This past week was my birthday and after much cogitating I decided a nice steak sounded good.  Not wanting to wait until 4pm for some places the decision came down to Broadway Bayou or Logans Roadhouse.  I finally decided on Logans with a quick stop at 618 Taphouse only to find out the Taphouse didn't open until 4 on Tuesday so I decided on Pookies.
After a quick stop at Pookies we went to Logans.  The bone in ribeye seasonal special is what attracted me to Logans and I didn't waver when we got there.  I order it along with a salad and waffle fries.  I had them put extra season on the ribeye and the fries.  We were planning on sharing so the Glue just ordered a bowl of chili.
The salad is normally good there and this was no exception.  The fries were also good but may have had a touch too much seasoning, my bad.  The steak was done a perfect medium and was excellent, one of the best I've had at a restaurant.  The Glue said her chili was good
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Another Thanksgiving has come and gone.  Nephew Andrew had told us he wasn't coming to it so I bought a smaller turkey.  On the Sunday before we found out nephew Josh was coming so I went in search of a bigger turkey.  No luck at Kroger or Walmart so I headed over to Schnucks where I finally found a 24 pound one, bigger than we wanted but beggars can't be choosy.
The Glue got the turkey on early Thanksgiving morning figuring 15 minutes per pound method.  When she got ready to add the dressing the turkey was falling apart so I took the internal temp and it was done 2 1/2 hours early.  I did some quick googling and decided to treat it like a brisket.  We wrapped it in butcher paper and put it in a cooler with a towel on top of it. 
That seemed to hold it nicely although one side of the breast seemed a little dry but the other was fine.  The dressing was spectacular as usual but it raised the question of what is the difference between stuffing and dressing.  After some research dressing is cooked in a separate pan while stuffing is stuffed in the turkey's cavity (duh).  We call Glue's dressing but it's more a hybrid between the two methods.
We had a nice gathering and anybody who wanted some took leftovers and there was still a leftovers for us.  A few people stayed late watching football and their wife/girlfriends cleaned the kitchen while the Glue got a chance to relax.

Saturday we went to Whiffleboys to celebrate our (great) nephew Ethans 11 birthday.  I don't post much on places that we eat at regularly because it would be a lot of the same stuff.  This time we ventured out from the stuff we normally get and ordered a thin pepperoni and sausage pizza with pineapple on half.
The pizza was a great change from our normal hand tossed and was very good,  Yes I'm a pineapple on pizza fan but not all the time.  The Glue isn't so I hadn't had it in quite awhile but it really hit the spot.
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On Friday we went to the new bakery in town, Wild Flour bakery.  They were out of almost everything.  That happens the first day a place is open and is a great thing for the owners.  The Glue got an everything bagel and I got a snickerdoodle cookie.  Mine was very good and the Glue said hers was good too.
I can't hear or say the word snickerdoodle without thinking about a Two and Half Men episode where one guy says his wife called his pecker snickerdoodle.  One of the other guys says "that's a terrible name for a penis".  One of my favorite episodes.

Yesterday we made a trip to Hoyleton to go back to Kretzers, why else would you go to Hoyleton?  Big Gay Al was supposed to go but couldn't get away from work in time.  The trip took about an hour, I thought it was longer.  When we got there the place was packed and there was only a few tables available, probably had something to do with it being all you can eat king crab legs.
I went up thinking either a burger or wings with onion rings as a side either way.  After looking at the menu and talking with the waitress I decided on catfish nuggets with onion rings and slaw.  The Glue went with the salad bar and we also ordered some pork skins, aka pork rinds.
When we the food got there the pork rinds were missing.  The waitress had forgotten them so she went back and a short time later they appeared.  The waitress wouldn't charge us for them even though we said it wasn't a big deal.
The salad bar there is spectacular, lots of different items and several kinds of soup.  The pork rinds were very good and they came with a chipotle dipping sauce that gave a slight kick.  My catfish was excellent, possibly the best around.  The slaw was outstanding but the onion rings weren't as good as I remembered. 
Next time I'm going to try and get away for the catfish and try some other things there.
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When we were going to Garden of the Gods we noticed a bar sitting in the middle of nowhere.  We both could use a little relaxation so we stopped in on our way back.  We didn't really have a notion of what kind of bar it was going to be but it ended up being a nice little place.  They also have a limited menu.
From there we went to Morellos in Harrisburg.  We'd been there a few years ago and weren't impressed but everyplace deserves a second chance.  The waitress was very nice and several workers stopped by and made sure we were okay.  The Glue ordered a salad with house vinaigrette and an order of meatballs.  I ordered the bison burger and fries.
We split the Glue's salad and it was very good.  I'd ordered my burger medium well and it came well done.  It was okay but nothing special.  The fries were good and the Glue said her meatball was too.  Much improved on the first time we went there.
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On Wednesday we checked off the second of three places I'd wanted to visit this year.  We went to Garden of the Gods and hiked the Indian Point trail.  That leaves Cave In Rock but that might have to wait until next year.  When we decided on this the Glue had to cancel her hair appointment for it.  When I woke up I had a bit of vertigo type dizziness but it got better as the day went on. 
The ride over was a little confusing but we got there without any major wrong turns.  We did have one malfunction when a sign said trailhead but it ended up being a different trail so we turned around and found what we were looking for.  When we got there I still wasn't 100%.
The trail starts out through some woodlands but starts to rise quickly with the roots of trees forming a sort of uneven staircase.  The trail continues up for quite a bit before starting to level out on the bluffs where there is some really nice scenery looking out over the land below.  Needless to say I didn't get close to any overhangs.
The trail then starts down and was hard to see with all the leaves.  The leaves also covered the numerous rocks and roots that were on the trail and also made places slippery.  This made the journey down a lot more difficult so we didn't get a chance to look around unless we stopped.
When we got back to the start both of us had all we wanted.  The trail was rated easy but the leaves didn't make it that easy.  The Glue said it was her favorite trail so far.  I want to try it again when I feel better but won't go until the leaves are gone.

Yesterday we went to Giant City to walk the Indian Creek Shelter trail.  This is the closest to a trail we've gone on and it was very enjoyable.  The Glue said it's her favorite so far.  The trail starts out through some low land area but starts going up after a short bit.  The highlight is some overhangs that was used as shelters for Indians long ago.  There is a stream bed, needless to say with the drought we've been having it didn't have water in it except for a few pools in the deeper areas.
The trail is narrower than others we've been on and has a lot of up and down in it.  The trail is .7 miles long and not a lot of elevation gain.  When we got done we decided to walk on part of it and then cut across the stream bed where we'd seen a path.  This probably made it close to a mile.
Overall a really nice place that I'm sure we'll revisit a lot.

We didn't have any great food thoughts so we finally decided to order Cummares and take advantage of their delivery service.  The good news is they were spot on about when they would deliver the food, the bad news was that it was an hour later.  That's what happens when you wait until a busy time, 5:30, to order.
We ordered the meatball supreme appetizer and sicilian spaghetti which I'd been wanting to try for some time.  The meatballs were real hot and excellent.  The spaghetti wasn't hot but I'm guessing it's not supposed to be and I was disappointed with it.  I thought it would be similar to a dish I ordered at Zia's on the Hill in St Louis several years ago but it wasn't
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Our power went out yesterday morning and after waiting about four hours I finally got out our generator.  I'd tried and failed to start it the day before but couldn't but this time it started after a few pulls.  Note to self, get an electric start generator next time. 
We were going to go for a hike but didn't want to leave the house that long.  We finally decided to go out to Big Muddy Brewery for a quick beer and pick up the latest reincarnation of Kilbys BBQ.
When we walked old classmate, teammate and long time friend Ronnie was at the bar.  He'd told me he wasn't the one doing Kilbys this time but alas he was leading me astray.  I ordered a stout from Desthil brewery and the Glue got a Dunkeldog in a bottle while we caught up with Ronnie.  We both got bottles of Dunkeldog for out second beer and ordered Kilbys to go.
I got the cuban and the Glue got a hot bbq.  The food came out just as we were finishing our beers so we headed home.  When we got home the power was back on so I rushed around getting everything back to regular power before eating.  The cuban was once again really good but seemed smaller and the bun was going stale or needed a little more time in the press,  The Glue said her hot bbq seemed fatty but she ate it all except for a small bite of bbq.  I'm sure a lot of it had to do with it being the first weekend they were open at this location.  
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On Monday we went for a walk around Campus Lake on the SIUC campus.  I'd done this several times in the past but not since I've been retired.  The lake had turned over a little while ago and had a bad smell so I contacted a Jerry who I used to work with and who runs around it quite often.
It's not a real hard walk but it has some nice scenery.  Most of the path is in the woods but there is a small portion that is on a sidewalk by Thompson Point.  We took a slight detour and went by my old office at Lentz Hall.  So much has changed in the years since I've retired.  My old office is now reverted to being part of the dining area at Lentz. 
The trail starts at ends at what used to be Campus Beach but it's very hard to see where the beach used to be.