10 July 2010

Breakfast: at home

• fried eggs that went to scrambled...
• grits
• two chunks of overcooked hamburger
  

Lunch: at a place in Canyon Texas called Feldman's "Wrong Way Diner"

• excellent pork chops (as good as I remember the Iowa Machine Shed being) and far superior to the burnt chunks of meat I create
• baked potatoe
• broccoli

Dinner: at the "Big Texan Steak Ranch" in Amarillo Texas
It was incredibly crowded so we started with a beer in the bar and when our buzzer went off, were taken upstairs to a table. There I had:

• salad with Thousand Island dressing and 
• a beer with the salad (my second of the night)
• the main course consisted of
• an 18 oz rib eye steak (which I couldn't finish and took to the hotel)
• a large baked potatoe
• two rolls and
• another beer

Pre-Bed Snack: I simply did not have one! First, I was stuffed from dinner and second, I'd had enough to drink!

What can we say about the "Big Texan"? It was outstanding!

Living in "Beef country" (Kansas), we have been a naum ber of good (and mediocre) beef places in Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. Without a doubt, "The Big Texan" had the finest steak we've had in many years! (Sorry, Mike Casey.) It was worth driving about 4½ hours to get to Amarillo. We're going back again, probably in late August...
First, a bit of bitching....  

We went to the nicest looking hotel near the "Big Texan" (Holliday Inn Express), parked the dcar and went in. there was a man in a limo with steer horns on the hood and a sign (on the door) advertising "Free Limo Service to The Big Texan". So, I trotted up and asked him "Sir, does this really mean you'll drive us to and from "The Big Texan" for free?"


"Sure does."


"Great, we're going as soon as we check into the hotel!"


Then, we went in and were able to get a nice room for not too expensive. We told the desk clerk we wanted to go to "The Big Texan" and she made the reservations for us. She gave us a little card. We went to our room, dumped the suitcase and "shoulder bag" (with cameras and meds) on the bed and hustled back to the waiting area by the front desk. It was about 6:40 pm West Texas time (ok, CDT)


We started waiting. While we were waiting, we started talking with family from Arizona (man, wife and two little boys). We hit it off pretty well. While we wait3ed, we asked the front desk clerk several times "when is the car getting here"? She called and was told "he's on his way". Then, she was told "one car has a flat and the other one blew out the front bearings." (Really?)


About 7:20 pm, the other couple got fed up and drove over to "The Big Texan". After a couple more calls, we were told the driver was finally coming and wold be there "in five minutes". Actually, we heard that several times.


I looked out the front door and saw a hood with steer horns and knew our driver was finally there.


The driver appologized several times for the delay and I believed him. Two of their six limos had broken; when you use cars a much as these folks do, I suppose you can expect the occasional multiple failures...


When we got to "The Big Texan", we ran into the couple we'd chatted with at the hotel. It turned out there was a very long (2 hour) waiting line to get in and they had gotten a "call disk" for us as well as them. These call disks are the kind used at Olive Garden.


It's good to have friends!


There were a number of people going back to the various hotels in Amarillo so we ended up having to wait maybe 20 minutes before we could start the 10 minute (or so) trip to the hotel. No big deal, really...