Inside Chicago’s Midway Airport, close to Gate A5, there’s a food place called Manny’s which looks really nice. It’s styled like a vintage cafeteria and seems very popular with people in the airport.
I ordered a BLT, thinking it was an American Classic that I had not yet tried.
The server was grumpy and just threw the food together. I had to rearrange the sandwich myself in order to pick it up and eat it. It cost me almost $8 for that.
It occurred to me just now at the gate lounge when a young woman sat beside me with a burger and fries that I would have had friendlier service and more food for less money at McDonald’s. More calories too, no doubt, but I’d be willing to live with that.
Food
Nashville #3
The Swingin’ Doors Saloon is close to Broadway on 4th Ave, Nashville.
This bar is awesome!
The food is good and the servings are very generous. I had their home special, the Swingin’ Doors burger with fries. It was fantastic, but I had no hope of finishing it. I could have shared it with a couple of homeless people and we would have all had enough to eat.
We spent a couple of hours here listening to Jamie Baxter and Paul Pace, great singers/musicians and very funny guys.
They were doing some songs together, but their main game was for one to challenge the other with the name of a well-known country singer, and he then had to sing a song by that artist. They changed it up by asking the audience to nominate artists.
The entire time we were there, these guys did not miss a beat. Song after song, they were absolute crowd pleasers.
They interacted with the crowd in a very positive and entertaining way.
If I lived in Nashville, I would be a regula at this bar.
Heck, they’d have to throw me out at closing time. Every night.
.
Funny things I’ve heard in America #4
Earlier today we stopped at a truck stop/travel plaza for coffee and food.
Pizza seemed like a good idea, until I started talking to the guy at the Pizza Hut Express counter.
“Hi, what’s on the supreme pizza?”
“I don’t know, ma’am.”
“You don’t know?”
“Sorry, ma’am, no I don’t.”
“So, do you know what’s on the marinara pizza?”
“No ma’am, I don’t.”
“So tell me, is there any cheese on the cheese pizza?”
“I guess so, but couldn’t say for sure.”
“OK. Maybe I’ll just take the supreme pizza, thanks.”
“We don’t have any of those.”
“There’s one right here in the warmer.”
“Oh hey, cool!”
Bizarre.
I’m guessing he’s not topping any classes.
American Diner.
One of the bucket list items for this trip was to eat at an American diner. I’ve seen them in movies and on TV, but apart from a few “theme” places in capital cities, there is really nothing like them in Australia.
More by coincidence than design, we visited two different diners today.
While in NJ, we visited a friend who took us to Brother’s Diner in Browns Mills for lunch. It was nice but plain, decorated mainly in different shades of beige except for the counter section which had a marble countertop and hanging lights. It’s glossy, sleek appeal didn’t really seem to fit the rest of the place, but it was a very attractive focal point for the rest of the diner.
The menu had lots of choices. I ordered a ‘Canadian Burger’ which boasted an 8oz beef patty with Canadian bacon and provolone cheese, tomato and lettuce, and I added pickled beets and onion to that. The home fries that came with it were really good, but it was all I could do to almost finish the burger. It was delicious.
Our waitress was very interested in our trip and in Australia, and answered almost everything we said with, “you bet!”. We have been horrified at the wages waitresses work for here – as low as $2.75 an hour – so we gave her a $10 tip so that for the hour she was looking after us, she got Australian wages.
We left there and headed into Pennsylvania to visit with another friend who I love like my sister. She and her partner took us to Lyndon’s Diner in York, PA.
Its neon lighting and chrome trim looked more like I thought an American diner should look. We got inside and found that the deco inside matched the outside perfectly. It was an inviting and interesting place to be.
We ordered drinks, and I was disappointed to find that the bar staff had no idea how to put together a shot of Canadian Club and a glass of dry ginger ale with a twist of lemon. I didn’t realise that would be such a challenge. I’m pretty sure that they used more than one shot of whiskey and soda water instead of the dry; the drink tasted horrible until I ordered a glass of lemonade and added that in. That was a vast improvement, and I finished my drink quite happily.
Then the menu came. I’ve read shorter novels.
To be honest, I was a bit bamboozled by the extent of the choices and it took me ages to make up my mind. I eventually settled on the chicken parmigiana sandwich with sweet potato fries, a choice expedited by the fact that everyone else at the table had ordered and the menu was open at the ‘hot chicken sandwiches’ page.
As a starter, we shared a plate of ‘Loaded Fries’. Waffle cut fried potatoes were loaded with chilli con carne and cheese. They were sensational. Just the right level of spice and heat, and the occasional hit of jalapeños.
My sandwich was fresh and delicious, and the pickle that came with it was crunchy and tangy, just the way a pickle should be. The sweet potato fries were the perfect side. The whole meal was well presented and absolutely scrumptious.
The diner had a magnificent looking desserts counter, but by the time I had finished most of my sandwich and no more than a quarter of my fries, dessert was no longer an option. There’s no point in making oneself uncomfortable by overeating, after all.
Our waitress was lovely there, too. My friend picked up the bill, but I know she left a generous tip, too.
All in all, both experiences were very positive and the food was great.
Now I know for myself why so many scenes are set in diners.
Roadtripping #6
As we crossed the border of Vermont, I channeled some Barry Gibb and sang
‘Massachusetts’ for my companions. They were enthralled, of course.
Mind you, I had been channeling Karen Carpenter all morning, as that’s what my brainPod was playing, so it was a refreshing change – for me, at least.
We saw a sign to Shelburne Falls and decided to take a detour and look around.
Shelburne Falls is a really pretty town nestled below a hydro-electric plant on the Deerfield River in the hills of Massachusetts. There is a river with a causeway, from which water spills very prettily. There are also some glacial potholes quite close to town: pools and channels carved out by water movement underneath a glacier, which makes these geological formations really old and really interesting.
The shops in the street are really well presented, with personality reminiscent of the quirkiness and sense of fun that we saw last night in Montpelier.
After crossing the bridge and taking a couple of snapshots, we visit the market store. It’s obviously run by hippies, but it is kind of cool. They have some really groovy knitted animals, and my friend distracts the store attendant while I take photos of them, just in case that is frowned upon by the aforementioned hippies.
Then we visit Mo’s Candy Store. Even before we get in the door, we are greeted by cheerful violets in a half-barrel, and some brightly coloured chairs with cute sayings painted on them, like “When I feel blue, I eat pink ice-cream”. The presentation is really cute and inviting. It’s just what the entrance to a country town candy shop should be.
As we walk in the door, we are met with the most divine aroma. Not just sugar or the mixed fragrances of commercial candy. There are three confectioners making different types of candy at the back of the store. That’s what smells so amazing.
This place has everything. Chocolates, fudge, truffles, cookies, hard candy, taffy, and jars full of all kinds of sweets.
I make my selection: a PB cup in milk chocolate and one in dark chocolate, and the same choices in maple cups. Maple cups are new to me, but I love maple foods, so I know they will be a winner. I also choose a peanut butter pothole cookie sandwich which looks mouth-wateringly divine: chocolate cookies filled with peanut butter cream.
Some of the treats at Mo's Candy Store.
I can feel my jeans getting a little tighter just thinking about that cookie, but it’s going to be totally worth it.
This little piggy #2
Fishbones is a bar/restaurant in Greektown, Detroit. We had their buffet on Sunday. When they say “all you can eat”, they mean it.
Take a little of this, a little of that.
There were opportunities to try lots of Southern, Creole and Cajun style foods that we don’t ever see on Australian menu, including gumbo and alligator. I got brave and sampled different things. I still don’t know what some of them were.
My favourite was the crumbed fish pieces with some kind of spicy sauce. That was amazing.
There was also a full buffet of desserts. I had my first taste of Key Lime Pie. It was nice, but far better was the lemon cheesecake: intense and not at all sickly.
There was no need for dinner that night.
An Aussie Maple Leaf, adrift on the wind... 