Heads Up!

I'm probably going to make some of you seasick with my switching back and forth in time, so I apologize in advance for that. But, if you're still hanging in there with me, let me take you back to Day Two of the Trip That We Thought Might Never End.

You know, a lot of people just assume that everything takes us longer because we have four kids. That would sort of seem like a given, but that wasn't necessarily true in our case. I think at some point we just decided, "We'll get there when we get there," as evidenced by the fact that we went more than 10 miles out of the way to eat dinner on the Wednesday night of our trip. Plus, I mentioned in a previous post that we were packed in the van like sardines in a can (hey, "packed in the van like sardines in a can"--that rhymes!) and it seems that every time we were ready to leave someplace, it took a good half-hour to get everyone situated again. But that's neither here nor there . . .

Wednesday evening we had only gotten as far as Ozark, MO and wouldn't you know it? There is a Lambert's Cafe in Ozark! What is Lambert's Cafe, you ask? Why, it's "The Only Home of Throwed Rolls!" Please don't tell me you've never heard of this little gem of a restaurant with all its culinary delights . . . seriously? Okay, let me fill you in. This place has been around forever (and in fact it has three locations, the other two being in Sikeston, MO and Foley, AL) and it specializes in home cooking, and LOTS of it. Your meal is served in what looks like a big washtub--well, no, the plates aren't that big, but that is seriously what the servers walk around with, ladling out everything from fried potatoes to macaroni and tomatoes (who thought up THAT combo?) to fried okra to black-eyed peas to I can't remember what else. And that's ON TOP of the meal you order. I've been to Lambert's once before, but I'd forgotten just how much food you wind up with, and being there with a husband and four kids whose eyes are popping with the introduction of each new food, and can't turn down a one of them . . . well, let's just say we almost had to seat two kids on our shoulders to have enough space on the table for all the grub!

Anyway, other than their world-famous sweet tea, Lambert's Cafe's claim to fame is their rolls. Well, no, not the rolls, but the way in which they deliver their rolls to you. Let me set the stage for you: A server walks out into the middle of what is ALWAYS an overcrowded dining hall, with booths lining three sides as well. This place is BIG. And then you hear, "Hot rolls!" or "Fresh rolls!" or some variation thereof. Hands shoot into the air, and the next thing you know, rolls are flying around the room like missiles! And buddy, you'd better be ready to play catch because once the server lets it fly, it's coming straight to you! I read in a newspaper article that the servers are actually trained to have 100% accuracy when throwing anywhere in the room, over any number of heads. So, it makes for a fun dining experience, especially for kids--can't you just picture it? In fact, kids always eat more rolls than anything just so they can have one thrown their way! But trust me on this: you'd better have a "five-second" rule in place before walking in because you can bet at least one person at your table will end up eating a roll that has landed on the floor!