Tonight I thought I would share a little of what we have been up to over the last few days. It's been brilliant.
So, who wants to see a picture of 700 different varieties of soda pop in a restaurant on route 66? I thought so. We went there at the suggestion of Chaplain Bill, who mum works with at the Shawnee hospital. (It's a brilliant hospital, by the way. Smart, friendly, welcoming; I felt better just walking in, which I suppose is the point of it all.) Anyway, back to those bottles of pop. The place is called 'Pops' and it's located in Arcadia, just outside Oklahoma City.
I was impressed with the sculpture outside Pops:
The visit to Pops was on Friday, and afterwards we drove into Oklahoma City (OKC) and had a look around the Bricktown and Stockyard neighbourhoods, which were both very interesting and historic. While in the Stockyard we nipped into a restaurant called the Cattleman's Café for a mid-afternoon piece of apple pie, and as mum and I examined the menu we came across an item called 'Lamb Fries'. I pointed this out to mum, who has always remarked, forlornly, about the lack of lamb in Oklahoma. Sounds great, I said. Mum still looked forlorn. "It's a lamb steak with fries, what could be better than that?" Still a forlorn look. "No it isn't", she said. "OK", I said, getting all cocky and frustrated at my mother's inability to understand a simple item on a menu, "What do you think it is?" Her tentative, uncertain reply was not what I expected at all: "It might be lambs' testicles" she said. "Don't be ridiculous!" I said. "No self-respecting Oklahoman would want that! That sounds offal!" (Sorry, bad pun.) At this point the waitress arrived. Needless to say mum was right, and I was on the receiving end of a lecture from our waitress about how Oklahomans wasted nothing, and how I should always listen to my mama. You think you know someone, and then it turns out that they're an expert on lambs' testicles.
After our trip to OKC we were caught in a little late Friday afternoon traffic heading out of town - in truth it was nothing more than a quiet day on the M25 back home, but unusual for Oklahoma. On the way back we stopped off at a beautiful place called Twin Lakes, not far from Shawnee, and watched the setting sun.
While staying with mum I've been reintroduced to Fox News, and as far as I can see they have now become, quite unexpectedly, the PR office for the Holy See. On Thursday they covered the entire speech given by the Pope to a joint session of Congress. Interesting, I thought. I've not heard Pope Francis deliver a speech before. John Boehner, Speaker of the House, was in tears. Then on Friday they covered the whole of the Pope's address to the UN General Assembly, while also covering the resignation of the Speaker of the House. And he cried, again. Well, to quote the late, great Yogi Berra, it was deja vu all over again. Then in the evening they covered the whole of the Pope's Mass at Madison Square Garden. I knew when I came to Oklahoma to expect religion; I just didn't expect it to be Catholicism delivered courtesy of Fox News.
Woke up this morning (Saturday) and discovered that overnight I had aged one year, and it was now my 51st birthday. As well as lovely messages from family and friends I had some fabulous presents from mum, and we decided to head out for brunch at the Cracker Barrel. Now, I know what you're thinking: more food, Jeremy? Yep, take a look:
What you have there is bacon, eggs, a side of fried apples, wholewheat toast, two blueberry pancakes, syrup, French toast with cranberries and pecans, tea and coffee. Honestly, after all that I could barely eat my elevenses. By the way, and I address this remark to my family members reading this blog, why did it take until my 51st birthday to discover the joy of fried apples as a side dish? Did none of you think to mention this incredible food sooner? I had to travel halfway round the world to discover it!!
After breakfast we drove to Norman, around 45 miles away, and visited Barnes and Noble where we browsed the shelves, mum got her C Nook fixed, and I bought a couple of books. Then we went to see the movie 'Pawn Sacrifice' about the chess champion Bobby Fischer, starring Tobey Maguire. Mum and I thought it was great. We then finished the day with dinner at the Red Lobster, a favourite of mine.
And not a lamb's testicle in sight.
Thanks for reading. Tomorrow (Sunday) we are heading to a church picnic at St Crispins, as well as a little more local sightseeing. Having a fabulous time in the beautiful state of Oklahoma, and really enjoying the welcome too.
Take care, Jeremy
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