A Failed Plan



People do not plan to fail, they fail to plan.

I am sure that like me you have heard this phrase from every insurance salesman you have ever met.
Well last week on a road trip to NW Iowa, Central Patti and I discovered that if you don’t plan you will fail.

First we did not look at any road reports as we departed Kansas City because if we had we would have known that the two main routes out of Kansas City were closed and saved us an extra half hour detour.


We then arrived in Council Bluffs and were really looking forward to staying at Harrah’s and having a few cocktails and dinner in the 360 Steakhouse overlooking the mighty Mississippi and the Omaha Skyline.


We got out of the car, parking the in self serve lot opting to not use valet. Grabbing our luggage and I a couple of shirts and a pair of slacks we headed for the lobby. As we walked (about a block) Central Patti said, “I wonder if we should have checked to see if there are any rooms?” I scoffed at this suggestion thinking how full could this huge hotel be?
 
As Patti was inquiring at the desk I was looking through the lobby and the casino becoming high in anticipation of all the fun we would be having in a short while after a quick shower and change of clothes. 


As I approached the desk I heard the clerk say, “I can call another hotel for you.”

Well that did not make me happy. Patti looked at me and said out loud , “you have got to be shitting me!”

The clerk was very professional and did find us about the only room left in the area. The last thing the clerk said was “it is a really nice place.”

As we walked the longest mile back to the car I was fuming and when my pants dropped off the hanger on the hot parking lot that was the last straw. My suite case flew out of my hands and slid across the parking lot stopping as it hit the tire of our car. 


I called the Ameristar and again found no room at the in. The accommodation the clerk procured for us was at the “beautiful” Comfort Inn. Not to be confused with the Comfort Inn and Suites as this inn had no suites and I was just excited when it had a bed and a shower. We were officially slumming and did I mention that we had a room with a smell (no extra charge)


I was prepared to walk next door to the gas station and get a pizza and a six pack and eat in the room. Not a bad plan except after arriving at the station we discovered they were out of pizza and the kitchen was closed.

Yes, I was pissed again.


Central Patti talked me in to getting back in the car and would drive us to a place to grab a bite. First stop was packed, second stop again packed, finally we found a Hooters which had plenty of parking (should have been a sign, you think?) and as we were very hungry we entered what could have been the worst Hooters in the country.
 
The waitresses, while cute were very  young (or I am just getting to old to enjoy this type of outing anymore) the establishment did not look and was not all that clean and probably had not been renovated since it was built. Menus were faded and worn and a little soggy and our table was filthy.


At this point I had almost had enough, but needed a drink so we stayed. Cindy waited on us and was the best of the lot with a nice “set” bulging from her top so I had the going for me.


The meal was really quite good so things started to pick up. After few cocktails we paid our tab and drove out of the parking lot in search of a liquor store. We found one after only a short couple of block search and knew at this point our luck had indeed change.
 
Picking up a couple of bottles, a mixer and two cigars we headed back to our place of lodging spending fifty on dinner and drinks and another ninety at on booze and cigars.

 The Bar du Jour



Back at the Inn we found there was a gazebo out the side door and moved the bar, my Bluetooth phone and speaker and of course our bar to the great outdoors. Finally after a few cocktails and a cigar I could relax which would set the state for the rest of the weekend turning the “Failed Plan” into a really enjoyable evening.







CheersThe Professor

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Riding the Rails, Clickety Clack

Image
A few weeks back we took the Amtrak from K.C. to Naperville Ill. and as usual we had a great time. If you have never taken the opportunity to travel by train you do not know what you are missing. I recommend for your first trip nothing over four hours just in case you may not enjoy train travel. Also this will keep the price at a minimum and I recommend choosing your travel dates that are not during the peek seasons. (From around June 15th to August 15th.) to avoid high ticket prices You will be pleasantly surprised by the size of the train cars and the size of the seats. The cars are two levels with the lower level where you put your luggage when boarding, handicap seating and the rest room/changing rooms. We generally sit in the club car (now called the observation car) where they have many booths and seats and then entire care is plexieglass so you can see the beautiful sites as you travel. You can even carry on your own food and drinks and yes this means you can carry on your own
Read more

A Spittoon and a Blanket

Yes, what I really meant was a chamber pot; however at one in the morning staging down the long dim hallway with the creaky wooden floors and facing the long stairway down to the bathroom spittoon was all I could think of. The evening started innocent enough as we were traversing the interstate from K.C. MO to NW Iowa for a visit. I did not have a drink until after 5:00 and I was not driving, but as usually I never went anywhere without my trusty ten shot flask. That day it was loaded with Buffalo Trace Bourbon. By the way it had been awhile since I had imbibed in Buffalo Trace and I had forgotten how good it was. We arrived at the farm and continued happy hour. As the night progressed I opened the new bottle of Four Roses (the official Bourbon of MySideOfTheBar) that Central Patti had purchased as part of a case and kept drinking throughout the night. As the night progressed and the bottle emptied we headed up the afore mentioned stairs and to bed. I woke a couple of hours later a
Read more

The Key West Cocktail Challenge

Image
Recently we were on the road with MySideOfTheBar in Key West with a couple of "Unusual Suspect" friends of ours. As you might expect we were in a bar when A.S. found a brochure for the Key West Cocktail Challenge. Also as you might expect we took up the challenge. The premise was easy, visit 6 participating bars, enjoy their signature cocktail and you get a T-Shirt. You can visit them in any order and take as long as you need to. (you could even do it in 6 days, but...) I am not going to try to describe each bar as you can follow the links to see and learn more. The first stop was The Green Parrot Bar . The Green Parrot is an open air old school bar that I absolutely loved. Their signature drink was Root Beer Barrel and at least two of us liked it ;) Stop two took us to Charlie Mac's and beside the great Signature Drink, it is also a BBQ joint. We only had the chicken wings, however they were awesome. The drink here was the Huckleberry Lemonade and I have to
Read more