Today was certainly an educational day. Do you know how much corn is being grown in Middle America?! Holy Toledo - err...Omaha? Anyway, there was a lot of pastoral Americana to be had today; a true feast for the eyes. One pleasant surprise: wind power! Iowa (note the $6 t-shirt) is chock full of beeeeautiful turbines, pumping out clean energy. Be still, my hippie heart.
Today we stopped for lunch in Omaha, NE. Mom and I had done a little online research the night before and found directions to a Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives Restaurant that we were excited to try. Alas, the restaurant closed at 2pm and we arrived at exactly 2:19pm. We proceeded to drive aimlessly around Omaha for about 2o minutes, getting increasingly annoyed until we stumbled upon this:
You had us at "rainbow umbrellas" - the restaurant is called McFoster's Natural Kind Cafe. Come on, seriously? You're making this too easy. The menu was full of fresh produce and embarrassingly exciting vegetarian options. I ordered the 'Morrockin' Salad' with falafel and hummus on top of tons of vegetables. Mom ordered a salmon sandwich with a beautiful grain salad on the side. This was truly a gift from Omaha, and a reassurance that maybe I was being too snobbish to assume that it would be difficult to find vegetarian food in Middle America.
After a very long drive through very flat country, we finally arrived in North Platte, NE. However, the history nerd inside me got really excited to hit part of the Lewis and Clark Trail between Iowa and Nebraska (Shout out, Dr. Thorp!). We settle into our third Comfort Inn of the trip, but found that there were VERY few dining choices in North Platte. We decided on a place called Whiskey Creek Wood Fire Grill. Uh-oh. At least there were fun Wild West amusements on the way! Mom just had to tempt a grizzly.
So, actually quite typically of steakhouses, there were zero vegetarian options on the menu apart from the house salad (aka: iceburg lettuce with shredded cheese and ranch.) I went with what they called rattlesnake pasta, which was supposed to include red peppers, onions, and chicken - I just asked them to hold the chicken. What I got was a buttery, creamy bowl of pasta with one pathetic slice of onion in it. Of course it tasted good, it just wasn't what I wanted. But I felt validated that even at a steakhouse in Nebraska, I could find something fattening to eat and wouldn't starve. God Bless America.
Lesson(s) Learned: There are hippies everywhere. Even Nebraska.
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