24 March 2015

Breakfast in America, and a packing report

On Saturday morning we went to breakfast at Shirley's Market in Virginia Beach, Virginia. It was a really good and very typical American breakfast experience. I thought I'd post a photo of the place plus some photos I took of the menu.


If you are not American, you might not be familiar with sausage patties, Texas toast, home fries, French toast, buttermilk biscuits, or sausage gravy. All are items on the breakfast menu at Shirley's and thousands of similar grills, diners, cafés, and restaurants across the U.S.


You can also get one of these omelets. Chesapeake Bay crab meat (from blue crabs), American cheese (processed cheese — highly industrial as they would say in France) and Philly steak are foods you might not know much about.


And finally how about an "eggzilla"? It's a real pig-out, from the looks of it. Do you know what fixings are?


Finally, it's Monday morning as I type this and I'm all packed. Question was: would everything fit in the suitcase + carry-on? It did. Now the question is: how much does the suitcase weigh? I have to haul it over to the community center because there's a bathroom scale over there. Max. weight allowed is 50 lbs.

A few minutes later: good news — it weighs in at 46 lbs. I'm good to go. Packed are three pairs of jeans, 15 or 20 T-shirts, countless pairs of socks, one can each of baby lima beans and field peas, at least 10 bottles of hot sauce and liquid smoke, two pairs of shoes, a wide variety of drugstore items, and a lot of other things I just couldn't live without — including a bag of bagels.

29 comments:

  1. Ken, there is a chain of American Diners in the UK...
    and Little Chef roadside "restaurants" are very much like those, too...
    but the pancakes tend to err on the side of caution and are more like thickish crepes...
    but those, interlaced with streaky bacon and topped with maple syrup...
    wonderful!

    I'll have the eggzilla....
    not because I want to stuff myself...
    but we're trying to keep up with the chickens...
    we've gone from half-a-dozen eggs a week to fourteen!!
    Welcome home...
    you've arrived back just in time for the change-of-season-lag as well as jet-lag!!

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    1. Thanks, here I am in the TGV station at Roissy-CDG, waiting for my 10:16 train to Tours-SPdC. Had a good flight and mmy bag made the connection at ATL. Life is good.

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  2. The food prices seem very reasonable, cheap even. Liquid smoke?

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    1. Remember that the U.S. dollar is worth more than the Aus. $. Here's some info about liquid smoke.

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    2. Ah, for smoking food. Yes, it wasn't so long ago when our dollar was the same, but now, knock off 20% plus. Then add taxes and tips/service charge. I am somewhat nervous about tipping during our visit to New York mid year. I am sure I will have a waiter running after me shaking his fist.

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  3. Glad you didn't have any excess baggage and made it safely.

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    1. My suitcase weighed in at 51 lbs. at the airport, but they didn't scold or penalize me when I checked in. Everything arrived in good condition.

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    2. A cynical person would think the airline skews the weight on the scale to their advantage, lol.

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    3. That thought occurred to me.

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  4. Ahh, you are probably home by now. Glad your travel seems to have gone well :)

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    1. I had an easy and pleasant journey home. Walked in the vineyard (and the cold rain) with Callie this afternoon.

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    2. "Walked in the vineyard (and the cold rain)"....
      that'll get rid of any jet lag!!

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  5. There's no place like home and today there are bagels! Glad the trip went well.

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    1. I'll need to go lget some cream cheese -- fromage à tartiner -- tomorrow morning. Walt says there's a long list of things we need from SuperU.

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  6. Replies
    1. Thanks. Glad to get back home, despite the chilly rain falling over the vineyard.

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  7. Most of these dishes sound really yummy, but I couldn't have them for breakfast ... maybe lunch after a long morning of Château hopping :) The eggzilla is over the top though. 6 eggs!!! Better not have a cholesterol check after that :). Good to read you had a nice and safe trip. I'm sure it was lovely to see your mum and family again. Now it's back to work ... in and around the house in Saint-Aignan. Was Callie happy to see you? I'm sure Walt was!

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  8. so glad you are home - saw your note to Tim. so.... what did you order at the breakfast place? i would have had the steak n eggs
    ;-)

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    1. I went simple: 2 eggs sunnyside-up, bacon, and a biscuit. We had had a big dinner the night before, including fried chicken, steamed asparagus, baby lima beans, etc.

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  9. I've now been awake for 32+ hours. I'm going to try to stay up for 3 more hours this evening.

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  10. It isn't very expensive place..

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  11. You always make my home here in ENC seem like a holiday resort when you are out and about with a camera. You see things that us locals miss on our daily outings and take for granted! Yet, I am always in awe of the beauty of nature on the tidal creek I live on. I'm glad you had a safe trip and I am looking forwarded to more of life in France!

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    1. I've come to realize that Carteret County and the nearby counties, with their tidal creeks, barrier islands, salt marshes, and pine forests, are pretty exotic.

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  12. I'm glad there are still some things you want from the U.S. Jeans, of course! :)

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    1. There would be many more things -- cheese, wine, bread, French films, and on and on -- that I would want from France if I lived in the U.S. I'm happy here.

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  13. Of course I know what fixin's are.. As in all the fixin's. Any southern person knows that.
    Now do you who I am? Cousin

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    1. Jeff, I don't know if you will ever see this, but I just discovered this comment on my blog. I've spent the morning in virtual E.N.C. looking back at blog posts from when I was there visiting with MA and Joanna.

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