Happy Baby at Siam Thai in Pensacola
Generally speaking, AdventureMan and I do not like buffets, especially in hot countries / towns, because food can spoil quickly. Also because children sometimes get into buffets, LOL, in Kuwait and in Qatar we would see children eating food right out of the buffet dishes, at places like the JW Marriott or the Ritz Carleton! That is enough to put anyone off eating at a buffet.
We have found one buffet in Pensacola, however, where we can feel good about going, the Siam Thai. There are two now, one more a bistro, located by WalMart, and the one we go to, we call it the Siam Thai Carwash because there is a car wash attached, and, this is hilarious, you can watch the cars go by as you are eating your lunch. I am not kidding, there are windows from the restaurant into the automatic car wash part.
The food is always fresh. The restaurant is always clean, immaculately clean. We even invited our son and his wife and the Happy Baby to join us for lunch, and oh what fun.
Our own son started with Chinese and Mexican food at six months, as we drove across the country in our Volksvagon Van, en route to the Naval Postgraduate School with our cat, Big Nick. We taught him early about rice, about spring rolls, and beans. So we thought we would give the Happy Baby a little start on Thai food. Oh, what fun.
Everything’s allowed, a spoon (he has yet to figure out which way is up), chopsticks (we feed him like a baby bird) or fingers.
The team at Siam Thai was so good to us; we asked for a very private table far from the buffet – when you have a baby, you know there is going to be a mess. The Happy Baby really knows how to behave in a restaurant; he is a baby who wants to be good, and with four adults to do his bidding – who wouldn’t be happy? 😉
The only thing he doesn’t like is having his face wiped, which, after any meal where a baby gets to work at feeding himself is a total necessity, LOL:
We love this place – the salad rolls, the soups, the fresh fresh curries and the condiments – it is a Pensacola Red R (Michelin gives a red R for good local cuisine at reasonable prices)
Oh! My Aching Back!
“My back hurts,” AdventureMan complained, “and I am really, really tired.” He slept in yesterday, and I went to the early service alone.
We’ve been helping our son this weekend with the Happy Baby while his wife is out of town. 🙂
It is so easy to forget – a baby is hard work! Especially a mobil baby, able to explore and who moves quickly!
Fortunately for us, he is also a very very good baby, a sweet tempered baby who is easily distracted from his more dangerous attractions, and who is not yet fast enough to catch the cats, who evade him easily.
We took him out for barbecue yesterday, and fed him baked beans, sweet potato and broccoli. He gets this concerned look on his face, but he doesn’t complain, as he explores the new textures and tastes. I also bathed him when we got home, because he managed to get his hands and feet sticky between spoons of food.
It was a lot of fun, and we understand thoroughly why God gives babies to young parents, LOL!
Guide to Giving to Beggers
I don’t see so many beggers in Pensacola, but I do see a lot of men sleeping rough; the warm temperate climate here attracts a lot of homeless. The churches provide hot breakfasts, sometimes, and there is a homeless shelter and long term transition facility downtown. Giving to beggers was a much bigger issue in Qatar and Kuwait, where the begging woman with the baby in the souks or the guy with the plastic bag full of urine and blood would accost me, and I always had half a feeling I was being scammed.
Today’s reading in Forward Day by Day puts it all in perspective:
THURSDAY, September 23
Luke 4:14-30. The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor.
Snow fell on me as I waited for a cab. A rumpled homeless man in a stocking cap and fingerless gloves asked me for money.
I like to know that anyone I give money to is worthy (which usually means working or actively looking for work) and I don’t want him spending the money on alcohol or drugs. So I donate through a church or community organization. Pastors usually encourage that kind of giving.
I gave the man twenty dollars because I’d just been to the ATM and had nothing smaller. He stared at me for a moment and stammered, “Ma’am? You meant to give me a dollar, didn’t you?” When I said no, he put his head back and began to yell, “Thaaaank you, Jesus!” over and over. He went to a nearby coffee shop and came out with a huge cookie and a cup of coffee, still singing out, “Thaaaank you, Jesus!”
What if a beggar misuses my money? That isn’t my business. Giving to a beggar is between me and God; what he does with the money is between the beggar and God. (2004)
Thank you, Jesus. 🙂
Organization and Settling In
We’ve only been back a week, but we’ve spent this time unpacking, cleaning things up, sorting out things we don’t need, finding places for things and putting things up. AdventureMan is having a lot of fun, he bought this beautiful tent hanging which just exactly fits around three of the walls in his office and the entry:
He spent a day putting tiny nails into the wall while I sewed a cord for hanging onto the back of the band. He has it up now, and he loves it. He also put up some pictures on the wall and instituted a recycle basket and a shred basket. He is so organized:
He put together another set of cubicles for me so I can keep order in my closet:
We are people who need order in our lives; we live chaotic lives in an ordered environment. 🙂
Peg Leg Pete’s on Pensacola Beach
I am so lucky. My son and daughter-in-law live here and they can clue us in on where to go. When we were headed to the beach, my daughter-in-law suggested Peg Leg Pete’s.
When we got there, there was a 45 minute wait, so we went to the new Margaritaville Hotel instead. This week, AdventureMan and I finally got to Peg Leg Pete’s, and oh, what fun.
First, there was no wait.
Second, we had a choice whether we wanted to eat outside:
Or inside:
It’s bearable outside, but it’s still in the 90’s (low 30’s C) and humid, so we chose to eat inside.
We started with the Yellowfin Tuna Dip – oh YUMMMMM:
AdventureMan had the Giant Scallops Platter, and there was so much food, he brought 4 scallops home and had them over pasta the next night:
I ordered the steamed shrimp, and I ate all the shrimp, and the tiny corn on the cob, but I left all the potatoes:
Peg Leg Pete’s is a lot of fun. It is very beach-y, lots of tourists, lots of scantily clad sun bathers just grabbing a bite to eat.
Here is what we have discovered, and what we are having a lot of fun with – when you Google ‘Peg Leg Pete’s Pensacola Beach’ Google will bring up a place item, where it shows on a little map where it is AND it will show all kinds of reviews gathered from all kinds of places, like UrbanSpoon, TripAdvisor, etc. All the comments, in one place. It is a great resource.
Squirrel Proof Bird Feeder
Before we left on our 5,000+ mile trip to Seattle and back, we bought a bird feeder. I found it at Home Depot, and didn’t pay much, but it said it was squirrel-proof. It wasn’t. It deterred the squirrels for maybe two days as they figured out how to climb the thin pole and lean over to nibble at the bird-goodies.
When we got back, the feeder was ripped apart; the squirrels had torn out all the bird perches, so we got a new one, a more expensive one, ‘totally squirrel proof.’
Yeh. Right.
The good news is that we also bought a hummingbird feeder. A hummingbird had been by, and we could tell he was looking for a feeder, and figured there had probably been one before, when the previous owners were in the house. As I was waiting to catch a shot of the squirrel, he came back and found the feeder, where he is a regular visitor. He also visits our garden, full of hummingbird-friendly flowers. 🙂
Mediterranean Plus ReVisit
One of the very first places we head once we are back in Pensacola is Mediterranean Plus, because the food there is always good.
This time, we order the Vegetarian Mezze (appetizer assortment) and I had the Seafood Soup.
The mezze is as good as anything we have ever had in the Gulf, or in Jordan. The Seafood Soup is spectacular, oh, sooooo goood.
If you are in Pensacola, you go to where 9th meets Creighton. On the north side of Creighton is the Walmart, across Creighton is a large strip mall. In the section closest to Creighton, in the same section with Four Winds Market and the liquor store, and Rob’s Cameras – is where you will find Mediterranean Plus. Parking is plentiful. The food is fabulous.
Lafayette to Baton Rouge, Google Maps
I wish I could show you photos of this stretch of road. I saw so much beauty on our trip – which exceeded 5,000 miles. This stretch was my favorite. We were on I-10, but I am also thinking there are some really cool back roads here that can be explored.
One of my favorite authors, James Lee Burke, writes some very brutal mysteries set in this part of the country. As I drove through, I could imagine his mists rising off the Atchafalaya Bayou and I know what it is like when the thunder clouds gather before all hell breaks loose. Here and there you also find some settings which are perfect for the louche True Blood.
Welcome to Louisiana
We have had some beautiful drives on this road trip, but I would have to say that my absolute favorite drive of the trip was from Lafayette to Baton Rouge. About 18 miles of the drive was along a 1930’s era freeway over miles of bayou and swamp land, it was beautiful, just lovely. I was driving, so I couldn’t take any photos, and the lanes were a little narrow so I was truly focused on the driving, but couldn’t help but notice the beauty we were driving past.
Our stay in Baton Rouge was a little noisy, there were LSU alumni gathered in our hotel to watch a football game, which is great except their children were running up and down the halls and screeching, oh aarrgh.
Our drive home was uneventful – about an hour across the rest of Louisiana:
Another hour crossing Mississippi, then another hour crossing Alabama, about a half and hour and we are home in Pensacola! It is barely noon, we unload the car and go to pick up the Qatari Cat, who moans loudly to tell us how annoyed he is with us for abandoning him. Once home, he is quickly settled and happy again.
It’s been a long, fun, trip and we are glad to be home. AdventureMan is airing out our old carpets, cleaning some which our cats threw up on (previous cats, not the Qatari Cat. Big Nick. Morganna. Cinnamon. Merlin. We’ve had a lot of sweet cats.) There is work to do, bills to catch up with, doctors to see (oh aarrgh) and meetings to attend. We have to catch up from our trip AND we have to catch up with our ‘normal’ lives. The best part is catching up with our son and his family and Baby Q. 🙂
Baker’s Ribs and Fried Pies
Texas is a lot of fun! As we are driving through Ft. Worth and Texas, very early on a Saturday morning, the highway closes and all the traffic is diverted off, and then back on. Time for some major work, I guess, and early Saturday morning is probably one of the best times to do it.
Around mid-morning, we start seeing signs for Fried Pies. I have no idea what a fried pie is, so AdventureMan explains it to me, it is a round pie crust with a filling, usually fruit, folded in half, crimping the edges, and then deep fried.
Sounds like a lot of calories, LOL!
Then we start seeing more signs, and we decide it is a good time for a stop at Baker’s Ribs and Fried Pies.
We have to walk through the barbecue section to get to the pie section. Our downfall.
There are a million kinds of fried pies, so we buy an apricot, a peach, and a cherry, and we take a few bites, but we don’t want to eat the whole thing because it will spoil our lunch. Lunch . . . we can’t resist the barbecue. We buy a couple of smoked turkey sandwiches for later, the smell is just irresistible.
These girls were just so nice, and helpful. 🙂
This gal is making the pie crusts:
And this lady has just pulled out a batch of the fried pies (to the right)
Fried pies are delicious, and I learned you have to eat them fast or the liquid in the fruit makes the crust start to crumble. The smoked turkey was even better, maybe the best smoked turkey I have ever had. The sandwiches were a wonder.
Update: AdventureMan says choosing to eat fried pies is part of How Do You Want to Die? and that he is willing to sacrifice the few minutes those bites of fried pie might have cost him. (We don’t eat fried pies; this was an exception. Don’t do this at home!)
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