Video Slots, Ticketless Parking, Wetzel's Pretzels & Ukrainian Cheddar

Yes, there is such a thing as Ukrainian cheddar; it wasn't until yesterday that I realized it was a thing. The taste is on the bland side so I'll rate it as “alright” but at least it isn't something like Limburger. Anyway, now I will fully be caught up on last week's brief trip and what little else I've done since then. It does have to be mentioned that it was great how in Belvidere some institutions downtown are still around... I am referring to both Sam's Pizza and Lung Fung's; both received plenty of orders from my parents when I was a kid. The biggest impression I had of Illinois while I was there: video slot machines were everywhere. I am talking about the airport, gas stations, buildings in rural areas... considering that the state has been broke for years-due to corruption and other reasons-no surprise to me they would have this as an attempt at a revenue stream. Another impression I had: people in Illinois ignore the directional arrows in stores as much as people do in Florida! I don't want to go into a giant spiel here but while acknowledging it can be a hassle, I am unlike a lot of individuals in that I actually do follow those arrows as it does help me stay away from people. I won't rant either about people whose masks don't cover their nose and mouths.

Sunday the 9th, I flew back to Florida in the morning. On the flight I had to sit by both two little kids and a guy who reeked of marijuana who was acting like a tool. Both gave me a cause for concern. Thankfully, I hardly heard much from the kids and the stoner was either asleep or at times giggled nonstop. The frustration did not kick in until I tried paying for long term parking and leaving the airport. Orlando Sanford Airport now has a ticketless parking system and it just did not work for me (or anyone else), whether it was at the pay booth indoors or at the exit gate itself. No kidding, that whole rigmarole delayed me from leaving for at least ten full minutes; as it may be years before I am on another plane flight, thank goodness it may be a long time before I have to deal with that again.

Back home, I realized how much worse traffic and driver behavior was down here compared to Illinois; that's always a realization after returning home from being out of state. Not much has been done in the past week... fast food was purchased from a PDQ one night, I went to get groceries twice, and my dad has canceled the credit cards and bank account that my mom had. To add some excitement, last night I returned to Disney Springs. Unlike the last two times I was there-hardly anyone was around-a decent number of people were present. I ate food at Blaze Pizza and also purchased lemonade from Wetzel's Pretzels; their pretzel bits are also pretty good... the food there isn't the cheapest so that's why I only make purchases there once in a long while. 

The next time I do one of these... who knows for certain.

Meijer, Port Edward, Beef-A-Roo, Doc Soda & Fanta Shokata

Or: My time this past weekend back in the Rockford area of Illinois.

From Thursday morning August the 6th to Sunday morning the 9th, I returned to the northern half of Illinois for the burial of my mom. It felt especially melancholy because the last time I was in the region, it was with my parents as one of my two sisters was visited for the Christmas holiday last December. It was a time right before things went to hell... my mom's health was fine and there was no Black Plague illness all around-yet I tried my best to not be crestfallen the entire time so I was able to do some things as I had access to a vehicle the entire time. Unfortunately I was only able to visit a few pals but due to all the circumstances... many people I know have families anyhow so trying to coordinate even a brief visit would be difficult.

Thursday I flew from the Sanford airport to Rockford; believe it or not, it was my first plane ride since December of 2009. Air travel is about the same as I remembered it, except for the whole mask thing. It was on low-buck Allegiant Airlines and they were so desperate for customers, the price for a round trip ticket was only 65 dollars! No wonder it was about half-full at the crack of dawn. That day was rather quiet; the only thing of note was that dinner was had with the family at a Smokey Bones restaurant, a place I had never been to before. Both the service and the food were fine. 

Friday was the service itself; due to the pandemic it was not a big event. Instead, only the immediate family, my mom's best friend and her husband were in attendance. Everyone was glad that she was buried in a nice, peaceful place right by where her dad and grandma were laid to rest. After that was lunch at Port Edward, a fancy restaurant in the city of Algonquin I have known about since I was a kid, yet somehow had never gone there before. Remember when I just said that I was trying to be nice to people that had to work jobs like this during the pandemic? This day and the next would test that theory. It took a long time for the food to come out and it was not that busy; only the outdoor patio seating right on the Fox River was open so it was not like there were dozens of parties present. Thankfully the food itself was rather tasty. On this day I had Doc Soda; it was something I noticed last December but just now was able to try. This subsidiary of Pepsi-only available in the Midwest-makes a decent soda, similar to both Dr. Pepper and Mr. Pibb.

After that things were free for me; in Rockford I visited a few places, including one in a small chain of grocery stores known as Valli Produce. It was actually an international market and the wide variety of obscure products was right in my wheelhouse. My dad drove back home a few days ago so things could be transported... I could have gone hog wild there but he had things to bring back himself so not that much was purchased. What I did buy was some oddities otherwise not easily found in the United States. For example, a Fanta drink from Bosnia (!) known as Shokata; I don't know what the name means as it sounds like a band of samurais from feudal Japan-the flavor was a mix of elderberry and lemon... pretty good. Another drink was known as Fanta Green and was from Thailand; it's a mix of fruit and I'll try it later in the month. Dinner was had at a local fast food chain which has been a favorite since I was a kid: Beef-A-Roo. It's not even their beef sandwiches I have there, but rather their burger and fries... I know, I know. Both taste great and the drink to accompany that was a milkshake.

Saturday I hung out with some people for a short amount of time and I was able to kill time before eating dinner at Japanese restaurant JMK Nippon (think a local version of a Kobe Japanese Steakhouse) by visiting a Meijer. The name I knew but before I entered there was no knowledge by me that it was a version of Walmart, except that they apparently did it first. It was a huge place with a lot to look at; thankfully there was no rush. One of the items I got there was a variety of French Soda; I don't know what that is either but it was pretty good. At Nippon, the waiter me and the family had was a real buffoon; thank heavens the actual chef did his job rather well and the meals were very good.

As this is running long, I will have to return in a few days and finish the story; once I do that I'll mention what little I've done since returning home. While the circumstances were unfortunate and some things would have been different if it was not for the Black Plague, it was nice to see family & friends and drive around that part of Illinois on my own for the first time since August of 2009.

Chopped, Guy's Grocery Games, Ole Red & Elysian Pumpkin Beer

I do have some tales to tell on this random Wednesday. As I hadn't done much this summer until my mom passed away, being stir crazy meant I should do some things. Before I get to that, though... before 2020 my mom did not watch too much of the Food Network. For whatever reasons, that changed. It was almost always on when she was in hospice so I saw plenty of Guy Fieri, whether it be “Triple D” or Guy's Grocery Games. I hate to rip on a guy who has done many charitable things and helped others but “Triple G” comes off as rather fakeand it is irritating how the show seems to do a lot to make the contestants look bad. Personally I prefer the similar Chopped as it comes across as less phony and it is interesting to see how four wholly different ingredients are used differently by all the chefs.

Two evenings I did go into the Orlando area as I hadn't really done that since way back in March. The Total Wine & More liquor store in Altamonte Springs was a wise place to visit; aside from a few days in 2020 I haven't had much alcohol all year. As I polished off the oldest beer I still had, that needed to be replenished. The main thing I bought was a 12 pack which had four different pumpkin beers from Seattle's Elysian's Brewery. They are Night Owl, The Great Pumpkin, Dark O' The Moon, and Punkuccino.. yes, that one includes some coffee. Sometime later in the month I'll taste all of those.

This past Saturday I returned to the area that has already had several names despite not being around for that many years... now it is ICON Park. That is where the giant 400 foot Ferris wheel is. Some things have closed since my last visit yet one thing new was the Ole Red restaurant. That is a restaurant owned by Blake Shelton. Modern country music I don't listen to (especially the pop-country genre in general sounds rather atrocious) but I was interested in the food. Thankfully the restaurant was nice and I enjoyed their food... it is a place I'll visit only once in a blue moon as it isn't the cheapest restaurant around. At least I had a good experience there and there were no complaints with the waitress or anyone else working at the time. Not that I should get too upset at anyone working at a place like a restaurant, the supermarket, or other stores during this pandemic as this whole mess is not easy for anyone. Anyhow, I was relieved that there were no putrid modern country songs played during my time there.

I will return next week, where things quite different from the norm will be discussed.