Category Archives: USA
New Jersey’s Toxic Waste
I have my obligatory New Jersey toxic waste story now. I still feel A little ill from the fumes and thinking about the mess makes me nauseous. People kept telling me that Jersey was actually a decent place and that it wasn’t as bad as everyone said. But then I hit the Reo Diner.
It came recommended at the hotel, apparently people said it was pretty good. They didn’t have what I had. Now there are ways to serve rancid meat so that it’s not quite so bad. Luke warm and covered in gravy is not an effective way to do this.
I don’t know that it was the meat that made me ill. It could have been the eggplant dish which was very gritty. Either dish alone would have been cause for complaint. It must be said, however that the baked potato was the perfect thing to help buffer the reaction in my gut. That’s what helped me to limp back to the hotel without pulling over to the side of the road.
Good Places To Eat Near Rahway New Jersey
Since I posted my Toxic Waste story, I felt like I should mention some of the good places I ate.
I got some ice cream at the Colonia Dairy Maid and it was excellent. The line was out the door and around the building and stays that way.
Dimple’s Bombay Talk restaurant. Pav Bhaji – dipping bread with a sauce of pureèd tomatos, bell peppers, onions and other veggies. With lime you could squeeze into the dish for taste. I ordered a homemade Malai Kulfi for desert. It was like a small slab of hard ice cream cut into bite size pieces and served on a plate. The flavor was good, not overly sweet and with just a bit of savory.
Fort Morgan, Colorado
I’m back in Fort Morgan, population ~11,000. Last time here the place smelled awful due to a couple of industrial stink manufacturing plants. As a byproduct they also produced sugar from beets and…whatever you get from a cattle rendering plant. The beets smelled worse. And before I came I read that the beet plant had been smelling really foul lately, to the point where some of the old timers even complained about the smell to the town council.
Needless to say I was not looking forward to this trip. Actually I was dreading it. This is the place I had dubbed “Stink Town USA.”
Beet processing season is apparently over now so there is only one affront to the sense of smell here now. And since that’s on the East side of town, the West is relatively safe.
The weather is getting warmer here – highs this week in the low 90s – but is still comfortable in anything but the bright sun at the height of the day. Nights are in the fifties and sixties.
I realized that this is actually kind if a nice town without the stink. And I’m enjoying myself despite my dire expectations. Granted, it’s a small place – only a few restaurants and no real nightlife to speak of – but it’s comfortable for a few days.
That goes to show the value of keeping an open mind when traveling. A place might not be what you expected and that might be a good thing. Make an effort to allow your expectations to be dispeoven and they often will. Whether you see that as good or bad is up to you but if you let yourself be wrong you can sure learn a lot.
From California Route 1
Hurtling down a thread of pavement tracing the curves at the edge of a continent. Gas. Brake. Gas gas brake. Clouds hanging in the sky above coating the Sierra on one side and mirroring the Pacific on the other.
meanderingwoods 