We'd met Jim and Carol while in Alabama last winter and then caravaned to Florida together to spend a few chilly months there. We became good friends and thought it would be great to see them again.
We decided to stay at the same hotel on the west side of St. Louis and promptly resumed our passions of eating out, gambling and sightseeing. It was sure good to see them and get 'caught up' and are now looking forward to creating another reason to get together soon.
The wedding was one of those usually highlighted in Sunday's society section of your local metro newspaper.
We also had a neat experience on our way to dinner one night. Well maybe not so neat as I managed to get lost not 3 miles from the hotel. Yes, I still use a GPS but I got a little distracted when I couldn't find a parking place at the restaurant we wanted to go to. So I jogged left then another left and found myself in a older neighborhood ... say maybe 1920ish. Still a neat and prim location but not the place we planned on being. We drove by this big house and noticed a small sign in front. Citizen Kane's Steak House it said so Sharon worked Google on her trusty Blackberry and got a telephone number. "Why not"? we said. "How bad can it be"? We called and said we within a few feet of the place and could be get a reservation. The gal said yes, come on in. We parked the car and walked through the front door. It reminded me a bit of my grandmother's house on Manchester street ... only Wiggles the dog wasn't waiting on the front porch.
The greeter welcomed us and I took a quick look around noticing several small rooms down a long hall, each packed with seated patrons. The greeter said follow me and she led us up a creaky old oak stairwell. Arriving at the top I could see several more rooms (probably bedrooms at one time) each packed with well dressed people. Now this was a Thursday night and where I come from not exactly a big going out to dinner night but this was different. We were seated and a waitress soon came for our drink order and brought some different warm, and very tasty breads. Now with menus in hand we quickly discovered this was not just a nice restaurant in somebodies old house but this was a fairly expensive restaurant in somebodies old house. We were already there so we might as well splurge a little more, we rationalized. When in a steak place what should you order? ... Da! So we looked around to see what some of our co-eaters were having. You guessed it! Steak! Not priced at all like chicken (big surprise) but priced like prime steak $$$, which is was. Without making you drool (I did enough for all of you) we polished off two of the finest steaks that had ever crossed our lips.
Now I was finally figuring out why all these people were eating here ... it was the food silly. After paying the princely bill we waddled down the stairs and began looking at all the plaques on the wall. Actually awards for things like "Best Steak House in St Louis" or rated by numerous magizines as "the place for steak in St Louis. So many awards for excellence you couldn't see the wallpaper. Actually located in a western suburb of St. Louis call Kirkwood and if you're in the area, call ahead and get a reservation; you won't regret it. http://www.citizenkanes.com/
Still livin' the dream.
Phil
