Lunch Report: Hungry Farmer...

My wife and I just happened to be on the South Side around lunch time and started thinking about where we might get a bite to eat. It had been years (probably ten) since we had been into Hungry Farmer, so we figured, why not?Something I don't recall from our last visit is that they seem to have a second restaurant attached called Uncle Barney's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. I'm not sure why they would need a separate place for burgers when you are already at a steak place, but who knows?Anyway, along with the old tractor in the front and the cows on the roof, the inside of the place looks the same as it has for as long as I can remember.I really like how the minute you are seated, they hand you a little house salad. We had to laugh at the huge celery stalks, but aside from that, it is your standard house salad, minus any of the good croutons you'd get at Texas Road House.

They were having some sort of special where you can get a T-Bone with popcorn shrimp and a side, then get the second one for half price. That sounded like a deal to us, so we were in.For her side, my wife ordered the French fries. They are cut the way she likes them but unfortunately, seemed to be undercooked. Her steak was done just right - no need for any A1 or other offensive sauces, and within a few bites she was all worked up in a Happy Dance frenzy.As we were ordering, I inquired about the onion rings. Kudos to our waitress for telling me that I wouldn't like them. Instead, I ordered the baked potato and it was cooked just fine. The idea of the packet of sour cream always seems strange to me - at least for presentation purposes, but it all tastes the same.My steak seemed to have two personalities. I started to eat one side of the T-bone and there was a reasonable amount of gristle and fat, I suppose. As my wife continued her little happy dance, she watched me strategically maneuver my way through the steak looking for a good piece. The other side of the T-bone was seriously, melt in your mouth, wonderful. I guess that's how steak is sometimes.

The popcorn shrimp was okay since it seemed to be something they just throw in, so I didn't expect it to be Sea Island quality. It probably came from a frozen bag like the onion rings. But I ate it.

All in all, I can't complain. The steaks were huge, the waitress provided outstanding service and given the deal (second steak half price), the price was reasonable. If you haven't been to Hungry Farmer in a while, give it a try - tell me what you think.

Christmas Lights Report: You Don't Have to Go Far...

It isn't Windcrest but it sure is a lot closer. In case you hadn't heard, the city of Windcrest located just East of Loop 410 and IH-35 on San Antonio's north east side, is famous for their yearly display of Christmas lights. It isn't so much that the city sends some guy out to adorn each home with flashing lights and reindeer displays, but more along the lines of the homeowners really getting into the Christmas spirit. The result is long streams of cars traveling in and around the streets looking at the spectacular displays.

Not to be outdone, my wife and I have in years past driven through some pretty impressive displays on San Antonio's West Side like along 24th Street and such.  The only difference being that you can go anytime of year and Christmas lights up on some of the houses there.  Okay, bad joke. (but true).

Anywhoo, within The 78250, we have found the many folks get into the spirit as well and beyond just the usual string of icescickles (famous at my house), you have really well done displays. We enjoy driving through Braun Station and the other Braun-like neighborhoods along Guilbeau and Tezel. Of course, the Great Northwest Community where we live has a yearly contest that seems to motivate a lot of our homeowners to go all out.
So, if you feel like getting out to check out the lights but don't want to drive all the way to Windcrest, I'll make a quick recommendation of Silver Creek. There are two must see areas, though many other streets are worth driving through. First, the houses along Timber Belt really seem to get into it.Second, on the other side of Silver Creek closer to Silent Sunrise is a road called Timber Grand. Timber Grand has a series of streets that all connect together so you basically take the first street and just zig-zag your way to the end. There are some truly magnificent, Windcrest Worthy decorations and displays in this area.So load up the kids, get a mug of hot chocolate, and take a short drive just after dark. It just may motivate you to go spend a small fortune after the holidays on all the 75% off sales on lights and snowmen and blow-up Santa's and such. Or you can be like me and just appreicate other people's spirit!

Lunch Report: SA Burger

I am constantly looking for a better burger place to add to my list of potential dining selections for times that I might need to grab a bite away from my desk at work or firing up my own grill at home. Wednesday, the stars aligned and we had a rare opportunity for my wife and I to meet up with both of our kids for lunch. Since we were coming from different directions, I looked in the back of the Taste section of the Express-News and found an address for SA Burger on SW Military Drive right at I-35.

I have often found that some of the best food you can find comes from the hole in the wall type place, or the greasy little kitchen off the side of a bar; I wonder if this is what the SA Burger folks had in mind.Located in one of the those strip center places next to the Mayan Movie Theater, you get the immediate feeling that you are about to enter a bar. That isn't a bad thing I suppose, but some of the signs on the door didn't necessarily give me that, "Welcome to Applebees, You Neighborhood Bar and Grill" sort of feeling.But, the last thing I am is snobby! My goal was a good burger and fast! Once inside, the place did look like the owner wasn't sure if they were going for a bar or a restaurant. There used to be a TV commercial where it showed a corner business. At the start of the commercial, the business is a coffee shop of sorts. Then, as the morning fades, the shop is transformed into a clothing store or something - the coffee pots magically fold up and shelves with clothes fold out. Even later, the clothing store transforms into a restaurant or bar. I don't even recall what the commercial was about, but the idea was using the same space for multiple users at different times. SA Burger didn't see that commercial. Half the place looks like a restaurant and the other half looks like it may have previously been a bar, or maybe after we left, it transformed; I don't know.

Okay, the only thing you should take from all this is, this is not a good place to impress your date or a snobby client. But if you want a big burger, read on.The menu is boldly posted right at the register so you place your order then find a seat. I love this type of set-up because if you can't figure out what you want, you can step aside and let someone in line behind you order. A very important thing to understand: You can dress your burger yourself at the fixins bar, so don't get all wrapped around the axle about what comes on each burger, like I did.I ordered the El Rancho burger: A huge burger with Jack cheese, topped with grilled jalapeno halves and avocado slices. I added some mayo, BBQ sauce, pickles and onions and I'm gonna tell you, it was darn tasty. My son ordered the SA Burger with cheese. This is basically a slab of burger with cheese and it is left up to you to dress it however you'd like. Quite a good deal. And of course, there are other selections like sandwiches, and such. My daughter opted to try the fried chicken tenders. She took a few bites then announced us all that through careful evaluation of her taste buds, she was able to discern for her self the chef's secret ingredients for the chicken tenders. She then stated, "I shall now give you the list of ingredients used t prepare this chicken: Flour." I guess that would be a no-go on the chicken tenders.So wrapping up here, I can't say anything really negative about SA Burger. I was very pleased with my burger and honestly, the burgers are huge and the steak fries were just fried right. Oh, big bonus: They serve beer on draft and in bottles and they had a few TV's on with sports if you are looking for that sort of atmosphere.They should perhaps hire an interior decorator or have one of those reality home design show people come in and give the place the once over. But as a take out place, or if you are just looking for a place to grab a burger, go fort it.

Two Tasty Treats...

Shopping Report: Bussey's Flea Market

I think in the grand scheme of things, flea markets take us back to the roots of our ancestors, regardless from what continent we might originate. Certainly in Europe, Asia, The Middle East and Africa, you see people doing their shopping at markets, and not just for vegetables or fish, but for stuff too.

And there is a culture of sorts for people who make the flea market a weekend commitment, the people who have the same booth each week, selling crafts or things they make with their own hands, as well as for the people who visit every weekend, hoping to find the right thing to hang on the wall in the garage. You also have family who decides to load up the contents of their attic and see if they can make a little more than had they just opened the garage door and held a yard sale.

My wife and I don't go nearly as often as we did years ago, but we still like to make several trips a year to Bussey's Flea Market on IH-35 North in Schertz. We went Saturday, just for a quick stroll around the grounds and I took a few pictures that might motivate you to visit the next time you get a chance.

Probably the most important thing you should know, and quite frankly, the thumbs up versus thumbs down on any flea market attempt is the status of cold adult beverages and whether or not they are served. In the case of Bussey's, we do have a thumbs up, and it is therefore safe to proceed.

Now I have been to flea markets where the majority of vendors are people that want to open there own version of The Dollar Store, but don't want to have to pay the price of rent in a strip mall. It helps to take a crash course in Korean when visiting these flea markets. The one on Highway 16 South, between San Antonio and Poteet is a perfect example. You will often find vendors at these locations who also double as circus freaks for other sources of income. I say this with the utmost respect to full-time employed circus freaks, who are an important part of our nations economy.

At the Highway 16 flea market, there used to be an old guy that ran a merry go round. Probably 10 years ago or more, he made the mistake of yelling at my niece for probably a valid reason, but my brother-in-law, Junior, was none to pleased with this display of rude behavior and threatened no less than to physically assault the man for cause. Since that time, including the last time we went, over a year and a half ago, Junior would see the old man at the merry go round ride and stare him down. Because our visits had become so sporadic over the years, it is very likely that this poor man had long ago lost any recollection of the reason why my brother-in-law gives him the evil eye for a minute, then calmly moves on. Ah, the pitfalls of life as a carny.

But back to more pleasant things at Bussey's. If you are looking for the latest CD's of your favorite artist, you can get them here for a reasonable price. I'm sure these are all original copies and the artists receive due compensation.

At Bussey's you will find a full range of country folk, and friendly people like this one seemingly Native American fellow who sells incense and relics and knives and secret spiritual products and stuff. I hope I'm not speaking out of turn, but the secret product that his incense has strangely seems to smell a bit like reefer, but I could be wrong. I'm sure the ladies visiting his booth have come for the ancient Native American cure for glaucoma.

Many of the best things to look through are what I like to call other people's junk. If you dare to brave the heat of South Central Texas, you will find tables out in the open air. This is where the good deals are found. I once bought a really nice antique chair from a lady who was selling all of her husbands stuff before the divorce papers could stop her. I asked her how much she wanted for the chair. She said $50.00. I turned and started to walk away as such a substantial investment might cut into my funds needed for the aforementioned cold beverages. She then stopped me and asked how much I would give her for the chair. I didn't want to offend her because the chair was clearly worth way more than the $50.00 she was asking. Her helpful best freind advised me that it was a divorce sale and she suggested I offer up $15.00. I did and the two ladies high-fived one another, convinced the soon to be ex-husband would be boiling mad over my good deal.

You can't go wrong with used books or magazines from a flea market. I mean, aside from the worries of somebody else's germs and such, why buy new? And as soon as you finish reading those old copies of Life, you can sell them at your garage sale as "collectors editions" and nobody will know you got them at Bussey's for a dime.

Ready to get back to school, or you have a bunch of ankle biters that need some Shakespeare in their lives? For fifty cents, they'll be on the street corner reciting The Bard as if they had paid attention in Alternative School.

Okay, I'm no trophy hunter, but let's be honest - it would be cool to tell everyone that you went on a big safari to Hondo or some place exotic like Cotulla. Why not spring for a few stuffed Bambi's and make your family dining room look like dinner at the Water Buffalo Lodge?

Don't tell me you didn't have a Snoopy suitcase the first time you took a trip on the aeroplane. Oh sure, they poked fun at you all the way through Basic Training, but you know your Military Training Instructor was just jealous that he didn't have one. If he had shopped at Bussey's he'd have had his own too.

My wife and I once took visiting family to a night of dancing at the club. One of her cousins was pretty enthusiastic about the fact that for 50 cents, you could get shots of various men's cologne sprayed upon your body like one of those machines at the car wash dispensing NuCar smell on a beat-up Chevy backseat. And he spared no expense trying all the available brands.

My friends, why empty your pockets of lose change one spray at a time when you can get the entire bottle (less any that Grandpa may have used during WWII) for a buck?


Finally, I ask you, where can you get fine Mexican dinnerware and a handsome Seeing Eye Dog all in one location? Of course, Bussey's Flea Market.

Do you have a flea market that I should know about? Tell me about your favorite circus freak stories.

Shopping Report: Garden Ridge

Let me just get right to the point. My wife has gone crazy and has forced me to drive all over creation looking for fake daisies.

As such, we went to the Garden Ridge on Loop 410 in between Culebra and Ingram, then we went to the original Garden Ridge out on IH-35 near Schertz (and as you might imagine, the small town of Garden Ridge). If you aren't from San Antonio, think Michaels or Hobby Lobby, but with assloads of pottery.

We can review this daisy craziness later, but the important point of this post is that, you simply cannot go into Garden Ridge anytime after mid-August because they bust out all things Cinnamon and the smell is simply overpowering to anyone with a near-normal ability to smell. I don't suffer from allergies, but standing within 200 feet of the entry way to Garden Ridge after they have started putting the "Fall Holiday" and "Winter Celebration" collections out, my eyes begin to tear up and I begin having flashbacks of the first time I had to go through gas mask training in the military. No wonder women who do crafts always seem a bit crazy. I mean, just look at Christopher Lowell.

Okay, so aside from the smell, and thankfully, they were only getting ready for the big transition, there are often very interesting people who shop at these places. One time for example, we made the journey and as we shopped around, I encountered a no-kidding, certifiable crazy lady, complete with talking to herself, lashing out at others, and purchasing two shopping carts full of crazy things.

I could fill three pages of the antics that occurred during this event, but I have been trying to ween myself from writing the "F" word, I never use the "C" word to describe private female parts, the suggested sexual actions this woman proposed might be illegal in several states, and without those descriptions, the story just isn't that interesting. But take my word for it, we live among the shoppers of arts and crafts places and I for one am glad in Texas, we can carry concealed weapons, and it isn't illegal to take pictures of weird people.

Which gets me to my point. I have on occasion provided you with photographic examples of "What not to wear", and I'm not quite sure this one falls into that category. This is Texas, and everything in Texas is big. Including our people. Also, Cowboy boots are popular in Texas, so, giddy-up and wear them to church if you care to. Finally, with our close proximity to Mexico and the NAFTA and all that, many women including the hueras find the moo moo house dress to be a comfortable and fashionable design for a day of shopping; but in fairness, this is usually limited to Wal-Mart or perhaps the corner liquor store.

So, as we wandered through our second store in as many hours hoping to find all things Daisy, I tried to avoid looking at anything that would distract me from the main task of getting in and getting the hell out! Sadly, as we were approaching the front of the store in a near attempt to find a spot in line at the cash registers, we nearly bumped into a very arts and crafts oriented lady. In fact, our carts nearly collided because I was suddenly preoccupied with trying to mentally evaluate how I would discreetly get a picture of this without being so obvious as to warrant investigation by store security.

My wife is no stranger to my antics, so she immediately found cause to find the ladies' and left me to maneuver in and out of aisles of various housewares, table cloths, cloth napkins and the like, as I tried to appear as normal a shopper as one can be in one of these freak-farms, while not losing sight of the lady in the blue-Mexican moo moo and pointy shit kicker-like cowboy boots. The only thing that could have been better would if she was wearing a small hat. Not necessarily a cowboy hat to match the boots or a sombrero to match the dress; it could have been a fancy party hat or even a top-hat - she could not have looked any goofier to start with, but it would have really been a gem in my eyes.

So after the brief game of cat & mouse and several sets of cloth napkins that wouldn't possibly match our dining room table, I made a few valiant attempts at capturing this fine specimen on the camera, purely for instructional purposes. Just then, my wife caught up to me and said that she could not find me, what with my stealth techniques of blending in, and covert ways of seeking out three crappy pictures with my blurry, unfocused camera, so she simply looked for the oddly dressed lady in the blue moo moo, and there I was.

We did end up buying some daisies, some glasses and a bag of M&M's, and then we got out!

Driving Report: McCullough & 35

I had to take a drive to my downtown office yesterday and got a nice little diversion exiting IH-35 at McCullough.

Seems that some guy didn't stop in time, and found the entire front end of his little Ford Ranger crunched. By the looks of things, he must have hit the car in front of him going pretty fast - 5 or 6 MPH anyway.

When I was able to turn onto McCullough, I could see the other car, a smashed Volvo, in the parking lot of Starbucks. Yep - that's gonna leave a mark.

And of course, our SAPD was on the scene to direct traffic and get things cleared up.

I sure hope nobody was hurt.

See any good pile-ups today? Tell me about it.

Dinner Report: Steak 'n Shake, and a few others

Sunday morning after breakfast with my daughter, we made the trip back to San Antonio from Wichita Falls. I had planned all along to take IH-35 back to SA so we could see how the traffic flows now that a lot of the construction has been completed. Let me just say that traffic wise, the trip up 281 was a lot more efficient and far more visually stimulating.

We hit a lot of rain on and off, especially leading into Ft Worth. It did not surprise me one bit to learn of the devastating flooding up in Gainesville. Aside the from the weather, we got to enjoy quite a bit of bumper to bumper assholishness which proved both entertaining and frustrating, depending upon where I was in relation to the perpetrators. Call me immature, but I enjoy seeing a good case of road-rage between two other drivers when I can observe from a safe distance. It’s a little different when I’m the guy stuck behind an old man in a hat, driving 2 miles under the speed limit and refusing to get the hell out of the passing only lane. But don’t get me started.

We made three stops worth reporting on the way back, in West, Waco and Austin. We first learned about the Czech Stop in West, probably 10 or more years ago on a trip to north Georgia. Our kids were, well about 10 years younger, and we left SA extremely early in the AM. By the time we hit West, I was ready for some coffee and the kids were ready for some vittles. We had never experienced Kolaches before, and raved about them the entire way to Georgia.

Anyway, south bound on IH-35 we had just passed some rain and construction and when we saw the sign for West, I tapped a few clicks into the Garmin and got directions to the front door of Czech Stop. You can smell the fresh baked goods in the parking lot, if you can find a place to park. Even in the afternoon, the place is still crowded with travelers all having the same idea.

We didn’t even eat any of the $16.00 worth of heaven that we bought, still full from IHOP, but I can assure you that lunch for the next three days was pretty good!

Not a lot further down the road, we decided that we needed to make a quick stop into the Dr. Pepper museum in Waco. We’ve seen it and I’m sure it would make a good refresher tour, but my wife just wanted to slip into the gift shop to purchase a few shirts and a shot glass. The gal behind the counter was trying to be friendly, but she was an idiot. Something about a pen that my wife wanted to buy but preferring to let my wife use it to sign the credit card receipt, but not putting the pen in our bag when we were done. It got resolved and we moved on.

If you haven’t ever visited the DP Museum, don’t think that it is a waste of time just because you don’t drink Dr. Pepper. They have on display a really rich history of items about, well, DP but also about the people who made it. I wouldn’t make a trip to Waco just to see it, but if you are going up to join in the Branch Davidians, you wouldn’t be wasting your time by stopping by.

Have you noticed how crowded and crappy Austin is? Actually, now that they seem to have a handle on the road construction, we only had to come to a complete stop once. And the drive from south of Austin to San Antonio is a breeze.

We are huge fans of Steak n’ Shake so I knew from the word Go that we would be doing lunch/dinner there. I can’t wait for SA to get a Steak n’ Shake so we can have yet another place to make ourselves even more obese.

At any rate, my wife and I both ordered the steakburger and fries and a tea. Other than the lady didn’t give us any napkins or forks or anything, it wasn’t a big deal. The burgers are so good and the texture of the bread is so fresh and yummy. Geeze I’m hungry.

Anyway, on our way out, we ordered up some shakes to go. I paid at the counter and was waiting for the order when another customer came up and asked to speak to the Chef. The manager corrected him by suggesting that perhaps he’d like to speak to the “grillman”. Very nice.

So the guy at the grill looks up and I could tell that he was sort of nervous, perhaps a customer was not happy with a booger on his bun or some other minor infraction. Instead, the man told the “grillman” that he had driven all the way from Houston just to eat at Steak n’ Shake, and that his burger made the trip worth it. He then handed the guy a tip of at least several dollars.

You should have seen the look on the young Grillman’s face. He was happy about the tip but easily more pleased that someone took the time to pay him a compliment. And that’s the kind of thing that makes everybody happy to be at a restaurant. Good food and happy customers.

I would have stood up and reported that we were from San Antonio, but it seemed a bit done by then. Regardless, we hit 1604 just in time to see cars backing up in both directions for some big concert out at the Verizon Wireless Amphitheater. We were pretty pleased to be home and our dogs were pretty happy to see us.

*PETA: Of course we had someone take care of the dogs while we were gone.