ramblings from an arkansas farm girl
Every spring is the only spring – a perpetual astonishment. – Ellis Peters
pink flock
pink hyacinth
old pink gate
butterfly and pink phlox
Jesus beyond the pink
Grace Grits and Gardening
Musical Pairing:
The Psychedelic Furs, Pretty in Pink
DANG IT’S COLD! For one day and one day only (thank goodness) spring has disappeared from the Ozark Mountains and winter has returned. Rude this time of year, don’t you agree?
This morning I am trying to summon the will to unbury myself from my cozy, warm bed. The coffee pot in my Dairy Hollow room is waaaaaaaaay over there. See it sitting on top of that little refrigerator?
Between here and there spreads several feet of icy concrete. And my feet are bare. If only I had genie powers…
As a kid, if someone granted me one wish and I could have been anyone—real, imagined, dead, alive, rich, famous—anyone, I would have chosen Jeannie, from the 1970s sitcom I Dream of Jeannie. I loved everything about her. The way her blonde ponytail bounced when she blinked and performed magic, her dreamy outfit that showed off her curvy body, her super groovy bottle decorated inside like…well, like a genie’s bedroom should be decorated with poofy pillows and sheer fabric and low lighting.
And Major Nelson? ohh la la. He was cute before he became an evil oil baron.
Alas I am not Jeannie, and I must make my own magic. Right now I’m gonna make coffee.
Happy Tuesday everyone!
Grace Grits and Gardening
Musical Pairing:
I Dream of Jeannie
“Magic is believing in yourself, if you can do that, you can make anything happen.”
― Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
If you’ve been keeping up, you know on Friday I drove to Eureka Springs. My friend Tom was along for the ride. Tom is a travel writer and one of his foodie rules is no chain restaurants. That rule suits me fine.
I had my own foodie rule. The restaurant had to be on the right side of the road. We were on a mission to get to Dairy Hollow by suppertime and precious minutes could be lost exiting, circling back and driving the opposite direction to try out a diner on the other side of the highway. Plus, there had to be p*l*e*n*t*y of options on our side of the road. Right?
Not really.
Wheeler’s Restaurant, Kiowa, Oklahoma
But we did find Wheeler’s Restaurant in Kiowa, just between Atoka and Savanna. The place was decorated in full fledged cowboy and indian motif with John Wayne photos, knotty pine paneling, and wagon wheel light fixtures. Had we stumbled into a western movie set?
Even the bathroom was in costume with barbed wire around the ceiling where molding normally goes. Check out this sink made from a vintage splatter ware bowl. Very cool!
splatter ware sink – Wheeler’s Restaurant
Our waitress was as friendly as a first cousin and the other diners were local, regular folks too. I could tell.
Tom eyed platters of burgers and fries being served to the two guys at the table beside us and had what they were having. He made a great choice. Behind the swinging saloon kitchen doors, someone was frying up burgers on a seasoned grill the way burgers were meant to be cooked. I was too busy eating my stew to take a picture of Tom’s food. Delicious.
Beef Stew at Wheeler’s Restaurant. Heavenly cornbread too!
Let me just end this post by showing you a picture of the amazing pies made fresh and served daily at Wheeler’s. Oh my the meringue was perfection. Blueberry. Lemon. Coconut Cream. Chocolate. But we resisted, had no pie, hit the road and stuck to our schedule.
The next time I travel through Oklahoma (without my dogs) I’ll stop at Wheeler’s Restaurant again. And really, I’d cross to the other side of the road to try that mighty fine looking pie.
Grace Grits and Gardening
Best John Wayne Movie Quotes
