Posted by Stan

Yes, Sierra was happy to be entering Montana — even if the sun made it hard for her to smile.

Montana became the 46th state we’ve visited on our journey, and was quickly followed by No. 47, Wyoming.

But the real reason to post this photo is that Sierra has now been in all 50 states at least once. She’d kick everybody’s butt on that Facebook list going around . . . were she on Facebook.

Posted by Daria

We were in Texas nearly three weeks, visiting family, driving around the Hill Country, lazing on the beach at Mustang Island, hiking at Big Bend. But the main thing we did, other than drive (in Texas, everything is far away), was eat, and the main thing we ate was barbecue.

Stan has an assignment to write a magazine article about Texas barbecue, and we take such assignments very seriously. We lurched, stomachs laden with lard, from one smoky, creosote-covered pit to another, forks and fingers (for some places eschew utensils) ready.

After a few stops, we decided to forgo side dishes and stick to what matters, which is the meat. I will point out, however, that the universal side dishes in Texas barbecue joints are potato salad, cole slaw, and pinto beans. There might be slight variations—some may be a little sweet, and a few places offered corn or black-eyed peas. One notable barbecue bastion, Black’s in Lockhart, even had lettuce salad (as if!), as well as macaroni and cheese, green beans, and a few other delectables. You could also opt for white bread and/or pickles, onions, or jalapeños as condiments.

But back to the meat. In Texas the specialties are beef brisket and pork sausage. With the brisket, what matters is the crust—how it’s seasoned, how much crunch it has—and the amount of fat. If it’s not cooked right, it gets dry. The best is cooked slowly over wood-fired pits, but not so long that it loses all the fat.

A lot of the sausage is “house made,” stuffed coarsely so it crumbles when you cut into it. It’s spiced with black pepper, secret spices, and sometimes jalapeños and cheddar cheese.

You can also get chopped beef and pork, ribs, even duck and goat and mutton. We were barely able to scratch the surface. Some places serve tangy tomato-vinegar BBQ sauce, others only hot sauce. If a place boasts that its meat comes without sauce, the meat better be darned good, and it usually is.

Our favorite joints were the ones where you ordered your meat by the pound (or half- , or quarter- ) and it came wrapped in butcher paper to soak up the grease. Sides were so much an afterthought that you got them at a separate counter.

You’ll have to read Stan’s upcoming story in Draft for the full account. Let’s just say that, while we all had our individual favorites, we really wish we had leftovers from Smitty’s and Kreuz in Lockhart, Louie Mueller’s in Taylor, and City Market in Luling. And we’ll try not to think about that place that’s only open on Saturday mornings that we missed. Good thing we have family nearby.

Posted by Daria

Thwuck!
—The sound of a roll hitting Stan’s forehead

The boy crying, “Hot rolls!” was aiming for Sierra’s outstretched hands but tossed it a little low. That’s what Stan got for trying to shoot a picture.

Some of you probably know where this event took place. For those who don’t, let me tell you about Lambert’s Cafe.

Lambert’s is actually three cafes, located in Sikeston, Missouri; Foley, Alabama; and Ozark, Missouri. We were at the Ozark one. When we arrived at 4 p.m. on a Saturday, the wait was an hour and a half. We waited, because we knew it was worth it.

Stan and I had visited the Sikeston Lambert’s off and on over the years, on our way to New Orleans or Mississippi or Memphis. But Sierra had never been and had heard about it, so she added it to her list of must-visits to replace Weeki Wachee (which we missed due to a dead battery and foul weather).

Lambert’s decor evokes Americana in all its glory. The wooden walls are lined with license plates and repro advertising signs, and flags of the Armed Forces, United States, and individual states hang from the ceiling. Oldies, country songs, and classic rock play on the stereo system.

The tables turned rapidly, but huge parties, including a medal-adorned dance team, had to be seated before we could be. People in winter coats crammed together like feedlot cattle in the waiting area. Diners-to-be absorbed the menu, wondering what okra was (“like Brussels sprouts,” stated one poorly informed gentleman), keeping up with the others in their party via cellphone (“An old woman is invading my space,” texted the girl sitting next to me, as the woman hovering over her read the menu aloud to her husband ["Hamburger steak ... oh, they have corn! ... there's ribs!"]).

An hour and 10 minutes after our arrival, we were seated in a wooden booth with a roll of paper towel napkins on the table. Lightning-quick, our friendly, twangy server was upon us to take drink and food orders. The complimentary pass-arounds started—fried okra, macaroni and tomatoes, black-eyed peas, fried potatoes with onions. And of course, the hot “throwed” rolls, which made Lambert’s internationally famous. The late Norm Lambert, son of the founders, was the first to throw a roll, and the gimmick proved so successful that it drew and continues to draw huge crowds. (For the whole Lambert’s story, visit www.throwedrolls.com).

On the first round of rolls, Stan went for a high one but knocked it onto the floor. He caught one during Round 2, then was smacked by Sierra’s. The thrower asked Stan if he was OK, and Stan said yes and added the roll to the list of things that have hit him on the head during this trip (along with Moon Pies, Mardi Gras beads, and Sierra’s bed). In subsequent rounds, Sierra asked for two more rolls, both of which were thrown high enough to bounce off the wall and knock stuff down on our table. I think the pitcher was making sure he didn’t hit Stan again.

For entrees, Stan had liver and onions, Sierra had meat loaf, and I had the four-vegetable plate, which sounds healthy until you consider that three of the four were sweets: candied yams, fried apples, and pineapple-walnut salad made with whipped topping. (The fourth was the savory turnip greens). S & S both got vegetables on the side, too. By the time we left, I could no longer look at food, and even the sight of another restaurant’s sign made me queasy. Bottomless Pit Sierra said she wouldn’t be able to eat for “at least 15 minutes.”

Lambert’s is the kind of place you should bring foreign visitors to, to show them what Americans are really like. Fat and happy, eating until we groan, drinking our 34-ounce soft drinks from refillable mugs—and waiting an hour and a half for the right to do so.

Posted by Daria

Those of you who know us personally know that food is never far from our thoughts. We eat most of our meals in the RV but like to eat out, too, especially when there’s “roadfood” available.

We have been devoted fans and buyers of Jane and Michael Stern’s Roadfood books for 20 years; in fact, we keep the older editions of the books and cross-reference them with the new ones. And we’re regular lurkers at Roodfood.com. The Sterns’ philosophy, that one should “eat local” (as one of the S.S. Destination’s bumper stickers says), i.e., partake of the food of the region, meshes with our desire to drink local beer.

So it’s really frustrating to visit a much-anticipated restaurant and leave feeling disappointed. Yes, the barbecue at such-and-such is tasty, but is it worth trying to park the RV for?

Roadfood.com is really useful because it includes not only the Sterns’ reviews but comments from more recent visitors. Sometimes the reviews help, sometimes not. For example, we just visited a place in Brunswick, Georgia, called the Ga., or Georgia, Pig. The Sterns love it, but recent reviews have been mixed. Another BBQ place in Brunswick got good reviews, but it was closed, so we decided to roll the dice and try the Ga. Pig. It was really good. Sierra’s sausage was really smoky, Stan’s chopped beef was tasty, my chopped pork was very good. I really liked the sauce. The beans were too sweet, but a dollop of hot sauce fixed that. So, if we had believed the recent comments, we would have missed out.

On the other side of the coin was a visit to Abe’s in Clarksdale, Mississippi. Stan and I had been there about 16 years ago, and it was pretty good. The Sterns still love it, but we didn’t think it was all that special.

Likewise with the Arcade Restaurant in Memphis. I was smitten by Roadfood’s gushing about the plethora of Southern-style vegetables. We got there at 1:15 p.m. and were told that the lunch specials were all sold out! Stan and I ordered breakfast, which was perfectly fine but nothing compared to the one (pictured at the top) we had the next day at the Blue & White in Tunica, also a Roadfood recommendation. Sierra had a wood-fired pizza at the Arcade, which wasn’t bad, but it was a little disturbing to see wood-fired pizza, not to mention items featuring goat cheese and brie, on the menu. We like those things, just not at a Roadfood stop.

Our most recent Roadfood stop was at Bertha’s Kitchen in Charleston, S.C. My fried fish and Sierra’s fried chicken were really good, but the sides were only OK. And Stan made a mistake he won’t soon forget, ordering pig’s feet. Let’s just say they looked better than they tasted. And they didn’t look all that great.

We check other food review websites, too. Chowhound is regularly reliable, and Trip Advisor sometimes has worthwhile posts, but both of them deal more frequently with upscale dining than we RVers can regularly afford. All in all, I’d have to say that figuring out where to eat is largely a crap shoot, no matter whose reviews you go by.

Posted by Stan

There are several reasons why I didn’t regularly update Flickr during the 15 weeks we were in Europe. But no good excuses. Now that we’re home I know it will never happen. I’m not even sure how we’re going to get the photos edited and into our own personal archives.

So I’ve picked 80 photos from the trip, fewer than one a day, that you can see here.

They were chosen with an idea they broadly represent the trip. Probably not enough food, should have included more from markets, more inside museums, more great architecture . . .

Posted by Sierra

Hello, and welcome to the European Restaurant Review! And here’s your host … Sierra Hieronymus!

Thank you, thank you, please hold the applause. Today’s review is Augustiner Brau in Salzburg, Austria. Don’t let the name fool you. This isn’t a dark, dank bar with a sign on the door saying “No minors allowed inside!” It’s a bright, friendly biergarten/buffet/market with tons of minors (like myself) running around on the busy days.

The street entrance on Augustiner Strasse seems normal, but you quickly descend the steps. (Optional entrance: parking lot the size of the Henry Ford Museum’s with steps leading up to the Biergarten.) The first thing to do is get something to drink. Pass the vendors with food and continue to the shelves with tons of mugs on them. Grab a mug, rinse it out at the mug washing station, and buy a drink. Hold onto the receipt, because you’re going to need to hand it to the person near the barrel(s) to get whatever you paid for: a bottle of soda, a mug full o’ beer, etc. Bonus Tip! If you’re thirsty but don’t want to pay, then merely fill a mug with water.

Next, find a place to sit. There are rooms inside, but it’s nice to sit outside, down the steps, and in the Biergarten.

NOW it’s time to get food. Start by walking by all the vendors. There’s all sorts of foods—cream horns, corn salad, meat, cheese, schnitzel, knödel, slices of radish. Take your pick of meal, order it, pay, and sit down. Enjoy it. Feel free to have dessert. May I recommend a cream horn?

Mom had half a ham hock, sauerkraut, and apfelstrudel. “It was very hammy” she most fondly recalled, “but it didn’t make me hock. The apfelstrudel had chunks of apple, and very crispy crunchy crust.” Dad had knödel with sauerkraut and nothing for dessert. “Sauerkraut was tasty but not as creamy as Volksfest’s,” he said. “The knödel had a bit of meat and fat that added some sweetness. I wouldn’t call it spicy, but it had enough spice to balance the sweetness. The shell was pleasantly doughy. Very good!” I had a schnitzel burger, corn salad, and a cream horn for dessert. “The burger had stuff on it, but the schnitzel part was good,” I said. The corn salad was corny and onion-y. The cream horn was deeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeelicious!”

When you have to leave, throw your garbage away and leave the rest on the table. Climb up the stairs and remember what a great time you’ve had.

Well, that’s all the time we have today. Log on next week for another European Restaurant Review!

Throughout the world, wherever you travel, chances are you’ll come across a local specialty that’s a variation of fried dough. Call them doughnuts, beignets, sopaipillas, buñuelos, won tons, churros, elephant ears, zeppoles, whatever, someone takes a hunk of dough, drops it in fat, and fries it up. And it usually tastes really good.

Rothenburg has its own version of fried dough, called the schneeballen. That’s German for snowball, and the original schneeballen is made of strips of dough formed into a ball and coated in powdered sugar, which gives them a snowy character. The local legends say that schneeballen are around 150 years old and were originally made for special occasions.

Sierra’s eye was drawn to schneeballen from the moment we first spotted them on one of Rothenburg’s quaint and charming medieval streets. Every five shops or so, we’d run across a backerei, denoted by a pretzel sign hanging over the door, with snowballs in the window. They come in a variety of flavors beyond the original, including cinnamon, nut, chocolate, and coconut. Some are filled with nougat or marzipan or another flavored filling. They come in a variety of sizes, but the standard one is about the size of a fast-pitch softball.

Finally, late one afternoon, Sierra got to try one. After much deliberation over which backerei to visit and which kind to have, she selected a schokoballen—dark chocolate filling, chocolate icing. I went with an original. We got them from one of the outlets belonging to Diller’s, which claims to have invented them and has even named its hotel the Diller Schneeballentraume (snowball dream). There are numerous Diller’s Schneeballen shops and even a small truck that sells them off-premise.

In Sierra’s words, “It was like somebody took this snowy bread and dipped it in chocolate fondue.” Well, OK. I thought the icing tasted like the icing on a chocolate eclair. The dough was like the dough for the Polish cookies chrusciki, only thicker and not as delicate. According to one sign we saw, the dough is made with a lot of egg yolks, just like chrusciki, and prune liqueur, but we couldn’t taste anything pruney.

When we got to Dinkelsbuhl the next day, what did we see but more schneeballen. However, they were referred to as “the Rothenburg specialty,” so maybe they really are that local. If we find them elsewhere, we’ll let you know.

Best Meal: beerbistro, Toronto

Best RV-Cooked Meal: Pasta With Red Peppers and Tomato Sauce (Sierra calls it Tomato-Pepper Pasta)

Worst Meal: Kelly O’Bryans, Prince George, British Columbia

Best Ice Cream: Toft’s, though Dad votes for beerbistro’s Rochefort Chocolate Ice Cream

Best Pie: Norske Nook, Osseo and elsewhere in Wisconsin

Best Cheese: Country Castle Limburger (Mom); see also Another Cheesy Blog Post

Best Perogies: Supreme Perogies from Mississauga, Ontario

Best Chocolate: Len Libby in Portland, Maine (Sierra’s); unknown-name chocolate from Montreal (Mom and Dad)

Most Decadent Dessert: Malteazer at Death by Chocolate in Edmonton, Alberta

Worst Candy: Idaho Spud candy bar

Best Fish Sandwich: Salmon Burger at the Chena Pump House, Fairbanks, Alaska

Best Single Dish: Lobster at Beal’s, Southwest Harbor, Maine (Mom), Smoked Meat at Schwartz’s, Montreal (Dad and Sierra)

Best Pizza: Pizzeria Roma in Juneau, Alaska

Best Poutine: Rocky’s Burger Bus, Calgary, Alberta

Best Beer: Bell’s Two-Hearted Ale (Dad); New Glarus Belgian Red (Mom); No Beer, I’m under 21 (Sierra)

Best Bookstore: The Amazing Bookstore in Juneau, Alaska

Best Candy Store: Len Libby in Portland, Maine

Best Grocery Store: J.A. Moisan in Quebec City, Quebec

Best Artisan Experience: Bragg Farm Sugar House, Vermont

Best Museum: University of Alaska Museum in Fairbanks, though Sierra votes Henry Ford Museum in Detroit

Best Campground With Service: Glowing Embers in Edmonton, Alberta

Best Campground Without Service: Signal Creek in Tongass National Forest, Alaska

Best Showers: Smithers, British Columbia

Worst Showers: Conestoga Campsite

Best Campground Pool: Camp Eriez, Lake City, Pennsylvania

Best National Park: Jasper National Park, Alberta

Best Waterfall: Niagara Falls (DUH!)

Best Hike: (tie) Wilcox (Banff) and Plain of the 6 Glaciers (Lake Louise), in Alberta

Best Drive: The Icefields, in Jasper-Banff, Alberta

Best Alaska Highway Stop: Watson Lake Signpost Forest

Best ‘World’s Largest’ … : Violin, in Sydney, Nova Scotia (See You Meet the Nicest People)

Best Deal on a Haircut: Dad’s $4 Haircut in Chinatown, Toronto

Best T-shirt: “Saskatchewan: Hard to Spell”

Best Thunderstorm: July 7th, Cassville, Wisconsin

Worst Stretch of Road: Delta Junction, Alaska, to Whitehorse, Yukon

Best Canadian City: Quebec City, Quebec

Best Canadian Province: Nova Scotia

Best Small Town: Sitka, Alaska (Jasper)

Best Small City: Juneau, Alaska

Best Town Name: Ecum Secum (Nova Scotia)

Prettiest Small Town: Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Town With the Scariest Seagulls: Peggy’s Cove, Nova Scotia

Best City Market: Granville Island, British Columbia

Best Public Transportation: Toronto

Best Day: Too many to count

By Sierra K. H., Curds ‘n’ Whey Reporter

“Ladies and Gentlemen, the cheeses!” That was what Official Cheese Chopper Daria Labinsky said after the Official Cheese Label Maker and Curds ‘n’ Whey Reporter Sierra K. Hieronymus introduced each cheese at the First Vermont/Wisconsin Cheese Fest. The cheese were:

* Scratch & Dent Swiss from Who Knows Where (bought in Monroe, Wisconsin, at Brennan’s)
* Boucher Blue from Green Mountain Blue Cheese in Vermont
* Summertomme from Willow Hill Farm in Vermont (made with sheep’s milk)
* McCadam Wicked Sharp Cheddar from New York, bought at Cabot Creamery in Cabot, Vermont
* Horseradish Cheddar from Cabot Creamery
* Sundried Tomato Basil Cheddar from Cabot Creamery
* Pepper Chèvre from Blue Ledge Farm in Vermont but bought in Burlington, Vermont (made with goat’s milk)
* Cherrywood Smoked Mozzarella from Maplebrook Farm in Vermont but bought in Burlington

After eating each cheese, our three judges, The Slow Travelers Times’ own Judge Stan, Judge Daria, and Judge Sierra, rated their favorite cheese(s). In the first round, Judges Stan and Daria both liked the Madison best, and the Swiss least. Judge Sierra liked the Mozzarella, Tomato Basil, and Summertomme best and the Pepper Chèvre least.

In the second round, Judge Sierra liked the Mozzarella best and the Madison least ( “It made the rest of my cheese taste bad for a while!” she explains). Judge Stan picked Boucher Blue as his favorite and Tomato Basil as his least favorite. Judge Daria remained loyal to the Madison and slung mud at the Swiss.

After each round, the judges gave each cheese its place. Here are the cheese placings:
Horseradish: First Round: 5th Second Round: 8th Final Place: 8th
Wicked Sharp: First: 4th Second: 4th Final: 4th
Tomato Basil: First: 7th Second: 7th Final: 7th
Madison: First: 1st Second: 3rd Final: 2nd
Mozzarella: First: 2nd Second: 1st Final: *Blue Ribbon* 1st!
Swiss: First: 9th Second: 9th Final: 9th
Summertomme: First: 7th (tied) Second: 6th Final: 6th
Pepper Chèvre: First: 6th Second: 5th Final: 5th
Boucher Blue: First: 3rd Second: 2nd Final: 3rd

Sometimes the judges’ faves won, sometimes they didn’t. But remember next time you have a cheese night like we did, don’t forget to say: “Ladies and Gentlemen, the cheeses!”

Hello, and welcome to … Tummy Tours! Today we will be “Tummy-fying” two factory tours: The Ben & Jerry’s Factory in Waterbury, Vermont, and the Cabot Creamery in Cabot, Vermont.

Here’s how the show works. Our extra-qualified judges visit each factory and take its tour. They take notes (written or mental ones) on the tours. These judges then debate which tour wins each award.

Allow us to look at some of their notes:

Name: Ben & Jerry’s Factory
Location: Waterbury, VT
Owned by: Ben Cohen & Jerry Greenfield
Founded by: Mr. Ben & Mr. Jerry
How it got started: Ben & Jerry met in 7th grade gym class in 1963. They became friends and remained so throughout their school years. After they graduated they decided to take a $5 ice cream making correspondence course and opened up a scoop shop. The shop did extremely well, especially when Ben & Jerry started “Free Cone Day.” Eventually, the partners decided they needed a bigger ice cream making facility. So they opened the factory in Waterbury. In 1986 Ben & Jerry went around in a green motorhome giving away ice cream.

In 1988 they were named “Small Businessmen of the Year” and were invited to the White House. Ben only owned one suit and he wore it. Jerry had to borrow a suit from a waiter at the White House. Now, 30 years later, the company has factories all over the world, although the original is in Waterbury. There are tons of flavors, and Ben & Jerry’s has come a long way from that little Scoop Shop.

Cost: 12+ $3, 12- Free.

Samples? The “Ice Cream of the Day” is served in the FlavoRoom. When the judges were there it was Strawberry Cheesecake, which was okay but not great.

How is the product made? The factory receives milk. The milk is then blended with sugar, yolks, and, if necessary, cocoa powder. Then the mixture is pasteurized, homogenized, and cooled down. It then goes to the Flavor Vat where the flavor is added. Afterwards, the mixture is more milk shaky than ice creamy, so it is frozen into ice cream. Next, the chunks are added. The ice cream is then put into containers, frozen, and shipped out.

Did the judges buy any of the product? Judge Sierra and Judge Stan split a Cookie Cookie Sundae. It had:
* A chocolate chip cookie at the base
* One scoop of “Imagine Whirled Peace”
* One scoop of “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough”
* Whipped cream
* One chocolate chip cookie, cut into quarters and placed vertically on the top
* Hot fudge
* Caramel
Judge Daria had a Hot Fudge Sundae. It had:
* One scoop of “7 Layer Cookie”
* Whipped cream
* Hot fudge
* Chocolate sprinkles

Quality of video shown: Judge Sierra: “Very informative, gave me all of the Ben & Jerry’s history that is above. Judge Daria: “Good, but needs to be updated.” Judge Stan: “It tells you about Ben & Jerry, portrays them in the way they want to be seen. The more informative part is mostly in the factory. But good in the historic sense.”

How tour is conducted: The tour is guided. The first place you go to is the Cow Over the Moon Moovie Theater. Here you watch a video about how Ben & Jerry’s got started. Then off you go to the factory-viewing window, where the guide explains the ice cream making process. Next it’s time for the FlavoRoom. This is the end of the tour.

Info about the employees: They get to eat all the ice cream they want on breaks, plus take home THREE PINTS a day. Three!

Quality of gift shop: High quality, almost all ice cream-related items.

Is there anything else to do on the site of the factory? There is a playground, craft area, and the Flavor Graveyard. The graveyard has some of the factory’s “Departed” flavors. These are flavors that weren’t very popular. Some of these dead flavors are:
* Rainforest Crunch
* Aloha Macadamia
* Peanut Butter & Jelly
* Peanut! Popcorn! (2000-2000)

Read on for: Are You Ready to Get Tummy-fied? Part II