Gastro Gnome - Eat Better Wherever

I love small towns....

Cut myself gutting a deer. Knew it needed stitches. By the time I got to town it was late. Called the Doc. This was in the days of a pager. High tech. He was bowling on a league night. Told me where a key was hidden to his office. Had beer in the fridge in the office. He was drunker than I was when he got there and sewed me up. Not much of a scar either.. mtmuley
 
Years after I left my hometown (7B Idaho) I got a phone call from my best friend telling me he was going home for a day. He lived in Florida and was flying to Idaho for A DAY?? Why? He was in the USAF and needed to renew his driver's license before moving overseas. The trouble was that since his enlistment/commissioning, his parents had moved away and he didn't have an address any longer. I told him to just use my parent's address.
Arriving at the DMV, he explained that he was military and needed to renew his license. The nice woman behind the counter went to help him, but when she asked for his current address, he realized he hadn't written mine down (pre-smartphone). So, he asked for a phone book, back when those were a thing.
Understandably, the woman was skeptical and said she needed to go get her supervisor. When the supervisor came out of the backroom, she looked up at him and said "Hi, Tommy". She was the mother of a classmate of ours from high school. She asked what he was up to... He explained that he was using my address since his folks had moved away...
She then turned to the woman who'd been helping him originally and said, "Tommy and Morley are basically brothers, it's fine..."
 
I have never in my life seen a Hardware store as complete, well stocked, well staffed and outgoing as the Cedar Hardware store.

Small village close to us (which has amazing smoked meats as well) has a few stores, icluding a market, awesome ice cream stand, great taco bar and exactly the kind of bar you'd expect to find in Northern MI.

But that hardware store man, it's legit. They just don't carry lumber. You gotta call one of the Bugais for your locally cut lumber.
When I go "up north" I spend a lot of time in TC, EJ, and BC. I'm adding Cedar Hardware to my list of places to visit in the coming months. I'm very intrigued!

I'm also curious now about which place you think has the good smoked meats.
 
One of the things I miss is the Saturday night dances at the local Grange or someones barn. Most of the time the band consisted of a guitar player, a fiddle player and a banjo player. Sometimes a harmonic and/or accordion player would join in. It was where I had my first dance, a waltz and later on I learned how to square dance. Good times, great memories
When I taught HS in eastern Montana during the eighties we had a box social every spring in the "gym." Look it up. The gym was a WWII surplus quanset hut so small that anyone sitting in the recycled cinema seats on the sidelines had to tuck their feet under the seat to keep them out of play during a basketball game. The floor was not long enough for standard play so it had three ten-second lines: one in the center and one at each end about half way to the free throw circles. Players had to bring the ball forward to the fartherest ten-second line within ten seconds, then they could play back to the center line. After each game the entire community adjorned to the bar next door for pizza. Everyone, even the worst drunks, behaved themselves though the beer flowed freely. We only had 22 kids in the HS. Teams were so small sometimes coaches would run out of players if a few fouled out. The unwritten rule was opposing coach would call over a player and make him kneel next to the bench for each player the opposing team was short of (coach had to keep a full team on the floor if he had enough playable boys or it was technical foul). I remember one game that finished the better part of the fourth quarter two-on-two!
 
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The deep south is ground zero for the "good ol boy system"

Cop: where are you going in such a hurry


Young leroy: I'm going to a fish fry at my folks place

Cop: *stares*

Young leroy: *sweats* (whilst hiding a lukewarm post peanut picking Busch light behind the small of my back, and two empties in the back pouch of the passenger seat)

Cop: ...what kind of fish?
 
I still live in the Valley my story is from. Not so small anymore. Gotta lock things up. When I go back to the town I was born in on the Highline it's different. Kinda exhale up there still. mtmuley
 
I love taking folks through the country in IN who have never been. Folks are amazed at nice, genuine people, great food, and reasonably priced beer. Redman and I put CPO on some vitels last fall that he is still talking about!!!
 

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When I first brought my now wife to my neck of the woods We went to a small town bar and each ordered a Morgan coke. The waitress (who I had actually never met) asked with a totally straight face "did you guys want those for here or to go". My lady friend, who was raised in the city, said "she's not serious is she?" I then explain how she needed to know if she should put the drink in a plastic or glass cup. Seemed so normal for me.
 
I love taking folks through the country in IN who have never been. Folks are amazed at nice, genuine people, great food, and reasonably priced beer. Redman and I put CPO on some vitels last fall that he is still talking about!!!
Is that one of those pork loin sandwiches I've heard so much about?
 
I love taking folks through the country in IN who have never been. Folks are amazed at nice, genuine people, great food, and reasonably priced beer. Redman and I put CPO on some vitels last fall that he is still talking about!!!
Now that's a tenderloin!!!
 
Last fall stopped at Glen's automotive services in Seeley Mt. Explained my situation and that I was from out of state, the nice gentleman dropped wrenching on a truck, wheeled the floor jack out in parking lot and had me back on the road in no time. Love small town service, not so much horseshoe nails though.
 
In the late 90’s I was traveling from Fort Lewis Washington to Fort Gordon Georgia and my water pump took a crap in the middle of Nebraska. A farmer saw I needed some help so he stopped and towed me to his place. We drove to town so I could buy a water pump and then fixed my car while I kept him company. He and his wife fed me dinner before they let me leave. I’ve always regretted that I didn’t keep in contact with him.
 
We have lunch at the local beer dive nearly every Wed (Plan our errand running around it). Walk in and she always asks “the usual?” Which to us is two cheeseburgers with the works + hold the Mayo, two orders of fries, a pint of Hop Venon for me, a pint of Lavender-Honey cider with a glass of ice on the side for the Mrs. Never have to say more than “the usual”, she always remembers.

One day we order and she is beside herself apologizing that the ice machine is broken (no glass of ice for the Mrs) to which we laugh and say no worries. Sit down and enjoy our drinks. About 10-15 minutes later she brings our burgers to the table and hands my wife a glass of ice? Wth?

She says “we’re kinda slow today so I walked across the street and got a bag of ice at the store for ya!”

That just doesn’t happen much these days, REAL customer service! And, btw, the total for all that each week is a whopping $19! 🍻👍🏻
 
Small town newspapers are the best. To this day, the local paper in the little town I grew up in still prints every call that comes into the Barney Fife police dept…

 
The small down I grew up in had a Dairy Queen on one end of town and a Sonic Drive In on the other end. We spent Friday and Saturday nights driving from one end of town to the other. Dairy Queen is gone now, but every time we visit home I have to get a chili dog and tater tots from Sonic.
 
Won a pistol in a gun raffle and had to go pick it up at the local gun store a couple years ago. Turns out they didn’t have the pistol and the guy there told me they would give me a credit. No big deal and I get a Ruger American but it costs a little more than the credit. Another guy is filling out the paperwork and he recognizes the name. Said his mom lives up the road from us and said she frequently talks about my family always saying hi and helping her out. He told me don’t worry about the difference and enjoy the new rifle.
 
Last fall stopped at Glen's automotive services in Seeley Mt. Explained my situation and that I was from out of state, the nice gentleman dropped wrenching on a truck, wheeled the floor jack out in parking lot and had me back on the road in no time. Love small town service, not so much horseshoe nails though.
Glenn's is a great place. I get all my vehicle repairs done there. Good people!!!!!!!
 
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