I stopped at the Big Texan, in Amarillo for lunch. The place was nearly empty, as I was a bit early for lunch and the weather was turning awful. High winds, much like the ones in South Dakota were present the entire day, and dark storm clouds covered much of the Texas panhandle. For those of you that don't know, the Big Texan is the restaurant that advertises a FREE 72 oz. steak. The catch is that you have to eat the whole meal in 1 hour, and no breaks. You stand up, the house wins. The price of failure? 72 dollars. When I got there, a fellow had just started in on his attempt. In the 40 minutes I was there, he made decent progress, but I'm pretty sure he walked out of there feeling sick and $72 lighter.
From then on I continued west, got sprinkled on a little, but outran the rain clouds. Stopped in Clines Corners in New Mexico, to see what all the billboards were about, and use the rest room. In the parking lot, a woman noticed the Oregon tag on the bike, and asked if I was from there. I started to tell my story, and the fact that I live in California, but am originally from New York. Well, so was she, and her friend that joined us was in the process of moving from NY to Chandler, AZ. Too funny. 2 days ago at a rest stop, I met a couple moving from New Jersey to the Palm Springs area.
The wind did a number on me today, and sapped a good deal of energy riding through it. No missing tail bags, thankfully. But I called it a day in Gallup, NM. I'm planning to get an early start, head out to the Grand Canyon, and then into Phoenix to meet some friends.
The Route 66 museum in Elk City, OK.
The Big Texan.
I am pretty sure it did not end well for this fellow. With 20 minutes left to go, he was looking pretty unhappy.
My much more sensible 8 oz. steak, which was delicious. As was the sweet tea.
4 comments:
72 oz doesn't look too big. I think I could take it!
gah... that's a huge piece of meat! I wonder if you can get a doggy-bag.
Okay, as someone who use to actually haunt the Big Texan on a regular basis (you be in my neck of the woods now, boy), that "all you can eat" is closer to "all you can stomach." They usually (or at least use to) use low grade beef, so its full of gristle, etc. I've done this ONCE. I finished off all the eatable parts, handed the dish back, and the woman said, "You have to clear your plate, that included." I asked where I payed for my meal :)
Clines Corners... my favorite tourist trap. Did you notice the houses out back of that place? That's where the help lives. Nobody commutes to work at Clines Corners. When I was a kid, this was a common stop for us on the way to Sante Fe (IIRC) as we were coming up the non-main route to get ON the main route. You have to have seen it once. Hope they didn't gouge your pocket book too deeply.
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