May 23, 2015 - Pete's Cafe

Vickey: Today starts Memorial Day weekend.  The true meaning of this weekend often gets lost amidst the excitement over a three day weekend.  This year I am reminded of the great sacrifices that the men and women of the Armed Services make to defend our way of life.  In the words of Lee Greenwood, " I’m proud to be an American, where at least I know I’m free, and I won’t forget the men who died, and gave that right to me.”

Pete's Café - Yelp

I was sure we were going to have to wait to be seated at Pete's Café  this morning.  When I arrived there was no place to park.  I drove around the place once and as I made the second loop I found a spot all the way in the back.  It was raining so I wasted no time getting to the front door and inside. Lucky for me there was one table and I did not even have to wait.

Unfortunately Christine's commute was not as easy as mine.  She called right at nine to let me know the freeway had been shutdown and she was trying to get off and find another way.  The staff at Pete's were great.  They knew I was waiting for someone and even though they had people waiting for tables at times, they never once made me feel bad about sitting and waiting for Christine.  They kept my coffee warm and checked in regularly. 

Breakfast was wonderful and I can understand why they get good reviews.  I don't know for sure but it looked like they peeled and chopped up their own potatoes for the hash browns.  They added onions and boy were they good. Looking around the room there was no food left on any of the plates going back to be washed.

Christine and I were going to look at the Origami Owl necklaces my niece gave me, but did not feel like we should tie up a table when the line of people was out the door. Instead we drove next door to Target and sat at a table in the little café area inside the store.  For an hour or more we played with all the charms that go with my necklaces and visited.  Not a bad way to start Memorial Day Weekend.


Christine:  The weather was against me on what should have been a 20 minute trip to meet Vickey for breakfast. Deciding I-35 would be fastest despite the heavy rain,  I jumped on the Freeway. I was barely to the next exit when traffic came to a standstill. I was unable to get off for another 20 minutes. Torrential downpours made the side streets slow, and the flooding made only the center lane useable.

The restaurant was busy and continued to gather a crowd throughout our breakfast. We both ordered Pete’s special which was like two breakfasts in one – bacon, and eggs and hash browns and pancakes on the side. The hash browns included thin slices of onion that were so fresh it was if someone in the back had just peeled the potatoes, cut up the onions, and fried them up just for our orders. The pancakes were fluffy with a hint of maybe lemon, but something very fresh and tasty.

Service was great with no rushing us for keeping their table so long, since Vickey had a nurse her coffee while she waited for me to finally arrive.  The rain continued as we left. A tow truck was pulling a car out of the muddy overflow parking in the vacant lot next door. Vickey and I freed up our table and left to meet at a coffee shop nearby to talk a bit more and peruse Vickey’s new Origami Owl charms.

May 2, 2015 - Mama's Daughters' Diner

Mamma's Daughters' Diner - Yelp

Vickey:  I feel like I have been relocated to Seattle and someone forgot to tell me.  It is raining - Again! 

What a wonderful little place we went to for breakfast this morning.  There was a handwritten sign on the door that said, " Now serving fruit plates."  Once you stepped through the door you were taken to another world with the smells, sights and the sounds of an old fashioned diner and I am sure no one was ordering fruit plates.

We were quickly seated and had mugs, not cups, mugs of coffee.  I wish I had taken a picture of one. Our busboy was so attentive and we never ran out of coffee in the mugs. I ordered scrambled eggs, bacon and biscuits and gravy.   It was wonderful, but I could not eat all of it.

A lot of our conversation at breakfast this morning was concerning me trying to move my office to another room in the house. I want to find an old desk I can use in the new room, and don't want to spend a whole lot of money on it.  After breakfast Christine and I went to consignment and thrift stores to see what we could find.  No luck today - I did not find anything I couldn't live without.

Next stop - WinCo, the new grocery store in town and it is employee owned.  It was nice, big, clean - and very good prices.  I was pleased and would come back. 

It is still raining, why do I even try to do anything with my hair?


Christine:  This restaurant should be the mold for the old-fashioned, down home, local diner. Even though it is located in an ordinary strip mall, when you walk inside you feel you are in an old restaurant in rural Texas. 

We got a booth and were served our coffee right away. Breakfast fare was the standard, bacon and eggs and grits or biscuits and gravy. Everything was delicious and our waitress was great. Their lunch/dinner menu looked tasty too, featuring chicken fried steak, meat loaf and mashed potatoes, and the like. It was all made from scratch and everything tasted fresh. 

This Saturday it was again raining and we ran for our cars to meet up at the nearby new WinCo grocery store that was having their grand opening. We bought a few things – they only accept cash or debit cards. The store employees were all super friendly, and as we left we were each handed a pumpkin pie in honor of Mother’s Day. Though neither of us are mothers, we didn’t decline the offer; some things are just better left unsaid.