Road food
Cheryl Unruh
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
On someone else’s blog recently, a woman commented, “The worst part of a road trip is trying to figure out what to eat.”
Really? Because for me, that’s one of the best parts of traveling. Sure, dining out in unfamiliar territory is something of a blind taste test, but that’s the fun of it.
My first vivid memory of road food comes from a childhood trip, on one of many vacations we took to Arkansas to visit grandparents when I was a kid.
Usually on road trips in the ‘60s and ‘70s, we ate homemade sandwiches at one of those picnic tables designed to look like teepees along I-35 in Oklahoma.
It’s hard to imagine now, but 40 years ago there weren’t all that many restaurants along the highways, so we took our own food, plus we needed to travel as cheaply as possible.
In the 1960s, dining out wasn’t an everyday thing like it is now, certainly not in my family anyway. During my entire childhood, until I went to high school in Macksville (on game days I dined at Pinky’s Café or Lucy’s Sundries), I don’t imagine that I ate at a restaurant, café, or burger joint more than three or four times a year. A year!
So, on one trip to Arkansas, when my mother pulled off the highway in Tulsa for lunch, this was indeed an event. Mom found a Mexican restaurant which was definitely a new experience for me at age 7 or 8.
The restaurant was incredibly dark, the language on the menu incredibly foreign, and I imagine I just pointed to meal no. 6 or something.
I had no idea what I ordered, and in the dim light I could barely see the food on my plate, just the shape of it. I was a little freaked out, but mom tried to convince me that no, that was not a tail; no, it was not a baked rat on my plate. (I assume now that the dish was a chile relleno. Apparently I wasn’t overly traumatized because these days a chile relleno is one of my favorite foods.)
And it wasn’t a road trip as such, but my first commercial flight took me to Austin, Tex. over spring break in 1980. My brother, Leon, worked for the Austin American-Statesman at the time.
Leon is an excellent host and travel guide; he showed off the city and took me to his favorite restaurants in Austin. That trip is forever anchored in my mind by a memory of crabmeat enchiladas.
Last year when Dave and I were in Little Rock, Ark., with my mother, we visited the Central High School National Historic Site.
It was lunchtime as we were leaving, so I asked a park ranger to name the best place to eat in Little Rock. Without hesitation, she replied, “The Flying Fish.” Her coworkers agreed, so off we went. The Flying Fish had good food and a creative atmosphere.
Speaking of Arkansas, I’m still kicking myself for not ordering the possum pie several years ago in a small town café. While it was allegedly a sweet pie, not a meat pie, I still would’ve liked to have claimed to have eaten possum pie in Arkansas.
When we’re traveling, Dave and I never pack lunches. We drive until mealtime and then see what we can find. There’s a randomness about it that we love. On a recent trip to Kansas City, neither of us cared for the meal we shared in an Ethiopian restaurant, but hey, you win some, you lose some.
We’ve found many good cafes just by stumbling upon them. For example, while passing through the Neosho County community of Stark (population 103), we stepped into Murphy’s Mercantile where I enjoyed a delicious piece of chocolate meringue pie.
Sometimes the restaurant itself is our reason for travel. In August, Dave and I set out for the unincorporated town of Hillsdale in Miami County just to try the (splendid) ribs at the Hillsdale Bank BBQ.
In October, another restaurant destination trip was to El Dorado. The Two Brothers BBQ restaurant had purchased six of Dave’s landscape photographs and we wanted to see his pictures hanging on the wall — as well as try the barbecue (which was excellent. And I also recommend the cobbler.)
Eating on the road is all about adventure, and finding a good piece of chocolate pie will make up for any meal mishap (rats, possums, etc.) that you may have encountered along the way.
“Flyover People” is online at www.flyoverpeople.net. Cheryl Unruh can be reached at cheryl@flyoverpeople.net.
esu (anonymous) says...
Well girl, you have done it again. It's like you are in my head and base your articles on what I am thinking about at the time. When I was driving for United Van Lines (a college job provided by the elder Kenny Thomas) I always looked forward to lunch time in the various towns across Kansas. My wife Beth and I do the same thing in Florida you descdribe for you and Dave and have always found it exciting. We stumbled on a place out on the St. Johns river named Lone Pine. The gator tail and catfish are out of this world and the long neck beers are really cold. Why don't you and Dave come down sometime and we will show you another part of the world.
FRS
fsaffer@bellsouth.net
December 1, 2009 at 4:40 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )