A New Best Friiend In Effingham, IL

Our View Most Of The Trip

Getting Closer

Arrived

Finally, Dinner and a Beer

Up early, because we are an hour ahead here in Effingham; it's 7:00 in Chautauqua but only 6:00 here at the Hampton Inn.  I actually woke at 4:30 but was able to get back to sleep.  At the moment I am sitting in the breakfast room at the Hampton Inn, having my coffee, some breakfast.

Yesterday was a gray, wet and rainy day most of the way, not much to see through the wind shield wipers.  But traffic was not bad, only two short traffic stops, one for construction, another for a truck that had just gone off the road and turned over.  We arrived at our destination, the Effingham Hampton Inn around 4:00,  just what we expected.

With Steve, Our New Best Friend

Our Favorites Bar Tenders In Effingham, Brittany and Jake

Around 5:45, we went next door to the Lone Star Steak House, sat at our favorite bar in Effingham and ran in to just the kind of guy we were looking for, Steve from Illinois.  A big  guy as you can see, with a shaved head, he's a dyed in the wool Illinois fan, having worked for the athletic department for twenty years, not as a coach but with equipment.  Now he manages the local B W 3's, but seems to have his dinner most nights here at the Lone Star.  He's a large guy, well over 250 pounds I would guess and has loss forty pounds recently, on his singular diet of Lone Star rolls, potato skins, smothered in A-1 sauce. And he washed his meal down with at least six or seven 22 ounce beers (which he sprinkled with the Lime Salt he brings with him in small bottles). To counter act the salt, he takes potassium tablets each morning from the Illinois Athletic Department.  He was a talker, telling us his life story, wives, divorces, kids and girl friends interspersed with his athletic exploits.  He had at least four phone calls in the hour we sat with him and was constantly texting.  I assume he was in his late 40's, seemed to know everyone who worked at the bar, had even just hired away one of the waitresses but it was no problem. A few thing about him.  He's a great baseball player, having played on traveling All Star teams all over the world, New Zealand, South Africa, you name it.  He said basketball was his favorite sport after I was able to mention I had played basketball.  His high school team was the first to go to State.  At 240, he could stand under the basket and dunk, had a 30 inch vertical jump.  And he played football, of course, but was fuzzy on that.  In between his two marriages, he had a mixed race child, a girl, who was sexually abused in 2nd grade and now gets $8000.00 a month in reparations.  His son is about to marry a Swedish millionaire's daughter, has a patent on a new type of duct vent, which will make him a millionaire many times over.  His brother owns 9 BW's, three homes on Florida beaches, as does his Aunt, also a millionaire.  He wants us to call the next time we are in town; took our number and name so we could keep in touch.  Around 7;30, he was off, for home, to his new girl friend, to sleep,  O, yea, I forgot, just before his new girl friend broke up with him briefly, he gave her $50,000 for a down payment on a house.  He didn't ask for it back; did not think it would be right but after her grandfather passed away, they have gotten back together.  Today, he's taking a  couple of his waitresses to Terre Haute for oysters since they have never had them before. Whew.

We got back to the Inn around 8::00, having had too many beers, at least I did.  We did have good meals, mine a Bubba burger, with bacon and barbecue sauce, Evie had a chicken breast with a great cheesy sauce over it.  Both were great.  We came back, watched Bill Maher's Real Time on TV before falling asleep.

It's very cold this morning, wind chill in the teens, and will be cold in Kansas City as well.  Fortunately, there's no snow, so we have about a six hour drive, should be at Tom's around 2:30 or 3:00.  Tonight, we go off to a fundraiser with Evie's sister Jean, a charity she loves to support.  It has a Trivial Pursuit Theme, which will be fun since Tom and his family are coming along as well.  Time to hit the road.