A Thread Worth Responding To

[LeftCoast]

At least I think so anyway, and no it’s not inspired by the fact the McRib is back for a limited time only!

So here goes, What’s the best meal(s) you’ve had on a trip? This isn’t just about the food it’s about the experience as well because you are sharing the meal with whoever or wherever that made it special.

For me it was shortly after I got my license 4 years ago and other than the safety class had less than an hour on a motorcycle. None of it on the road. I rented a 2008 Spyder in Tempe meeting my brother who rode his Honda CBR up from NM. After an hour on the bike and once out on the open road the fear started to leave and the fun started and I was hooked.

After about a 4 hour ride with scenic stops and a small town diner stop that included fresh pies in round glass displays on the restaurant counter (boy did that take me back to some family cross country trips and my dad getting pecan pie a la mode as a favorite ritual) we got to Sedona. This was also after getting a bit disoriented on our route near Pine Az and being helped out with directions from a local realtor because we reminded her of her kids despite both my brother and I being on our 50s at the time. You meet the greatest people unexpectedly sometimes.

We stayed at a place up on a hill next to the airport in Sedona for the night that had a restaurant at the airport, not cheap but the food was great and my brother and I enjoy a nice scotch. Honestly I don’t even remember what I had at this point (that may be scotch related!) but being near the airport (as a no longer current private pilot), breaking bread with my brother whom I don’t get to see very often, plus it being my first motorcycle trip and having a great first day is just perfectly memorable to me. It didn’t hurt that there were fire pits outside to sit around after the meal with nice views and a nightcap.

No wonder you all love this so much. Makes me regret getting started so late but certainly better than never!

Anyone got anything they want to share?

[ARtraveler]

I have two--on the road meals that stand out. Actually--three--one bad.

My all time favorite comes from visits to Badlands National Park in South Dakota.

Cedar Pass Lodge--located IN the Badlands (most recent 2016). A combination gift shop/restaurant. We always get an order of Indian Fry Bread, and Buffalo Burgers to go with them. Fantastic food, fantastic view, and did not cost an arm and a leg.

A café in DuBois Wyoming. Just outside of the Jackson Hole area. We did not stop in Jackson Hole (although the food shows rave about the places). Don't remember the name of the DuBois cafe, but it was on the main street. They had outdoor dining on the porch, and the Stagecoach Ride drove by many times during the meal. This was our first "gourmet" meal. We spent over $250 dollars on it--including desert. At that time (1998 or so)--the most I had ever spent on a meal.

The bad one...A Chinese Buffet in New Brunswick Canada (1997). Hit the town about 7:00 PM. Two choices--an Irish Pub, and the Chinese Buffet. Boy...we should have hit the Pub. The buffet was $9.95 and all you can eat. They had a good spread of entrees and fruit. The entrees were not edible. We ended up eating cantelope and watermelon. Yes...we should have went to the Pub. We were tired from traveling all day--so that's my excuse. We joked about that for over ten years. I finally found a new top "bad place." Will save that for later.

[LeftCoast]

All you can eat buffets scare the crap (literally) out of me for that very reason

[fatboy]

pappys smokehouse in st louis mo. best babyback ribs ive every had dont foget the deep fried corn on the cob too

[Snowbelt Spyder]

Great topic.

Pisgah Inn. Blue Ridge Parkway, Ashville area. Fantastic food and view. Somewhat pricey but it’s not like you do it every day. Can’t take it with you.

[easysuper]

Boy, that's a tough one to answer as what is the best meal I've had on the road. Most of all our road trips are tied to looking for the best place to eat. This year when my wife and I headed out to Deadwood for the rally , we called it the Great Western Chicken Fried Steak Tour Redo. every so often over the last 40 some odd years I take a road trip to honor and remember the First Chicken Fried Steak Tour that I and two of my buddy's had on our bikes in 69 before we left on our all expense paid trip to East Asia which one of us did not return from. All we ate on that first Tour when we ate a a restaurant was Chicken Fried Steaks as we were searching for the best one. We had meals cooked in camp but they were simple as that was back in the days when all you carried was a bed roll, tarp and a can of spam,beans and or sardines. Our best CFS was at a lonely truck stop out of Mountain Home ID. This year it was in Buffalo WY. at the Winchester Steak House. Another Great Meal was 2 years ago My wife and I rode all the way down 101 and 1 to San Diego and ate ate a Italian Restaurant in Little Italy and had some Pork Ragu over Polenta, one of the best things I've ever had ! The worst was a Pancake House in North Bend OR. and the pancake batter ran out of the hot cake when you cut it.
CFS.jpg

[LeftCoast]

I did not expect this to be easy for those of you that have been doing this for a while. Literally every trip has something special.

Thanks for the shares. Maybe a bucket list thing for me will be to get to as many of these places as possible at some point.

[tehrlich]

Moonshine shots at Best Western in Boerne, TX. Spyder in the Hills Rally last weekend.

moonshine.jpg

[Bob Denman]

It's kind of funny...
As much as I love GREAT food: I'm also about the leasr fussy eater in here!
Best meal on a trip:
Pottersville, NY
The Black Bear
It's a family-owned Bar & Grille that's been there forever. We always stop there on our way up to the hunting camp in Onchiota, NY
Homemade soup, a bacon cheeseburger as big as a dinner plate, and some REALLY good fries!

[LeftCoast]

It's kind of funny...
As much as I love GREAT food: I'm also about the leasr fussy eater in here!
Best meal on a trip:
Pottersville, NY
The Black Bear
It's a family-owned Bar & Grille that's been there forever. We always stop there on our way up to the hunting camp in Onchiota, NY
Homemade soup, a bacon cheeseburger as big as a dinner plate, and some REALLY good fries!

Yep, fancy isn’t the only reason a meal can be memorable.

[spydernatic]

The best meal we have had was in Franklin North Carolina at Cafe REL. This restaurant is on the side of a gas station not even a very well known gas and does not look like much but the food is excellent, it is French cuisine and they only accept cash.
Well worth stopping in there we now plan our trips through Franklin so we can eat there, My wife had a Salmon salad and I had the pork Osso Bucco and the last picture is a Rack of Lamb
20180728_185329.jpg20181011_135512.jpg20151022_130335.jpg20171012_135233.jpg

[pegasus1300]

Great thread.Thanks for kicking things up

[RidinOn3]

Moonshine shots at Best Western in Boerne, TX. Spyder in the Hills Rally last weekend.

moonshine.jpg

That's what I'm talking about! I believe that's my black cap in the background. Good times with good peaople.

[Bfromla]

Have had SEVERAL hard to choose for simplicity I'll try narrow it down top two.
1: B-day meal at Hickory Hallow in Houston after following buds back from Spyders on the Bayou 22oz CFSIMG_8031.jpg& buds didn't get to know was my B- day till AFTER the other meal would have to be when Cruzr Joe sold me his tric 622trailer & treated me to simple lunch at Crackerbarrel in Arkadelphia AR.
Another was arranged by AY4B a group meet & greet in Longview Tx at Papacita's Mexican restaurant, good food & think was lik 17 or so spyders& more to come!

[LeftCoast]

That's what I'm talking about! I believe that's my black cap in the background. Good times with good peaople.

Ha ha can I have some of what she’s pouring?

[JP58]

Best New York strip steak I ever had was at the Ocean Grill in Carmel by the sea, California. Juicy and tender and awesome seasoning.

[Lew L]

A truly great salmon fillet with ginger lime sauce. Best I've had----- in a state with no ocean shores. Durango, Co. right next to the train station.

Lew L

[Saluda]

All you could eat, just about everything on the menu you could have wanted. It was all very good and fairly priced. Only thing they asked you was one lobster at a time. Went quite a few times until they closed (30 years ago ?). Had something like a 40' salad bar. Dessert and cheese section. Italian, beef, I sure miss it.

[ThreeWheels]

Does it have to be a motorcycle trip ?
The best meal I ever had was in Warsaw Poland at a restaurant on the center court of town.
I had pierogies.
Oh, and it was the evening of the day I adopted my son.

[PistonBlown]

Instant Coffee with some bars of chocolate, served on the tred of a Hagglund…

DSC00317.jpg

...here

DSC00202.jpg

[SpyderConvert]

The first one was a filet mignon at Morton's in Baltimore, MD. The second (and my all-time favorite) was in a non-touristy restaurant in Rome, Italy, I had my first-ever spaghetti carbonara. OMG!!

[Bob Denman]

The best meals are most often served with your best friends at your side...

[bushrat]

I have to confess that I have had many delightful repasts over my lifetime. My wife is fond of pointing out that, in looking at my body, I don't appear to have gone hungry for much of it; shedding weight is often a struggle. In answer to the question, two instances stand out, but for reasons other than you might expect:

- first: while traveling through Bulgaria in a VW camper van, in 1970, with several other adventurous young wanderers, we became lost, and found ourselves in a remote commune in the countryside. We were almost out of gas, totally out of food, and very hungry from not having eaten almost all day. It was a remote communal farm with but one outlet for food and supplies; to purchase anything, you needed to use tokens, earned through work on the farm. Of course we had none, and couldn't earn any either. We were strangers who soon attracted a crowd, including the local Russian Commissar cop. He wanted us gone. The 'Cold War' was still on; there was no love extended to America at the time. Luckily, my van did fly a small Canadian flag, which helped somewhat. A pretty young girl spoke some English. At great risk, she went and bought a huge loaf of fresh warm bread, some butter and honey which she 'smuggled' out and handed to us. We quietly, secretly, handed her some cash, which we hoped would not be found and bring her harm. Down the road, out of sight of that Commissar on his bicycle, we ate one of the simplest, but most memorable and physically satisfying meals of my life - not fancy, not expensive, just hunger quelling.

- second: actually, I don't recall much about this lunch; can't tell you what I ate... other than that my portion of the bill (shared with an old family friend) included 7 Martinis that I consumed; he had about an equal number. It was a 'learning experience'; my introduction to Martinis; my first and last meeting with them. Not sure how I managed to find my way back to my office later in the afternoon. I can only recall that I was told, on arrival, to immediately go home and pack a suitcase for an emergency trip west (with my boss). For the next 8 hours, I sat in the back of a small private jet, listening to its four engines screaming as we flew to the coast (refueling on the way). My head was already pounding from the Martinis before boarding; my ears ached all the way to the Pacific. My stomach was churning. Whatever I ate at lunch was trying to escape. I didn't much care about food for another 24 hours after. Obviously, though, according to my wife, I recovered!!!

[LeftCoast]

Instant Coffee with some bars of chocolate, served on the tred of a Hagglund…

DSC00317.jpg

...here

DSC00202.jpg

Theres a story that goes with this one I’m sure!

[LeftCoast]

Great story Bushrat, maybe I should start a “your most memorable drunk experience” thread! Only problem is in many cases there’s no memory of the actual event!

P.S. Re your first paragraph, there’s a great hilarious song posted up in the music video thread called “I don’t look good naked anymore” that seems to be applying to more of us as we get older!