I flew into St. Louis (Lambert) the morning of 10/6. John had driven up
from an art show in Kansas and picked me up. We proceeded to drive up to
Highland, Illinois - the location of the next show.

We were hungry so we stopped at Yogi's in the town square for lunch. Had
the most delicious juicy grilled burgers we'd tasted in a while. And the
fries were thin crinkle cut, which you don't see too often in restaurants,
and they were very nice and crispy. Good service. Good cold beer

The show had provided hotel/motel information. Highland is the quintessimal
small town. Three motels, period, and we didn't want to stay at the Holiday
Inn Express out on the highway. Because he had not made a reservation, we
had to do some shuffling in the middle. We arrived on Wednesday and checked
into a very quaint old motel called the Cardinal Inn. This place is well
over 50 years old. The original name of the place (and the original neon
sign) says "Choice Motel". Funky old place, family run. We stayed there
Wednesday and Thursday but had to move to Michael's Swiss Inn Friday because
one of the other artists had booked the room for just that night. We moved
back to the Cardinal Inn for Saturday and Sunday. Why? Well, it was
cheaper, yes. But it also had a definite charm. And a microwave, 2 burner
stovetop and mini-fridge (which surprised the heck out of us).

We did eat at Michael's restaurant Friday night. Excellent food and
service, but it was 2 weeks ago and I can't recall what we ate! I neglected
to ask if they had any paper menus, which I collect; that would have
refreshed my memory.

Breakfast! Ah yes, Buzzie's Again on Walnut Street. This is a real old
diner, folks. Chrome and glass bricks and neon. There was a man painting
the outside; he said he was 62 years old and Buzzie's had been there as long
as he could remember.

The first morning we went in, I had my hair in a french braid. The server
looked at me and asked if I wanted some hot tea. (???) John said it's
probably because I have a British look about me. No, thank you, coffee for
both of us

The menu was very surprising. I didn't expect to find Eggs Benedict, but
there it was. Choices, all served with aparagus, hollandaise sauce and hash
browns. There was the traditional with canadian bacon; ham & cheese; bacon
& cheese, sausage & cheese; seafood & cheese; veggies & cheese; turkey and
cheese.

The omelets! Oh my. Twice I had the spinach and bacon omelet with brie
cheese. This came with toast and hash browns or grits and I couldn't finish
it all. They actually asked if you wanted your hash browns crispy or soft.

The only thing they didn't do right was the morning I ordered the biscuits &
gravy. The gravy tasted like a plain (I mean really *dull*) white sauce.
It had some sausage in it but I had to add a lot of pepper and some salt to
make it taste like anything. And the biscuits were too doughy.

But the service was excellent every time we ate there and aside from the
biscuits and gravy I'd highly recommend this place.

Saturday night (remember, we'd moved to a different motel Friday) I went to
put on my pretty black dress I'd packed. Opened the door to the closet at
the Cardinal Inn - no dress. Oh crap! I'd left it there (not used to doors
on the closets at the hotels where we stay - you know, usually just a rack
with hangers). I'd left it there. We checked at the office - no dress.
Dammit! But they gave us the name of the artist who had stayed in the room
and where he was from. We were able to track him down by phone. Yes, he
had my dress. (Why he didn't turn it in at the office, I don't know. He
said he knew his one-night reservation had interrupted our stay.) Anyway,
he's mailing me my dress. Thank you!

On Sunday we were supposed to be at the show at 9:00 a.m. for the artists
breakfast and awards ceremony. The judges had been around the day before.
So what happened? John's truck wouldn't start. Oh crap. Sunday in a small
town? What are we going to do now??

One of the other artists from the show offered to drive us over there. But
the problem was, we were supposed to tear the booth down that night. Can't
do that without the truck. We walked over to the motel office (the owner
and her husband live right there on the premises). Do you know of a
mechanic? The man said you're looking at one; what's the problem? John
described it and he took a look. Then he called a buddy of his who does
mechanic work full time. John talked to the guy and he correctly diagnosed
the problem (solanoid) over the phone. Said he'd be over in about 30
minutes with the part and his tools. WOW! Then the man in the office said
why don't you go get some breakfast? Here, take my wife's car. DOUBLE WOW!
Only in a small town, folks

This time we went to Nino's Family Restaurant because it was within sight of
the motel. The food was fine; it's hard to mess up a basic breakfast. We
simply had eggs, bacon and toast.

There were a couple of older gents sitting at the table across from ours.
One of them said "How you folks doing this morning?" Oh, we're fine. He
said, "My wife told me not to come to town lookin' like this." He stuck out
his foot and showed some old, frayed work shoes without laces; said, "I was
out feedin' the calves and wasn't about to change clothes just to come in
for some breakfast!" and he laughed. He was funny; every once in a while
he'd throw a comment our way and his buddy would chuckle.

It took a long time to get our meal and we were concerned the mechanic would
show up before we got back. He didn't, but arrived within minutes.

10 minutes and only $80 later (parts and a Sunday house call) we were on our
way. We arrived at the show before 10:00 which is when it opened. I
started opening up the booth while John took care of some things at the
truck. Exhibitors at the show started coming up, expressing concern about
our vehicle problems. Then they said "Does he know he won 1st place in
Oil/Acrylic Painting?" NO! $500 prize and a blue ribbon. I couldn't wait
to tell him!

It was an interesting little town. First time show. He sold a nice
orchestra piece to a Croatian woman almost at the last minute.



Monday morning, 10/11, we bid a fond farewell to Highland after one last
breakfast at Buzzie's. I really wanted to get a photo of Buzzie's when it
was all lit up but it was gloomy and started to mist on Monday morning. Oh
well, I'll remember it fondly.

Then we were on the road again. Headed towards Kingwood, TX. 840 miles to
go and 4 or 5 days to get there. We made it all the way down to Poplar
Bluff, MO before stopping for the day.

More on that and the remaining adventures later.

Jill
--
I used to have a handle on life...but it broke off.