Yesterday was my birthday so I can no longer get my kicks on age 66.  What can you say about a birthday that starts out with a dentist appointment?  At least it was just a checkup there weren't any cavities.  After that was a trip to Walmart and the beer store.  Not that exciting, right.  I'm past exciting birthdays.  We had Dax yesterday so that eliminated going anywhere.  I picked up a couple ribeyes and grilled them while Lisa fixed green beans and glazed carrots.  Worst part was Dax fell just before Bailey came to pick him up and got a bloody lip.
66 was a great year for me.  Most of that was due to the herniated lung/rib issue back in April and May.  This didn't allow me to golf all summer then when I tried in fall my back flared up.  Then it flared up last week again.  Covid made it's appearance as did a couple squamous skin cancer spots.
Maybe I didn't get my kicks on age 66 but got kicked by age 66.

I don't have the same dislike about Thanksgiving that I do about Christmas except when the Packers play.  When that happens it's just too noisy and busy and a lot harder to watch the game.  This year was a little different, maybe since we didn't have as many people as we have in the past when the Packers play.  Lisa missed a lot of it cooking though. 
Lisa's cooking was on point.  The turkey and dressing were really good.  She tried something different and really stressed about it during the cook but as always with her cooking it turned out great.  Apparently other people liked it too since we didn't have a lot of leftovers.
To put the icing on the cake {or maybe the turkey on the dressing since it was Thanksgiving) the Packers surprisingly beat the Lions.  Go Pack Go

We decided to go back to Iron Horse Tavern in Sesser yesterday.  We'd been there several years ago and liked the place.  Here's what I wrote about it back then:

Since we didn't have a beer with our food I decided to stop at the Iron Horse Tavern which is down the street.  It's basically a dive bar that servers food.  We checked out the menu and we both wished we'd have ate there.  We'll most likely go back and eat there especially since the bartender was very nice and friendly.

Totally different vibe this time.  The bartender and his mother who is the owner were friendly enough.  I ordered chicken fried chicken with a salad and mashed potatoes.  Lisa ordered an italian beef and a bowl of chili.  She went back and forth on the chili but I finally said just get it
The salad was a nice salad and the highlight of the meal, ouch.  The chicken was chicken strip and were okay but not like a true chicken fried chicken.  The mashed potatoes seemed liked instant mashed potatoes and not very good.  The gravy was milk gravy and not very tasty.  They forgot Lisa's chili and her italian beef was dry and had a burned taste to it.
Overall not a good experience.  The place had a tired feel to it both the building and the people.  If it doesn't sell I expect the place to be closed by New Years.

No harm, no foul.  That's what I think about the recent controversy concerning Rochester fans putting a Rockets shirt over the Red Devil uniform on the Big Muddy Monster statue.  Would the outcry be the same if the situation was reversed or would complainers be talking about how ingenious our fans were?  Whoever put the shirt on the monster didn't remove the Red Devil jersey or steal the helmet, just a harmless show of their school spirit, nothing more.  Come on Red Devil fans you're better than to let something like this bother you.
No harm, no foul

The Murphysboro Red Devils football season came to a crashing halt yesterday as they lost to perennial powerhouse Rochester 42-14 in the state semi finals.  Final four is nothing to be ashamed of.  Sure us Red Devil fans would have loved it to go on but only two teams finished ahead of us.  Great season Devils.
We watched the game on TV with a bunch of old Red Devils athletes including myself, Lisa, Fred, Mike, Ted and Danny plus one non Red Devil Debbie.  Lisa fixed some of her famous chicken wings and Mike brought several different chip and dip options. 
Once a
Red Devil
Always a
Red Devil

We had some "free" time on Thursday before Lisa had to pick up the kids.  We couldn't go very far so we finally decided on Middland Inn.  I went there thinking about a fried chicken sandwich and when we got there it was on special.  I wavered but finally went with it and got fries and beans as sides.  Lisa said she needed to stay away from Mexican but she couldn't and got the enchilada plate.
My chicken sandwich came on a toasted bun and I added mayo, lettuce and pickles for a really nice combination.  The baked beans were good but didn't seem as good as normal, maybe it was just me.  The fries were solid but I probably should have got my normal go to of slaw. 
Lisa really likes the mexican there and always brings quite a bit home for her leftovers.
It's always nice to go there and you almost always see people there you know.

On our way to pickup New Kahala yesterday we had a couple girls cross the street in front of us.  No big deal but there was a third girl a little behind them that also crossed the street without looking.  To make it worse she never looked either way the whole time she was in the street.  Because of the first two girls I'd noticed her too otherwise it could have ended up much worse.
Anyway I got beef lo mein with extra sauce and veggies and crab ragoons while Lisa got beef rice noodles and hot and sour soup.  The lo mein was good but didn't seem to have too many extra veggies.  I didn't care for the crab ragoons.  Much different than others I've had and not for the better.  Lisa's rice noodles were good as always.
I need to stay away for the lo mein there and stick with other favorites.

We took off for Cape yesterday to have some cajun food.  We hadn't been down that way in quite a while.  We got there a little earlier than expected so we went to Katy O'ferrels for a drink while we waited for the lunch crowd to clear out.  Katy O'ferrels is one of our favorites but this time the place was dead.  To top it off the barmaid was unfriendly. 
We went down to Broussards and the first thing we notice was how cool it was which turned to cold when we sat down.  I ended up going to my car and putting on my hoodie.  The next thing we noticed is that the waitress must of enjoyed a different type of smoke on her breaks.  Even though she appeared high she did a good job and was attentive.  We ordered etouffee, fried alligator bites and a cup of shrimp creole.  The etouffee came with a salad and it seemed smaller than in the past. 
The etouffee was great and the alligator bites were done perfectly.  What appeared to be cocktail sauce needed some more horseradish or something but is wasn't bad.  The shrimp creole was okay but not as good as I remembered.
After we went there we stopped at Minglewood for a beer which is always hit or miss if we like their beer.  This time we both got brown ales.  They were good but got a little too much towards the end.
We stopped at a gas station on our way out of town so I could pick up some Yuengling and ran into a guy working there who thought he knew everything about the Packers only to find out he didn't.  He was knowledgeable though.

The last couple days have a Joe's kind of feeling.  Thursday was Joe's Pizza last night was Crazy Joe's.  Mike and Debbie had never been there for a while so it was time.  We hadn't been there in a while either and the last time I don't think we were very impressed.  This time was a different story.
I had catfish and Lisa had cajun crawdads.  We both had slaw and Joe's fries which are really chips.  The fries were cooked better than the last time we were there.  So was both the catfish and the crawdads.  Both were very very good.  Their slaw is different but I really like.  Mike had grilled shrimp and Debbie had fried shrimp and they both said they were very pleased and of course both were very impressed with the interior.

We visited Joe's Pizza in Herrin yesterday.  First time we'd gone there in a year or so.  We ended up getting a chicago style meatlovers but they allowed us to sub out the burger for mushrooms.  We also got a picture of Sam Adams Octoberfest. 
The pizza got to the table faster than I expected and really hit the spot.  Their sauce is sweeter than most places and they put a lot of toppings on the pizza.  Only downside is we should have ordered the small, way too much pizza for us to eat.  One of these days we'll learn.
On the way home I decided to stop at the Freedom Bar only to find out that Troy left a month or two ago. Still a nice place to stop occasionally.
We walked around the corner to Back Door Bar, a new place for us.  They only had one customer and he was leaving when we walked in.  Interesting place that has a metal Spuds Mackenzie sign.

We hadn't had Tai Taste in quite awhile mainly because their hours don't really fit our eating habits.  Yesterday we decided to "tough" it out and go over and actually eat there, we hadn't done that since the covid scare began.
I decided to change it up some and go with beef pad pak instead of the spicy crazy noodles begin the puss I am I ordered spice level one.  Lisa went with the standard chicken spicy crazy noodles but ordered spice level five.  We both got an egg roll and egg drop soup plus Schlafly octoberfests.
The soup was thin and not real hot but the flavor was good.  I'd had the pad pak years ago maybe when we first went there so I wasn't sure what to expect but it was really good.  The egg roll was small but was solid.  I tried Lisa's spicy crazy noodle and it was good but way to spicy for me. 
Great decision to eat there and hopefully it won't be so long before we do it again.