Business Trip

I'm away from home tonight hanging at the Holiday Inn Express in a terribly lonely hotel room in Longview, Texas. Three co-workers and myself are here to do some research and work on one of the Murphy USA locations.

American Idol is on, and I believe this sets the record for the worst season so far. It's excruciating to watch. Poor Ellen seems so out of her element and uncomfortable. I think she'd rather be chewing on nails somewhere than having to judge these kids.

We made it to a snowy Longview this evening around 5:30, and we were starving. Just like on most business trips I've been on, no one in the vehicle knew where any good places to eat were, so we just headed out from our hotel hoping for the best. We came upon an oddly shaped brick building on the left called Johnny Cace's Steak and Seafood. I never have much confidence in these types of local establishments, but I wasn't driving; plus my stomach was starting to eat thru my backbone. We walked inside to find the 70's threw up in there. The walls were pink. The booths and chairs were radiant red. There were muted murals on the wall. I have no words to describe the ladies room. Despite the aged decor, it turned out to be a lovely dining experience. I ordered fish and shrimp. But, the star of the show was the dessert: Bourbon Chocolate Pecan Pie. The restaurant makes all of their pies in house, and boy....that piece of pie was tasty. The most intriguing part of the whole meal was the relish tray that was brought out before our meal....a four-sectioned silver plated tray which held individual plastic cups of sweet pickles, pickled okra, a corn relish, and a cheese spread which tasted like Cheez Whiz. In the center of the tray was a blue label declaring the name "JANET" which had been printed from one of those label maker machines like Elaine re-gifted on Seinfeld. It isn't everyday you see this type of thing, and I regret not taking a picture of it now. It made me smile.