Food – Page 20 – Not Content to Crawl

Visiting My Uncle

Posted onDecember 12, 2016

Friday we decided to celebrate Joe getting a job by going out to lunch at Lonestar Steakhouse. On the expressway I pulled up their website to check the menu and that’s when we learned they are no longer open for lunch. Doh! We then decided to check out Texas Roadhouse instead but when I pulled up their website it was the same story – they don’t open until 4 pm. Clearly the lunch crowd must not be what it used to be with all these places opening for dinner only. I wonder whether our local Lonestar would have stayed in business had they changed their hours years ago. Anyway, we ended up at The Pit Ribhouse in our old neighborhood which was good as always. We can always get steak another time.

After lunch we headed over to my uncle’s house as previously arranged and were there for about two hours. It’s been many years since we’ve been to his place so he has a whole new group of animals verses last time. His late wife worked at a shelter so they’ve always had their own small zoo. His house is on a huge lot complete with a barn (with a horse). He used to have two but one passed away earlier this year. He also has a parrot who has the whole loft to herself, four dogs (a pit bull, pit/Shephard mix, mastiff, and a Pomeranian chihuahua mix) in the main level of the house and three cats, a cockatiel, two finches, and an African Grey parrot in the basement. He also had a squirrel but he passed away recently.

The amount of animals he has would overwhelm the hell out of me, not to mention he is a self-confessed hoarder so even though his house is pretty big it felt crowded which made me feel anxious. I’m glad I’ve reached the point where I’d rather spend money on experiences than just stuff. That’s not to say I don’t buy anything, but the number of knicknacks in that house was off the charts. If you need multiple curio cabinets to hold it then for me it’s too much. Some people love collecting things, however, and as long as they’re happy that’s all that matters but for me personally I couldn’t do it. I’m trying to get rid of some of our possessions as it is.

Anywho, before we took off my uncle gave us some outfits for the puppy. At some point I will torture her by making her wear them.

Once we got home and checked on the puppy we ran back out to run some errands. We ended up at Dairy Queen so I could use my BOGO Blizzard coupon. I got the peppermint Oreo which is awesome! I’ve been nursing it ever since so essentially I’ve gotten four desserts out of one large Blizzard. We also tried the new Mexican place next door to DQ. Their cheese enchiladas with green sauce are very good but it irked me that they only way to get them was by ordering the $11.99 dinner. Since I don’t care for refried beans and could do without the rice it’s like I paid $4 per enchilada. So even though the food was good and the guy who took care of us was very nice I can’t say we’d go there again.

Arizona – Thursday, November 17

Posted onNovember 18, 2016April 1, 2025

Thursday morning Joe’s parents took us out to breakfast at another one of their favorite places called Mickey D’s Cafe. The food was ok, although I only ordered potatoes and a cup of fruit since by the time they asked I had eaten my BBQ leftovers from Wednesday as my breakfast.

Later that afternoon we met up with M and her daughter at TopGolf where M’s husband works as the executive chef. We got a nice 2nd floor stall where we were able to hit some golf balls. I actually did better than the last time I tried many years ago. They have nice couches in the area and a TV. It’s pretty sweet – I can certainly understand the appeal. Everything was really clean and new looking; I think the location is only a couple of years old.

We didn’t order any food at TopGolf, although we did snack on the chips and guacamole M had them bring out. We wanted to stay hungry since we had lunch plans to revisit this Thai place we discovered and loved on our last trip. So around 2 pm we did just that and it was the most disappointing meal of our vacation. I don’t know if they changed chefs since our visit seven years ago, or we just happened to pick all the right dishes last time, but my Pad Se Ew was nothing special at all and Joe wasn’t impressed with his Pad Thai. I briefly considered ordering the Thai fried rice I enjoyed so much last time but was afraid to spend any more money there, so we just left. What a bummer! I was literally excited for days to go back too.

That evening Joe’s mom treated us to BINGO at Lone Butte Casino. I hate casinos, and this one was no different – loud and full of cigarette smoke. The BINGO hall was much quieter and we sat in the non-smoking section so it wasn’t too bad. We sat across from the restrooms so that Joe’s mom and sister could smoke when they wanted. We got the electronic BINGO devices which, while expensive at $39 (!!!) each, are pretty cool.

The machine keeps up with the game for you and even lets you know when you’re close to getting BINGO. They allow outside food and drinks which is cool too, although we purchased some food there and took advantage of the free (non-alcoholic) drinks in the BINGO hall. We got there so early, and we had a free $15 for joining their casino program, so we played on the Poker machines for a bit but cashed out before we lost any real money. They make you put at least $5 of your own money into the machine before you can access the $15 they give you. I hate gambling so it was just something to pass the time before BINGO begin.

M and her mom (Joe’s sister) got into it less than halfway through the evening so that put a damper on things. Plus none of us won even though a woman two tables away won twice! THAT is why I could do without casinos altogether. I don’t get the appeal but old people really seem to love going there. Most of them look miserable, however.

Arizona – Wednesday, November 16

Posted onNovember 17, 2016April 1, 2025

Wednesday we got up early to heard to Wildlife World Zoo in Litchfield Park, Arizona. The drive is about an hour from Joe’s parents’ but wasn’t too bad thanks to the awesome HOV lanes – we flew past the traffic! I love the expressways in Arizona because they are all in fantastic shape thanks to the lack of snow and ice. Plus they are all absolutely free; no tolls whatsoever. Gotta like that!

We were meeting M, J, and O so we had time to stop at the nearby McDonald’s for a quick breakfast since we were due to arrive at the zoo ahead of them by at least twenty minutes. We arrived at the zoo about fifteen minutes after they opened and they were already there. Doh! Turns out their GPS overestimated how long it would take them to get there.

It was a rare cloudy/overcast day – our first one since arriving – which turned out to be perfect since it got into the mid 80’s throughout the day but without the sun beating down on us it felt very comfortable.

The zoo didn’t seem that large at first glance but it turns out they have a ton of animals. The highlights included the zoo show where they introduced some of the more intelligent animals such as Ollie the Otter and an African Grey Parrot. The baby animal nursery was awesome too – they had a white tiger cub, a leopard cub, and two lion cubs.

Included in the admission price was the chance to feed the lorikeets.

They only allow the feeding at certain times but we were able to attend the first feeding. Before going into the enclosure it was explained to us that the green bucket of apple pieces were to feed the birds and the red bucket was for any pieces eaten or that have fallen to the ground. We were also warned that anything that went into the birds would be coming back out within fifteen minutes and that we’d get a two minute warning so we could clear the enclosure in time. Feeding the birds was fun although a bit stressful when you have three of them digging their claws into your arm while picking apart a quartered apple in the palm of your hand.

I also got some great photos of the resident leopard which was exciting since most of the time they are sleeping.

Oh, and for 50 cents (per handful of food) you can feed the giraffes. You can’t get as close to them as at the Phoenix zoo, however.

I finally got a sharp photo of a meerkat too!

Around 2 pm we were super hungry so we decided to take a break and eat at the on-site restaurant, Dillions KC BBQ. I had the half chicken and Joe had the beef brisket, both of which were good. Their $2 onion rings were awesome as well.

After lunch M and crew decided to leave while Joe and I stuck around to look at the aquarium portion of the zoo which was the only section we hadn’t seen yet. I toured the majority of it alone, however, since Joe had a phone interview (his second of the week; he had one on Monday for a different company while we were at the Botanical Garden).

We left the zoo around 4 pm and made a pit stop at Walmart for a couple of things.

Later that evening everyone met up at Joe’s parents, including M and crew, who bought a Nothing Bundt Cake for Joe’s mom’s birthday. M had asked for lemon but apparently someone screwed up because we ended up with white chocolate raspberry. Luckily it was delicious anyway!

Arizona – Tuesday, November 15

Posted onNovember 16, 2016April 1, 2025

Tuesday morning Joe’s parents took us out to breakfast at one of the places they like to frequent that they call “the hole”. I enjoyed a breakfast burrito with bacon while Joe had eggs with biscuits and gravy.

After dropping his parents off at home we ran some errands (I think to get a towel and some toothpaste) and then decided to try a place called Joyride Taco House for Taco Tuesday. We arrived at 1:30 pm and it wasn’t until we were ordering that we learned their special $2 Taco Tuesday event doesn’t start until 2 pm. It would have been nice if they had mentioned that on the phone when I called to ask which tacos were included in the special. Grrr!

While it was nice to enjoy their outdoor seating (I really love that part about Arizona), the taco themselves were not worth almost $4 each. I think the meal was the second most disappointing one we had during our trip.

Later that afternoon Joe’s niece, M, came over with her daughter, O, who is just the cutest little thing. She’s sixteen months old and very smart – M taught her sign language. They aren’t deaf – it’s just easier than trying to understand baby babble. We had ran to Target before heading “home” to grab a gift card and a few little things for the baby. I got her a small purple Care Bear and a sippy cup with Minnie Mouse on it. I wanted to buy her so many things but tried to control myself. M’s husband, J, came by in the evening and grilled steaks for dinner. We left it to him since he’s an executive chef at TopGolf so he knows his stuff. Needless to say, dinner was delicious! J is a really nice guy too. I’m happy for M.

Arizona – Monday, November 14

Posted onNovember 15, 2016April 1, 2025

Monday we were up fairly early, ate some chocolate frosted donuts, and took off for the Desert Botanical Garden in Phoenix. The regular admission price is rather high at $22 per person but thanks to our Morton Arboretum membership we got in for free. It was definitely an interesting place that was laid out nicely so we never really went far out of the way just to get back on track, but it’s a desert so it wasn’t full of flowers like our regular botanic garden either. I appreciated that there were bathrooms in most of the areas which included bottle filling stations so you could remain hydrated. Also, the bathrooms smelled like you just stepped into a Yankee Candle which I thought was a nice touch.

As the morning went on it got warmer out, but what I noticed was that even with it being in the mid 80’s I wasn’t sweating due to the lack of humidity. There was a distinct difference in temperature between the sun and shade as well. I’m sure when it’s 100 degrees the lack of humidity doesn’t help as much, but it was definitely nice in the 80’s.

As we were walking toward a particular section, one of the garden employees let us know that a great horned owl was in a tree nearby. Sure enough there were a bunch of people around the area trying to get a photo of him.

We’ve been trying to spot wild owls near us for years – it figures we’d see one while on vacation.

Once we had seen everything we headed to lunch at McGurkee’s Italian Kitchen.

I was a little thrown by the sesame seeds on the subs but it turns out they really made the taste of the sandwich, along with the fact that the bread was toasted.

Afterwards we drove over to a place called Churn for dessert. Their ice cream was ok, but not really worth the high price ($10 for the two of us).