Cole's Foods & Ice Cream Shop

On our way to deliver concrete pads to a coop near Des Moines this June, Papa and I stopped for lunch at Cole's in Slater, Iowa.  Visiting little diners, you never know what to expect, which makes for a much more exciting culinary experience than chain restaurants offer.

 A sign outside the building advertised the Hall of Fame burger, which appeared to be "free if you can eat it all."  I wasn't up to an eating marathon, so to stay on the safe side, I ordered a chicken sandwich ($6.35) and a bottle of water ($1.00).  Papa ordered a double burger ($7.59) and fries ($2.80). 

Niland's Cafe and Reed's Gas Station

In the little town of Colo, Iowa at the intersection of the Lincoln and Jefferson Highways, is the Reed/Niland Corner.  Here stands Niland's Cafe, originally opened in 1923, and the Colo Motel--both open for business--and Reed's Gas Station, not in operation.

On our way to deliver the concrete pads for propane tanks to a co-op, we stopped here to take a look and eat lunch.  The price of gas at the restored station was 13.8 cents plus 4 cents tax for a total of 17.8 cents per gallon!  Too bad it isn't open; if we had a time machine we could certainly put it to good use!

2014 Iowa Games Table Tennis

This morning I woke up at 6:00 A.M. as usual and subconsciously mentally prepared myself to manage the Daily 5 0, a chess tournament I direct every weekday morning on FICS.  Then it struck me: today was Saturday and instead of playing chess I would be going to a table tennis tournament!

I ate a little cold cereal, and Papa and I started our drive for Ames.  On our way a Ford F650 passed us; it was a big pick-up truck (I don't think I've seen one quite like it before).  We also noticed road work being done.

Happy Chef

The first week of May, my sister and I went with Grandpa to hang some of my Grandma Colleen Carson's artwork at a hospital.  On our way home we stopped at Happy Chef in Story City, IA.  

The place was spacious (the photo above only shows half the dining facilities), and since we did not come at a common eating time we had the restaurant pretty much to ourselves.  

A young waitress seated us and handed out menus.  I was shocked at the prices: $8.00 for an hamburger, $9.00 for a grilled chicken fillet, $11.00 for a chicken cobb salad, not to mention the prices of the chef's signature dinners ($15.99 for a New York Strip: that would pay for two all-you-can-eat lunches at the International Buffet in Waterloo and 3 McDoubles, and you'd still have change to spare). 

Most of the items on the breakfast menu (served all day) were between $6.00 and $12.00.  Grandpa and Charity both ordered 2 pancakes, an egg, and bacon (about $9.00)

There was plenty of syrup: maple, blueberry, and one other flavor, and it was used very generously as, according to Grandpa, the pancakes didn't have much of a taste.  My sister said the egg was ok, but couldn't be compared with the farm-fresh free-range eggs we are used to.  The bacon was good.

I ordered chili soup (about $4.00).  The bowl was heaping with soup, and I could only finish about half before I was stuffed.  The crackers were good, but the chili could not compare with my Grandma's (which is a lot more juicy).  The chili tasted ok, but it needed a *lot* of sour cream!  When I first went to the desk to ask for sour cream I was given 2 small portions of sour cream.  When I came back the second time, the lady gave me a whole dish of it!  It certainly made the chili a lot better!

If you need to find a place with good syrup, crackers, and sour cream, Happy Chef is the place to go.  The pricier dishes might be better (the $15.99 New York Strip has to be be really good to be worth that much...), but if you don't want to spend that much on a meal, stick with McDonalds...or the International Buffet.