McGuire’s for Steak
“I just have a yearning for a steak,” I said to my son’s wife, as we sat in the kitchen chatting and thinking about what to do for dinner. “I know you want to go for a run tonight, but maybe tomorrow night.”
Here is what I have loved about staying with them. Five minutes later she came back to me and said she had talked with her husband and they thought going out for steak tonight would be a very GOOD idea, and they could run tomorrow night.
And the best steaks, they both recommended, were at McGuire’s.
When we got there, the huge parking lot was already full. The street parking all around McGuire’s was full. We dropped off my son and his wife and I went to park in one of the few places they have heard cars are never towed from: Sammy’s Club for Gentlemen. It was still early, and we didn’t get towed.
Because it was their weekly fun-run night, we had to wait for a table. As we waited, runners finishing the run were running past us. Run six runs and you are eligible for the McGuire’s coveted green fun run shirt, with a shamrock on it. Woo hoooooo! I have heard there is a Hash House Harrier group in Kuwait that does something similar, but they change locations every run, whereas the McGuire sponsored runs all end up at – Maguire’s! They have free eats for the runners, who have to rehydrate in the McGuire’s bar.
There is another tradition at McGuires; customer write their name in felt pen on a dollar bill and staple it to the ceiling. The bar has an estimated $500,000 in dollar bills stapled to it’s ceilings, walls, pass throughs, etc. It is an amazing sight.
The steaks were magnificent. I had the peppercorn steak, and it was so big I took half of it home for the next day. It came with sides – your choice – garlic mashed potatoes, grilled vegetables, asparagas (my choice) and several others. The steaks were perfect, and the entire meal was worth every penny. They also have a good variety of seafood selections, and Irish selections, and a great selection of beer and wines.
Pensacola Houses
I know you all liked the Kuwaiti mansions I showed being built in the Hilton Hotel area. So for you, I will also turn the tables and show you some houses in Pensacola. There are some real beauties!
I love the stained glass window at the top of this house:
I liked this house’s green seclusion, and near-the-water location:
I have more, but I need to upload them. . .
Stormy Day in Pensacola
You know me. I see beauty just about everywhere I go. Pensacola has a lot of sunshine, but this time of year, also has powerful thunder and lightening storms. No one seems to really mind – Pensacola needs the rainfall, and the storms are powerful, awesomely beautiful. And Pensacola presents herself well in stormy weather.
I love the French Quarter style balconies, the Spanish style architecture – Pensacola has been colonized by the French, Spanish, Brits, and I think even a couple others! The influences on the architecture, both public and private, provide a rich variety of style.
And the natural wetlands, the bay, the bridges – it is at it’s most magical in stormy weather, in my opinion.
Hurricane Risks
I wanted you to see a very scary photo, taken at The Oyster Barn. No, not the sign for the “Buoy’s” room (the other one is, of course, the “Gulls” room) but the marks on the wall from the floods resulting from the various hurricanes.
At the top is Hurricane Ivan, the most recent biggest, baddest hurricane to hit Pensacola. It caused billions of dollars in damage. People are still trying to fix damages to house and property caused by that hurricane, three years ago.
It’s a gamble, living near a sea coast. Hurricanes are an increasing worry in the gulf, and hurricane season lasts from the end of June to the end of November. Insurers, hit hard by both Ivan and Katrina, and by new legislation, are pulling out of Florida, fleeing like rats.
Tuscan Oven – Pensacola
We have food prejudices in my family, and one of our prejudices is against thick crusted pizzas. We like thin crust pizzas, and we like them baked in a wood burning oven. So when my son and his wife recommended we go to the Tuscan Oven, I knew we were in for a treat.
The pizzas were fine. We all ordered them with a minimum of cheese, and that’s the way they came. I had the Pizza Putanesca, all vegetables, with capers and artichokes and oh, it was totally delicious. My son and his wife had a much larger specialty pizza, and they, too, ate every bite. The Tuscan oven is a WOW in my book.
And here was the starter – Yes, I know it looks like chopsticks, but those are tiny little breadsticks:
This place is worth a trip to Pensacola all on it’s own!
Tudo’s in Pensacola Revisit
I discovered the Tudo’s (Tudo means “freedom” in Vietnamese, I learned by accident in Wikipedia) in Pensacola has a lunch special. What you see above is just the appetizer, then you have your choice of four entrees to go with it.
Actually, the soup and spring roll is fine for me, an entire lunch. They happily give me a box to take-away the main course which I can warm up on days I have builders in the house and can’t get away. Yummmmmm. And what a great deal. The lunch special is either $5.50 or $4.99, either way, you are getting two meals for that low price – less than 2KD! And so so so delicious. I dream of these salad rolls when I am in Kuwait, far away from any Vietnamese restaurants.
The Lancome Lady
I can get better prices on Lancome products (yep, I am addicted) in Pensacola than I can in Kuwait, Seattle, or even the duty-free, so I stock up while I am here.
On my second trip to the store, not knowing if my stock will last until my next trip to what Mini-R calls PepsiCola, I again bought enough that the saleslady said I could have TWO free sets of the bags and make up samples and I just laughed – like really, how many do I need? How many can I use?
They are always shocked that I would turn down the “free” gift. But packing space and suitcase weight matters more to me than anything free, and also, I hate to waste.
I just laughed.
“What I really need,” I started off, “what would really help me is if you have any small samples I can take with me on the long plane rides, so I can put good cream on my face, not the airplane stuff.”
“Oh! We can do that!” she said, and started opening drawers, pulling things out.
“How about some of this – you bought some of this but here it is in sample form – and this – and you will want to try some of this!” she said triumphantly and handed me about a hundred sample packets.
But she was on a roll.
“And you will need a travel mascara! And how about some suncreen! And you can have some perfume samples, and share them with all your friends!” and a hundred more samples came out of the magical Lancome drawers.
Holy smokes! I can take care of my face, my eyes, and smell good too! Not that I wear perfume in the close confines of an airplane where it could offend the other passengers, but I have a lifetime worth of samples I can use at other times . . .
When I am in Seattle and ask the Lancome ladies for samples, they act very haughty (and I am thinking “excuse me? Who is the customer and who is behind the counter here?”) and usually tell me they don’t give out samples. No wonder I do my Lancome shopping in Pensacola! It’s not just the price, it’s the caring and generous customer service!
Obesity Contagious
Obesity ‘contagious’, experts say
This report is from BBC Health News.
The study looked at data collected over 32 years
Having a friend, sibling or spouse who is overweight raises a person’s risk of being obese too, US researchers say.
They said data on more than 12,000 people suggested the risk was increased by 57% if a friend was obese, by 40% if a sibling was and 37% if a spouse was.
They argued this showed social factors, such as the body sizes of other people, were important in developing obesity. . . .
“Rather, there is a direct, causal relationship. What appears to be happening is that a person becoming obese most likely causes a change of norms about what counts as an appropriate body size.
“People come to think that it is OK to be bigger since those around them are bigger, and this sensibility spreads.”
The study was actually about heart disease, and this result was a by-product of the study.
“Alien Babies!”
“Whaja think of the storm?” the young man asked me, as he dusted the magazines with a feather duster.
“Oh, wow!” I said. “I thought it would go on forever! How long did it last?”
“I don’t know,” he responded, “but it WAS a long time, and it was right overhead! Hey, this can’t be right. . . it says George Bush is involved in some kind of divorce!” He was dusting one of the tabloids.
“Naaahhh.” I said, waiting for my turn in line. “Sometimes they even write about alien babies being born. You know that can’t be right.”
He stood, transfixed.
“Alien babies?” he half whispered in astonishment. “No! Not really!”
“Yes! really!” I said, “and you know that can’t be true.”
“No!” he said. “No alien babies!” and then under his breath “alien babies!” half in wonder. He followed me around the store, from time to time saying in wonder “alien babies!”
Albertson’s supermarket hires mildly retarded adults to work as baggers and cleaners. These young people are trained to greet the customers, to accompany them to the cars if they have a basket, to unload groceries and generally to make the customer feel welcome.
I always feel welcome. These young people love their jobs, love being a part of the community, and they take great pride in doing their jobs well. God bless Albertsons for this enlightened hiring and training policy.
World’s Largest Camel Race
BBC has published photos from the World’s Largest Camel Race, 468 camels in Layonne, Western Sahara.
Wikipedia says:
Western Sahara (Arabic: الصحراء الغربية; transliterated: al-Ṣaḥrā’ al-Gharbīyah; Spanish: Sahara Occidental) is a territory of northwestern Africa, bordered by Morocco to the north, Algeria in the northeast, Mauritania to the east and south, and the Atlantic Ocean on the west. It is one of the most sparsely populated territories in the world, mainly consisting of desert flatlands. The largest city is El Aaiún (Laâyoune), which is home to over half of the population of the territory.
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