I so close to the end of Plundered Booty that I can smell it. (That sentence is going to read really weird for those of you unaware I am writing a novel title Plundered Booty.) This is a long holiday weekend as well so there are many factors to my reluctance to write a long drawn out post about Amarillo, but the blunt truth is up not up to doing any of the research required to pull of the ideas I have in mind so this week's edition is purely my opinion. Take it for what you will. Given that this is a three day weekend I stuck with three as the theme. Well, three and meat but then again meat is the underbelly of most of my posts.
TOP 3 GOOD THINGS ABOUT LIVING IN AMARILLO
3) Despite having a population of nearly 200,000 it feels much smaller. Traffic jams? only if a wreck is involved or the space shuttle makes a "surprise" landing at the airport.
2) People are friendly and it is rare that I go to a social event without running into to somebody I know.
1) It is more politically correct to call yourself a carnivore than it is to be a vegetarian.
TOP 3 BAD THINGS ABOUT LIVING IN AMARILLO
3) The town is prone to being narrow-minded about new things and people that are different than the accepted norm.
2) Hail, it's windy. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, Amarillo is the second most hail prone city in the US and the third windiest. Sorry Merry, Chicago didn't even make the top ten.
1) Amarillo sits smack dab in the middle of the best fishing places in the country. You might think that was a good thing, but unfortunately, it is three hundred miles no matter which direction you go to find these places.
TOP 3 PLACES TO CLOG YOUR ARTERIES.
3) El Bracero Mexican Grill - Home of the "La Parrillada" which is a little grill chocked full of meat, grilled onion, and roasted jalapeños that they bring right to your table. They have a variety of tasty meat options and you get to pick two. My recommendation is the Cabrito (goat) and quail. And before you ask no i do not eat he peppers,they're green aren't they.
2) Bl Bistro -- This place is too pricey for me to eat at regularly but it is owned by a guy I graduated high school with and it is one of the few places that serves elk from time to time.
1) Coyote Bluff Cafe - Greasy fries, tasty burgers, thick steaks and cold, cold beer. Need I say more. Don't let the seedy appearance of the place fool you. It's good.
I could go on using the power of three to talk about things in my town but like I already said, I'm lazy this week. so here's my offer. Something you want to know about Amarillo? Curious about my city. Here's your chance. ask me any question pertaining to the town or anywhere in the Texas Panhandle for that matter and I will answer it to the best of my ability. Wanna keep the theme of three going and know the top 3 places to get drunk, the three ugliest people, the 3 worst jobs, the 3 best jobs , just drop a question in the comments and I be like the jeeves fella and pop back with some sort of answer.
Also participation in My Town Monday has slacked recently so encourage others to take part if you get the chance. Here is a link to my original post talking about the idea. Go read it, and then post a little something about your town, because I'm curious about things in your neck o' the woods.
And be sure and stop by Reid's blog to wish him happy birthday.
LINKS TO MORE MY TOWN MONDAY-ers
Debra - Village of Peninsula, Ohio (Be sure to stop in and sign up for her contest)
Linda McLaughlin -- Anaheim, California
Terrie Farley Moran (Women of Mystery -- New York City, New York
Barrie Summy -- San Diego, California
Mary Nix -- Olmsted Falls, Ohio
28 comments:
my only memory of Amarillo (I think it was Amarillo) was the place where if you eat a 72-oz steak in less than half an hour you get it for free. (I used to drive through Amarillo a lot on my way to OK to visit grandma.)
Travis, I like your "three" theme for today's MTM post. I'll have a little something on Anaheim posted by tomorrow, or maybe later tonight.
All I remember about Amarillo is driving through it on the way to or from my original home town of Pittsburgh, PA.
Question: since Amarillo is so windy, do you have many, or any, wind farms in the area? Seems like a good place for them.
Linda
my favorite thing about this entry, other than all the talk of food, is how you can bend time with a monday entry on sunday.
freaking. me. out. man.
Travis, I've posted my "My Town Monday" post on Modjeska Park in Anaheim, Calif. It's a short, quick one, too.
http://flightsafancy.blogspot.com/
Linda
I'm going to keep those eatin' places in mind.
Not so bad for half-assed, Travis. I'd say it's at least 3/4 assed.
I like you theme of 3.
Thank you for the birthday shoutout, Travis. It almost makes up for you (and everyone else) crushing me in fantasy football this year.
I've tried to join in on the MTM ideas, but as usual I've never actually finished it. I have the enchanting tale of the time I made the Tyler Rose Queen cry in her first press interview, but I have yet to finish it. One day, I suppose.
I travelled through Amarillo once, back in 1989 on my way to Fort Collins, Colorado. All I remember is that it took us a whole day to get from the Louisiana border to the top of the panhandle.
Oh, and by the time we got to the panhandle we were so exhausted, the town "Dumas" made us laugh very, very much.
I've never been to Amarillo, or even Texas, but I do appreciate the fine Quarter Horses bred there.
I meant to add in my previous post that I would like to join in on your MTM post about where we live; although I have lived in several places. Perhaps I will post about all of them.
Very nice blog Travis.
TE: How close are you to finishing Plundered? Bet you feel energized the closer you get to the end in spite of what a long journey it is to get there.
Hi Travis,
I love the three things concept. It could be three of anything or everything, but I had a different focus for this Monday.
MTM post will be up at 8 AM EST if I understood how to set the timer on blogger!
Have a glorious Memorial Day.
Terrie
Happy Memorial Day, Travis!
Enjoyed the 3x Amarillo post. I'd like to know the names of three kinds of fish you've caught near Amarillo.
And, yes, I do have a My Town Monday post. On grunion runs.
Sorry I haven't posted y'alls links or answered the questions but we had some bad thunderstorms last night and power was off and on so I never even booted up in the evening.
Grace - Yes that is Amarillo and I did a earlier MTM post on that place. It is called The Big Texan Steak Ranch.
Lyndi - The alter-ego threw me at first. And Yes we have many wind farms with more going up all the time. Right now the problem is that the infrastructure in our area can ony handle so much so much f the power generates is wasted.
Patti -- I freak out lots of people.
Charles -- We really need to get you to come be a speaker at our conference and then I could be your tour guide.
Debra- Yeah unfortunately my ass is always larger that expected.
Reid - There is actually an old song called Ding Dong Daddy From Dumas. You should learn to play and sing that one.
Barbara - Join on in. We'd love to have you and I plan a future MTM post about the American Quarterhorse association and their museum.
Josephine - I was hoping to be done today but I'll say by week's end for certain. I'm trying not to get impatient and hurry through.
Terrie -- I almost did a memorial day themed post about a local cemetery but I was too lazy to do the research this week.
Barrie -- I live on a little creek so it doens't get any enarer than that. I catch mostly Crappie, which are quite tasty to eat, Largemouth Bass, and Catfish though there are also lots of sunfish, carp, and hybrid-stripers that run up the creek from an adjoining lake and once someone caught a tropical fish that is closely related to a piranha. I can't remember it's actual name but the fish and game people guessed it was somebodies pet they tired of and released into the creek.
It's ok to be lazy this weekend! Hope you're enjoying your day off! :)
Mary Nix, Olmsted Falls, Ohio
www.olmsted44138.com
Tavis,
My mom is the queen of finding greasy joints with great food. The Coyote place sounds like one of those treasures.
You and Bernita are rounding the bend at the same time!
design goddess -- Day off. I got no stinking day off this weekend.
Mary - Welcome aboard. I found your post last week then other day and tried to comment but it keeps telling me my password is incorrect even though I was already logged into word press.
Danette - It's definitely worth a stop of you ever passing through.
Chris - Maybe we'll both sell at the same time and have a dual release party.
When I was eleven, my family passed through Shreveport and I met a girl from Amarillo in the motel pool. Her name was Alice and we were pen pals for a whole year afterwards -- until she finally stopped writing (sniff). I just love the name 'Amarillo.' I can't imagine a place with a name like that not being great.
I am so homesick for good old American food (meaning ALL kinds of food -- anything except for McD's or KFC) that I could have wept reading about El Bracero. I LOVE jalapenos and can eat them raw.
Very interesting, as usual! Congrats on the impending ending of "Plundered Booty!" I'll have to get back to MTM posts at some point...
I have found that here in Texas the seedier looking the joint is then there is a good chance that it has some crazy tasty food.
smell'in booty, you dirty devil
I promise next week I'll get back into the MTM stuff. got sidetracked for a bit
You have to take some hail pictures. Those of us who are fortunate to live in the temperate climate of Canada, don't see much hail. And the hail we do see is rarely larger than the size of a split pea.
Hot dang! I'm totally coming for a visit. I love trying new foods, and goat and quail have been near the top of my list for a while. Along with snake, ostrich, squirrel, and pheasant. Bear I could probably live without, but I wouldn't say no either.
Congrats on almost finishing your novel! Good luck and I'll keep my fingers crossed for you...
Even though you say this is a shortened version of MTM, I still learned quite a few interesting tidbits about Amarillo, like the "surprise space shuttle landing."
Fun post.
Amarillo sounds a lot like Montgomery, AL.
I see my son's teacher, my preacher, my doctor, my co-workers, the postman, at the local Wal-mart at one time or another. I call it the big little city.
Enjoy yor week!
Adriann
Congratulations on coming to the end of your novel. I can't remember—is this the first draft you're working on or the last draft?
My "three" question is, what are the three prettiest places in Amarillo?
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