Monday, April 30, 2012

April 26, 2012. NEWS FLASH! Rosie Enjoys A Meal! Kinda. But She Was Drunk. So Does That Count?

The Hawthornes have made it to Cody, Wyoming,
a veritable tourist trap if there ever was one.
I know tourist traps.
I can smell 'em a mile away.
I live in one.

It was my turn to pick lunch.
I picked La Comida.
Rosie wants Mexican.

Salsa was serviceable,
but nothing beyond that.
The chips were just chips.
From a plastic bag.
Not even heated or seasoned.

At this point,
I've resigned myself to
"filling the hole."
And that's not a good place to be.

After perusing the menu,
I opted for the Triple Tequila Mexican Margarita.
I never, ever order drinks or wine at restaurants,
but I felt I needed a drink today.
I needed to bolster myself 
for what might be coming.
And to take the edge off.
And to turn whatever I might be getting
into something not quite as painful as what I've had.

As you can imagine,
as much as I love Mexican,
I'm apprehensive now.
Especially in a tourist trap.

My experience in tourist traps
has been that a restaurant really doesn't have to excel foodwise
to be successful.
They rely on tourists for the bulk of their income -
tourists that will probably never be back again
and tomorrow there will be a new influx of tourists.
In the off months,
they usually close.
They don't want to bother with the locals.
And generally the feeling is mutual -
the locals don't and won't bother with them.


I'm not used to mixed drinks,
but the Margarita was just what the doctor ordered.
It blurred the edges
which was what I needed.

And this was a Triple Tequila Margarita.


Here's Mr. Hawthorne's salad with grilled chicken.
Nothing to write home about.
And he can't eat the cheese on top.


I wanted something substantial.
I wanted "Mexican"-ish.

I had the chimichanga with shredded beef.
I asked for rice with no beans
(I do NOT like canned refried beans.
They disgust me.)
I got beans and rice.
The very capable waiter noticed the beans
on my plate as he served me 
and asked me if I wanted more rice.
No thanks, but thanks for asking.

The rice was mediocre.
For God's sake,
if you can't make rice,
throw in a can of Rotel, give it a sprinkling of cilantro,
 and be done with it.

The guac was tasteless.

I needed the chimichanga.
On a scale of 1-10,
I'd give it a 4 in the grand scheme of things.
But I needed this food.
I needed to think I was eating something
besides rabbit food.

The shredded beef filling was satisfactory.
Nothing spectacular.

The chimichanga was only fried on one side, I think.
And the folds of the tortilla inside,
were raw tortilla.
It wasn't properly fried.

It ain't that hard, folks.


Even the bird mocks me.









After a late lunch/early dinner we took to the streets.

Mr. Hawthorne refused to give me a leg up on the white buffalo.

Probably a good thing.
I would have fallen off.

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