Life in the Slow Lane
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We went riding up on LaRue-Pine hills to check out the leaves. The colors were so nice and the weather so good we decided to check out south Trail of Tears area. Really nice ride and one of the last nice weather rides of the year.
Our original plan was to go to Harolds or New Kahala but with the extra time spent driving we opted to pick up KFC instead. KFC gets blasted on a regular basis as does McDonalds and Hardees but we've had good luck with them recently. When we got to KFC I ordered a crispy chicken breast only to be informed they were out. No problem, I just ordered a regular one with mashed potatoes and slaw only to be informed they were out of slaw. I ordered corn instead. Lisa got a Mexican pizza. I decided I wanted a pot pie also only to be informed once again they were out of it. Keep in mind it was only 3:30-4 and they were already out? When we got to the window I won't say the worker was out and out rude, more like indifferent. It was obvious she didn't want to be there and didn't want to do any work. Needless to say when we got it home the chicken breast was dry and lukewarm and just not very tasty. The corn was the same. At least the mashed potatoes and gravy were decent. Yesterday Lisa picked up the twins from school and they finally decided they wanted McDonalds so I ordered a McDouble with fries. Ever since McDonalds moved to the new location their buns have seemed off to me. Can't describe why they just do.
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Monday we decided to try out El Jalisco in the old Pizza Hut building. Lisa was reluctant because we'd been moving some stuff and neither of us had cleaned up yet. My take was that if we went home I wasn't coming back out.
First impression when we walked in the door is that it was a lot cleaner and they'd done a really good job remodeling the place. Of course some of that may be because it just opened recently. They don't have draft beer and the selection is quite limited. The food menu isn't. But first and order of chips and salsa. The chips were nice and warm but needed more salt. The salsa also tasted good. After much looking I finally went with al pastor tacos with rice and no beans while Lisa went with street tacos with both rice and beans. The food got to our table quicker than expected, probably quicker than it took to order it. My only complaint with my tacos is that I'd like it to have more pineapple but otherwise it was very good. Lisa liked hers too and they were very filling. The rice was solid and got better when I mixed in the remainder of my salsa. Overall we were both pleased with the meal, the service and the atmosphere. 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍷 After a brief stop to visit with my nephew Andrew and his son Ethan in Alto Pass yesterday we headed to the Peach Barn. Mike and Debbie really like the place and there was a band starting at 1. I got a Sam Adams Octoberfest while the girls split a carafe of red sangria while Mike got a Miller Lite. We also ordered a sausage board and an artisan platter. Both platters had grapes, bread, humas and crackers The sausage board had four different wild game sausages cut in 4-5 thin slices. There was also potato cut in small pieces. The artisan platter had cheese and olives stuffed with garlic clove. Both had some condiments.
Overall the food was decent but probably not worth the cost. Biggest surprise is that I tried the olive and actually enjoyed it, I've never been a fan of olives. Best part about the stop was the band, Classics Quartet. They're a new group and played a variety of music from the 60s and 70s. Fun time. Next stop was Alto Vineyards just up the road. When we went in there was a line that took us about 10 minutes to order. Me and Lisa got a red slushy, Mike got an Ultra and Debbie got red sangria. The slushy was good but by the time I got to the bottom of it the sweetness had gotten to me. We sat in a pavillion away from the band so we couldn't hear them very good. The band was Radiodaze and they played classic rock. It didn't appear that they played all the music, some was "piped in" to help create their sound. The third stop was Von Jacob, again just down the road. Tim Crosby was playing there and he does a lot of original songs. He did a good job but the crowd wasn't very responsive. I'd gotten an Octoberfest from Von Jacob and while it was okay it wasn't cold enough and got warm outside. The weather was so nice except the wind but sitting outside was great. We took to the backroads for a short ride and finished off the night at Brews Brothers. All that and we still got home at a decent hour. Lisa had bought buy one get one free $25 coupons for the Turn so we decided to use them yesterday before they expired. When we got there I opted for a Blue Moon draft while Lisa got a "red" sangria.
After much changing my mind I finally decided on an italian beef with sweet potato fries. Lisa went with some cheddar and broccoli soup and a strawberry pecan salad. The waitress we had was new and she struggled at times but overall did okay for her second day on the job. My italian beef was really good, nice and juicy and the au jus was spot on. The sweet potato fries were crinkle cut but were cut different than other crinkle cuts I'd have. They were great. Lisa really like her soup and salad and her sangria was tasty, Overall a really nice visit. 🍺🍺🍺🍺 As I've mentioned each year when the octoberfest beer comes out is my favorite beer time of the year. I did this different this year, just listed the ones I tried this year but I did include a copy of last years list. Enjoy
Octoberfest beer I tried this year Sam Adams - first I saw this year and still at the top Shiner - second out this year and seemed better than in the past Leinenkugel - One of top 3 or 4 Sun King - probably my least favorite I tried this year Desthil - okay but didn't really make an impression Civil Life - good Breckenridge - really good Salukioctoberfest - very disappointing St Nicholas - probably my new favorite among local breweries O'fallon - nice tasting beer I had at Big Muddy Brewing, come on Chuck brew one of your own. Octoberfests I've tried before: top tier: Sam Adams - easy to get and really good on draft. Leinenkugel - another easy to get and it's close to Sam Adams First two are bottles but these two are cans Founders - a surprising find from last year Alesmith - first year having it but it's right up there Flying Dog - real good but more expensive (bottle) Next tier - good but not as good as the top tier Revolution - very good especially on tap Tighthead - would be top tier but comes in a 4 pack of 16oz Civil Life - just misses out on top tier Brooklyn - a touch behind Civil Life Odells - same as Brooklyn Just misses out on top two tiers: Bells - good at first then goes a little downhill Shiner - Good and normally the first one out Schlafly - Haven't tried this year LeftHand - really had to get a handle on this one. Sierra Nevada - a little hoppy but not bad, haven't tried this year Middle of the road tier Staghorm - surprisingly mediocre 4204 - ok but nowhere close to top tiers Old Nation - barely in the middle tier and it comes in a 4 pack of 16oz cans Sierra Nevada - a little hoppy but not bad Great Lakes - has a different aftertaste, just ahead of the bottom tier Bottom tier Paulander - good but only comes in 11.2 oz bottles Spaten - ok but nothing stands out Hschorr- Pschorr - like Spaten nothing really stands out Least favorites Capitol - surprising close to Von Jakob Von Jakob - couldn't drink a whole glass Hofbrau - light taste and only comes in 11.2 oz bottles After a busy morning yesterday we decided to grab lunch somewhere which is always a chore on Mondays. We finally decided on Logan's Roadhouse over Chili's. We got over there and things were smiling on us when I saw Sam Adams Octoberfest on tap. Needless to say we got a couple of those and decided to split a 16 oz. Ribeye with some fried shrimp a salad and baked potato.
The salad was good but didn't seem as big as it used to be. When the steak came the waitress wanted us to see if it was done correctly. It wasn't, more well than medium. I took a bite and it was decent so we decided to keep it rather than have them cook another mainly because they cook another steak. The shrimp and potato would be getting cold unless we went ahead and ate them. I must have got the best bite of the steak because the rest of it was mediocre. The shrimp was okay but there were only 4 or 5 of them and not worth the extra charge. The baked potato was a baked potato, nothing outstanding but nothing bad either. I really don't have high expectations when going to a chain restaurant or when ordering steak out but this was below my expectations and just not a great meal. Yesterday concluded the 2023 fall tournament so no bocce until next year. We didn't play until the third round of games which worked out great for us. Lisa fixed a big roaster of her famous championship chili and I had a guy stop by to buy my riding lawnmower. I also had some cousins from out of town stop by to say high to myself, Lisa and Roberto who was playing for another team.
In our first game we played The Naturals on the middle court. Once again we started off slow before getting ourselves back in the game bolstered by a four point frame. We got the score to 7-7 but they moved ahead 8-7. Both teams exchanged throws before they put one close to the pallino. My first throw was off but my second was on target to at least rearrange thinks but sadly at the last couple feet it veered to the right and we went down to a 9-7 loss. Immediately after we were done we got called to play on the same court against Pookies. They'd played quite some time earlier and on the third court. They couldn't find the right speed and their shots kept going long. We ended up cruising to a 9-2 win. We once again played on the middle court for our final pool game against Can't Be Trusted who surprisingly hadn't won a game and were the number one seed in our pool. With The Naturals losing to Pookies we need a win to get in a roll off to advance but Can't Be Trusted waited until they played us to get their mojo back. Time after time they put their first of second shot close to the pallino putting us behind in the ball count and piling up points. There was no comeback as they smoked us 9-0 ending our chances of advancing. Overall I thought we played well but had a lot of shots go between two balls or miss by a small margin, good shots that just didn't work. I can't say I'm sorry for the season to end, it's been a rough year for me trying to find my throwing mojo while battling injuries and soreness that make if difficult. While we really missed Herb and Lissa it was great seeing the improvement Mike and Debbie made over the course of the season and I look forward to more of that next year. Last night Roll'em finished off the fall 2023 regular season by playing in the "towel" tournament.
With the fourth seed we got to play right away instead of waiting. We ended up playing Bocce & Brews on the middle court. They started off the game by getting two points. We followed up with a two point frame of our own. They got another two point frame to go up 4-2. Back and forth we went as we got another two point frame to tie the game. They then got a single point making it 5-4 then disaster struck. We couldn't get inside and they piled up 1, 2, 3 points before giving us a break on their last throw. We followed up with a single point making the score 8-5. Lisa went long with the pallino and got one fairly close. They used all four of their balls and weren't very close. We got our next throw in, they our next throw was a maybe. With the potential game point in my hand I pushed the throw wide right and the score was tied 8-8. With us down to our last ball and them having two remaining we got our final throw close enough to the pallino for the point. Their second to last throw hit one of our balls and knocked it in for a security point. With their last ball they hit our closest ball to the pallino and knocked it out. Their ball stayed and we went down to a 9-8 loss. The twins had their last soccer game yesterday morning. For once they both played decent. Once it was over we went home and got organized before heading to pick them up to go check out the pumpkins at a place in Herrin. In the mean time Bailey and Shad decided to go so Mike and Debbie came over to the house so we could pick up the Durango with it's bigger capability. We ended up getting there at the same time as Bailey and her gang. The twins had a blast picking out pumpkins and Dax was all over place. I think Dax's highlight was he got to sit in the gator they had there. The Durango was loaded up so we had to offload a few smaller ones in Baileys car. We went home to get the pumpkins out of the Durango before heading to Broadway Bayou for a late lunch/early supper. We hadn't been there in quite awhile and needless to say Mike and Debbie hadn't ever been there. I went up thinking I would get etouffee and stayed with the plan. I got the large bowl knowing Lisa would take some and also for Mike and Debbie to try. Mike and Lisa got blackened shrimp and Debbie got fish tacos. We also got fried mushrooms that were really really good but could have been a little warmer but I would probably have burned my mouth if they were. The etouffee was great as always but could have been a little hotter. Debbie and especially Mike really liked the etouffee, they'd never really had it before. Lisa's blacken shrimp were good but not very spicy. Debbie got a sample of gumbo which she'd also never had and seemed to like it. She liked the fish tacos but thought they had too much cabbage on them, I thought they were good like they were but maybe less cheese. Overall a great choice and I think we won't wait as long for our next visit. Oh and by the way our favorite waitress is back.
We got home and the twins were waiting so they could "arrange" the pumpkins. The split on Wednesday got Roll'em into the big tournament. It would have been dicey if we lost two, some 9-7 teams made it some didn't. We ended up finishing 15th overall and got the 12th seed.
Lisa will be bringing her championship chili to the tournament (she's won the 17th st. chili cookoff five times before we quit competing there). Long range forecast says chili will be a good choice ☹️. On a rainy night with the temp dropping we played at 6 and 7:30. I was worried about wearing short sleeves but it stayed warm enough to not grab my hoodie. This closes out the fall 2023 regular season and we needed at least a split to stay in contention for a tournament berth.
In the first game we played Bertha's Ball Handlers on the first court. We started out with a 1-0 lead but gave up seven straight points but came back with two. That was as far as our comeback lasted and we got a 7-0 defeat. Needing a win bad we played No Beer, No Bocce on the middle court. This was almost an exact opposite of the first game except we scored the first point and kept going. They scored a point early but we kept building the lead before the got a couple more but we finished up for a 9-3 win. We went into the game in the sixteen spot overall but with at least two teams not playing we were the fourteenth seed. Hopefully a split will get us in. Yesterday I went down to Bottoms Up with Mike and Debbie. I suggested Bottoms Up because I knew Mike would jump at it. I went down fully expecting to get fried chicken but once I got down I started wavering. I ended up getting pork ribeye with two shrimp skewers, salad and slaw.
They serve the salad in a throw away container now which I'm not wild about but the salad was real good. The pork ribeye was very good, surprisingly so, and I'll get it again. The shrimp skewers were good but nothing special while the slaw was good. All in all a really good choice. After we left we went to St. Nicholas MDH otherwise known as the airport. They had octoberfest on tap and it was excellent. I wish they keep it on tap year round. Nice day but probably not as nice as Lisa who's in Florida having all kinds of fun. |
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