On Nov. 23, 2005 I moved to The Hague from Washington, DC. This is my new Dutch life.

3.22.2007

There's No Basement in the Alamo

In case I was pining away for Texas, I could go here for my birthday dinner: Condor City. Heh. Yee Haw!

One of my all time favorite movies has one of my all time favorite movie scenes. I could watch "Pee Wee's Big Adventure" any day just for the scene when Pee Wee goes to the Alamo looking for his stolen bike in the basement. Few movies feature the city I consider my home town (yes I get to choose b/c I was an army brat) even though it boasts one of the nicest downtowns anywhere. Pee Wee's film is particularly choice.

What I miss most about about San Antonio, and it isn't ranch-style houses with the gravel landscaping, is the food. As much as French food intrigues me and Indian food calls out to me every day, nothing and I mean nothing compares to a sloppy plate of TexMex goodness. You haven't lived if you haven't had heuvos rancheros in the wee hours of the morning while still a little drunk.

Even though I haven't eaten meat in 10 years, save for one Xmas dinner at Ivaner's Auntie's house and a desperate McChicken sandwich in New Jersey, I do occasionally have cravings for flesh, usually Texas delights. Obviously we can all wax poetic for a juicy, Texas Longhorn steak. But, there is one item that might compel me to eat meat right now: the Macho Cheeseburger from Chris Madrids in San Antonio. That is some seriously good hamburger right there. My mouth waters just thinking about it.



I'm not the only one that feels this way. I took that photo of the famous Chris Madrids bumper sticker last October on the summit of Mt. Kilimanjaro. It was stuck to the box that was supposed to contain the log. Surreal and yet not surprising.

As much as I love, love, love TexMex food, I've never really been into Fajitas. But what I wouldn't give for a Taco Cabana bean and cheese taco any day of the year. Back in high school, I lived on that $0.39 goodness. Yep you read that right. Thirty-nine cents.

And of course I miss Dr. Pepper (also from Texas) like my life depended on it. Thank god I had a fast metabolism because I nursed a 40oz tumbler of Dr. Pepper everyday, all day for three years. Sometimes we refilled at lunch. Crazy.

Long about 1991, Stop-n-Go sold these giant bottles that would change color depending on the temperature of the liquid inside. If you bought a bottle, then you got free soda refills all summer. Good for me and my low-on-cash friends. Bad for Stop-n-Go. Several franchises went out of business from this promotion. Say what you will about the rest of the film, there is real truth to the Big Gulp bit in the movie "Reality Bites," though I can't speak for the Houston soda drinking scene . Reid will have to fill us in on the haps in East Texas.

I apologize for this ramble, but consider this the first entry in a series of things that are great about 'Merica. I leave you with a clip from one of the best movies. Ever. Too bad nobody has uploaded the Alamo clip on YouTube.

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1 Comments:

Blogger Reid said...

I can verify that we did have soft drinks in Southeast Texas. And we drank them. But I was never cool enough to make the scene.

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