We went for a little road trip yesterday to McBride Mo. to try out Al's Place which is just across the Mississippi from Chester.  For some reason I have it in my mind that Chester is a further drive than it really is, it took us just under 45 minutes to get to McBride and that's with going through Chester instead of taking the bypass.
When we got there it wasn't the type of place I'd envisioned.  I thought it was going to be a bar type place with food but it's a diner type restaurant that has beer.  They have a lot of food options with daily specials.  I ordered a the fried pork chop special with a side salad and slaw while the Glue went with chili.  The Glue said her chili had a lot of beans but she liked it.  My salad was fine and my pork chop was real good.  The highlight was the slaw, it was great.
Since we were close and neither of us could really remember going to Kaskaskia we decided to take a drive there to check it out.  Of course we had to try out Bader's in St, Marys on our way.  We'd wondered if Missouri still allowed smoking and that was answered the minute we walked in Bader's, they either still allow it or Bader's doesn't care.  The beer was good and cold but neither of us finished because of the smoke. 
Kaskaskia was just five miles away and it was kind of cool to go to a place in Illinois that can only be reached from Missouri.  It was also the first capital of Illinois and at one time had a population over 7000 people.  There were a couple cool buildings in the town and there's also the liberty bell of Illinois that I'd thought to be a sister of the actual liberty bell but it's not.  Not much else to see there.
We decided to stop at the Salty Dawg in Chester for a drink and were surprised they had Killians on tap with 23 ounce drafts for $2.50.  Not much happening in the bar but they were going to have bingo later on which surprised me.  The Landmark had a Mardi Grais special that started at 4pm so we decided to have a second draft and stop by there to get some cajun to take home.
We got to the Landmark a little before four but the barmaid said they'd been serving all day since the beginning.  If we'd have known that we'd have went there instead of Al's.  The barmaid said that they may include some of the items on their regular menu which would be great.  We ordered some etouffee and jambalaya to go both of which I thought were a little expensive at around $14 each.  When we got home I tried both and thought they were real good and hopefully they'll keep both on the menu especially the etouffee.

The Glue was feeling better yesterday after a few days of being under the weather so we decided to go somewhere for lunch.  For some reason I was kind of dragging and didn't want to go very far but the Glue said Blue Fish in Dongola which is a place I'd been wanting to go.
I called them to see if they had beer and if they had etouffee as their special.  They did have beer which would have been a trip killer but they didn't have etouffee.  The lady said she had alligator in her hand and could make it but it would take about an hour and a half.  I asked what other cajun she had and she offered to make several different things but I came back to the etouffee and asked her to make it.
I don't think I've ever been to Dongola but the trip down new 51 was a nice easy trip.  So we go to this somewhat obscure restaurant in a town where there isn't much to it and what do we see when we pull in but a Craine heating and cooling truck from Murphysboro, unbelievable.  One of the guys with Craines was fellow MBC member Jordon and the other had worked on our ac several times.  I still can't believe we ran into other people from Murphysboro there especially during the day on a Wednesday.
The lady I'd called smiled and said the etouffee was ready.  There wasn't any draft beer and pretty limited so we ordered a couple of Busch light.  We also ordered an order of gumbo to try.  While we were sitting there we decided to try the red beans too.  The lady who I'd called was also an owner and she was very nice and so was the guy who came in and tended the bar.
The etouffee came first and wow, it was great.  The alligator I had before was chewy and I wasn't very impressed but this was awesome.   Shortly after we started we got the gumbo and it was very good too.  The red beans got there and they came with a side of sliced potatoes with some kind of sauce on them.  I'm not as big on red beans as I used to be but they were solid as were the potatoes. 
While we talking with the people we mentioned how the alligator we'd had before had been chewy and before we knew it the owner had gone back a fried up a couple pieces of alligator for us to try along with a dipping sauce.  All I can say is that we'll be getting some fried alligator the next time we go there, it was great and the dipping sauce complimented it perfectly. 
We also talked about beignets sounded good and once again we had a couple to try shortly after which could get a person in trouble for eating too many they were so good.
Blue Fish will definitely be on our short list of places to go back to especially if we are in the mood for cajun.

We normally stay home for valentines day and I'll grill steaks or something similar but due the cold I didn't want to.  After running through several options we decided to head out to the marina after Bailey picked up the twin terrors which we hoped would be early enough to avoid any crowd they might have.
There were only a couple people when we got there but they had a steady crowd coming in.  Even though we were a little early they were already serving their surf and turf special which both of us decided to get.  10 oz ribeye, shrimp skewer and two sides for $22 didn't seem too bad.  We also had a couple Blue Moons to compliment the dinner.
We both went with salad and baked potato as our sides and the Glue noticed they weren't mentioning baked potato to another table so we may have gotten the last ones for a while.
We both got the balsamic vinegar dressing on our salads and I thought it was a little strong but overall a pretty good salad.  The baked potato could have cooked a little longer so they may have rushed it when we ordered.  I thought the steak was a good solid ribeye but it's tough with ribeyes and baked potatoes since it's a couple thing I do well and I spice them up like we like.  The shrimp was outstanding and definitely the best thing we had.
While we were waiting for our food one of the owners sat down with us for a couple minutes and he said that they are planning to enclose the patio so that it can be an all weather patio.  He also said the banquet room is ready to go.  They're making it a very nice place, I wish it would have been like that when we owned a boat.

We met with Herbster and Clutch last night at Whiffle Boys for a winter get together and to get our bocce thoughts aligned for the coming year.  This was all of our first time in the new sitting area and it is nice.  The tables and booths were nicely done and there are several tv's in the area.  Some of the windows open like a garage door which would be nice when weather permits.
We ordered the Wednesday special of a large two topping pizza and a pound of wings along with a the first of four pitchers of Amberbock.  Tan Man did a great job on the pizza and hooked us with the wings which were well over a pound.  Awesome job by my old classmates son.
Roll'em will return on Wednesday nights but may go to Thursday's for the summer session just to see some different teams.  It was great getting together with our teammates and it makes me even more anxious for the season to start and especially for better weather.

Yesterday we were wanting to go somewhere for fried chicken.  I'd mention both Bottoms Up to use or top 20 but the Glue didn't want there.  I also mentioned Gresa's but the Glue didn't want to go there since they don't have beer.  I looked on the Southern Illinois Eats Facebook group and saw someone had posted a picture from St Nicholas brunch so we decided on there.
We got there about 1pm which is towards the end of the brunch buffet time.  I ordered a winter bock and the Glue got a cream ale.  On the buffet all the items were still fully stocked and there was a good variety of breakfast and lunch type items.  I got a salad along with fried fish and chicken and small amounts of bacon, green beans and bread pudding.  Everything could have been hotter which is my main complaint.  Other than that it was pretty good, my favorite was the cinnamon rolls that I got for dessert.
Both of us got tired of the beers after about half a glass and wished we'd have got something different.  Oh well.

The Grumpy Shillelagh's will once again be playing in the St. Patrick's day tournament.  Herbster and Clutch don't want to play since it's on Sunday so it will reunite last years second place team with Ted and Fred playing.  Hopefully we'll have good weather once again and we can get that one more win.
Bring on Bocce.