I need to start the day by wishing Andy a happy birthday. Happy birthday Andy!
I hope your birthday is filled with all the joy you can handle!
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I spent almost all of last week in Las Vegas working at the Computer Mine Convention. I didn’t get to see anywhere near the amount of stuff I wanted to see because I spent most of my days staring at conference room walls. However, I did get a chance to see a few things and took a few pictures. Today I’m going to share some cruddy cell phone pictures from the trip.
While some people got “rock star” parking, I got stuck in the Gray Lot, which is more like “zydeco star” parking.
And the flight got delayed.
4 flights. Only got snacks on one of them.
On flight #2 I got rock star leg room.
Southwest. Wasn’t as bad as I feared.
New luggage made it to Vegas.
The view from my room.
Meal #1. $30 for this.
Closest I got to the actual Vegas sign.
I’m sure I have an exhibit in there.
Fran said I absolutely had to eat here. It was also high on Lowell’s list.
Elvis and Marilyn made out of jelly beans.
If he goes ring pop engagement ring and she says no, she is a terrible person.
So many candy stores in Vegas.
View from the room at night.
Speechless.
A bar where a robot mixes your drink. Lowell said it was a Top 5 Drink he has had made by a robot.
They are planting marigolds already!
Planet Hollywood is kind of a dud, but it is near cool casinos like Paris.
I can almost see Emily and Mindy walking down the street.
The real Arc de Triomphe was built by a megalomaniac, so it makes sense that they put a poster of one on their recreation.
This sign is how I knew how to get my elevator.
It was 130 degrees in this room.
Planet Hollywood
I didn’t disappoint Fran, but I did make her jealous.
Michelle.
The show is about to begin.
A lot of eyes on me when this speaker asked the audience, “What is one thing that every man knows about every woman.”
View from my Friday dinner table.
Friday supper.
Friday dessert.
Fountain of the Gods.
Neptune’s Fountain.
Bellagio Fountain.
The other elevator bank had Miranda Lambert on it. They won.
Nacho Daddy, for people who like puns and nachos. That includes me.
Neither Kim or Lowell stepped up to the challenge.
I sent a picture of these to my Pastor who is a Chiefs fan, he wished bad things to me. Very bad.
I didn’t get the Raiders Nachos. But these were delicious.
Scott recommended I check out the Bellagio Gardens.
Saturday night supper.
I am sad to report I never ate here.
Goodbye Las Vegas.
It was from here that I waved at Susanna.
She waved back!
And on the final flight I got rock star legroom again!
All in all it was a pretty good trip, even though I put in some massive hours. It was certainly better than my previous trip to Las Vegas for the Evil Clown Empire. But that is a story for a different day.
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This is your reminder that this week’s THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE theme is STORE:
STORE
STORE! What a great theme for Year 10 of THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE?
But what is a STORE image? It is simply an image of a STORE or taken inside of a STORE. There are all kinds of STORE(s) out there. From department to convenience to junk to antique to book to music to grocery to dollar to a little kids lemonade stand. Of course, there is more than one definition of the word STORE.
This is not the first time that STORE has been a theme for THE WEEKLY PHOTO CHALLENGE. Here are some examples of previous submissions to inspire you:
Week 141 – Linda Bennett
Week 141 – Kim Barker
Week 141 – Christopher D. Bennett
Week 18 – Carla Stensland
Week 18 – Sarah Karber
Happy photo harvesting!
I am curious your thoughts on In-n-Out burger. Jon insisted we eat there in Anaheim this past summer. The fries were patently terrible, but the burger was pretty good. Overall, I’d say it’s a lot like Five Guys. Not as good as Freddy’s.
It actually wasn’t my first time having In-n-Out. I once at there in Fort Worth and I would say this experience was much better. In Fort Worth I wasn’t impressed at all and of the 2 fast food burger joints we tried on that trip, I left being way more impressed with Whataburger. I still prefer Whataburger.
I liked this burger a lot, I’d still put Whataburger above it. I would put 5 Guys above it, although I have to admit I’ve only eaten at 5 Guys once since it came to Ames cause it is a little much. I’ve never actually sat down and ranked fast food burgers. Seems like something I should do at some point. I do like Freddy’s a lot, but my go to fast food burger in Ames is B-Bop’s.
I can’t really give you a good answer on the fries cause I went “Animal” or whatever and that kind of dominated the pallet. I don’t remember if they were soggy or crispy, but I would have expected them to be soggy based on all the tops that were on top of it.
The weather in Las Vegas was terrible and that place was packed so we had to eat outside in the cold. But that was one of the nights where the cold was tolerable.
I’ve only gone to In-n-Out once, this past summer in Anaheim. Jon got “Animal” fries, which were fine but not exceptional. Charlie got just regular plain fries, and they were super soggy. That definitely affected my opinion. I don’t think I’ve ever had Whataburger, which is sad. I had my first Shake Shack when we were in London – I don’t know if it was great or I was hangry, but it was really good. And the garlic burger at Steak n Shake is pretty great, too.
We love Freddy’s (as they are good at both the burger AND the fries) – but Campustown can be enough of an ordeal that we for certain eat at B-Bop’s more. Although I don’t know when the S Duff one is going to be reopened after renovations. Their fries on their own are not my favorite – but their ranch more than makes up for it, and the burgers are great (and dip well in the ranch). I don’t know if I could make a power ranking on just burgers, as the fries and dipping sauces are such an important part of the experience.
What a waste of Las Vegas – the desert is really only good for being warm, what a disappointment.
The high only broke 50 on two days while I was there. The first day I was there and the Saturday. But on the Saturday it rained all day, so that was even worse.
We do come down on the opposite side of fries at Freddy’s though. I do think there fries are trash. Well, they start out fine, but within approximately 5 seconds they are ice cold. I always go onion rings at Freddy’s. The fries are the only thing I don’t like there. Well, you are right, it is also a pain to go there, but when I go there it is usually a weekend before or after a Women’s basketball game, so Campustown isn’t all that busy and it is pretty easy to get parking.
B-Bop’s fries are all over the place in quality. Sometimes they are great sometimes they aren’t. I don’t know how deep I could even go on burgers either, but I’m willing to do the research.
Definitely try Whataburger if you have a chance. Another aspect of them is that they have incredible customer service. Like Chick-fil-A without all the homophobia.
I haven’t had a McDonald’s burger in almost 17 years. Burger King is trash and out of business around here, but every once in a while, I just have to have a Whopper. Don’t know why. Wendy’s burgers just taste a little gross to me. I don’t know why. Culver’s is a fairly solid burger. But not enough that I ever go there. DQ has a solid, but not spectacular burger and so does A&W. In fact, I drive over to Jefferson for A&W more than I care to admit. I don’t know I’ve ever had a burger from Sonic. I’ve never been impressed by them in general. Although I have friends that love them.
I do love a good Hardee’s Frisco Burger though. But, when we’re talking Hardee’s it really is all about their breakfast. Easily the best fast food breakfast joint. And there isn’t a close second. But I think a hidden treasure of Hardee’s is their Big Roast Beef. The hidden treasure of B-Bop’s is their nugs. Best nugs in the fast food business. And their honey mustard, chef’s kiss.
But that is all the area fast food burgers I can think of, off the top of my head. But I’m sure I’m missing something.
I don’t think I’ve ever had Shake Shack. Maybe the Chicago airport (or at least at at something similar) But I will say that we are on the opposite spectrum on Steak n Shake. I would put them on the absolute bottom, with this caveat… I’ve only ever eaten at the Steak n Shake in Iowa City. Which I think might be the worst Steak n Shake in the world. Cause other people say it is great too.
Is there any Fast Food Burger place (franchise) in central Iowa that I’m missing?
I’m not a big fan of Vegas for all of the reasons most people love Vegas (I almost never drink, I think gambling is largely foolish, and I do love shows but you really only need to go to Cirque once to get the gist). So the warmth is legit one of the only draws. I’m really sorry that had to be a miserable experience.
I do agree that Freddy’s fries get cold almost immediately, and that ruins the experience. (Never get them to go.) Since I started my new job, one of the few perks is that I can park in the garage there 24/7, which somewhat reduces the pain of Campustown parking.
I hate how good the customer service is at Chick-Fil-A (because I hate them for the homophobia). Especially since I don’t really like their chicken, but my family does – the staff are legitimately great to customers every time I go. I’ll for sure seek out a Whataburger – especially since I just found that they had one in KC. I like places that value customer care.
Charlie is obsessed with McDonald’s, which makes me sad. He really, really likes Culvers burgers, so we go through the ridiculous ordeal that is their drive-thru more often than I care to do. Wendy’s burgers are gross because of the texture. I assume they’re maybe steamed or something, I don’t know, but it’s sort of just wet paper towel meat. They have decent nugs, although nowhere near as good as B-Bop’s nugs – a great feature of the B-Bop’s ones is that you can get both ranch AND honey mustard, and both are excellent additions. You compare that with Sonic or Culvers who have legitimately the worst ranches ever created – it ruins the experience.
I don’t think I’ve ever had a Hardee’s burger (maybe 30 years ago?), just because I always get the roast beef – even when I was in middle and high school and we would go to the one in Boone. Their biscuits put McDonald’s to shame, and it’s a huge bummer that it’s a fair drive to get to them.
The London Shake Shack was way better than the Mall of America one we hit over Christmas break. So maybe it was a fluke, I am not sure, or maybe the MoA one isn’t great. I’d need to have a broader base. I also didn’t enjoy the normal burger I got at the Iowa City Steak n Shake, nor was the regular one I got at the SnS near Jordan Creek much better – but Jon got the garlic sauce one, and it’s night and day better. Maybe try that combo.
The only other one I can even come close to thinking of is Smashburger – which is getting harder and harder to find. And it’s perfectly fine, fries are similar to Freddy’s except they have some herbs on them. It’s been so long since I had the burger that I can’t remember if it’s great or not. If I’m going to Des Moines, I probably am not going to Smashburger.
I really, next to never go to Des Moines or any Des Moines suburbs any more. I went down to Grimes on Saturday for a birthday party and ate lunch at a Ginny Grinder place I like there. Sometimes if I drive through Des Moines and just want to get home I will stop at a Kwik Star and grab a box of chicken. I love Kwik Star Chicken.
I had people ask me if I hated being in Vegas cause I don’t drink and I don’t gamble. The weird thing is that there was an assumption made there that I don’t gamble. I will gamble now and again. But now that every form of gambling that you can do in Vegas you can also do in Iowa, it doesn’t seem like such a big deal. There are 3 casinos within a 45 minute drive of my house. It isn’t the big thrill it might have once been.
What Vegas does have in spades (I think that is a gambling term) is world class people watching. It also has many amazing photography opportunities. I didn’t get much of a chance to take out the camera, but I hope I got some good pictures out there.
So I don’t mind Vegas, even if I don’t drink and chose not to gamble. I only had so much free time, so I’m not going to spend it doing something I can do in Iowa.
Freddy’s has some dynamite custard though. Hard to pass on that when you are there.
Don’t feel too bad about Charlie. That is McDonald’s entire business plan. Go after the kids and they will bring the parents with them. And it is a brilliant plan. Although it seems every once in awhile they forget about it. Or their owner/operators do.
Yeah, I don’t know why Wendy’s burgers are so weird. But the texture thing is probably right. It just feels gross. And their major thing is that their beef is fresher cause it is never frozen. Maybe, but it still feels gross in your mouth.
Yeah, I wouldn’t urge you to run out and grab a Hardee’s burger, but it has improved in quality considerably since the one in Boone closed. I hit Hardee’s D-T frequently during THE TOWN SIGN PROJECT. More than a few times in Tama or Winterset or Ellsworth. Also when I went out west the A&W in Jefferson was a pretty regular stop.
As for Chick-fil-A, I think those homophobes make a pretty good chicken sandwich, but I wish we had a Raising Canes instead.
It wasn’t a Shake Shack I had in the Chicago airport. It was something like Billy Goat’s Tavern or something like that. So I was way off. But I’m pretty sure nothing is all that good in the Mall of America. Maybe it was the magic of London.
If I ever give Steak-n-Shake another chance, I will go with the garlic burger.
I had forgot about Smashburger. I remember it being a big deal when it opened and I think ate their once. I remember it being a bit overhyped.
My dad works about two blocks from Kwik Star and eats the chicken about three times a week. I’ve never tried it (I don’t know if the new Ames Kwik Star is good or not), but I know that their donuts are pretty great. I think gas station donut power rankings would be also a fascinating ranking. I’ve never heard of Ginny Grinder, I’ll have to try it!
The last time I was in Vegas was for the second-most-recent ISU/UNLV game, back in 2008 – way before I had a camera that wasn’t disposable or from high school. I’d love to go out and do some street photography out there; I bet yours is exceptional, and can’t wait until you post it. Do casinos let you take photos inside? I know malls and such get weird about it, so wasn’t sure if casinos also did.
I think another fair reason that I dislike Vegas is because everything everywhere is sticky. Which is maybe also true of Iowa casinos, I don’t know.
I don’t know HOW Wendy’s beef is the one that most feels/tastes like it got left in the back of someone’s deep freeze for three years on accident. It’s honestly jarring. Charlie will get a burger from there, too, if I abjectly refuse to go to McDonald’s and we don’t have time for somewhere nicer. It reinforces my opinion that kids are not to be trusted in matters of taste (which is why they like a vaguely creepy clown selling them a burger).
I think the only Hardee’s we ever make it to is the one in… not Story City. North of that. Jewell? I’ll try and get up there and try the burger. We almost NEVER make it to an A&W, just due to the inconvenience.
Fast food chicken power rankings:
#1 – Popeyes
#2 – Raising Canes
#3 – Chick-fil-A
#4 – KFC
#5 – Slim Chickens in Ankeny (just terrible)
OH, I know that Billy Goat’s Tavern place, we ate there this September. One of the kids did get a grilled hot dog at the Shake Shake there, and that was easily the best item on our table.
There’s definitely a reason Smashburger closed quickly in Ankeny. It didn’t do anything that anywhere else couldn’t do better.
A Ginny Grinder isn’t a restaurant. It is a type of sandwich. Now just frequently called Italian Grinders, you know, to be less racist. The name of the restaurant in Grimes is Mema’s Italian Grinders. It is carryout only. I might have to go get me some Kwik Star chicken for lunch today. Or when I work in Ames, I frequently got The Filling Station and pick up one of their wraps and some broccoli salad if I’m trying to eat healthier.
But my go to at the State Fair used to be Jennie’s Grinders, but she died a few years back and it has never come back, despite rumors it would. Right next to where Jennie’s Grinders used to be is Gizmo’s. Which is a similar sandwich, but at the same time manages to be trash.
I don’t know if I ever got any of the shots I wanted, but I have some hopes for a picture I took of Pennywise and Freddy Kruger. There is a neon sign graveyard near Vegas that I would like to visit some day. I might have to visit Vegas someday when it isn’t for work. So I can actually see more things.
Vegas definitely isn’t a clean town. They also aren’t equipped to handle rain. When it rained on Saturday night, Las Vegas Boulevard flooded. At least part of it did. I got a picture of a family pushing a stroller through it.
I must have had a unique experience at Slim Chickens. I actually really liked it. But everybody else I’ve talked to has had the same experience as you. I like Popeyes okay. I don’t know I would put it above Raising Canes, but it does have better sides. KFC is another place like Burger King. Just once a year or so I have a deep craving for it. But since there isn’t one in Boone or Ames, I haven’t had KFC since before the pandemic. I will go out of my way to hit Long John’s though. If I am on the east side of Des Moines, I will definitely go through the LJS/A&W restaurant by the fairgrounds.
But the thing that makes it hard for me to wrap my mind around the list is that they are kind of different types of chicken. It is hard for me to compare fried chicken to chicken sandwiches to chicken tenders.
And back when I worked for the Evil Clown Empire, the doddering old man that owned it was definitely under the illusion that he owned a classy place. He hated the Play Place at the Boone Outpost and vowed he would never put one in another one of his stores. Even though, people came from all over the place to come to that store cause it was the only one in the area with a decent Play Place. I guess he didn’t like making money.
My dad is a big fan of grinders (I’m unsure on his stance on if he likes the racist ones best). I know he pretty consistently goes to Graziano’s to get theirs. I have some weird aversion to tomato sauce on sandwiches (I haaaate chicken parm or chicken parm sandwiches), so I’ve never ordered one. I’ll have to give it a shot – but not at the state fair, apparently! I’ve never had Burgie’s wraps, I’ll have to try them – I’ve only had their breakfast burritos and tenderloins.
Both the horror show and stroller pictures sound great. I had no idea that they had that poor of watershed management – I guess it makes sense it’s not a priority in the desert, but I’d think there’s be so much damage if it gets out of control that you’d have to in order for any of the casinos to get insurance. I can’t wait to see the stroller picture in particular – that sounds like a “seventh circle of hell” type of situation as a parent. Although, to be fair, I think bringing a child to Vegas also sounds terrible. There’s just so little for them there.
Jon didn’t HATE Slim Chickens, but didn’t love it. He’s gone back a second time, whereas I have drawn a very firm line in the sand. If I remember correctly, they did have some sauce that was pretty good, but that was the only bright spot.
I’m very swayed by sides, in case you can’t tell – their sides are the best around. Canes has good toast, but it’s not better than the Popeye’s biscuits. Canes has better fries, but everything else on the sides menu at Popeye’s is better. I can’t tell you the last time I ate at a KFC – well before the one in Ames closed. I know some people would cut someone for the bowls. I’ve been curious if the Long John’s in Fort Dodge still exists – that was sort of their “classy” fast food for a long time (other than the obvious Tico caveat).
There really isn’t a good scale you can use to measure fast food chicken, because so much of it is so different. Popeyes has popcorn chicken that is better than their tenders, and I think their sandwiches are pretty good. Canes has tenders. You could even include McDonald’s or Wendy’s burgers, if you wanted to stretch the list to not only include chicken-focused restaurants; I do not want to stretch the list in this manner.
That doesn’t even make sense. Parents would specifically have play dates and meet ups at the Play Place. While it should likely have come with hazmat suits, as a parent that would totally be outweighed by the fact that it was a safe way for your kids to burn off energy while you sat and sipped a coffee with friends. I don’t know if Chick-Fil-A still has a play place? It’s nowhere near as good, if it does. And I understand the BK one in Ames had rats. So the Boone one still won by a mile.