I am winding down this particular trip, although there’s more I want to show you. And I’ve been gathering some random thoughts here and there on the road. For instance, it has taken me a long time to establish a philosophy or practice about road food. It is insanely flexible, but it’s mine. I have come to a broad but flexible decision that when I am on the road, I would like to eat local where I can. I have significant exceptions; I am an absolute sucker for breakfast at Bob Evans in the US! I do not have the weakness for the Waffle House that a friend does, but it is my fallback when Bob’s is not available. Yes, yes – I know…Meanwhile, at dinner time, I am prepared to abandon Applebee’s, and Chili’sand the Lonestar and the like, and look for something completely local, or at least regional. That’s what I found early on, in Collinsville, Illinois, needing something, but not in an area conducive to local operators. As it turns out, Zapata’s is a Texas-based regional restaurant for which I may have massaged my needs a bit, but had a lovely meal! Meanwhile in Springfield, Missouri, a young man at my hotel front desk suggested this place for a burger. I believe they have one in downtown Springfield, but this one was about as far from my hotel as I could get and still be in Springfield! But the trip was rewarded. Great, great burger and vanilla shake! Locally owned, locally sourced food, I did well! I think I’ve already told you about Missouri Hick’sbarbeque and Wilder’s, in Joplin, Missouri. I learned I could do better than the barbeque place, and subsequently did with Oklahoma Joe’s in Tulsa. I was the last in line to order at Oklahoma Joe’s; as a result my ten friends before me got their food and I had to wait 10 or 15 minutes for new ribs to come out of the oven! Who got the better deal? You can probably figure that out by my smile. Fresh, hot, tender, juicy ribs!

As for Wilders? An uncommonly good steakhouse! You’ll find a little bit more on it in a previous blog. No, I didn’t take a picture at every restaurant; not every restaurant I ate at was as remarkable as, say, Wilder’s, or the Cattleman’s Cafe in Oklahoma City. But on the way home, on my last night out, I was eating at Freighters, at the Doubletree Hotel in Port Huron Michigan. I had no sooner sat down to eat then a Great Lakes freighter came by!  There is a beauty to the Great Lakes freighters that is unlike those big bulky slabs anchored outside the ocean ports like Vancouver, or Long Beach, etc.  This is the St. Clair River; to the left just under that bridge is Lake Huron, second largest of the Great Lakes. That’s the Bluewater Bridge; it will take me home Tuesday morning! But ya gotta admit… a boat in the ditch is a nice way to finish up!

While Freighter’s is simply the restaurant attached to the hotel, I consider it “local”, because as far as I know, there’s only one… and it’s here. I think the chain restaurants give me good food for the most part; I may actually be taking a greater chance on quality going to a mom and pop operation in town. But the pay-off works more often than not; dining “local” may not be a hard and fast rule, but like so much of the rest of this, it has a pretty good chance of being a pretty nice voyage of discovery!