One of the great things about the RV lifestyle is having the opportunity to eat so many different kinds of food in so many different places. Whenever we can, we pass up the chain restaurants in favor of the local fare. Let’s face it, a Grand Slam breakfast is going to taste the same, whether you order it at a Denny’s in Pittsburgh, Palo Alto, or Paducah.

But in the local restaurants, you find great dishes like the Especial, the world famous hot dog/cheeseburger combo at Lute’s Casino in Yuma; or the Five Cheese burger at Burgers & Beer, also here in Yuma. I’ve had both, and they beat the heck out of anything you’ll ever find at McDonald’s or Burger King.

Move over Long John Silvers and Red Lobster! For real seafood, you need to go to places like Moondog Seaside Eatery in Rockport, Texas, pictured here, or Keys Fisheries on Marathon Key in the Florida Keys. Yeah, you may have to wave away the seagulls when they try to steal your food at an outside table, but once you have had a blackened grouper sandwich at either place, you’ll be spoiled for any of the chain eateries.     

Regional food is another treat for travelers. I had never heard of a Cuban sandwich, which is a delicious combination of ham, roast pork, pulled pork, cheese, and a pickle, served on Cuban bread, until I first tried one in Florida a few years ago. I was immediately hooked. My two favorite places to order a Cuban are at El Siboney in Key West, and Mykonos, in Brooksville, Florida.

For a real taste of local food, you need to find a place like the Boiling Pot in Rockport, Texas, where they bring you a Cajun boil of shrimp, crawfish, sausage, new potatoes, and corn, pour the entire concoction out on butcher paper, and tell you to dig in! No frills, no silverware, just good food you’ll never forget! 

I love pizza, and I’ve had delicious pizzas everyplace form New York City to Chicago to Seattle. But I don’t think you can beat the brick oven pizzas we had at several different places around Berlin, New Jersey. Those folks know how to make pizza!

We’ve been busy sampling the local restaurants here in the Yuma area, and yesterday we joined Tom and Barbara Westerfield, along with David and Lynn Cross, at the above mentioned Lute’s Casino in Old Town Yuma. The place isn’t really a casino, but rather a funky little restaurant with all kinds of antiques, artifacts, and junk hanging from the ceilings and decorating the walls. Did you ever notice that food always tastes better when you dine out with good friends?

Fortunately, we have plenty of friends here in Yuma, and plenty of local restaurants to try out yet. I can’t wait to see where we eat tonight!

Bad Nick must be on a diet, because while I was out chowing down, he was busy posting a new Bad Nick Blog titled I Don’t Get It. Check it out and leave a comment.

Thought For The Day – Everything is funny if you wait long enough.  

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There is news on the RV industry scene. In a press release issued Thursday, Monaco Coach Corporation announced that it has signed a non-binding letter of intent with Navistar, Inc. in which Navistar will acquire certain assets and assume certain liabilities primarily associated with Monaco’s recreational vehicle manufacturing business. Navistar is a leading global manufacturer of commercial vehicles, military vehicles, diesel engines and related parts and services.

There are a lot of hoops to jump through before this is a done deal. But if it works out, hopefully it will keep at least one RV company from disappearing completely, and put some workers back on the job. With one RV manufacturer after another going belly up, we certainly need some good news for a change.

We spent most of yesterday hanging around the bus. I spent several hours promoting our new Honor A Veteran website by sending a publicity release out to VFW posts around the country, while Miss Terry did some paperwork, caught up on some laundry, and filled a couple of orders that had come in.

I’m trying very hard to get the word out about both Honor A Veteran and Todays Hero Blog, and I really appreciate all of you who have sent links to these new projects to the folks on their e-mail lists. It really does help a lot.   

Late in the afternoon we ran to the post office and made a stop at Safeway, arriving back at the bus just before Terry’s sister Lisa and her husband Jim arrived to take us to dinner at Red Lobster. Jim and Lisa are a hard working, busy couple and we never have enough time with them. But we always appreciate it when we can get together with them during our visits to Arizona.

I wrote last week that former Arkansas governor and presidential candidate Mike Huckabee was going to be airing a segment on the Fox News channel from the RV Hall of Fame Museum in Elkhart, Indiana.

My friend Al Hesselbart, the museum’s historian and the author of the book, The Dumb Things Sold… Just Like That!, which tells the story of some of the milestones in the RV industry, said that he had the opportunity to meet Mr. Huckabee during the event, and that he is a genuinely nice guy who went out of his way to be friendly, and not in that smarmy glad-handing way most politicians have. Too bad we can’t get more real people to run for public office.

Thought For The Day - Timing has a lot to do with the outcome of a rain dance.

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