The Heartland

Yep that's right. How one individual gets to visit Springfield, MO twice in less than 6 months I'll never know. People are a little different here. I tend to look for good restaurants wherever I go. I also tend to get the most asinine recommendations. I've stopped listening. But its still fun to ask. Exhibit A

Her "Did you guys go to lunch yet?"
Me "Nope, just getting ready to leave."
Her "We have a lot of good restaurants here, Springfield is kind of known for its food."
Me (hope on my breath) "Oh really"
Her "We should go to Cheddars"
Me (disappointment dripping....) "oh, sounds great"

Does anyone remember Chotchkies (No thank you, just coffee; shrimp poppers; case of the Mondays....ringing any bells?) I swear to christ that you couldn't create a better stunt double for Chotchkies than Cheddar's....and we had to wait for a table. Unbelievable. Our alledged Zagat writer also removed oxygen from the air, converting it to carbon dioxide for the sake of describing why the Olive Garden in Branson, Missouri is "way better" than the one in Springfield.

Use your imagination: And this will be funnier if you actually read Zagat reviews like I do. Raise your hand if you don't know what Zagat is....go ahead...I'm watching.

This "ubiquitous" "italian" "restaurant" serves up speedy lunch "entrees" accompanied by "never ending breadsticks" and a "delightful" blend of bag lettuce "prepared" by your "server" "tableside." Don't miss their intelligently chosen "wine pairings."

What Springfield did offer was a great Y.M.C.A. that offers 2 free passes, and then allows you to purchase two day passes before they actually make you sign up. Perfect for someone who wants to workout Monday thru Thursday and fly out Friday. I hope that was their intent in offering these options. I actually participated in my first spin class. In my defense: I was already in the middle of a ride and the class started around me, and the cute girl next to me actually came with her own pedals and a pedal wrench. I guess I can stay. Pretty good stuff. After doing my CTS climbing workout, I'd stay to do their crazy anaerobic jumping up and down out of the saddle sporting a 5lb weight in one hand while hovering over the saddle workout. Put in over two hours of intervals two of the days, and took it easy on the other. Got my Optygen supply replenished this week too...thanks Davis. I'm actually convinced the stuff does what it says it does, and I have been sleeping through the night, which is nice benefit.

And finally. Please vote for your favorite Missouri gas station name that you will never see outside of Missouri: