Flying Scotsman and Lunch

 

On the 20th we took the RV back to Camping World in Burleson again. For the washer and map light repair we knew it would be an all day event again, so first we spent the night in the RV spot right outside their door. Not a bad night and the only drawback was no sewer hookup but for one night that's OK.

 

The next morning we grabbed Bandit the cat and took off in the car for another all day excursion. As we were just south of Fort Worth, we stopped by the BX for shopping at the Navy Joint Reserve Base to the west of town.

 

After that we needed some lunch so headed 25 miles more westerly toward Weatherford where we hadn't been in a few years. Actually Bruce went to flight school just west of the place in the summer of 1966 ... just a couple of years back eh ... hah! 

 

The courthouse is really impressive for this smaller town and has been restored to its 1885 glory representative of the French Second Empire period of architecture. We drove around the town a bit admiring the turn of the century homes and then with the help of the cell phone settled on a lunch venue.

This is called the Vintage Antebellum Ale House and it turned out to be our kind of place. The place is an eclectic mix of old west Texas and modern brew pub and we weren't disappointed.

Here's the wine shot of the day placed on the old wire spools that were the tables.

 

And a clearer shot of the bar itself below with the 42 varieties of beer on tap as well as many liquor and wine choices. As a side note it is of course a private club by county law as it is a dry county so you sign up for a lifetime membership ... for free ... Texas alcohol laws are really entertaining.

We had a super combo of a roast beef au jus sandwich and a flatbread pizza which we shared some of each. These both were freshly made right then and were great, topped off by a nice merlot that the ol dude below is contemplating.

A fun western Texas experience and if we are back out that way we would definitely be back. Anyway after the nice break we returned back to reality at Camping World and picked up the bus. The washer was sortof fixed ... the battery box needed to be looked at more and the map light was actually repaired. No money spent yet ...

Lunch Treats

 

To start the new year off right we decided to continue our exploration of new places to eat. The first choice was a new place in McKinney to the northeast of Dallas.

 

It's called Harvest House Café and was featured in "D" magazine as the best in McKinney so we had to give it a try. The pictures don't show much but our table but the rest of the place is very homey and well laid out. While the table shows off the rustic theme the chairs actually were very plush and comfortable.

Below I'm contemplating the chicken salad pita and the crab taco in front of me. The taco was on a bed of warm black beans and truly super.

We both had the chicken salad pita and with the freshly made chips it was a real treat. All of the ingredients were locally sourced (maybe not the crab) and the breads and wine first class.

This place is right on the main square of McKinney and with the perfect service, creative menu and quiet comfortable setting, it should be a hit. And it was about $40 for the lunch including wine so right in line with less quality places today.

Happy Texas New Year!

 

On New Year's Eve we agreed to babysit little (OK big) Ev while the kids went off to dinner and to see the new Star Wars movie. Here he is modeling the festive hat he had made at school earlier that week.

 

 

So I figured Luka the cat would enjoy wearing the same hat ... I guess the hiss says NO. Hey what the grandparents do while the kids are gone ...

We really had a cool evening with Ev and apparently the movie was as great as all the reviews and when the kids got home we went back the RV long before midnight ... aaahhh grandparenting, eh.

When we got back to the bus Bandit was snoozing soundly on the floor and so the opportunity arose to make him look like he had a great New Year's celebration as well ... wow, empty champagne bottle and all .. doesn't pay to leave the pets home alone!



 And then his expression in the full sunlight of January 1, 2016!

 

 

I think somewhere in all of our pasts we have had mornings like this ... what the heck happened and where did all that sunlight come from so early .... it can't be morning already ... and someone said it was a NEW YEAR ... what happened to the old one!

Birthday Girl!

 

Once the holiday activities are over it is a time to relax and unfortunately forget that Jo-Anne has a birthday on the 29th of December ... we don't really forget ...

 

Anyhow as we are in the Dallas suburb of Carrollton we had read about a well reviewed place called Amici and wanted to give it a try from almost a year ago. I called and made the res for the 29th. A bit later the owner called and apologized that the whole place was reserved for a function ... could we make it the next night ... OK.

 

Below is a picture as we were seated the next night with the Terrain limo right outside our street side window. Just beyond the brick building s the DART or rapid transit electric train line stop where you can board and go the 15 miles into Dallas if desired ... European? Some of these old town centers that were established over a century ago are trying to restart their heritage and some are really coming alive, in spite of the hustle and bustle of the six million folks that call the Dallas Metro area home.

 

Then the Amici event. We started with a bottle of a really nice Italian red blend accompanied with a mushroom and tomato appetizer stewed with a wonderful béchamel sauce. Really nicely done. Usually we have a tomato and mozzarella combo but the mushrooms were super.

Then the main course came and it got really quiet. Jo-Anne had a lasagna but of a light quality ... I mean melt in the mouth ... really different. And mine was the veal scaloppini with shrimp ... perfect ... and different. The veggies were crisp like done in a Chinese wok and the red cabbage had obviously been stewed in rendered bacon fat for a long time ... wow.

The owner and chef came over and we chatted about some of the food and preparation involved ... if they don't come out and find out what you think about their creations ... they probably don't care.

And then the final event.

 

 

The birthday girl attacking the crème brulee with a raspberry accent ... gorgeous ... she and it .. and also my bread pudding in a crème sauce. A wonderful European evening and we will be back.