A Leisurely Drive Toward Home

Back in June, after leaving our family’s home in the Omaha area, we crossed the Missouri River at Bellevue Nebraska.  As is our preference, we avoided the Interstate Highway System, opting to follow US Hwy. 34 east across Iowa. 

I had noted and located a number of railroad depots along the way so we had periodic exploratory side trips planned for various towns along our route.  

This old Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railway Depot was our goal in Corning Iowa… This photo was borrowed from the dynamic depot map for Iowa as developed and maintained by www.depotmaps.com.

DepotMaps.com provides a map showing the location of the depots listed as well as a photo of the depot.  I followed the map to the tracks…looked both ways…and there wasn’t a depot in sight!  I guess that the black frame around the original photo of the depot from DepotMaps.com is appropriate.  Apparently this old depot no longer exists… My photos and the view we had of downtown Corning confirm that this was where the depot used to be… Another one bites the dust!

Timing is everything… The lack of a depot was temporarily offset by a thundering freight train roaring by on the Burlington Northern Santa Fe mainline…

Our next ‘off road’ experience involved a stop in Creston Iowa.  This building is a Burlington Northern Santa Fe office and it also serves as an Amtrak Station…sort of… There isn’t a waiting room or available restroom, just an outdoor shelter and boarding platform.

Creston is served once daily in each direction by California Zephyr Amtrak service to Chicago and California.  In 2013, a total of 4,621 passengers utilized this ‘station’.  Creston is the County Seat for Union County Iowa with a population today of about 7,900.  It has a long railroad history and it is a BNSF crew station and has a sizeable active rail yard today.  

Creston was originally settled in 1868 as a survey camp for the workers with the Burlington and Missouri Railroad.  The campsite was on the crest on the railroad line between the Missouri and Mississippi, hence the name "Creston."  Early on, Creston was chosen as the division point for the railroad, which originally built machine shops, roundhouse and a construction camp at the new town. 

This “new” and handsome French Provincial Style railroad station was constructed by the Burlington Railway in 1899.  This building served passengers for 69 years.  It was renovated in 1978 to serve as a municipal building for Creston.  It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. 

The other old railroad buildings in town were either destroyed by a tornado or they burned down.   Various community organizations occupy the first floor of the depot today and city government occupies the second floor.  Fittingly, one of the occupants of the first floor is the local Model Railroad Club.

Factoids:

·       Marcia Wallace, the actress who played Carol Kester on the Bob Newhart Show and who later was the long term voice of elementary teacher Edna Krabappel on The Simpsons was from Creston.

·       So was Walt Cunningham, one of the Apollo 7 Astronauts.

·       Frank Phillips, the founder of Phillips Petroleum was born here. 

This Prairie Style depot and current Amtrak stop is located in Osceola Iowa.  It was built by the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad back in 1907.  A lot has been done to maintain this facility and as you can see additional improvements were being made when we drove through town.  The city’s goal is to create an intermodal transportation hub (train and bus) centered on the depot.   

Part of the reason that this depot is so well maintained is that it is the closest passenger railroad depot to Des Moines, the largest city and capital of Iowa. Actually, Osceola is considered a “gateway” for rail passengers from both Des Moines and Kansas City who are headed west to Denver and California by way of the California Zephyr.  It is the busiest Amtrak stop in Iowa with 14,799 passengers using the depot in 2013.  It isn't staffed but it does have a caretaker who opens the waiting room for the two daily arrivals of the train. 

That’s about it for this edition… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Chances R Restaurant – York NE

During our late May/early June visit to Omaha Nebraska, the family drove out to York Nebraska for one of David III’s soccer games.  After soccer, it was time for dinner and we had talked up a restaurant in York that Laurie and I had enjoyed during our previous visit in September of 2014…

This is Chances R Restaurant and Lounge in downtown York Nebraska.  I previously posted a very positive write-up about this restaurant Monday, October 27, 2014.  I’d entitled it, “A Winner…from “Off the Beaten Path – Nebraska”.  To check out that review and compare it to this one, anyone just go to http://bigdaddydavesbitsandpieces.blogspot.com/2014/10/a-winnerfrom-off-beaten-path-nebraska.html.

Emmett doesn’t look too happy…

The first ‘downer’ was that we were seated on the ‘diner’ side of the restaurant.  The larger portion of the restaurant is decorated in mid-range upscale old school plush.  I didn’t ask why they didn’t seat us on the other side but assumed that they weren’t serving over there at the time.  Still, it was an OK space but not what we expected to show the family…

The same family has owned this restaurant since 1957.  When they bought it they had a maximum seating capacity of 50 diners.  Chances R today has a seating capacity for 550 patrons!  They are open 7 days a week and they serve breakfast, lunch and dinner… They have to be doing something right!

David II and I always seem to enjoin in an ‘eating contest’ when we’re together.  Add a 14 year old teenager to the mix and we always seem to order a lot of food.  One of our appetizers was this generous order of fried zucchini. ($6.45) They were pretty tasty…

The second appetizer was this order of Jalapeno Poppers. ($6.45) They were OK too…maybe not the best ever, but good nevertheless.  I didn’t care for the sweet dipping sauce as heat is my preference. The waitress did bring some Tabasco at my request.

Laurie ordered the Chances R version of French Onion Soup. ($4.95) It was unlike any French onion soup that she’d ever had…and she wasn’t crazy about it.  As a matter of fact, she didn’t finish it.

I ordered the Pork Chops with a side of Hash Browns and a small cup of cooked apples. ($14.95) The hash browns were nicely cooked (browned) and the breading for the chops was just fine.  However the pork chops were a bit tough…dry…overcooked. 

This was the Beef Sourdough Melt. ($8.75) Again, it was OK…but it didn’t wow our son who had ordered it.

This was the Sunday special…($9.45) Laurie ordered this after it was described to her by our waitress.  Laurie heard cheesy scalloped potatoes and ham with a side of greens.  She expected scalloped potatoes with the ham cooked in it as part of the dish, not a slice of ham with sweet sauce next to a pile of cheesy potatoes.  In any case, she was disappointed with her meal.

Both of the boys had cheeseburgers with French Fries and they were OK… No complaints there…

The result of our stop at Chances R was that our family didn’t understand how we could have thought so highly of this restaurant in the first place.  The food was OK at best and our overly friendly waitress was also forgetful and not very efficient.  I do believe in the adage that you just can’t go back and recapture the experiences of the past…but it had only been 9 months since the last visit!  I can’t explain the negative experience this time vs. the last time we dined here…

Chances R Restaurant and Lounge is located at 124 West 5^th Street in York Nebraska.  Phone: 402-362-7755.  You can find this restaurant’s Website at: http://www.chancesryork.com/home. 

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave 

Moving On Down the Road

As I try to provide a little variety with my postings, I’ll be rambling back and forth from dining with the family in Nebraska to beginning our relatively slow paced ‘back roads’ drive from Omaha back to East Tennessee.

We were in Seward Nebraska in September of 2014…but this time we went through Seward with the family after David III finished a soccer game in York Nebraska.  Laurie and I didn’t spot this old railway depot the first time around but this time I was armed with a photo and an address.

 

Although it’s been significantly modified, the roof line alone should have given this structure away during our previous visit.  I wasn’t able to determine the date that it was built, but this former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad combination freight and passenger depot makes for an interesting looking home.  The structure has been moved about a block from its original location…

This was the first of several depots that we searched out during our drive from Omaha back to the Knoxville Tennessee area.  The former Glenwood Iowa Chicago, Burlington and Quincy depot is still being used by the railroad…in this case it’s now the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe.

Glenwood was established by Mormons in 1848.  They named it Coonsville. The town prospered during the California Gold Rush largely due to a nearby grain mill.  A bit later, Coonsville was the scene of anti-Mormon mob violence.  It became the county seat of Mills County in 1851, and was renamed Glenwood after most of Mormons left for Utah in 1852.

Factoids:

·       Evangelist Billy Sunday was from Glenwood, growing up in a local orphanage.

 

·       Don Hall, film maker and Oscar Winner for the 2015 Disney movie “Big Hero 6” is from Glenwood.

The former Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Depot in Red Oak is located at 305 2^nd Street.  This depot which was built in 1903 is now a museum that commemorates the community's significant military heritage and its disproportionate number of casualties in the Civil War and in WWII. 

In the Battle of the Kasserine Pass on February 1943, 45 soldiers from Red Oak were captured or killed.  At the time more than 100 telegrams arrived in Red Oak saying that its soldiers were missing in action!  Red Oak’s population in 1940 was about 5,750… To learn more about this museum, go to http://depothill.net/.

In 1869 the town was officially founded when the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad (called the Burlington and Missouri River Railroad at the time) arrived.  The community was originally named Red Oak Junction by the railroad. 

The Montgomery County Courthouse in Red Oak Iowa is a massive structure!  With all of the trees around it, we had to take 2 photos to capture the whole building including the huge clock tower.  Construction on this Romanesque Revival style building was completed in 1891 at a cost of $100,00.  Montgomery County was named after American Revolutionary War General Richard Montgomery who was killed while trying to Capture Quebec City in Canada.

Factoids:

·       Clyde Cessna, the founder of Cessna Aircraft was from Montgomery County.

·       So was renowned Tonight Show host, Johnny Carson…

That’s about it for now… Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them.

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

The French Market Creperie – Farragut TN

We’re always looking for something new when it comes to dining options.  However, variety doesn’t run rampant when it comes to different types of food/ethnic cuisine here in East Tennessee.  However, there does seem to be improvement in the last year or so…

Recently we visited a wine and craft beer lounge… Next we were off to experience a type of cuisine that we haven’t had in years!

This is the French Market Creperie and Café in Farragut Tennessee.  For those who live in East Tennessee, this eatery is in the Kroger Shopping Center just east of Campbell Station Road.  There is another location in downtown Knoxville.

The extensive menu is listed on boards behind the counter.  Customers order at the counter and a server brings your food out to you at your table when it’s ready.

The French Market offers sweet and savory French crêpes, as well as baguette and croissant sandwiches along with a choice of soups and salads. Their crepes are created using both traditional and buckwheat flour, which are imported directly from France. 

The restaurant is charming country French with sconce and chandelier lighting, giving patrons a nice warm feeling.  Lots of the food and nick knacks that you can see scattered around on shelves and display cases are for sale.

So we studied the menu boards and after asking advice…followed by a lengthy deliberation, we placed our order.

Laurie started out with one of her favorite hot beverages, a latte. ($3.50)

Other coffee related offerings include expresso, macchiato, cappuccino, café au lait and the Americano (Coffee with a double shot of expresso!) Other beverages include hot chocolate, sparkling water, chai tea, Orangina from France as well as a variety of imported beers and cider.

We each ordered a savory crepe for our entrée and we also ordered a sweet crepe for dessert to share.  Sometimes you do get lucky though…

This Chocolate Crepe made with buckwheat flour was a special (free!) treat… Free is always good.  Apparently the chef made a mistake and made up the wrong crepe for some reason.  A server brought it out to us and asked us if we’d like to have it… Silly girl!  Of course we wanted it!  It was very good even though it was kind of a ‘reverse’ appetizer…sweet before savory. (Normally this crepe would cost $4.50)

There are 17 different dessert or sweet crepes featured on the menu.  They are served with the traditional crepe with buckwheat versions costing 50 cents more.  Prices for the sweet crepes run from $3.50 to $7.45 if the buckwheat versions are considered.  The exception is the Crêpes Suzette. ($8.95 or $9.45) These traditional French crêpes are made with an oz. of Grand Marnier Cognac, butter, sugar, caramel and whipped cream.

For my savory crepe I stuck with the basics… This is the Parisian Style Ham and Cheese on buckwheat with butter. ($7.50)  It was very nice indeed!  This was a large crepe and it was full of flavor…and it was very filling.

Other crepes that I considered included a couple of roast beef and cheese crepes and another one featuring salmon, cream cheese and capers.  You can also add other ingredients to your crepe.  Prices for add-ons run from $1.00 to $4.50.  My favorite add-on, which would go well with what I ordered or with either my roast beef or salmon option, would be a fried egg over the top of the crepe. 

  

Laurie decided that she’d try the Turkey Breast, Spinach, Artichoke and Cheese Crepe on a traditional crepe. ($8.95) She really enjoyed it!  As you can see, it was just stuffed with ingredients…

There are 15 standard savory crepes on the menu plus 17 optional items that you can or mix and match on the crepe of your own design. 

Did you remember that we’d ordered our own sweet or dessert crepe?  We were stuffed already but what the heck, we could just eat a piece of fruit for dinner...  This is the Salted Caramel Crepe. ($5.95) This buckwheat crepe is made using imported French caramel with sea salt from Brittany and butter.  It was a bit too salty for us but it was very nice!

We really enjoyed our visit to this restaurant!  We’ll have to return to the French Market Creperie for breakfast sometime in the not too distant future.  There is an extensive and interesting looking breakfast menu featuring crepes and omelets.  On the other hand we haven’t tried the croissant of baguette sandwiches yet either…

This location for the French Market Creperie and Café is at 161 Brooklawn Street in Farragut Tennessee.  Phone: 865-288-7912.  Website: http://www.thefrenchmarketknoxville.com/.

Just click on any of the photos of deliciousness to enlarge them!

Thanks for stopping by to check on how we’re doing on our diet…

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Family Life Equals Sports

It is always great visiting our son’s family in Omaha… David and his wife make a great couple and parents plus our 2 grandsons are very close to perfect!

This is a late spring view from the family’s back deck in the western portion of Omaha.  That green space is a common area so it will remain as is…a nice feature indeed.

With 2 boys who have a lot of energy to blow off, having a pool is a great feature as well!  Despite their love of computers, gaming, smart phones and the like, they are both very active physically… David III is 14 and Emmett Lee is 11 and amazingly they play well together.  Of course, that may change as they grow a bit older…

Their basketball games in the driveway at the front of their home are very competitive!  Emmett is the lay-up artist and David II has mastered the free throw… Their dad works hard to beat them but the time is coming soon when he’ll experience general defeat.  I still remember when and where he finally beat me in a race, and he was only 14 at the time.

Both boys play soccer and they’re pretty good at it too!  Back when I was growing up, almost no one played soccer although the boy’s prep school that I attended was the exception to the rule.  I still prefer American style football but it is fun watching the boys play soccer.  David’s team this year was quite good.   He also plays some basketball…a good thing as he’s is getting to be very tall!

Emmett Lee plays soccer too but his spring and summer sports passion…up until football season…was track.  He loves to run and he’s won quite a few races.  He is always one of the most focused kids on the track.  What we like is that he is realistic.  He’s not particularly upset when he loses but rather he reflects on how well he personally ran the race…

The experts say that quality family time is extremely important and that; “The family that plays together, stays together”.  The entire family went on a summer vacation to the Atlantis Resort on Paradise Island in the Bahamas with some close friends.  In this photo, Amy, Emmett Lee, David II and David III are all suited up to go and play with the dolphins… The boys will always remember this family outing!

One last photo from the family’s back deck… We just like this photo of a storm coming in with rain streaming down in the distance. 

We’re really looking forward to our next family visit to Omaha!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave and Laurie (aka Papa and Nana)

Clifford and Ronald Myers

Recently I received a couple of comments on my last Memorial Day blog posting from a couple of folks who stated that they thought that we might be cousins… Their grandfather was my father’s brother, Clifford. 

I think that I have a couple other photos of Clifford and Ronald together and I’m looking for them among the thousands of photos from our travels and life as well as the Myers, Thomson and Sibbald and Weed families. (Father’s family, Step-Father’s Family and both the maternal and paternal sides of my mother’s family)

This is me not long before my father Ronald was shipped overseas to fight the Nazis in Europe during WWII.  As my readers know, he didn’t return from that conflict as he was KIA at the very end of the war in Europe.

This blog posting is really just intended for my cousins… Both of them left messages stating that they thought that they were related to me as Clifford was their grandfather.  Unfortunately I’m hardly a computer wizard and both of them, (one living in West Tennessee and the other living in Jackson Michigan…my hometown), assumed that I’d be able to contact them…probably through Google +.  I’d be glad to do that if I knew how to use that application.  I signed up but I have no clue how to use the system to accomplish my goal.

In any case, if either of them view this posting I can be contacted at dandlmyers@gmail.com.  It would be great to learn a bit more about my father’s family as my current knowledge is very limited.

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave    

A Sports Bar (Grille) in Omaha

While visiting our family in the Omaha area, we took everyone out for a casual dinner in a local sports bar…   

With its name, I guess that they’re trying to set this sports bar up as something a little different.  Oscar’s Pizza and Sports Grille is really just a big sports bar.  I never have understood the appellation “grille”…

Oscar’s is very casual and big…really big…and there are TV’s everywhere!  The good news is that they were very busy and they’re evidently very popular with the local crowd.

Oscar’s promotes itself as the “spot for enjoying every major sporting event.”  The restaurant/grille is equipped with “30 HDTVs, 4 massive big screens and subscriptions to all the top sports packages”.  As they say, “…if it’s televised, you’ll see it here”.

Oscar’s Pizza and Sports Grille specializes in chicken wings and pizza.  Consequently, we started out with a couple orders of wings. ($7.99 per order of basic wings and $8.68 for “Double Dip” wings) Double dip wings are “Char Buffed”, (traditional wings finished on the grill to give your sauce a baked-on taste), and then Double Dipped: re-tossed in your choice of sauce.

Wing sauces include Buffalo, BBQ, Teriyaki, Kujo (HOT), Garlic Parmesan or the wings can come “Naked” (no sauce).  Oscar’s does serve very tasty wings although our favorite wing joints feature a wider variety of sauces to choose from… 

Emmett Lee, our youngest grandson, almost always likes to order Fried Mozzarella Sticks. ($5.99) While I find Mozzarella a little boring, even fried, he likes them and so does his dad.  As a family, we are all cheese lovers!

One appetizer struck me as being a ‘bit different’!  I guess that the Broccoli Cheese Bites are an attempt at achieving healthy bar food…

The adults partook in adult beverages.  A Miller Lite was $3.25, a Dark Guinness was $5.00, Corona was $3.00 and a Black Butte Porter was $4.00.  I think that it was the first time that a draft Miller Lite cost me more than a Corona…

Someone ordered a Reuben Sandwich with cottage cheese… It was very reasonable at $7.99.  A cup of soup was $2.99. 

Sandwiches and wraps are served with choice of Crinkle Cut Fries, Side Salad, Cottage Cheese or Coleslaw.  If you substitute a side Caesar salad, soup, chili or onion rings, the up charge is $1.50.

 

David II, our oldest grandson, ordered a decent looking cheeseburger with crinkle cut French fries.  The fact that the bun was ‘toasted’ on the griddle is always a plus as it adds a bit more texture and flavor.

Other sandwiches of note include: a Triple Cheeseburger…featuring cheddar, Swiss and Pepperjack cheese…a true cheese lover’s creation, and; a Pork Tenderloin Sandwich.  The latter is one of my favorite types of sandwich…maybe I’ll try it the next time.

We also ordered a medium pizza… This is the Meat Lovers Pizza.  This creation is topped with lots of hamburger, sausage, pepperoni and Canadian bacon. (Individual $6.99 - Medium $15.99 - Large $18.99)  The pizza was better than average with lots of meat but Laurie and I do prefer a thinner crust.  The only ‘unusual’ pizza on the menu was the “Taco Pizza”.

Oscar’s food is a notch above that offered by the average sports bar.  Our family had eaten there several times before our visit.  Everyone was content having had their fill of comfort bar food!

Oscar’s Pizza and Sports Grille is located at 17330 Lakeside Plaza in Omaha Nebraska.  Phone: 402-758-1910.  Website: http://www.oscarspizzaandsportsgrille.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave