Shipley Do-Nuts, Rob Reiner, Crave Cookies and Soda, & The Douillet by Demeure Hotels

Yeah, in this last post of 2025 I’m unable to discuss Avatar: Fire & Ice as that still hasn’t been viewed yet. Next week I should finally have the time to tackle such a long movie and that will be reviewed sometime early in ’26, along with a famous movie (from India) that most likely had never heard of before. I still have a few topics to discuss, including a bit more from my Kansas trip a few weeks ago. After leaving the city of Dallas, I actually stopped at a Buc-ee’s in Denton, to see how it compared to the ones in Florida. Well, it was larger than the ones in Florida. It was where I used booking.com to book a random hotel in Oklahoma City.

The Douillet by Demeure Hotels is a wacky name and to its credit, the cost wasn’t high for a former Sleep Inn in terms of room quality or being clean. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in the best of neighborhoods… if smelling a couple reeking of weed walking in as I went out to bring in my luggage, the doors locked at midnight as if it was prison! Even worse, when I received my key, I had trouble opening the door. Well, it would have been better if the donkey at the front desk would have told me BEFORE that it required almost kicking the door down for it to open instead of making me think that the key wasn’t working, then accuse me of GOING TO THE WRONG FLOOR as if I was a mental incompetent… I didn’t say anything to the donkey although it was deserved.

Instead, I’ll tell everyone NEVER to stay a night at that hotel if you’re ever in Oklahoma City. It wasn’t all bad in Oklahoma City, a city that didn’t leave the best impression-in part, it’s not the easiest city to navigate if you’ve never driven in the area on your own before. The next morning, breakfast was had at a Shipley Do-Nuts. I’d never been to the chain that started in Texas before. Their namesake was quite tasty.

Rob Reiner’s death-and how he and his wife passed away-was tragic. How ironic that right before his passing and I was still in Kansas, the day that I left to return home, there was time to see the Spinal Tap sequel. The original film is of course great; the sequel… decidedly less so. At least back home I got to view The Princess Bride for the first time in way too many years. Yes, that’s still a classic.

Just a few hours ago, I was able to make an unexpected visit to a new spot for both cookies and the now-hip dirty soda phenomenon. Crave Cookies and Soda is a chain I hadn’t partaken in before, full-stop. The cookie and the dirty Dr. Pepper (I had a tropical version) was in fact good. At least the drink aspect makes it different from Crumbl, which they were clearly “inspired” by.

I’ll be back sometime in January. Hopefully everyone had at least an alright 2025 and 2026 is better for everyone.

In-N-Out, Ward’s, Duck Commander, Pops, Golden Chick, Spylt Milk, & More Kansas Vacation Tidbits

As I wish everyone a Merry Christmas, I’ll acknowledge that this is being posted days later than expected-my bad. As is customary, each December I visit my sister in Kansas and her family. Unlike customary, this time I drove a vehicle out there and flew back on Allegiant Airlines. The circumstances as to why won’t be explained here-it’s nothing for anyone to worry about. My sister and her family are doing fine; it’s always nice visiting them, although as always chaotic because all three children are young boys.

The first day I drove to Vicksburg, Mississippi. That was unremarkable aside from more than half the day being ugly & rainy. I did have a late lunch at a Whataburger; the chain isn’t top-tier yet they haven’t had a location in Central Florida in years. Dinner was had at Ward’s, a fast food joint I only recently learned was a Mississippi staple. They did have a tasty burger & fries. The hotel was a Comfort Inn; while the TV picture was comically bad, I otherwise can’t complain about the room-clean and with a microwave/fridge.

The next day, I drove to Oklahoma City, stopping at a few locations. I ran behind the entire day so not as much time was spent in Dallas as expected. Alas… while in Monroe, Louisiana for a meal, I learned that a Duck Commander museum/gift shop was a few miles away. I never watched Duck Dynasty-“reality” TV isn’t for me. However, it did give me something to discuss as a few minutes was spent looking at their small gift shop. The traffic in Louisiana and Texas was quite bad-it’s not just Florida where people’s driving skills have eroded through the years and you experience deranged lunatics.

While in Dallas, a stop at a place I wanted to try for years was made. In-N-Out is a cult favorite with a devoted fanbase so I’ve been curious for ages. Finally, I can say… the fries are good (as long as you don’t let them get cold) and the pink lemonade was tasty… as for the burger, it was very good. If they had a location around Orlando, it’d be a place I’d frequent at least once in awhile. The hotel I stayed at in Oklahoma City wasn’t very good but that will have to be discussed next time-I don’t want this entry to be the length of a novel.

The third day I drove to Wichita, where I spent my time until flying back on Friday the 11^th. On the drive to Wichita, I was on the historic Route 66 for a few miles to visit a fancy gas station known as Pops-they are known for having hundreds of different obscure sodas. I did pick up two to have in Wichita. As for my time in Kansas, one afternoon I returned to the Scheels sporting goods store-but didn’t purchase anything-although a purchase was made at a Duluth Trading Company store. Another afternoon I had fast food chicken at Golden Chick, a regional chain new to me yet judging by their website, they originated in Texas. They had fine food. An unexpected delight was finding cans of a drink known as Spylt Milk (great name), which is caffeinated flavored milk. That was actually very good. Sadly, they don’t sell it anywhere near Florida.

The night I flew back to Florida, it was Allegiant Airlines-meaning that it was no surprise there was a massive delay. At least I didn’t have to spent hours stuck at the airport in Wichita-a late dinner was had at the airport’s River City Brewing location-they actually had good food. Unlike the disaster that was last December when I was stricken with the worst food poisoning of my life and barfed more than once while on the plane, this flight was more normal. The delay lasting so long that I didn’t arrive back at the house until after 3 AM wasn’t delightful but otherwise I can’t complain.

To reiterate, it’s always nice seeing that side of my family at this time of year. I’ll return at the end of 2025 to discuss a few things-by that time I’ll have finally seen Avatar: Fire and Ash. There hasn’t been the right time yet to see that over 3-hour long picture and I hope the crowds aren’t as large for the movie after Christmas.

Richloam General Store, PopStroke, Taffer’s Tavern, Nine Inch Nails, & Naples

My apologies for not posting this a few days ago like what was planned. Other things have happened that I’ve been preoccupied with… don’t worry, nothing bad.

One fun happening was returning to the Magic Kingdom a few weeks ago. The highlight was riding TRON Lightcycle/Run again; for the time, there were some minor changes meant to plug TRON: Ares. The ride now has a storyline where “code” from the enemy in Ares has infected that world, meaning there’s more red than blue during the ride… and instead of Daft Punk’s music from TRON: Legacy, the Nine Inch Nails soundtrack from Ares is heard. To state the obvious, back around this time in 2000, I never would have thought that NIN music would be heard during a Disney ride… I wouldn’t have believed there was a TRON ride, either.

One weekend afternoon, I went to a unique place in the middle of nowhere. It’s an old general store founded in 1922-the appearance hasn’t changed much since then-and is located by a former railway. Richloam General Store has very nice employees and various retro gifts for sale. Not that many pictures were taken while there-a rude family was milling about the entrance. I state that as they had a dog with them, despite obvious signs that dogs weren’t allowed in front of the store. I’ll be happy to return one day, hopefully not as busy. It was charming and quaint.

Another night, a trip was made to Pointe Orlando, a place rarely visited by me. Given the new expensive rates to park there, there isn’t great motivation to visit more often. That’s a shame, as that location has never drawn huge crowds and some interesting new places have opened. That includes Taffer’s Tavern-that’s Jon Tapper of Bar Rescue fame. That’s a show never seen by me although more than one person I know is a fan. My visit was due to general curiosity more than anything else. The building is best described as “cozy” but I can’t carp about the service nor the food. In addition, Pointe Orlando has a new hallway best described as “a liminal space.”

It certainly beats PopStroke, a.k.a. the "hip" miniature golf place that has the involvement of Tiger Woods. The bar area looks great and the food was alright... however, having to do EVERYTHING on your phone was enough to turn me off even before the lousy service and the excessively loud music/noise. I will never return. 

As done the past several years, some days last week (including Thanksgiving) were spent in the Fort Myers area. As always, the time spent down there was fun. This time I was able to spent some time in Naples for the first time. Some areas are ritzy, especially the HUGE mansions that can be found right by the beach. No new restaurants were visited, although that is OK as that’ll change this month and the day after Thanksgiving, the now-yearly tradition happened: a sub sandwich was picked up from Lennys Grill & Subs to eat a few hours later for dinner.

I’ll return sometime later in December.