first trip to Small Town Scoops, not for ice cream but to eat.  I ordered a rueben while Lisa got a pretzel and the kids got chicken strips.
The rueben wasn't bad but it wasn't that good either.  The chicken strips seemed to need a little more time and the kids didn't really like them.  I thought Lisa's pretzel was good but she didn't.  I think that was because she went for the skinny part of the pretzel because it had more salt while the fatter part was softer.   Lisa did take the kids up and we brought home ice cream for them.
We'll try them again since they just added food to their menu and are getting things ironed out.

Debbie had yesterday off and is finally feeling better plus the day was going to be great so I canceled cards and took a little day trip.  They decided on Mary Janes and Mike drove so I got to relax and take in some of the stuff I can't see when I drive.
Once we got to Mary Janes I was planning on Yuengling but saw the had another Irish red so I went that.  Falling Fences from Longboat Brewing in Columbia Mo.  Both of us really liked it a lot.  Mike was ecstatic they now have Sailor Jerrys, his rum of choice.  We ordered appetizers of cheese curds and pretzels.  The pretzels were just okay nothing special.  The cheese curds are great, not sure I've fried curds as good anywhere including Wisconsin.
Me and Lisa decided to get a korean rice bowl and split it.  Mike went with dry rub wings and Debbie got a burger called the Monk. 
I didn't get called a fat ass this time but did called a goober because I didn't catch the waitresses name.  She was really good about some give and take although we did ask if there was Korean bbq in the rice bowl and she said there was.
If there was bbq in the bowl I didn't see it, I think it was just korean bbq sauce.  I wish we would have added chicken or steak but even without it was awesome especially the broccoli.  Mike's wings were coated with rub, so much he had cheeto fingers and lips and didn't really care for the wings.  We've had them a couple times and have been very impressed. Debbie seemed to like her sandwich.
Afterwards we went to City Tavern and had a beer sitting outside on a really nice table that had benches on all four sides.
We finished up with a stop at the Chinchbug because Debbie hadn't been there yet.

After running a couple errands yesterday morning Lisa finally got motivated and we went down to Bottoms Up for some chicken.  I thought about wings but we finally went with 1/2 chicken all white with chips for a side, except I actually said a whole chicken.  Of well, I mentioned taking some to Mike and Debbie anyway.
As always the chicken was excellent and the chips tasted good but that's a lot of fried stuff for me.  After asking if they had Yuengling and getting a "what" I found out they had Yuengling flight so I decided to try one.  Not bad, better than any other in the ultra light category that I've had.
We took a little ride on the levi then on the way back we discovered the Chinchbug has reopened so we stopped in for a drink.  No food yet but they are planning on rolling it out in the future.

We had big thoughts of going to one of the places that open later, looking at you Crazy Joes, T Street, etc, if Bailey picked up the kids early.  She did but we both kind of looked at each other and it was obvious staying home sounded good so we did.
We did decided to go to Carbondelis and pick up sandwiches.  I got a sicilian foot long while Lisa got a Capperoni plus we got an order of jambalaya to try.  We both got our sandwiches toasted with a variety of veggies and topped with oil and vinegar.
Both sandwiches had plenty of meat on them.  My sandwich was really good, it and the boskeydale bomber are my two favorites so far.  Surprisingly the jambalaya was really good too but more soupy than most jambalayas, almost the consistency gumbo.
Love having a sandwich shop on the west side of carbondale but wish we had one in Murphysboro.

We've taken turns being sick over the last week so not much happening with us.  Yesterday we both were finally feeling well enough to go out and grab lunch.  Lisa has been having a hankering for pizza so what better Quatros.
Lisa likes booths and sitting in the downstairs part of the building and we manage to satisfy both her likes.  We ordered a medium meateaters pizza and a dinner salad that we split. 
The salad came already in two bowls which was nice.  I didn't want cheese on the salad so it was just lettuce and croutons.  There was a lot of croutons, probably too many for me.  The french dressing is really good.
The meateaters is our standard pizza order there.  The pizza was still really good but something seemed different.  It just didn't seem as thick as it has been, also didn't seem as much sauce.  I hope it was just the day and not a change, it's been too good for too long.
We got to meet the new owner and she was really nice and told us of upcoming changes.
It was good to get out even for a little while.

Mike's birthday was this past Tuesday so we had a belated birthday outing for him yesterday.  He chose Kretzers over several other suggestions so we headed up.  I was worried about it being crowded so we left a little after noon hoping to avoid the lunch crowd.  No problem, when we got there the place was maybe half full so we were able to get the table we normally sit at.
Myself and Debbie each ordered catfish special but I subbed a baked potato for the fries.  Lisa got the mahi mahi tacos with chips and Mike got a pulled pork sandwich with fries.  Lisa ordered fried mushrooms and pork rinds for appetizers.  Oh and they had Yuengling on tap.
The appetizers got there and the mushrooms were great.  I tried to avoid eating too many but they were so good.  I only had a couple of the pork rinds and they seemed really good but had to tell.  They've been good in the past so why not.
The catfish was once again excellent, probably the best around and the tartar sauce was on point.  The baked potato was solid, not great not bad, just a good baked potato.  Best thing about it is that it wasn't fried.  The cole slaw was really good.  I think it is similar to KFC's slaw.  Lisa's tacos were really good too but she only ate one.  I'm not sure if Mike liked his sandwich, he said it was good but he only ate half.  He did like the fries.
After we left there Mike decided he wanted to go to Slip In Saloon in Nashville.  A really nice place with both Packer and SF Giant stuff on the walls so of course I like it.  They also had Yuengling on draft.  We had one and I wanted to get closer to home.
Last Mike chose Big Muddy for our final stop.  Not many people in there and it was cold in the building.  After one there it was time to go home.

Smoking Ks added etouffee to their menu so it's only natural that we wanted to get over to Marion and try it.  We took advantage of a snow day yesterday and headed over there.
It's a tough decision on what to get with cajun and bbq on the menu.  We finally decided on etouffee and since it was so good the last time we got gumbo again this time and of course Lisa got fried okra as a side.  The staff there was very patient and nice while we decided on what to get and throughout the time we were there.
The etouffee was different then any other that I've had but also very good.  It was more a soup or stew while the others I've had are thicker and lighter in color.  The gumbo was once again really good and the fried okra is spectacular.  Both the etouffee and gumbo have a little kick to them but it's not over powering.  The okra has a nice finish to it that seemed salty.
In talking with them they said they are working on offering combos and also on getting a liquor license 🍺☺️☺️☺️ Next time I may have to try some of their bbq offerings such as brisket and burnt ends.

We decided to go to Texas Roadhouse yesterday as kind of a belated valentines dinner.  We don't go out on the actual day because most places are crowded.  I'd been wanting to go back since our previous experience there.  I called about an hour before we headed over and request a booth in the bar area.  Good thing I did, the place was packed with a big waiting list.  We only had to wait a couple minutes and out booth was ready, I'm sure there were some unhappy people.  Thanks to our daughter for the calling in tip.
We once again got Trevor as a waiter and he seemed to remember us.  We both ordered Yuengling while we figured out what we wanted.  We finally decided to share a 16 oz ribeye with baked potato and salad, Lisa also got chili to augment her portion of the steak.This time the rolls were really good and fresh.  The salad got there quicker than I thought with that big a crowd.  It's a nice sized salad that we shared and the french dressing is excellent.  A short time later the steak and chili showed up, once again faster than expected.  The steak was a perfect medium but I didn't taste the blackening like previous time so I wonder if they missed that part of the order.  Other than that it was a really good steak and the baked potato is great.  Lisa really liked her chili and the small bite I had was good.
It was raining hard when we left so we just headed home to take it easy after a nice meal.

I've been wanting to try the lo mein from China Buffet so yesterday we decided to pick some up.  Dax was here and he loves nu nu's (noodles) so that made it an easy choice.
I got veggie lo mein while Lisa got Szechuan chicken, we also got a large hot and sour soup.  I used their website to order and was told it would be ready in 20 minutes.  I got there early and it was ready for me so I'll have to remember it's closer to 15 minutes.
Everything seemed nice and hot and there was plenty.  My lo mein was good, not as good as New China was but better than New Kahala.  Lisa's chicken was also good, it was sweeter than other szechuan dishes I've had.  The hot and sour soup was really good and being hot helped since the last time the egg drop soup was barely warm.

Yesterday we made a trip to St Libory to got to the Brickhouse Bar and Grill.  Of course we had to visit Wennemans Meat Market first and the place was packed.  Main reason was to pick up some of their ham hocks but we got something similar instead.  We also picked up a couple different summer sausages and some pork steaks.  Everything looked great and I could have spent a lot more money there.
Next we went to the Brickhouse for lunch.  The place was packed but a table opened up.  We decided to let another family with kids sit there but right away another one opened up.  We got pretzel bites for an appetizer and they were great, nice and salty.  We split a four piece chicken all white meal, Lisa got a side salad while I got some fried potatoes.  Mike also got chicken while Debbie went with a rueben that was a special. 
Our waitress was a lot of fun and we had a good time interacting with her after the crowd cleared out.  She said they normally aren't that crowded.  The chicken was really good, close to Bottoms Up.  My potatoes weren't very warm but I think they would have been good if they had been hotter.  Debbie said her rueben was good. 
The family next to us kept winning with a claw machine and it was enjoyable to watch.  I gave them two options heading home and they chose route 4 and a visit to Garden of Eden.
It was as expected, a true dive bar with several regulars sitting around.  They are having something called the Rotten Applefest which we all thought was funny since we have the applefest.  They have a bunch of heavy metal bands and food trucks.  Not my thing.
We finished off the day with a visit to the Corner Tavern.  Debbie hadn't been there and Mike hadn't been there in 40+ years.  Mike ran into an old classmate who hangs out there all the time.  We ordered a pretzel with extra salt and it really hit the spot.

It was in the mid 60s yesterday.  In Southern Illinois?  In early February?  Yes so I decided to cancel my weekly card game and go for a hike.  We needed to be back before 3 so that ruled out anything too long or far away.
We decided on the trail at the Oakwood Bottoms.  I missed going out on the island but caught up with the others as they were just starting around the lake.  The rock trail is almost all gone and it was soft but not muddy except in a few places that were easily avoided. 
We ran into a couple who were just getting done going around the boardwalk and said there was a tree down about 9/10s of the way around.  There was at least one missing board and one place were a tree knocked down the railing.  Plus there were tree leaves on most of the boardwalk.  We didn't see much wildlife but it was still nice to get out.
The bad thing about Mondays is that food options are very limited but we finally decided on the Revlon.  After considering a pork tenderloin I decided on a chicago dog without tomatoes.  Lisa and Debbie got BLT's while Mike got a cheeseburger and fries.  We started off with fried pickle and fried cauliflower appetizers.
I thought both appetizers were good but not great.  The chicago dog was good but not really a chicago dog, more like a split hot dog with toppings.  The two BLTs were great, by far the best we had.  Mike didn't care for his burger or fries, mainly because the cheese wasn't melted on the burger and some of the fries were cold.

Wednesday we decided to go somewhere and grab a bite to eat.  The decision came down to Carbondelis or Boobys.  A chance to finally sit down and enjoy a Yuengling won out so we rolled to Booby's.
We both ordered Yuenglings of course and then we both went with the italian sub special minus tomatoes, toasted.  I didn't realize it came with mayo or probably would have ordered without that too but not a big deal.
The sandwiches were cut in half which is a nice plus.  Both of us really enjoyed the sandwich and said it may be our new favorite and that's saying a lot.  I didn't see the pickle until Lisa was wrapping my half sandwich for later and it was good. 
I still miss the baskets and the Charlies chips but it was still a great visit and I'm so glad Boobys is back.

Something I'm sick of is hearing how the chiefs are going for the first threepeat in NFL history.  FALSE. FALSE FALSE.
The Green Bay Packers won three in a row two different times.  The Packers won in 1929, 30 & 31 and also won in 1965, 66 &67.  Yes, the chiefs would be the first three peat in Super Bowl history but even that comes with a caveat.  The Packers won the first two Super Bowls in 66&67 and in the 65 title game beat future AFC member the Cleveland Browns.
NFL history didn't start with the Super Bowl, it started in 1920 46 years before the advent of the Super Bowl.  In fact the first two "Super Bowls" were called the NFL AFL world championship game.
To trivalize the Packers three peats would be the same as saying the JFK assassination.  The viet nam war, korean war and WWII didn't matter.  Jim Brown, Sammy Baugh, Don Hutson, Clark Hinkle or the scores of other players who played before 1966 didn't matter.
The Chiefs accomplishment would be great enough by itself without all the hype about being the first.  It would be the first three peat in close to 60 years, thats great enough by itself.

We went to Chili's on Wednesday for a beer and chips and we ended up eating there.  I had the fried chicken sandwich with a salad.  The salad wasn't bad but they didn't have french dressing and it had some of the lettuce I'm not real wild about.  I don't even know what its called.  The chicken sandwich was really good and big.  Lisa had the big smash burger and it was once again good.
Yesterday we stopped at a couple places in carbondale and then went to Sam's.  Along with about half of Southern Illinois.  It was packed and people were in no hurry to move out of a persons way especially if there was a sample table near by.  By the time we got out of there we both were more than ready for a beer.
We decided to try out the new Turners Table but when we went in they said the didn't have alcohol and out we went.  One older lady coming in was leaning on a wooden railing and it broke.  We helped the lady but they need to get it fixed.  It looks like a place older people go.
Once we left there we mentioned several places before deciding on a little ride to Bottoms Up but first we switch to Lisa's jeep.  Once we got there we ordered 1/2 fried chicken all white and both of us had salads with french.  Their salads are really nice and a good size.  Of course the fried chicken is great, had to beat and the workers are always friendly and up for some good natured bantor.
After we left we ran down to Ware Market and got a few items before going thru Hutchens creek and then up to LaRue-Pine hills for a nice drive back home.

After some unsuccessful tries I was finally able to ascertain that Champs was open and serving food again.  I really didn't notice much different in the restaurant area after their closing.  There was sign out front saying new management and new cook.  We once again sat in a booth in the gaming area only to move to the main part I think because it was too cool.  I was looking at memorabilia when the decision was made.  While we were deciding what to eat I asked about the change and one of the things the waitress said was they old cook took all the recipes with him.
The don't have a big menu so I once again ordered a burger with provolone.  I went over thinking salad for a side but changed to onion rings at the last moment.  Lisa got an italian beef with chili, Debbie got a jalapeno brat and Mike got a cheeseburger with homemade chips. 
My cheeseburger was better than the last time but the onion rings were a big step back.  It was obvious that they are now frozen out of a bag instead of made on site.  Lisa's italian beef looked really good but she said it the flavor was all in the au jus.  She said her chili was once again had good flavor but way too many beans.  Debbie seemed to like her brat.  The look on Mikes face when they brought out his plate was priceless.  The homemade chips were tortilla chips instead of potato chips.  To make it worse for him they ran out of Sailor Jerrys rum.
I'm not as excited about going back as I was previously since before everything was handmade on site.

I must admit I've never been a fan of Tres.  I guess it was a nice place to have a drink but not eat.  Now they've remade their menu into a traditional menu with a few mexican dishes so we decided to try it out. 
I'd seen some pictures so I went over thinking catfish and I stayed with the plan when I got over there.  I ordered the catfish dinner, onion rings and california mix veggies.  I got the veggies over the salad because they didn't have any dressings that sounded good.  Lisa got a burger and a salad with mayo with chopped jalepenos in it.  We both had our first taste of Garage beer owned by the Kelce brothers but also partially AJ Hawk (ex Packer).  Really nice taste, better than most of your standard beers.
We received a basket of chips and salsa when we sat down.  The chips were okay but I really liked the salsa.  Better than what I remember their salsa tasting like.  I mentioned I wanted tartar sauce with my fish only to be told they didn't carry it.  What the ???  Fish without tartar sauce is just fish.  I couldn't believe it, two fish dishes and no tartar sauce, wow.  Anyway Lisa said just get some mayo and pickles and chop the pickles into the mayo.  We told the waitress and she did try but needed more pickles.  Oh she did bring a lemon slice to squeeze in.
Lisa's salad came first and it was a nice sized salad but the dressing was too heavy.  Then out came the entrees and mine had two delicious looking monster catfish filets and some great looking onion rings.  I knew right away I wasn't going to eat both fish filets they were so big.  I had a couple onion rings and the breading wasn't sticking to the onion very well, when it did it was really good.  Same thing happened with the breading on the catfish.  It made me wonder if their fryers were turned off and they had put the stuff in before it was fully warmed up.  Seemed like an excess of grease on the plates too.  The veggies were typical frozen bagged veggies and weren't overly warm or seasoned.   Lisa wasn't real wild about her burger and said she wouldn't get one again.
Overall not very impressive.  It almost seems like they want one foot in the past and one in the future but the changeover was recent and it may take some time for them to adjust.

After staying to long at Kellys bar last night (Harper Valley PTA reference) we decided to pick up China Buffet yesterday.  I know the name isn't Kellys but Kelly does own it and it made for a good opening sentence.
I ordered beef and stir fried veggies combination while Lisa ordered chicken in garlic sauce.  The combination comes with egg roll and choice of white or fried rice.  We both opted for the fried rice.  We also got a large egg drop soup.  The order was ready when I got there but I managed to hit every light coming back, or so it seemed. 
The egg drop soup was very good but needed to be hotter.  My ordered had way too much beef in it for me and could have used more veggies.  While it was good the sauce didn't have as much flavor as I would have liked.  The fried rice was okay but I think I'll order white the next time.  Lisa's chicken in garlic sauce had flavor but it was different from the other garlic sauces we've had.  I liked it but the kick was almost too much for me anymore.  I thought the egg roll was okay especially the inside but Lisa didn't care for it much.
Lisa hadn't been wanting to try China Buffet for some reason but maybe this will get her kick started.

It took longer than I thought but we finally made it back to Log Cabin yesterday.  I thought we'd be back sooner but it took 2 1/2 years to make it back.  The bar was crowded with what appeared to be regulars but most tables were available.
We grabbed a table and made our orders.  We decided to split a garlic burger, chips and an order of wings.  We got half parmaesan garlic butter and half dry rub.  Mike got his standard burger and chips while Debbie got a BLT with a salad. 
Debbies BLT arrived remarkably fast so she waited a couple minutes until the rest of the food came out.  The burger was once again good but not as good as I remembered.  The chips were much better than the previous time, seasoned much better but some weren't crisp.  The wings were mostly drummies, wish we would have seen if they would do all flats.  The garlic butter parmaesan were good and not as sloppy as they appeared.  The dry rub wings were even better.  I much preferred the dry rub. 
I wanted to get back to Murphysboro before the temp started dropping so we headed back but were derailed by a stop at River Rats where we stayed too long but had a great time.

We went over to Bennies yesterday mainly because Lisa said she wanted italian.  It was nice to get out of the house for a while since we've been lazy butts laterly.  There was more traffic than I anticipated but we didn't have any problems.
I went over thinking italian sausage sandwich and stuck to my plan.  Lisa was thinking baked spaghetti and stuck to her choice.  We set down in a booth and got our drinks but other than that service was slow.  I ordered mine and got the house dressing on my salad.  It took so long to get my salad that I finally asked about it since our waitress had disappeared.  I was told she was chopping salad since they didn't have any one doing that.  Lisa said others were asking about it too.  The salad finally got there and it was a really good side salad, I really liked the dressing.  After another wait our waitress reappeared with our dinners and took our next drink order.  She got back fast with the beer but got the wrong kind, not a big deal since we both like Shiner Bock.  The included fries weren't much to brag about, standard crinkle cut fries.  My sandwich was good especially the lightly toasted bun. The sandwich needed more onions though.  Lisa said her baked spaghetti was okay but she expected a lot more from a place that specializes in italian food.

We took a quick trip to Herrin to eat at Joe's Pizza yesterday.  I'd done some picking up and cleaning and Lisa had de-christmas our house and neither felt like cooking anything.
We chose Joe's over Quatros, Frenchmans Widow and Champs. It appeared they were just getting over the lunch rush so we chose a booth that still needed cleaning. Lisa likes booths over tables and I probably do too.
We ordered a small pepperoni and sausage chicago style pizza.  Mike and Debbie ordered thick crust pepperoni and also salads. I have to say the salads looked good and so did their pizza when it go to the table.  Our pizza was good, Joe's has a sweeter sauce than most and it paired well with the other ingredients.  Small was more than big enough for us, in fact we had two pieces left that Mike and Debbie took home.  I tried a corner piece of their pizza and it was really good.  I'll probably push for that the next time we go over.

I got a text from Thursday night from Teresa, a neighbor from when I was growing up.  She said her mom would be at Faye yesterday morning.  Her mom practically raised me, I was over there all the time mainly because of her older brothers Mike and Tom.  Mike is a year older and Tom is a year younger.  Allen from the neighborhood was also there.
I ordered orange juice and a sausage patty only to find out they were out of sausage so I ordered bacon instead.  The orange juice was good and bacon is always good but it wasn't about the food.  It was about the memories and there were more than a few stories told.
Really enjoyable.  Lisa couldn't make it because Bailey got sick and we had to watch Brinley and Dax.

I make no secret of the fact that I'm not a fan of Christmas.  Call me a Grinch or a Scrooge  if you must because I just don't care for it.  Too much packed into a short time.
Once again I didn't start my normal shopping as early as I would have liked.  To clarify that is shopping for all the groceries that we need for the various Christmas activities.  I ended up going to Walmart four out of five days.  I really don't mind going usually but this was a bit much.  I usually forget something or pick up the wrong thing even though I keep an excel spreadsheet with  a list of things we need.  I don't think I did that this year but Lisa thought I didn't buy enough of some things.  We had plenty.
We had our normal "family" dinner on Sunday since that's about the only time we see our son.  Then on Tuesday we had our normal breakfast with our Nephew and his family.  Or course Bailey and her family come over too.  Then that night we had Lisa's family annual Christmas eve gathering.  The on Wednesday we had Christmas dinner.  To make matters worse the Packers played on a Monday night so there was another thing added into the mix. 
It's helped that Lisa's family no longer do Christmas dinner and we've moved breakfast to another day but it's a lot especially with the Monday night game.
Lisa has been chomping at the bit for redemption for her Thanksgiving debacle with the dressing and she got it.  Not her best but it was still really good and she's really getting the turkey thing down.
One thing I do like is watching the kids open the presents.  Greyson was fired up at the breakfast and of course that gets Dax going too.  Fun to watch.

We had some much needed new furniture delivered yesterday so of course I made the mistake of jokingly telling Lisa we should have a beer.  She didn't get the jokingly part so I had to get us a beer.  Not a big deal except it was 10:30am. 
Joe stopped by and picked up a chair and some end table for his buddy Dez.  Bailey and Shad stopped by to check out the furniture and then Mike and Debbie did too.  By this time it was past 1pm so we decided to go to PKs for burgers.  All four of us ordered burgers with various toppings.  Both me and Mike ordered American fries and Lisa ordered chili.
My burger didn't seem as big as last time and I should have got a double.  It was still a really good burger and everyone seemed to like theirs.  The American fries looked more like hash browns but were good.  Mike ordered his well done and they were almost burnt and dry.  While we were there we ran into our old friend Red who we hadn't seen in a while.  He was part of the slow pitch softball team I played for and I tried to talk him into coming to cards some Monday.
After we left we stopped at Boobys for a beer.  I also ordered a tyrolian sub to go.  When we got home Lisa put half the sandwich on the panini for me.  It really hit the spot at that point.

We don't eat breakfast out much but for various reasons we did yesterday.  I chose Mary Lou's because we know the owners family and we always prefer to eat local.  Once there we chose to eat at a table instead of the counter.
I ordered sausage, hash browns and two eggs over easy and of course I also got the complementary biscuit and gravy.  Lisa got bacon, two eggs and the biscuit and gravy.  We had barely ordered and the biscuits and gravy was there.  Good because I was hungry, bad because I was afraid I would get full before the rest of the meal.  We both managed to pace ourselves and the rest of the meal arrived a little later.
Now to the important part.  The sausage was good but a little done for my taste.  The two eggs were done like I like and tasted good.  The real star was the hash browns and the biscuit and gravy.  I normally put bbq sauce on my hash browns and they had Country Bobs on the table so why not?  It was really good combination.  The biscuits and gravy were also very good. 
About halfway through I realized I should have just ordered one egg.  A little bit later I realized I should have just ordered B&G and hash browns.  Not that it wasn't really good, just that I couldn't eat all of it.  I was afraid someone was going to stamp Goodyear on my butt and float me around.

We don't go to a lot of BBQ places because I'm somewhat of a BBQ snob having ate too much competition BBQ.  We also rarely go places that don't have beer but Smokin Ks in Marion came on our radar recently because of the cajun part of their menu and also having oxtails.  I've never had oxtails but they looked really good.
We got a little bit of a late start and I missed the turn and had to come in the back way, not really a big deal.  Oxtail was one of the specials and I mentioned we'd never had it so they brought a piece out for us to try.  Debbie wouldn't try it and of course Mike wouldn't either but both of us thought it was good so we got an order of oxtails and an order of gumbo.  We had three sides so we chose red beans and rice, slaw and fried okra.  Mike got his standard pulled pork sandwich with fries and Debbie got burnt ends with red beans and rice.
The oxtails reminded me of a more flavorful and rich chuck roast.  I liked them but not sure when of if I'll get them.  I'm glad I tried them.  The real star was the gumbo.  I don't remember liking gumbo as much as I like this.  The red beans and rice looked kind of thick but were very good.  Lisa really likes fried okra and said this was the best she's had, I have to agree - very good.  Mike said his sandwich was okay but didn't like his fries, not thin and crispy,  Debbie like her burnt ends. 
Nice place and I hope we make it back soon.
We stopped in at 618 Taphouse, Mike and Debbie had never been there.  They were talking about going to Frenchmans Widow but it was getting dark and I wanted to get back to Murphysboro, sadly it was only 3:30. 
We finished up with a quick stop at the Da Nite.