#40 WEST VIRGINIA - Almost Heaven

Bless me Father for I have sinned. It has been 20 days since my last healthy breakfast and here are my sins. I have consumed about a gadzillion calories and saturated my insides with fat. I have eaten enough eggs to cause the cholesterol in my arteries to have a party. I ate chicken fried steak two mornings in a row!  Believe me, I have attempted atonement. I have walked and hiked a total of 120 miles on this trip. I have had lunches of only an apple or carrots or a small salad. Dinner however, is another matter. I'm ready to repent but... 

Jesus said  “Come and have breakfast.”  John 21:12

                               
I was in church for breakfast. Well, to be totally accurate, it use to be a church. 


Cathedral Cafe
Fayetteville, West Virginia

The Cathedral Cafe was originally built in 1905 as a Methodist church. It was de-consecrated in 1985 and next served as a storage facility until 1997 when it was converted to a cafe. Calling the building a cathedral is a stretch but may be good marketing. The name Cathedral Cafe does create more lofty expectations than Church Cafe. 

AMBIENCE:   The motto of the Cathedral Cafe is "Feeding Your Mind, Body, and Soul" which sounded like a place to bring your yoga mat as well as your appetite. As the sign hanging outside indicates, there is a juice bar located upstairs in the choir loft but it was closed and anyways I wasn't interested in organic juices or gluten free pastries. I wanted to sin in this cathedral because it was to be the last breakfast of the Midwest leg of the Breakfast Tour. (I know it can be legitimately argued that West Virginia is in the East and not the Midwest but the state was conveniently located on the way home.)

We headed into the nave of the church building and sat down under a very high ceiling at a table with a colorful hand painted design covering the top. The large room containing about 12 dining tables had a lot to look at. In one corner, there was a bar with an attractive mosaic tile top and about 5 stools. Next to the bar was a large refrigerated glass case filled with various beverages and take away food. In a far corner of the room was a small store that sold T-shirts, locally crafted pottery, and adventure guide books. To the side of us was a little self service coffee and tea table. White lights were strung from wall to wall. But what really grabs the attention of one's eyes was the morning sun filtering through two 14 foot high stained glass windows at one end of the room. The windows are framed on each side by tall book filled shelves, giving an appearance of a library room in some antiquated English church.

 Folk music played in the background, evoking the coffee houses of the 1960s and 1970s. Overall, the place had an odd yet gratifying aura.

The clientele was mostly made up of locals. One exception was a table of 5 men who all possessed the wide, dilated eyes of adrenaline junkies. I couldn't help but think that they were town to engage in some high risk outdoor activity. They were certainly fidgety, sending out certain nonverbal cues that indicated their frustration with the slow speed of service. Suddenly, one of their group, who I suppose had been out scouting other breakfast options, ran into the cafe and shouted "we're out of here!".  They rose as one out of their seats and proceeded to dash out of the cafe.

Still, there were plenty of patrons in the cafe to keep the cook busy. Some twenty-somethings who seemed to be in town to recreate, looked enviably slim and lithe and wore a high-low fashion mix. Others, who were on a first name basis with the waitress, and were obviously locals wore wool hats on this warm morning and had the rugged outdoor look of a rafting guide. One local sitting at the bar was with his dog who stared intently at me when he heard I had ordered some bacon. 

 5 out of 5 stars 

FOOD:  If you're going to be sinful you've got to start off with something really decadent. I ordered a "Ooey-Gooey Cinnamon Roll". It was heavenly with a nice warm chewy inside and finger licking  sugar and cinnamon frosting on the outside. It bordered on being a mortal sin. Of course I shared it with The Healthy One, if you call sharing 80% for me and 20% for her. 

I also ordered the "5.10 Special" so cleverly called because it sold for $5.10. It turned out to be a great bargain. The two scrambled eggs tasted fresh and the pecan-smoked bacon was gobbled up before it drove the dog crazy. The potatoes were not as crisp as I like breakfast potatoes but they were still pretty good. The marbled rye toast tasted like it may have come from a local bakery    

The Healthy One was singing "Hallelujah". The menu had all sorts off healthy options. She settled on something called the "Nutty Doodle" which was peanut butter, granola, local honey, and sliced bananas spread between two slices of 15-grain toast. She thought it was very satisfying and was happy to end the trip on a healthy, grainy, note.

5 out of 5 stars

    

COFFEE:                

"Praise Be!" "Thank Heavens!" "God is Good!" Finally, a great cup of coffee was had on this trip. Now I'm convinced that West Virginia does not belong in the Midwest.

I've come to learn that cafes and restaurants that have their coffee set up on a self-help altar of sorts, usually means the cup will come close to coffee Nirvana. Here, that was no exception. The French Roast Bottomless Coffee was as magnificent as the local scenery and offered political correctness as well. The coffee beans were purchased by the cafe from the 30 year old Equal Exchange, headquartered in West Bridgewater, Massachusetts. Equal Exchange is one of the largest democratic worker cooperatives in the world. The enterprise uses a trade model that eliminates the expensive middleman by buying directly from small farmer cooperatives in Latin America, Africa, and Asia. By eliminating the middleman, Equal Exchange offers the farmers above market prices for their coffee beans and other goods.

5 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  The lone server was friendly and self composed. Given that most tables were filled and she was the only one working the room, she seemed nonplussed about the overwhelming task she faced. It took about 15 minutes for her to get to our table just to take our orders but once she arrived she was very pleasant. Additionally, it took another 20 minutes to get our food. My guess was that there was only one cook in the kitchen. The delays gave us plenty of time to feed our minds and souls and to pray that we would  soon be feeding our bodies.

 4 out of 5 stars

.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT FAYETTEVILLE:

There are a number of Fayettevilles throughout the United States; 13 to be exact. The Fayettevilles are named for the Marquis de Lafayette who at the ripe age of 19 became a hero in the Revolutionary War as a major general in the Continental Army. Fayetteville, West Virginia is small compared to its namesakes in North Carolina and Arkansas with only a population of about 2,900. The town avoided the great decline of the coal industry that rendered so many small southern Western Virginia towns impoverished. It did this by turning to sport recreation as its economic base. Rafting and kayaking on the Gauley and New rivers, as well as mountain biking and rock climbing in the New River Gorge bring in the tourist dollars, provide jobs, and help preserve the historical charm of the downtown area.

Just a mile from where we had breakfast is the New River Gorge Bridge. The steel arch bridge is 3,030 feet long which makes it the 4th longest single-span arch bridge in the world. It is also the 2nd highest bridge in the United States with its road bed 876 feet above the New River. (The highest is the Mike O'Callaghan-Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge which bypasses Hoover Dam.)

Every year on the third Saturday of October is "Bridge Day" a festival that celebrates the day the bridge was completed in 1977. It also happened to be on the day after we left town and I noticed that the locals were more filled with trepidation than excitement at the invasion of people. About 80,000 people show up for Bridge Day. The bridge is closed to vehicular traffic and throughout the day about 400 BASE jumpers hurl themselves off the bridge and parachute to the water below. There is also music, food, and other insane extreme sport events.


BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

We drove across the breathtaking bridge over the New River., Whoever named it the New River had a fine sense of irony because it is an ancient river system which is purported to be the oldest in North America and the second oldest in the world behind the Nile River. Just past the bridge is the New Gorge National River park where we spent about 4 hours hiking out and back along the spectacular rim of the gorge.

       October 20, 2017

NEXT UP: The last segment of the breakfast tour will probably occur in June 2018 - Washington, Oregon, California, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming, Montana, & Idaho. Also, at some point I'll report on a breakfast in DC.

#39 KENTUCKY - A Fast Track

   
I thought we would do something a little different and Kentucky-appropriate for breakfast on this beautiful morning so we headed out to the Keeneland Race Course, a National Historic Landmark.

       
Track Kitchen
Lexington, Kentucky

AMBIENCE:   Keeneland has two Thoroughbred racing seasons: a Spring Meeting in April and a Fall Meeting in October. We happened to be there at 9 AM on a race day so the whole area was bustling with traffic, both mechanical and equine. We told a parking lot attendant that we were not there for the afternoon races but only for breakfast at the Track Kitchen. He gave us a funny look but directed us to a one-story building at the end of a street lined with stables. We parked directly in front of the building which brought to mind a suburban dentist's office. We warily went inside. I had the feeling that we were treading on private property, like walking into the "employees only" cafeteria of a corporation. There was no sign that indicated the public was welcome. Indeed, most everyone in the place looked like they were associated with the racetrack.  We continued on only because I had been assured by the Track Kitchen's website that the non-horse crowd could partake in the food: "You don't have to be a horseman to enjoy the food, but you might end up sitting near a famous jockey, trainer or owner when you do." 

The Track Kitchen is part cafeteria, part conventional restaurant. You grab a tray, order off a menu hanging on the wall, self serve your beverage, and pay at a cash register. If you order something that needs to be cooked and assembled, a friendly employee delivers the meal to your self chosen table. How they know where to deliver what is a mystery. After the meal is consumed you just leave the remains at the table and someone will take care of the mess. This was not anything like the breakfast I once had at the Saratoga Springs NY horse track where you eat at tables with fresh cut flowers and are served by people in white shirts and black bow ties. But the Track Kitchen was ten times cheaper!

The dining area is strictly utilitarian in design. With cinder block walls, linoleum floor, and panel ceiling tiles, the room reminded me of a larger version of  the rooms where Target or Costco employees take their breaks. There was however some redeeming decor. In the front of the room were large plate glass windows that looked out on the parking spaces (at Saratoga you look out on the racetrack where you can see the horses gallop through their morning routines) so there was some natural light. The one feature that made you feel that you were at a horse racing track and not sitting at the Department of Motor Vehicles waiting for your number to be called was a collection of horse with jockey photographs covering the cinder block walls. Each frame identified the pictured horse, none of which I recognized. I assume each horse had won  a stakes race at this track but with a few rare exceptions, the purses at Keeneland are not nearly as large as those at the major tracks like Santa Anita, Saratoga, and Churchill Downs.

   

Never mind the purely functional environment of the room, it was the people watching that made the Track Kitchen a stellar place to eat breakfast. The dining room was filled with all sorts of interesting looking people, from stately gentlemen in official looking green blazers to stable hands who left clumps of dirt from their boots on the floor. About three-quarters of the customers were intently studying the day's racing form, more interested in odds and previous times than the fact that their breakfast was getting cold. Trainers, owners, exercise jockeys, track officials, security personnel, and gambling addicts were all gathered under one roof. It seemed everyone associated with Keeneland was there except the horses. I'm sure I could have picked up some "hot tips" but we weren't staying for the afternoon races.


 5 out of 5 stars 

FOOD:  I ordered oatmeal, the first time that had happened during the Breakfast Tour. I figured this was a good place to have oatmeal since we were surrounded by hundreds of horses and what do they eat? Subsequent research revealed that horses no longer eat straight oats like at one time when they were the staple of any horse's diet. Evidently, today's horse eats a much more balanced diet that may contain some oats. To balance my diet I also ordered an egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich.

The oatmeal came with a small plastic container of raisins, and a similar container of brown sugar. I poured the contents of the containers into the oatmeal and went at it as my sandwich had not yet arrived. The oatmeal didn't bowl me over. It was too watery for my tastes and in fact, didn't taste too different than the instant variety. 

The egg, bacon, and cheese sandwich on the other hand, was excellent. The egg was especially outstanding. Perfectly grilled, (in butter or bacon grease perhaps?), it tasted fresh and delectable. 
   

Ironically, as the creamy yellow yolk was coating my lips, I looked up and saw this scene through the window:

Those weren't horses but free range chickens! Maybe that explains why the egg sandwich was so yummy.  

The Healthy One found some granola and yogurt with fruit in a self serve refrigerated cabinet. That wasn't going to provide enough energy for the busy day we had planned so she added a scone. The scone was decent, not decadent. The granola and yogurt she said was nothing special, on par with what you might get at a McDonald's. 

4 out of 5 stars

    

COFFEE:  The coffee wasn't bad considering it came from one of those large dispensers you often see at conference breaks.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  No nags working here. After you grabbed your tray and moved a few feet down the line, you ended up facing a couple of women with big smiles on their faces. They sincerely looked happy to see you. How could anyone look this cheerful at this hour of the morning? You placed your order with one of them and they pleasantly explained where to get your coffee and that someone would bring you your breakfast sandwich. The cashier was no less amicable.

I had purchased a container of juice which I had planned on taking with me and drinking later in the day. About 15 minutes after I left the Track Kitchen, I remembered that I had left the juice on the table. I went back, but the table had been cleared. "No problem" said the cashier when I explained my situation, "just grab another one from the refrigerator". Nice.

 5 out of 5 stars

.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT LEXINGTON:

Lexington, "The Horse Capital Of The World" and a city of 300,000, is located in the Bluegrass Region of Kentucky. The Bluegrass Region is primarily located in Northern Kentucky and is known for its phenomenal grazing land. The region, once dominated by agriculture has become increasingly developed with residential and commercial properties. The grass looked green to me but I learned the term came about because in the Spring, the bluegrass produces bluish-purple buds that convey to the grass a bluish tint when seen in large fields. The bluegrass is high in calcium content which greatly benefits the diets of horses.

Lexington is home to the University of Kentucky, Transylvania University, and Bluegrass Community & Technical College. Transylvania University (enrollment about 1,000) is much, much smaller than the University of Kentucky (enrollment about 30,000) but much older. Transylvania, meaning "across the woods" in Latin was established in 1780. It is the oldest college in Kentucky and the 19th oldest in the United States.

Lexington has a vibrant downtown area filled with restaurants, hotels, performing arts venues, shopping, and bars (where you can drink the famous Kentucky bourbons). In 1958 the city put in place the first urban growth boundary in the U.S. in order to limit urban sprawl and preserve the city's surrounding farmland. The boundary originally surrounded 67 square miles of developed land that was eventually expanded by 8 more square miles. When we drove from the city center to Keeneland, it was obvious when we crossed the boundary. All of a sudden the housing developments and strip malls disappeared and were replaced by rolling hills of grass filled with horses getting their calcium fix.

Although a source of continual tension between preservationists and developers, the boundary has helped preserve the area's numerous horse farms. Lexington is home to two horse racing tracks (Keeneland and The Red Mile, the latter the second oldest harness racing track in the world), as well as facilities for equestrian competitions. Economic activities related to horses generate approximately $4 billion annually for the area.


BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

We walked the grounds of Keeneland. The access to the stables and the practice track was unbelievable. This place was really laid back. Riders were smiling and saying good morning. Even the horses looked content. Every place we wandered into I kept thinking "we're going to get kicked out of here" but nobody seemed to care. And I certainly wasn't being mistaken for a jockey after all I had eaten the past two weeks. We watched the horses engaged in their morning workouts and visited a few in their stalls. I gave this handsome guy a pep talk for his upcoming race which turned out to be all for naught because I learned that he was just an escort pony.

We also visited the renowned Keeneland Sales Pavilion where Thoroughbreds are sold at auction. Thoroughbreds are a distinct breed of horse known for their agility and speed and primarily bred for racing. There are a number of sales throughout the year (19 Kentucky Derby winners have been sold at Keeneland) but the September yearling sale is the world's most important Thoroughbred sale. The highest price ever paid for a yearling was at Keeneland. Seattle Dancer sold for $13.1 million (about $30 million in today's dollars) in July, 1985.  Seattle Dancer went on to win a grand total of two races and had total earnings of about $150,000; not a very good return on the investment. He did have some additional value as a stud however, siring a number of high stakes winners.

We then took a short drive to a place where pari-mutuel betting on horses was unheard of.  The Shaker Village of Pleasant Hill is the largest restored Shaker village in the U.S. We wandered through the tranquil grounds of the village and took the three mile loop trail to the Kentucky River.

       October 18, 2017

NEXT UP: WEST VIRGINIA

#38 MISSOURI - Morning at the Museum

I am not a glutton - I am an explorer of food.

                         - Erma Bombeck              

We had the longest one day drive of the Midwest trip ahead of us, 460 miles from Columbia, Missouri to Lexington, Kentucky. I needed to find a Missouri breakfast place not too far along I-70 from Columbia, where we had spent the night. Given the length of the drive, I also didn't want to wander too far off the interstate. There were not a lot of possibilities. In fact, there was only one possibility. 

Marlene's Restaurant in Williamsburg was about 35 miles east of Columbia and no more than a half mile from Exit 161 of the Highway of Billboard Hell (I-70). Marlene's had an additional appeal besides its location. On the Midwest trip so far, we had breakfast at places named Grumpy's, Jerry's, Otto's, Kenny's, Joe's, and Mel's. It was about time we ate breakfast at a place named for a woman.


Marlene's Restaurant
Williamsburg, Missouri

AMBIENCE:   We saw a "Marlene's Restauarant" sign from the road as we were approaching the building.  Once we turned into the parking lot in front of the building the name had changed to "Crane's Museum & Shoppes". So we were a little confused until we saw the much smaller sign hanging on a front porch post which read "Marlene's Restaurant".  It turned out that the restaurant shares the front half of the building with a retail shop that sells crafts, bric-a-brac, and other miscellaneous stuff you might give your grandmother for Christmas. The back of the building is where a 4,000 sq. ft. museum can be found. It all has the same owner. Joe and Marlene Crane opened the restaurant/museum/store in 2004. Joe Crane was descended from homesteaders that settled in the area in 1828. Marlene passed away in 2015 and Joe died the following year. Their son David now runs the operation.

The front porch had a colorful lineup of empty steel chairs. It was a cool morning but I imagined it was a nice place to sit while consuming an ice cream cone on a warm summer evening.

You walk through the front door and directly into the dining area which is quite attractive with a large brick fire place, a high wooden ceiling, muted lighting, and plenty of wood trim. You immediately sense that you have traveled back a few decades to a simpler time. The retro table with the formica tops and the chairs done up in red vinyl are straight out of the 1950s. A TV on the wall was showing an episode of "Perry Mason". Yes, there was attorney Mason foiling DA Hamilton Burger once again. Standing by the wall was a Coca-Cola machine with the vertical glass door you opened and pulled a bottle from its slot. Cabinets containing kitschy gadgets and figurines from the 1950s and earlier lined the wall.

I was curious about the museum in the back so while our breakfasts were being prepared, I wandered  to the back where I was met by Grandmother Crane.

The Smithsonian has artifacts neatly displayed and described; Crane's museum has "stuff" crammed into whatever space exists with little or no explanation as to what it might be. The amount and variety of "stuff" is both mind boggling and fascinating. It ranges from a doctor's buggy pulled by a full size draft horse made of paper mache to the molar of a mastodon to everything in between. Four generations of Cranes must have never thrown anything out and Joe Crane put it all in one big room. I read that Joe Crane was also an auction addict, traveling far afield to purchase "stuff" at auctions, hauling it home, and sticking it in various rooms of the Crane's house. After it got to be too much, Marlene gave him an ultimatum to get it all out of the house, so he built the museum for his "stuff" as well as a restaurant for Marlene.

Back in the dining room, the food had arrived and we began to eat. A couple of other small tables were occupied as well as a large table with nine mostly hefty, mostly elderly gentlemen all wearing trucker caps that had seen better days. At each end of the table was a two gallon thermos of coffee. They were having a grand time talking, laughing, and drinking coffee. They seemed to be in no hurry to get anywhere on this Tuesday morning. Was this the Williamsburg leisure class? Or maybe it was a cult meeting of guys who drive big red trucks.

 5 out of 5 stars 

FOOD:  I asked for two biscuits and gravy. Marlene's website stated the restaurant is "known far and wide for our homemade biscuits".  Another website stated that "the homemade biscuits and gravy on the menu are highly sought after by local breakfast fans".  That description made the dish sound like something scarce and difficult to obtain like a 1945 Chateau Mouton-Rothschild wine.  At $6.99, how could I order anything else?  

I started to form the sentence, "this looks just like..." but saw that The Healthy One had already read my mind and she cut me off by saying "just keep it to yourself". I will say, it tasted a lot better than it looked. The biscuits, though not as flaky as classic biscuits, were very tasty. The sausage gravy contained nice size chunks of porcine goodness. The gravy was not too salty or peppery. It had just the right amount of seasoning. All in all, an outstanding dish.

The Healthy One was once again thwarted by a menu that had nothing healthy. Instead of storming out of the place in a fit of fruit and grain frustration, she settled for a breakfast sandwich of bacon and egg on a biscuit. She liked it.

At the corner of the counter was a refrigerated glass case that contained six large containers of hand dipped ice cream from Central Dairy Ice Cream. The flavors were seductive. I had read an article about a scientific Japanese study that found eating ice cream for breakfast makes you smarter:
 http://www.ibtimes.com/eating-ice-cream-breakfast-may-improve-mental-performance-alertness-study-says-2450646

The study was debunked but I have a niece and a couple of nephews who traditionally eat large bowls of ice cream for breakfast on the Fourth of July (and possibly other mornings) and they're pretty smart. Anyways, I don't think I need to get any smarter at this stage of life, just quicker. So I passed on the ice cream.

4 1/2 out of 5 stars

    

COFFEE:  The coffee was decent, especially given that it was 99 cents.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  The service was perfunctory. Our waitress seemed tired or depressed or both. Not that she botched anything, or was rude, or indifferent, it's just that I like a little cheer in the morning. She made sure our coffee cups were always filled so there was that.

 3 1/2 out of 5 stars

.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT WILLIAMSBURG:

Williamsburg is an unincorporated town with 50 residents.  It's claim to fame is that it was a town where settlers could stop and refresh themselves and their animals on their way west along the Boone's Lick Trail. The trail was named for the Daniel Boone family and a salt spring which Daniel's sons used to process salt. Beginning in the late 1810s, the Boone's Lick Trail provided a route for settlers to move westward through Missouri and link up with the Santa Fe, Oregon, and California trails.


BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

The day before our breakfast at Marlene's we hiked along the Katy Trail out of Boonville, Missouri. At 237.7 miles, the Katy Trail ranks as the country's longest developed rails-to-trails bicycle/pedestrian way. We walked about 5 of the 237.7 miles, part of which crossed the Missouri River. We have now crossed the Missouri River on foot six times. Add that to the nine times we crossed the river by car and I think we qualify for honorary membership in the Lewis and Clark Explorers Club.

When we arrived in Columbia we toured the campus of the University of Missouri. We also walked from our Airbnb to dinner at the fabulous Flat Branch Pub and Brewing. It was a very loud restaurant but at that point we were too tired to talk. That day, our walks totaled 10 miles, which in my mind, created a pretty big calorie deficit. I felt no guilt eating the huge pile of biscuits and gravy the next morning.

After our Missouri breakfast, we drove to Lexington, KY where we did an extensive walk through the downtown area and the University of Kentucky campus.

       October 17, 2017

NEXT UP: KENTUCKY

#37 KANSAS - Delicious With A Capital D

I'm on a roll just like a pool ball, baby
I'm going to be there at the roll call maybe
At the Depot

              - from the song Depot, Depot
                written and performed by Tom Waits


We had a nice respite from hotels and airbnbs by staying a couple of nights just south of Kansas City, KS with our friends, the lovely Ms. Jane and the worldly Mr. Bruce. On a Sunday morning I talked Mr. Bruce into driving all of us to Leavenworth, the first incorporated city in the Kansas Territory. I had heard and read very positive reports about a two year old restaurant in town serving breakfast.  


The depot
Leavenworth, Kansas

AMBIENCE:  The depot is a restored train station originally built in 1887. The Romanesque-style sandstone building was constructed by the Leavenworth, Northern, & Southern Railway which was a subdivision of the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe. Passenger trains stopped here until the 1930s and then the station accommodated freight operations up until 1982. The building was bought from the Santa Fe Railroad and became a restaurant called the Santa Fe Depot Diner. That restaurant in turn was bought by the current owners, went through an extensive renovation, and opened in 2015 as The depot. I'm not quite sure why the owners did not capitalize the "d" in depot. Perhaps its due to some legal trademark reason to differentiate the restaurant from the previous diner's name or perhaps it is simply artistic flair.

We arrived on a Sunday morning before the church crowds let out. Still, the place was busy and mostly filled to capacity. You enter the building into a long hallway flanked on each side by some of the benches passengers sat on while awaiting their train. The restaurant is divided into a number of separate rooms. Back in time, the male passengers would await the train in one room and women passengers in another room.

Much to the relief of Mr. Bruce and I, the four of us were escorted into the Men's Waiting Room. Our fragile egos probably would not have been able to handle being placed in the Women's Waiting Room. The room gave some sense of what it was like being here more than 125 years ago. You could almost picture a nattily dressed man with a top hat standing by the window, satchel by his side, smoking a cigar, while pulling out his pocket watch from his vest to check the lateness of the train. The floor was wood and looked original. The ceiling was very high.  A large transom over long vertical windows held amber colored squares of glass. The tables and chairs were solid wood, similar to Mission style furniture. A Victorian era chandelier hung above us. The walls were tastefully decorated with old photographs of trains and Leavenworth street scenes.

The room was mostly filled with diners but the tables were nicely spaced apart and the noise level tolerable enough to carry on a conversation. 

 5 out of 5 stars 

FOOD:  We received our coffees almost immediately and shortly thereafter four donut muffins showed up at the table. Nice! My dining companions immediately gave notice so there was no opportunity to sneak the plate under the table onto my lap. Eating one of these was a tease, almost like eating one Dorito. I suppose that was the point. They were available as a menu extra with a half dozen costing three dollars. 

It was time to order and one item jumped out from the menu at me, "Traditional Eggs Benedict". "Traditional" is what I had in mind yesterday morning when I ordered a "Country Eggs Benedict".  What I got yesterday was about as traditional as rap music. The menu described this dish as ham, poached eggs, and hollandaise on top of a grilled English muffin. That is what I wanted.   

The dish was a masterpiece. The Hollandaise sauce was the work of the devil. It was so sinful and decadent, I couldn't stop grinning between bites. It had just the right amount of lemon to give the rich, buttery, molten elixer some tang. The poached eggs were appropriately runny  The ham had a nice smoked taste and the English muffin was the beneficiary of all that seeped down from above. The crisp hash browns weren't bad either.

Mr. Bruce ordered "The Gringo" omelet filled with chorizo, cheddar, salsa , peppers, and onions. Ms. Jane also went the omelet route and ordered "The Western" with aged cheddar, ham, onions, and peppers. She also asked for a small bowl of fruit (not pictured). 

The Healthy One had not had yogurt since Iowa (5 days ago) and granola since Michigan (10 days ago).  When I saw "Strawberry yogurt granola parfait" on the menu I thought to myself that I would bet with anyone in the room my entire retirement savings that she would order the parfait. Pictured is the outcome.
 

I polled the table asking, on a five star basis, how many stars they would give their breakfast. I gave my eggs benedict 5 stars. Mr. Bruce said 5 stars. The Healthy One said 5 stars. Ms. Jane weighed in with 4 1/2 stars because the omelet was very good but her fruit didn't have much taste.

4.875 out of 5 stars

    

COFFEE: 

The coffee, poured into the depot's personalized cups, was satisfying. Maybe, now that we are out of the upper Midwest, we're finished with weak coffee. Mr. Bruce, who loves coffee said "it was good - not as good as mine."

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  Right off the bat, our personable server Michael let it be known that his parents owned and operated the restaurant. I'm not sure whether this was to emphasize the fact that we were in a family run enterprise or that he was operating under a higher than normal accountability standard. In any event, he did his parents proud. His service was efficient, yet at the same time seemingly relaxed. He did a great job on a busy morning.

 5 out of 5 stars

.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT LEAVENWORTH:

Fort Leavenworth came before Leavenworth, having been established in 1827 by General Henry Leavenworth. The city of Leavenworth was founded in 1854, a few miles south of the fort. Naming the city Leavenworth involved an underhanded marketing ploy. A town founder thought that the sale of plots would be accelerated if outsiders reading the advertisements for property in Leavenworth would be confused, thinking the city was the military fort which was a desirable location. Fort Leavenworth was located outside the city limits until 1977 when the territory was annexed by the city.

Fort Leavenworth is the 3rd oldest continuously active military base in the U.S. and the oldest west of the Mississippi. The fort was located at the eastern terminus of the Santa Fe and Oregon trails. You can still clearly see the wagon ruts running from the bank of the Missouri up to the western bluff where the fort is located. The fort's original purpose was to protect settlers traveling west. After the civil war, it was more of an outfitting post for the army in the west. In 1866 the U.S. government authorized the formation of four African American regiments. The 10th Calvary, stationed at Fort Leavenworth under Colonel Benjamin Grierson, became known as the "Buffalo Soldiers".  A short and interesting myth-busting article about the "buffalo soldiers" can be found here: http://www.blackpast.org/perspectives/myth-buffalo-soldiers

In 1881, General William T. Sherman established an officer's school at Fort Leavenworth. Now called the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, it has had many distinguished graduates including Dwight Eisenhower, Omar Bradley, and George Patton.

Leavenworth, the city, has a population of 36,150. It is located only 25 miles Northwest of Kansas City, Missouri on the western shore of the Missouri River. Its location on the river made it a destination for escaped African American slaves seeking freedom from the slave state of Missouri. Prior to the Civil War, the city had been strongly pro-slavery but the political tides shifted and the city supported the union during the Civil War. For a time after the Civil War ended, Leavenworth operated as a town out of the "Wild West". In the 1880s, there were some 200 saloons, or about one saloon for every 30 residents. Today, the number of watering holes is down to about 15.

Speaking of bars, Leavenworth has quite the captive population, with six prisons in or very close to the city. The most famous one is the United States Penitentiary, Leavenworth. Also known as "The Pen" or "The Big Top" because of the huge dome on top of the building, it is now a medium security federal prison with an all-male inmate population of 1,870. Famous inmates have included James Earl Ray and Michael Vick. There is also a privately run maximum security federal prison in town called the Leavenworth Detention Center. It answers to the U.S. Marshals Service and has an inmate capacity of 1,126. Just down the road from Leavenworth is the state prison, Lansing Correctional Facility, with an inmate population of about 2,400 and in town is the Leavenworth County Jail with 130 beds.

The U.S. military operates two prisons within Fort Leavenworth. The U.S. Disciplinary Barracks is the Department of Defense's only maximum security prison. It houses convicted members of the military who have sentences of 10 or more years. Also within the fort is the Midwest Joint Regional Correctional Facility which serves as a "holding" jail for those who are to be transferred to the Disciplinary Barracks and also as a correctional facility for inmates with a less than 10 years sentence.

With all  these prisons in Leavenworth, the city may be interested in obtaining this one I spotted in downtown Lancaster, PA. This McPrison could be used for incarcerating people who have been found guilty of petty crimes. Punishment would be having to eat McDonald's meals morning, noon, and night.

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

We went on a self-guided tour of Fort Leavenworth. With its 8,000 acres and 1,000 buildings, it had the feel of a  tree-lined, large university campus . After touring the fort, we headed to Kansas City, MO where we walked around Country Club Plaza on a beautiful warm afternoon. The Plaza consists of 18 separate buildings styled to make you think you're walking in Seville, Spain. The buildings are home to numerous restaurants, and high-end shops. Built in 1922, it was the first shopping center in the world designed to attract shoppers arriving by car.

October 15, 2017

NEXT UP: MISSOURI

#36 NEBRASKA - Got Out Of Dodge

There was one particular restaurant that I was really looking forward to visiting, probably more than any other stop on the Midwest leg. It had the nicely succinct name of Eat and is in Dodge, Nebraska (population 600). From what I read on the internet, the "executive chef" at Eat (not just "chef" or "cook"!) was trained at the New England Culinary Institute in Vermont, and spent most of his 20 year career cooking in Napa and Sonoma. Eat looked like it had interesting ambience, residing in what was originally a bank built in 1910. The menu I saw on-line had such intriguing dishes as buttermilk pancakes with toffee gravy and Black Angus corned beef hash. Reviews from the Omaha and Lincoln papers were effusive in their compliments. I was thinking I might even get a good cup of coffee.  

We wanted to get to Eat when it opened so we could beat the crowds. It seemed to be a great strategy because there was not one vehicle parked in front of the place when we arrived. We walked to the front door and were met with a sign: CLOSED TODAY FOR AN EVENT. I started to panic a little as I got on the Iphone to see if I could come up with an alternative. Of course, nothing else in Dodge existed. Fremont, the nearest town of any significant size was 35 miles away. Fremont had three possible breakfast establishments. I randomly picked one which was located just outside Fremont's central business district:   


Mel's Diner
Fremont, Nebraska

AMBIENCE:  Judging from the extremely crowded large parking lot, I thought Mel's held good potential. The outside with its neon lights and large sign screamed classic diner. The inside with its formica surfaces, front counter, and red vinyl booths seconded that notion.  Mel's looked like it was transplanted from Northern New Jersey. In fact, the building once sat in Omaha. It was purchased, taken apart, and reconstructed in Fremont, opening in October 2011. Initially, it was a 24 hour diner. It didn't take long for the owner to realize that the good citizens of Fremont don't party all night so the hours were cut back to 5:30 AM - 10 PM.

Mel's was jam-packed on this Saturday morning and we were told it would be about a ten minute wait for a table. As we stood in the vestibule next to a large glass enclosed cabinet filled with tempting pies, I took notice of a few things. First, compared to other states we had been, Nebraska men, in general, are large. As an example, I took this picture of the counter area.

The gentleman on the right is, no doubt, an extreme case but I would safely estimate that the average adult male in Mel's that morning was over 6 feet tall and weighed at least 215 pounds. I realize that I was observing a limited sample. As I was about to find out, the portions at Mel are mammoth. The food probably attracted big men and at the same time the food made men big.

It was game day in Nebraska with Ohio State coming to Lincoln for a Big 10 Conference football game.  About three-quarters of the customers and almost all of the staff were decked out in red with various logos proclaiming allegiance to the mighty Cornhuskers. Regrettably, later that day, the Cornhuskers were more meek than mighty, losing to the Buckeyes 56-14.

The other thing that I couldn't help but notice as we waited for a table was the Daily Specials board hanging in back of the cash register. Topping the list of specials was a Country Eggs Benedict. I had yet to have Eggs Benedict on our previous 35 breakfast stops and was waiting for the right opportunity to come along in which to give them a try. It seemed like it was as good as time as any with Mel's benedict selling for a very reasonable price.
 
 4 out of 5 stars 

FOOD:  I ordered the Country Eggs Benedict. About 30 seconds after the waitress had left it hit me. 

"Did the waitress just ask me how I wanted my eggs done?" I asked The Healthy One.
"Yes, and you told her over easy" replied The Healthy One. 
"But I thought Eggs Benedict are all about poached eggs", I said.
"That's true" said The Healthy One.
"Uh-oh".

This is what arrived at the table.

That certainly didn't look like Eggs Benedict. It looked more like a giant radioactive fungus. This was a Benedict Arnold; a traitor to the Hollandaise sauce nation.

Spanning the upper wall of the diner were famous short movie lines such as "There's no place like home." and "May the force be with you." Ironically, directly in front of our table, right above another large Nebraska man, the line read "Houston we have a problem."

I cut into this monstrosity.

There was white gravy, there was a biscuit, there were the eggs over easy, and to my consternation there was what I ate yesterday morning, chicken fried steak. Has anyone in their right mind eaten chicken fried steak with white gravy two days in a row? Well I have. I finished the whole damn thing and I found it to be delicious. This steak was really tender and the batter was tasty and not too obtrusive. The gravy had just enough pepper in it to make it interesting. The biscuit was soft, yeasty, and satisfying. And the eggs; I don't remember tasting the eggs as they must have been overwhelmed by the steak and gravy. Despite the surprise, I was very happy with the meal. I guess I'll save the traditional (urban not country) Eggs Benedict for another morning.
 

The Healthy One also ordered from The Specials board. She in fact got the "senior's special" which was called the "2 x 2 x 2": 2 eggs, 2 pieces of bacon, and 2 pancakes. She also ordered a glass of milk because she feared her dairy product intake the last few days was below a critical level.  She thought everything was very good, especially the bacon. That wasn't surprising since we were only 25 miles from Iowa and its population of 20 million pigs.  

  

4 1/2 out of 5 stars. 

COFFEE: 

I received one of those here's-a-thermos-of-coffee-so-I-don't-have-to-keep-coming-back-to-refill-your-cup container. Usually this is a red flag warning that the coffee is not going to be great.  I imagine they end up throwing quite a lot of it out. At least I hope they're throwing it out and not reheating the leftover.

Mel's coffee was surprisingly good. It was a notch above the typical Midwestern coffee we had been drinking.

.

3 1/2 out of 5 stars

SERVICE:  It seemed Mel's had enough staff to handle the busy Saturday morning breakfast crowd. Nevertheless, it was not like anyone was standing around checking their Facebook posts. Every staff person was scurrying around like squirrels gathering acorns in October. Our waitress, Meg was a friendly woman who gave me the feeling that she was no novice when it came to taking orders and serving food. Due to her many tables, Meg didn't spend much time at our table, but what time she did spend was certainly pleasant.

 4 1/2 out of 5 stars

.

A FEW WORDS ABOUT FREMONT:

Fremont is about 35 miles northwest of Omaha. It is the 5th largest city in Nebraska but only has a population of 26,500. Compare that to Fremont, California which is the 16th largest city in the state and has a population of 232,000.

Like most small cities in the Corn Belt, Fremont had a skyline of grain elevators. The main economic engines are agribusiness, food processing, fabricated metal processing and electronics manufacturing. Hormel is one of Fremont's biggest employer. As fate would have it, after having breakfast 4 days ago in Austin Minnesota, one of two cities where Hormel produces Spam, I was now in the other city that produces Spam. Ground was broken in June 2017 for a Costco chicken processing plant just outside Fremont. The plant will create 800 jobs and it is estimated that it will add $1.2 billion annually to the Nebraska economy. The plant will kill, er process 2 million chickens a week. Its more than likely that your Costco rotisserie chicken will soon come from Fremont.

Fremont recently has gained national notoriety for its local immigration policy.  In 2010 voters approved Ordinance 5165 that bans illegal immigrants from renting houses. The ordinance also requires businesses to use federal E-verify software to check on potential employees' residency status. After a number of studies found the economic harm that Ordinance 5165 would do to Fremont a repeal vote was held in 2014. Citizens voted not to repeal the Ordinance by a wider margin than the 2010 approval. Three or four other small cities around the United States also passed similar anti-immigration ordinances which have been struck down by the courts. Fremont's ordinance was the only one upheld by the court, but anti-immigrant advocates argue that it isn't being properly enforced.

BURN THOSE BREAKFAST CALORIES OFF:

We drove to Omaha, parked the car, and did some substantial walking. We covered most of the historic Old Market section of the city. The shops and restaurants were crowded with locals, tourists, and hundreds of people wearing Ohio State jackets, hats, and scarves. We then walked over to Pioneer Courage Park and its stunning, five city block, collection of sculptures depicting the city's pioneer spirit. The outdoor 40 foot pioneer sculptures comprise the largest bronze and stainless steel art exhibit in the United States. We also walked across the Missouri River (that's twice in two days we have traversed the river) to Iowa and back on the beautiful Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge.

October 14, 2017

NEXT UP: KANSAS