A Fourth of July Celebration!

Laurie and I hadn’t seen any fireworks from a great vantage point since we were soaking in a hot tub overlooking the San Juan Islands in Washington State…many, many years ago.  So, when our friends Charlie and Karen invited us to view a fireworks show from their boat on Tellico Lake, we jumped at the chance! 

On our way to view the fireworks, I asked Charlie if he could cruise by this tow boat…one of the few working vessels this far up the Tennessee River.  I really like big boats and ships… The ‘Jeanette B’ was built in 1928 by the Charles Ward Engineer Works in Charleston West Virginia.  This vessel is 64.8 ft. long and weighs 47 tons.  The Knoxville Barge Company is a division of the Brownlee Companies.  The barge division’s focus is on shoreline erosion prevention, dock erection, river dredging and heavy material transport.  In this case, it was moving a barge full of rock to stabilize the shoreline.

For information on the Charles Ward Engineering Works, which was in operation from 1872 until 1931, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Ward_Engineering_Works.  For better pictures of the Jeannette B, go to http://www.lesjones.com/2008/05/23/the-jeanette-b-knoxville-barge/.  The Brownlee Companies’ website is www.brownleecompanies.com.

Now…onto the festivities!!

Karen and Charlie also invited some other mutual friends, Holly and Joel.  Note the festive neckwear that Holly is wearing… 

Here’s Holly, (with a Shiner Bock), and Karen, our hostess for this soirée…

This is Charlie trying to guide us safely across the crowded lake at night…with Joel harassing him and Joel and Holly’s son, Justin just chilling with another Shiner Bock.

Laurie captured quite a few decent photos of the fireworks…and it’s a bit like trying to catch fireflies.  They last for an instant and they’re gone!

This fireworks show is staged annually by a local dentist. (Business must be very good!) He has a big party at his house and the evening is climaxed with a big fireworks display.  He even lets his neighborhood know when he’s staging the event so they can enjoy the display…

The fireworks used to be staged off the end of his dock, but this year the sponsor of this event stepped it up a notch…complete with a professional crew and an offshore fireworks barge.

There had to be 100 plus boats scattered around this part of the lake watching the action.  In addition, the main road along the lake was dotted with parked vehicles with their emergency lights flashing…

This show was so big…and so professional…that they actually had a safety patrol boat in operation to ensure that all the boats stayed back at a safe distance.  There was applause and boat horns were sounded after every burst of action emanating from the barge!

All in all, this was a great Fourth of July Celebration!  Over 30 minutes of top drawer fireworks, no crowds to deal with, good friends to share the experience, floating on the lake in comfort, a beautiful evening… So far, retirement has really been “tough”!

We hope that your Independence Day was enjoyed by you and yours!

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Railroad Depots #3 – Arkansas

Rolling along the 2-lane highways of Arkansas… We were on our way to Rogers to attend a memorial service for one of our old friends.  No matter why the reason for the trip…we always prefer getting off the Interstate System when we have the time. 

So… Once we’re off the ‘superslab’, our trips almost always reveal something of interest…in this case, 3 more old railroad depots.

Our route took us north from Lonoke to the town of Beebe.  This town started out as just an intersection of the railroad with the road that later became Arkansas Rte. 31.  The town now has a population of 7,315 and it’s actually growing. 

This depot was built in 1910 by the Missouri-Pacific Railroad.  It is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The town was named after Roswell Beebe, the President of the Cairo and Fulton Railroad.  The first train actually rolled through town back in 1872.  The current tracks belong to the Union Pacific Railroad.

In 2011 Beebe made the national news twice in a 12 month period.  The first time was when 3,000 blackbirds and starlings fell from the sky…dead.  The second time was a repeat performance…this time with over 5,000 dead birds!  It was determined that fireworks caused the first ‘die off’. 

This is the former Missouri-Pacific Railroad’s freight and passenger depot in Clarksville Arkansas.  It was built in 1910 in the Mediterranean style that was so prevalent at the time.  The building used to have a tile roof to match the architecture but unfortunately it’s been replaced with conventional roofing materials.  The depot is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

The town of Clarksville has a population of about 9,300 and the area is known for it’s peach crop.  The depot is now owned and used by the Chamber of Commerce.  While the Union Pacific mainline runs right through town, unfortunately the tracks next to the depot have been removed…

Believe it or not, this was the Missouri-Pacific Railroad Station in Altus Arkansas.  It’s located right on U.S. 64 and it was built ca. 1920.  The building was used as a community center for some time but, as you can see, it’s now the home for ‘Big T Liquor’.  The first depot was built for the Little Rock and Fort Smith Railway back in 1874.  The last passenger train came through here on May 15, 1936.

The area around Altus was once a center for coal mining but the last coal mine closed by 1940.  As a matter of fact, there is a monument to coal miners adjacent to this building and it’s made from columns of solid coal.  This little town of roughly 825 is now the center of a wine growing region…with 4 wineries in the immediate vicinity.

The town’s other claim to fame was as the focal point for one of television’s first reality shows. (FYI…I really don’t like reality shows!) In any case, back in 2001, Paris Hilton and Nicole Ritchie arrived in town to begin filming their original show, “The Simple Life”.

Just click on any photo to see a close up of any of these depots…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Bob Evans and Restaurant Chains

As I recently mentioned in one of my blogs, chain restaurants have greatly improved over the years…and there are many very good, very reliable restaurant chains across the country.  They may not offer that special something or focus on dishes of local interest, but they are reassuring and welcoming to the weary traveler…and in most cases, the price is right!

When Laurie and I are driving back and forth between East Tennessee and the Cleveland Ohio area to visit our grandsons, one of our most convenient lunch stops is in Beckley West Virginia.  Our favorite is this Bob Evans Restaurant.   Since we almost always enjoy a good breakfast, we do like eating here as breakfast is available from open to close. 

Bob Evans Farms, Inc. is a $1.7 Billion restaurant and retail food products chain based in Columbus Ohio.  Bob Evans started the company back in 1948 with a 12 stool, 24 hour restaurant in Gallipolis Ohio.  He had a nearby farm.  Today there are almost 600 Bob Evans Restaurants in 18 states plus 100 Mimi’s Café’s in 22 states.  It’s hard to beat Bob Evans sausage and Bob Evans refrigerated mashed potatoes are better than most homemade versions!

The inside of the Bob Evans restaurants are all very much alike… They’re almost always clean…with decent restrooms and with efficient and normally friendly wait staff. 

Bob Evans’ Restaurants are open for breakfast, lunch and dinner.  While we usually go for the breakfast menu, the lunch menu offers standard fare as well as special items such as the Bob Evans Pot Roast Platter. ($8.29) This consists of slow-roast beef, carrots, grilled onions and American cheese, piled high on grilled sourdough and then served with French fries and freshly prepared coleslaw.  The dinner menu features many choices but our favorites are probably the Chicken Pot Pie, ($7.99), and the Country Fried Steak. ($9.49)

But as previously noted, we went for breakfast at lunch time!  This is Laurie’s standard breakfast…2 eggsover easy, with bacon and hash browns that are nice and crispy outside. ($7.29) Her meal was accompanied by a nice biscuit.

The August issue of Consumer Reports featured a section that rated various types of restaurants.  Bob Evans was ranked #4 under the category of family restaurants.  With 81 points, it was outscored by First Watch (87), The Original Pancake House (84) and Le Peep (83).  Bob Evans did score higher than 20 other restaurant chains in this category.  I noted that it even outscored Cracker Barrel…

I went with my basic breakfast as well…2 eggs over easy, sausage links, hash browns and sourdough toast. ($7.29) Yes…that it Tabasco on my eggs!  I also put it on my sausage and my hash browns… My only aggravation was that since I make a sandwich with my sausages, cutting the toast on a bias just doesn’t work out that well!  I’ll have to remember to tell them not to cut my toast the next time…

Other restaurant categories listed in the August issue of Consumer Report are as follows, complete with the #1 recommendation for that category.  Contemporary/Traditional American (J. Alexander’s); Barbecue (Famous Dave’s); Italian (Biaggi’s Restorante Italiano); Mexican (Abuelo’s Mexican Food Embassy); Pub Style or Grill (Cheddar’s Casual Café); Seafood (Bonefish Grill); Steakhouses (The Capital Grille) and; Unique Dinner Houses (Bahama Breeze). 

Laurie and I have eaten at J. Alexander’s, Famous Dave’s, Biaggi, Abuelo’s, Cheddar’s, Bonefish Grill and Bahama Breeze.  They’re all quite good!

Since there are no Bob Evan’s Restaurants in East Tennessee and since I have very little willpower, I ordered a side of biscuits, ($1.79) and sausage gravy ($3.29) to ‘share’ with Laurie.  Every once and a while I just get a craving for this sausage gravy… It’s different than anyone else’s…and once I add Tabasco, its great comfort food!  All in all, we had a very satisfying breakfast and a nice break from the open road…

Of the 102 restaurant chains rated by Consumer Reports, only nine chains (9) earned high marks across the board in the 4 key categories…taste, value, service and mood…and were praised for menu variety.  Bob Evans was one of those 9 restaurant chains!

We use Consumer Reports quite a bit when considering significant purchases…TV’s, vacuums, grills, cameras, etc.  The information is reliable and Consumer Reports doesn’t have any conflicts of interest because they don’t accept any advertising… Check it out at www.ConsumerReports.org.

The Beckley West Virginia Bob Evans Restaurant is located at 9-102 Harper Park Drive, just off of I-77 in Beckley.  Phone: 304-252-4886.  The Bob Evans website is: www.bobevans.com.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by and sharing lunch…or breakfast with us!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Wine Tasting – Neighborhood Style!

Laurie and I belong to a little neighborhood group that meets for a wine tasting experience once each month.  I use the term “wine tasting” a bit loosely as this is really a social event tied to large quantities of snacks, prepared special foods/appetizers plus desserts…all accompanied by a large quantity of wine!

Note: We do use designated drivers!

This is Holly!  She was our hostess for the June Wine Tasting event.  We’re not sure that she ever really sat down and relaxed all evening… She was on the run all night…ensuring that the rest of us really had a great time!  Which we did!

We usually have a theme for our wine tasting parties.  In this case, it was favorite wines from around the world.  It was suggested that we might want to dress in the traditional garb of whichever country that our chosen wines came from…

Note: When we arrive at one of these ‘tastings’, we immediately begin drinking the wines offered by the hosts… Then it’s on to the food…and finally the actually ‘presentation’ and wine tasting.  So much for a fresh palate!

Here's part of our group… There were 3 out of town guests at this gathering.  From left to right…it’s Bonnie, Larry, Mark, Bill, Joel, Jenny and Fred.  Bonnie is Laurie’s sister and Bill is her husband.  They’re from the St. Louis Missouri area and they were in town visiting us for a week.  Joel is Holly’s husband but he was nursing his post-surgery shoulder…so Mark was the official assistant host!  Mark is from North Carolina and he was in town visiting Holly and Joel.

You might be able to tell that, costume wise, this was not a very participatory event!  Can you pick out the person that brought German wine to the party?  Actually, Holly, Mark and Joel all dressed in traditional German style clothing…

Here are a few other members of our lively, non-traditional wine tasting group.  From left to right are Charlie, followed by yours truly, then Susan, Martha and Beverly.  Unfortunately Martha’s husband Irv missed this little party as he was out of town working on a project for the Coast Guard. (Honest, despite how it looks, I’m not drinking directly from that bottle of wine that I’m holding!)

This wine tasting ‘assembly’ is quite a mixed group professionally.  In addition to the military, attendees included representatives from manufacturing, medical services, retailing, the Federal government,  law enforcement, the beauty industry and the plumbing business.

I could have included photos of everyone smiling or laughing at the same time…but then this would have been the longest blog ever!

Since Laurie usually takes all of our photos, my thanks to Joel for sending me a photo that his friend Mark took of the sisters…Bonnie and Laurie.  Sometimes Laurie just gets verbal credit for photos.  This time at least, she’s actually included!

When it came to the costume part of the event, Laurie and I decided that the best way to address the challenge was to pick a wine or wines from our favorite vacation spot ever…and that would be New Zealand!  Since they dress much like we do in the USA, we technically complied with the invitation…

This is Laurie’s brother in law Bill.  They stayed with us for about a week and we had a fun time every day! (Except the ladies made me nervous when they spent the better part of a day just shopping…) They’re very easy to get along with and they mixed right in with our little group of wine tasters!  Everybody loved them!

Dick was left out of the group photos…as he was sitting right between the 2 groups that I posted above.  It appears that he was having a good time…with a great smile, an empty snack plate and just a little wine left in his glass!

In addition to New Zealand and Germany, other wines brought to the tasting originated from Spain, Italy and France.  Over the years, Laurie and I have enjoyed wines from these and other nations, to include Chile, Greece, Romania, Bulgaria, Portugal, Argentina, Hungary, South Africa and Australia.  For a list of the Top 40 Wine Producing Nations, go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_wine-producing_countries.

This is Bev’s husband, Larry.  Larry is the source of much of the neighborhood’s BBQ/smoked meats.  He specializes in ribs, chicken, brisket and sausage.  He looks like he’s enjoying himself!  Larry  is also a big time blogger, known as Big Dude…as in http://bigdudesramblings.blogspot.com/.  Note: Check Larry's entry on his blog site for July 4th to find out more about the ABT's and Moink Balls he brought to the party. 

Factoid:  Did you know that there is at least one winery located in every state in the United States?!

As you might be able to tell, I had a really good time!  Charlie’s wife Karen and our hostess, Holly, must have, A) Felt Sorry for Me, B) Have been Coerced or, (C) Have been Paid, to pose for this photo!

It would have been great if we’d taken photos of the food we consumed at the start of the party...  Offerings included dip chips with corn and chili salsa: veggies and dip; ABT’s (bacon wrapped jalopenos with cream cheese and pulled pork); some terrific Moink Balls (meatballs wrapped in bacon, dusted in Billy Bones original rub and glazed with Tennessee River Cranberry Delight BBQ Sauce when they were about done); pulled pork and rolls with a variety of BBQ sauces; a 4-bean baked bean dish; cucumbers and shrimp with cream cheese and dill…and; to top all of this off…how about Puerto Rican Flan and a Chocolate Texas Sheet Cake!

That's about it for now... Many thanks to Holly, Joel and Mark for hosting this great party!

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by at our neighborhood wine tasting!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave   

Railroad Depots (#2) Arkansas

As we rolled on west along US 70, running parallel to I-40 in order to avoid construction and delays, we came to the town of Carlisle Arkansas. 

This is the former Rock Island Railroad Depot in Carlisle.  It was acquired by Union Pacific when that railroad bought out the Rock Island.  It’s now been repurposed as the offices for a local insurance company. 

The first railroad, the Memphis and Little Rock, came to town in 1858.  This depot was built much later, ca. 1920, in the Tudor Revival Style.  The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Back on May 5, 2008, the depot was damaged by an F1 Tornado that blew through town.  Fortunately, the damage was repaired and this end of the building was rebuilt. 

Carlisle was founded on 8/1/1872 by Samuel McCormick.  The story is that he either named the town after Carlisle PA or one of his friends whose last name was Carlisle.  This town and the surrounding area is the birthplace of rice growing on the Grand Prairie…and rice, along with cotton and soybeans are the key crops in this agricultural community of about 2,200 people.  The Trail of Tears…the route of the forced march of eastern Indian tribes to Oklahoma…passes just north of the town.

This is another view of the Carlisle railroad depot…looking at the outdoor waiting area.  Of course, the tracks are long gone… This depot had separate waiting rooms for black and white passengers and one train buff who gained access to the inside of the building reported that you could still make out “White Men” on the door of the men’s restroom.

Teddy Roosevelt made a speech in Carlisle back in 1905, delivering it from the back of his special train.  President William Howard Taft also spoke from the back of his special train in 1912.

This is the Lonoke Arkansas Rock Island Railroad Depot.  This pressed brick and tile roof structure was built in 1912 to replace the previous depot which had burned down.  Note the semaphore signal on top of the building.  If the signial was horizontal, that was the signal for the train to stop.  If is was vertical the trains would just steam on through town.  The building is listed in the National Register of Historic Places and it’s now the home for the Chamber of Commerce and other city offices.

The little park adjacent to the depot was built as a memorial to Joseph E. Singleton, the stationmaster at this depot for 26 years.  Lonoke was served by regular passenger trains until 11/9/67, when all passenger service ceased.  The town was also serviced by Rail Diesel Cars…self propelled passenger coaches…until 8/8/64.  For more on this interesting mode of rail transport, just go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budd_Rail_Diesel_Car.

One last item of interest… Legend has it that this town of roughly 4,245 people was originally named Lone Oak, after a huge old red oak tree located near the railroad junction.  Later, it was misspelled as “Lonoak”…and then again subsequently misspelled one more time as “Lonoke”…and the name stuck.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for another little blog related to rail and local history!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Cheddars – Solid Fare/Good Prices

Since I’ve retired…with a fixed income…I’ve started checking out more of the large restaurant chains.  To date, Ruby Tuesday, Bonefish Grill, Romano’s Macaroni Grill and a couple of others have measured up, providing with good solid food at reasonable prices.  While we still prefer to seek out and dine at local favorites, there are times that it’s just more convenient to go to a tried and true branch of one of the better restaurant chains… Their standards and food quality have come a long way in the past 10 years or so.

On our return trip from Florida, we had decided to explore the back roads along the way.  This necessitated an overnight stay in Valdosta Georgia.  Where to eat...local or chain?

We’d eaten at the Cheddar’s restaurant in Alcoa Tennessee…and we’d liked it.  So, when we noticed a Cheddar’s almost right next to our motel in Valdosta, it was an easy decision…

Cheddar’s was founded back in 1979 when the first restaurant opened for business in Arlington Texas.  Texas is still the stronghold for this restaurant group, with over 40 locations throughout the state.  Tennessee is the state with the 2^nd largest number of Cheddar’s locations…with 10 open and 1 about to open.  All in all, there are 113 Cheddar’s restaurants in 23 different states…

The interior of the two Cheddar’s that we’ve dined in are very warm and friendly.  They invested in pleasant surroundings and decorative accents.   

Most Cheddar’s locations are company owned although there are a number of franchised restaurants.  Moving forward, the company is not seeking additional franchise operators. 

This is the house salad, ($1.99), that Laurie ordered with her entrée.  The ingredients were fresh and given the price, it would be hard to beat. 

There are a number of appetizers on the menu ranging from $1.99 for chips and salsa on up to $7.19 for the ultimate nachos.  Dinner salads range from $6.99 on up to $7.59.  You can order a lunch combo…with 2 choices ($6.99) or with 3 choices ($7.59) An example of a 3-piece combo would be a bowl of soup, a house salad and a half double deck club sandwich.

For her entrée, Laurie ordered the Chicken Pot Pie ($6.49).  She thought that it was quite good, although she prefers to have crust on the bottom of her pot pies.  For some reason, this same pot pie costs a dime more at our Alcoa location in East Tennessee…

In addition to the entrees, Cheddar’s also offers Lunch Combos, i.e., sandwiches with one side ($6.79 to $6.99).  The menu also offers a selection of burgers.  A Burger with Fries would only cost you $6.68.

My dinner selection was this plate full of Buffalo Chicken Tenders with a side of broccolli. ($7.99) I’m not too sure that the healthy portion of my dinner completely offset the unhealthy portion… However, the Buffalo Chicken was certainly plentiful and it packed the heat that I wanted and expected!

The entrees on the menu listed under the heading, “The Classics”, started at $6.49 for the Chicken Pot Pie and they moved up the price scale to a full rack of ribs with 2 sides for only $12.99.  Cheddar’s also offers steaks and a number of combo entrees.  A 12 oz. Ribeye Steak with 2 sides is only $13.95!

The stated goal of the founders of Cheddar’s was to create inviting neighborhood restaurants offering handmade, high quality food at a reasonable price.  Laurie and I believe that they’ve achieved all of their goals.  While the food isn’t gourmet, it is very good and the pricing is definitely right!  We enjoyed our meals at both the Valdosta and the Alcoa locations…

The Valdosta Georgia location is at 270 Norman Drive.  Phone: 229-247-5551.  The Alcoa Tennessee restaurant is located at 250 Hamilton Crossing Drive.  Phone: 865-983-5582.  Cheddar’s Corporate Website is: www.cheddars.com.  

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Miss Yip – Chinese Cuisine in Miami

After a long day of sightseeing with Dawn in the Miami area, we decided to just grab dinner somewhere close to Dawn’s condo in the downtown area.

We chose Miss Yip’s Chinese Café.  It’s right on Biscayne Boulevard, close to the southernmost bridge leading over to South Beach and just a couple of blocks away from the AmericanAirlines Arena, home of the Miami Heat.  I thought that the exterior was impressive and yet welcoming…

(Yes, running the words AmericanAirlines together when referring to the Arena is the correct way to do it.  Some local sportscasters regularly refer to the arena as the “Triple AAA”)

The interior of Miss Yip’s Chinese Café is well decorated…perhaps even a little bit plush…with dark woods and red accents.  They make the restaurant a little cozier by keeping the lighting at a low setting.  That made reading the extensive menus just a little challenging though…

I guess that they kept the doors open just to show passerbys on Biscayne Boulevard that they were open for business…

One item prominently featured on the menu was Dim Dum.  There were 18 choices.  They ranged from Pan Fried Chicken Dumplings (5 for $8.00) to Spinach or Custard Bao (3 for $6.00), or Steamed Shrimp Dumplings (4 for $7.00) and on up to the Miss Yip Platter (an assortment of 8 dumplings for $11.00)

I personally really like pan fried dumplings.  You can verify that truth by the fact that I ate 2 of my 5 Pan Fried Pork Dumplings before I remembered that we had to take a photo.  The dumplings were very good! ($8.00)

Instead of Dim Sum, Laurie went with her favorite ‘starter’ in a Chinese restaurant…Hot and Sour Soup ($6.00) Miss Yip describes their version of Hot and Sour Soup as containing “tofu, bamboo shoots and wood ear mushrooms seasoned with hot white pepper and simmered in a scrumptious chicken broth, vinegar and a touch of soy sauce”. 

While I think that the use of the word ‘scrumptious’ in reference to chicken broth is a bit of hyperbole, Laurie did enjoy the soup.  I tasted it too…and it was very good.

For her dinner, Dawn ordered the Kung Pao Chicken ($16.00).  This is described as “diced chicken breast stir fried with onions, water chestnuts, dried chili, peanuts and red and green peppers in brown sauce.”  Dawn described her dinner as OK…nothing special…but just about average.

Miss Yip is open 7 days a week for lunch and dinner.  The lunch specials all cost $8.88 and there are no less than 44 choices for the customer!  All “Shanghai Express” lunches come with a veggie spring roll and rice where appropriate.

Laurie’s entrée was the Curry Chicken ($16.00).  This is described as ‘boneless chicken cubes stir fried with chili paste, garlic, finely diced onion and bell pepper mix flavored with coconut milk and curry”.   Miss Yip’s kitchen staff must define ‘finely diced’ a bit different than we do… Note the chunks of onion and peppers.  Laurie did not really care for this rendition of curry chicken…and it’s normally one of her favorites.

Entrees at Miss Yip cover the complete spectrum of basic Chinese cuisine in America.  They include a variety of dishes under the headings of Fried Rice, Noodle, Chicken, Duck, Beef and Steak, Pork, Fish plus Shrimp and Squid.  Prices generally range from $10.00 to $26.00.  Miss Yip does offer Peking Duck as an entrée. ($44.00)

I stayed safe, ordering one of my standard favorites, General Tso Chicken ($15.00).  This is described as “bite size chunks of lightly battered boneless chicken, fried to golden brown then stir fried with chili pepper and Chef’s special sauce”.  I asked for extra spicy…but like most Chinese restaurants, they didn’t get it spicy enough and I had to ask for pepper sauce.  I would rate this rendition of General Tso Chicken as average…and it lacked the usual generous (and healthy) portion of broccoli that I’m used to with this dish)

Miss Yip Chinese Café was OK…not great.  It is convenient for downtown Miami diners but, due to the location and the cost of real estate, the food, (except for lunch), is a bit expensive.  Laurie had a Dirty Martini with Grey Goose Vodka and it cost $14.00!  Dawn had chamomile tea…and it wasn’t very good…and it cost $6.00…for tea!!

Miss Yip Chinese Café is located at 900 Biscayne Boulevard in Miami Florida.  Phone: 305-358-0088.  Website: www.missyipchinesecafe.com.

Just click on any photo to enlarge it…

Thanks for stopping by for a little Chinese food!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave