tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-18400633583693351852024-03-13T09:04:29.783-05:00Tom's BlogSharing my thoughts, ideas and experiences while enjoying my retirement to it's fullest extent.Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.comBlogger50125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-85302639826760348982015-01-25T10:00:00.000-06:002015-01-25T10:03:49.707-06:00Burgerquest Final Results<span style="font-size: large;">The "Burger Quest" is over. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Thursday the 22nd of January 2015 marked the end of our "Quest".</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We "Burgerteers" want everyone to know that our "Burger Quest" was not meant to be, nor is it, the final word on burgers here in Merida. However, we stand united that we feel our findings will tickle your taste buds and give you reason to smile!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our final four, in no particular order, were </span><span style="font-size: large;">La Rueda Parrilla Gaucha Norte, La Cabaña Sonorense Steak House, La Recova </span><span style="font-size: large;">Montejo Parrilla Argentina & Contemporanea </span><span style="font-size: large;">and La Pamplona </span><span style="font-size: large;">Steak House by Salamanca</span><span style="font-size: large;">.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The aforementioned names are the full names of each restaurant.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We also went to them in that order not by preference but by time constraints and ease of flow from one to the other.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">FYI: We finished the day at Dairy Queen!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">At each restaurant we ordered the true and steadfast naked burger. Bun and meat only! Nothing else just the bread and the meat. Each was asked to cook it either medium or medium rare due to the way it was cooked at our previous visit.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br />This process took four hours to consume the equivalent of one burger per "Burgerteer"!<br />We started at 12:30 and finished at 4:30 and a consensus was reached.</span>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Note: A point of observance that we would like to pass along</span><span style="font-size: large;"> to you, our loyal followers......we have noticed a trend for almost every restaurant to cook their burgers a little bit rarer than what you ask for.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Of course before we reveal our findings allow me to take you through the day with us on our "Quest" of the Final Four!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We felt that it was appropriate to feature each of the final four with some additional words and a few more photos for your viewing pleasure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our first stop...........</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few pictures of the interior and patio area...</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once again I called ahead and Francisco Sosa, manager of La Rueda, allowed us to have a burger if we got there early which is why we started here.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our waiter, Jorge, who had also waited on us on our previous visit was there and was at the table as we were seated. He speaks English.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We got our menus and he took our drink orders.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2DKp0pDz-wE/VMJ-PfVikwI/AAAAAAAAGkE/_ayojFhAWE0/s1600/P1080122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2DKp0pDz-wE/VMJ-PfVikwI/AAAAAAAAGkE/_ayojFhAWE0/s1600/P1080122.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order. We ordered the Kobe beef style burger at 115 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium and of course to be cut in four pieces.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The Burgers at La Rueda come with no sides! </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You cannot order fries as they do not offer them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><i>Please see that at the bottom of the menu it states that the burgers are ONLY served after 7:30 PM.</i></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger arrived almost as ordered with no additional items, cut into four pieces but it was cooked more rare than medium as you can see. </span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B4_LTjOvP3o/VMJ-jpEbRqI/AAAAAAAAGlU/5ZobJJv6VnE/s1600/P1080135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-B4_LTjOvP3o/VMJ-jpEbRqI/AAAAAAAAGlU/5ZobJJv6VnE/s1600/P1080135.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ATthGYgGGzg/VMJ-i4Xa0dI/AAAAAAAAGlI/kMcSSZmJ9-w/s1600/P1080134.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ATthGYgGGzg/VMJ-i4Xa0dI/AAAAAAAAGlI/kMcSSZmJ9-w/s1600/P1080134.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The sesame bun was grilled, the patty was preformed but the meat had not been over worked which gives a much denser texture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The meat had been seared to a perfect level by a very hot grill. It gave it the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger while allowing for the interior to be very tender and juicy. To the best of our ability we feel it was seasoned only with salt.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The meat to bun ratio was spot on! </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This burger was setting the bar at a high level and as we strode to our steed and drew our swords we once again for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check out this link for more information: </span><span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Rueda/169246916447008" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Rueda/169246916447008</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our second stop..........</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few pictures of the interior and soon to be new bar area.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-obKx5f4sCBQ/VMKJxo8wWEI/AAAAAAAAGms/dRkzKq8HVnM/s1600/P1080148.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-obKx5f4sCBQ/VMKJxo8wWEI/AAAAAAAAGms/dRkzKq8HVnM/s1600/P1080148.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I'd like to add that this bar area will be separated from the dining area and closed off by doors so that when there are sporting events, etc the noise of the bar will not filter out into the dining areas.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were greeted at the door and seated. We received menus and the waiter took our drink order.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2mqCLf-67wM/VMKJo0ymtPI/AAAAAAAAGmI/J6a93i7wXTA/s1600/P1080141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2mqCLf-67wM/VMKJo0ymtPI/AAAAAAAAGmI/J6a93i7wXTA/s1600/P1080141.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order. We ordered the rib eye burger at 65 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium and of course to be cut in four pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Pedro, the owner, came out to greet us as he does just about every customer that enters his establishment.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger arrived as ordered with no additional items, cut into four pieces and cooked exactly medium.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N0JmBlZp2Mk/VMKJ4vY30DI/AAAAAAAAGnA/HMpVG-6Nc_4/s1600/P1080150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-N0JmBlZp2Mk/VMKJ4vY30DI/AAAAAAAAGnA/HMpVG-6Nc_4/s1600/P1080150.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /><br />The sesame bun was grilled, the patty was hand formed.<br /><br />The meat was not over worked.<br /><br />The meat had been seared to a perfect level by a very hot grill. It gave it the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger while allowing for the interior to be very tender and juicy. To the best of our ability we feel it was seasoned only with salt.<br /><br />The meat to bun ratio was spot on! </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This burger came with fries and they were very, very good. Cooked perfectly, they were crunchy but still soft in the middle and seasoned to a precise point where none of us had to add salt or anything.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once again as </span><span style="font-size: large;">we strode to our steed we drew our swords once again and for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check out this link for more information: <a href="https://www.facebook.com/LaCabanaSonorense" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/LaCabanaSonorense</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our third stop.........</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are a few pictures of the interior.........</span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_r_WrGr_vmE/VMKZEJybonI/AAAAAAAAGnY/-VLNge_oZoc/s1600/P1080155.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-_r_WrGr_vmE/VMKZEJybonI/AAAAAAAAGnY/-VLNge_oZoc/s1600/P1080155.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hRYXXP_dol8/VMKZJeWR_KI/AAAAAAAAGoA/aYfL3wSa8nM/s1600/P1080158.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-hRYXXP_dol8/VMKZJeWR_KI/AAAAAAAAGoA/aYfL3wSa8nM/s1600/P1080158.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is even more to this restaurant that I didn't take photos of. La Recova is an upscale restaurant and considered one of the "finer dining" restaurants here in Merida.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were greeted at the door and seated. We received menus and the waiter took our drink order.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7WqntckBZyM/VMKZSu_sizI/AAAAAAAAGog/rTiEwH8EPwI/s1600/P1080162.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7WqntckBZyM/VMKZSu_sizI/AAAAAAAAGog/rTiEwH8EPwI/s1600/P1080162.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order. We ordered the USDA Prime burger of the house (</span><span style="font-size: large;">de la casa) at 170 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium rare and of course to be cut in four pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger arrived almost as ordered with no additional items, cut into four pieces but cooked medium not medium rare.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The sesame bun was not grilled, the patty was preformed and over worked which gave it a denser texture and not very juicy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The meat was seasoned lightly with something besides salt.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The meat had been seared by a relatively hot grill but it only had a minimal amount of the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger. The interior was not tender and juicy.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><span style="font-size: large;">The meat to bun ratio was heavy on the meat side. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This burger came with souffléd potatoes which resembled small sopapillas. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check out this link for more information: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.larecovamerida.com/" target="_blank">http://www.larecovamerida.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Once again as </span><span style="font-size: large;">we strode to our steed we drew our swords again and for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our fourth and last stop.............</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E_5IyKPTjWU/VMKsDbotdQI/AAAAAAAAGo8/lyyUH1UOnO0/s1600/P1070727.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E_5IyKPTjWU/VMKsDbotdQI/AAAAAAAAGo8/lyyUH1UOnO0/s1600/P1070727.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are a couple of pictures of the interior.......</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6p-r8vSQt3Q/VMKusFBbp1I/AAAAAAAAGp8/Nl-4xuzwSjg/s1600/P1080176.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6p-r8vSQt3Q/VMKusFBbp1I/AAAAAAAAGp8/Nl-4xuzwSjg/s1600/P1080176.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Because of the hour that we arrived, around 3, the place was packed and the valet parking individual told us that the only seating was at the bar. So, we assumed the bar position and that didn't seem to be alien to any of us! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The interior is one big dining area along with the bar. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were greeted at the top of the stairs</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">and seated. We received menus and the bartender took our drink order.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sYChLt-WOOI/VMKulOYUFaI/AAAAAAAAGpQ/tyRzehYZ8EI/s1600/P1080167.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-sYChLt-WOOI/VMKulOYUFaI/AAAAAAAAGpQ/tyRzehYZ8EI/s1600/P1080167.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After receiving our drinks we made our naked burger order. We ordered the Angus burger </span><span style="font-size: large;">at 115 pesos and asked for it to be cooked medium and of course to be cut in four pieces.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger arrived not even close as ordered! It was delivered with mayo, cheese and bacon. Plus </span><span style="font-size: large;">it was cooked much more rare then medium as you can see.</span><span style="font-size: large;"> However, it was cut into four pieces!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was very noisy since the place was full but we can guarantee you that we ordered it correctly and it was understood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since we are "Burgerteers" and nothing deters us from our appointed "Quest" we removed the additional items and did our best to surmise the flavor of the meat. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">You may ask why not send it back????? We had given thought to either sending it back or ordering another but the consensus was that it took over 45 minutes to get this one and we didn't want to wait another 45 minutes. We knew the wait was due to the fact that they were slammed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The sesame bun was not grilled, the patty was preformed but not over worked. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The meat had been grilled but the exact flavor was eluding us due to it having been in contact with the added toppings. The flavor seemed fine but it only had a minimal amount of the charcoal flavor associated with a great burger. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The meat was on the chewy side but it was juicy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The meat to bun ratio was spot on. </span><span style="font-size: large;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The fries that came with it were good, not great!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check out this link for more information: </span><br />
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pamplona-Steak-House-tel9441413/448712515261765" target="_blank"><span style="font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pamplona-Steak-House-tel9441413/448712515261765</span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For the last time </span><span style="font-size: large;">we strode to our steed but this time we were all tilting a wee bit as we drew our swords again and for all to hear chanted "All for one burger and a burger for all"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now I need to say before I go any farther that every "Quest" in life does sometimes change the way we look at things. You know that I like rare meat and most of the others like it less rare but my personal observation over the course of our "Quest" is that my fellow "Burgerteers" are starting to lean towards the rarer side of things and being rewarded by the flavors they have experienced when prepared correctly. Now don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with having a burger or a steak cooked more on the "well done" side, and, ah, oh, choke, crap....yes there is, it just ruins the flavor! Forget I said that! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our final analysis was based on numerous factors that we felt had to be considered. T</span><span style="font-size: large;">he flavor of the meat and bun were paramount! However, there were other major factors as well, quality/type of meat to be compared, consistency from the first to second visit, and the "wallet" affect or as it is better known, the "bang for the buck"! (this had to be considered s</span><span style="font-size: large;">ince we did not have a deep pocketed sponsor!...maybe next Quest, hint! hint!) LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our choice for the best "Quest" Burger is.........</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Please stop by when you get a chance and tell Pedro the the "Burgerteers" sent you. He and his family will appreciate your business and your taste buds will enjoy your choice! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">FYI: La Cabaña Sonorense and La Rueda </span><span style="font-size: large;">were very close but two factors pushed La Cabaña Sonorense into first place. Those two items were price </span><span style="font-size: large;">and not serving a burger for lunch.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were disappointed with La Recova and Pamplona because our first visits were really good. You can see the difference in the burgers by looking at the pictures from our first visits in the previous posts and the pictures in this our final </span><span style="font-size: large;">visits.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Regardless, these four restaurants would not have been chosen as our "Final Four" if they had not previously impressed us. Setting aside the inconsistencies that we all know arise in many of the restaurants here, we, "The Burgerteers" feel that all of our "Final Four" restaurants are good places to have a burger and each offers your a different dining experience.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Who knows, maybe you'll go forth as loyal subjects of the <i>Merida Burger Kingdom</i> and conduct your own mini-"Quest" and try each one to see what you think. </span><span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-size: large;">An honorable mention is being given to Scott over at Canada Burger. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They couldn't be considered because their burger is a pork burger but that doesn't take away the fact that Canada Burger has a great burger and you should check it out. You get a cheeseburger, fries and a can of soda for 80 pesos. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Check out this link for more information: </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.canadaburger.com/" target="_blank">http://www.canadaburger.com/</a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We have been asked by many of you if there will be another "Quest" and at this point we believe there will be.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">This "Quest" started on July 18th 2014 which means out of 28 possible Fridays for a "Burger Quest" to happen we got around to it almost half the Fridays. I don't think that's a bad average considering that we are all retired, we all like to travel and we all have wives or almismo w/o papers not to mention that there's an occasional medical thing or two that comes along from time to time at our ages!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We have bantered around what the future "Quest" might be but we have not come to any conclusions.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We will make you a promise that if and when another "Quest" is chosen and we your dandy "Adventurteers" strap on our swords and saddle up again we will certainly let you know.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">In closing, we, the "Burgerteers" humbly want to thank our followers for sticking with us throughout our "Quest"!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We appreciated both the good and not so good feedback that we received. We are pleased that we were able to pass on information about various restaurants that serve burgers here in Merida. We hope that you found our information useful and that we</span><span style="font-size: large;"> helped you find a great burger!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><b><u>"All for one burger and a burger for all"!</u></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: xx-small;">PS: The "Burgerteers" received <b>no</b> compensations, bribes, discounts or free burgers nor were any pressures or influences of any type placed upon us for our reviews. Our "Quest" was totally self serving and yummy!</span></div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-44403347677730387632015-01-17T22:59:00.000-06:002015-01-17T22:59:09.018-06:00Burger Quest 12th Outing<span style="font-size: large;">This is our twelfth "Burger Quest" and our last in this series.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We have now selected our top four restaurants for burgers from the ones we visited and reported on during our "Quest"!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">On the afternoon of Thursday the 22nd we are going to each of the four, one right after the other. We will be ordering the naked burger at each place and we will judge each by just the burger and the bun. We will then determine what we feel is our top burger. The results should be posted next Friday so please keep your eye out for our top pick!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, let's get to this our last "Quest". It was Reg's turn to pick the place and in turn pick us all up and transport us to his choice! He did so in style, as always, and we headed North up Prolongation.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I think we were all a bit surprised when he pulled in to the parking lot of Bostons but we didn't hesitate to get out and get ready to go in!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now I have never entered Bostons where I wasn't greeted by a very pleasant hostess and today was no different. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Most speak fairly good English as well and our hostess today was probably better than me at speaking English! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are two parts to the Boston's Restaurant. The regular dining area which is spacious and bright.....</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">.....and the sports</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now don't get me wrong, I have been in Bostons on numerous occasions with my wife Debi and we have never had a bad meal. Also when I go to my friend Vic's for MNF and we decide on pizza we always get it there cause we think they have good pizza. However, I have never had a burger there.</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So Reg said that we would sit in the Sports bar area so the hostess took us in and we picked a booth.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span><br /><span style="font-size: large;">The waiter was right there and took our drink order and gave us menus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now I must make a statement about their liter beer mugs! Wow! Those suckers are big and heavy and hold a lot of beer! LOL! </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We looked over the menu and it is large and by that I mean many pages, like twelve or so. More pages than I wanted to take pictures of so I just concentrated on the burger page.</span><div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Lots of choices but as you know by now if you have followed our "Quests" we needed to order the naked burger first. So we explained that we wanted just a burger and the bun and how we wanted it cooked, medium, and that we wanted it </span><span style="font-size: large;">cut into four pieces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now at this point I need to address that at about this time the battery in my camera went dead. Bummer! Yes, I checked it before I left the house and it didn't show that it was discharged at all. Why am I telling you this, well, only because I can't provide as many pictures of the burgers as I usually do.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Moving on the burger arrives just as ordered and cut into four pieces.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was cooked to a lovely medium and t</span><span style="font-size: large;">he burger to bun ratio was great!</span><span style="font-size: large;"> It was juicy and it had the best bun we have had since we started our "Quests". There was nothing to complain about, it was very good!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">If you look at the menu you'll see that they advertise Kaiser rolls and they are great and toasted!!!!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We then ordered our other burgers and they came as ordered as well and were very good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is no doubt and we all agreed that we'd be pleased to come back any time for a burger at Boston's!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Oh and the fries were some of the best we had during our "Quests" as well!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall Reg chose well and it was a great "Quest" and it was super to have it be a good one!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here is a link for Boston's here in Merida.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><a href="http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.bostons.com.mx/&prev=search" target="_blank">http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=es&u=http://www.bostons.com.mx/&prev=search</a></span></div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-37689502916093573772015-01-04T12:03:00.000-06:002015-01-04T12:03:27.837-06:00Burger Quest 11th Outing<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The holidays are behind us and our time off from Questing was filled with good friends, good food and good ale....well make that wine and beer, ahhh, and maybe a few spirits too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">But now we have regrouped and have our next "Quest" in the bag....so to speak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It was my turn this time and I decided to contact my favorite steak house, La Rueda, which only serves burgers after 7:30 PM, to see if they would be willing to make an exception.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Contact was made with the manager, Francisco Sosa, and he obliged my request. It was extremely nice of him to do that for the "Burgerteers"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">According to our waiter, Jorge, part of the reason for the "special" dispensation was that we arrived before the lunch business got into high gear and there was plenty of room on the grill. When the lunch business is 'getting it on' the grill is filled with steaks and the steaks take priority over burgers. Makes total sense to me. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Now before I go further let me be very clear that this is a steak restaurant! They serve mostly meat! There is no chicken, no fish, no pasta! They do have a few pizzas and they do have great salads! They do not have individual salads! The salads they serve will feed four people providing you are not eating just salad. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">They also have empanadas which my wife has with salad when we go there as she is a pescatarian.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We entered and were greeted by the hostess. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We asked to speak to Francisco. He greeted us and thanked us for coming and said he was pleased to oblige our request.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Maybe it's because I have been there before but when you enter you know you are in a steak restaurant! The straight forwardness of the interior and the decor emphatically says "MEAT"! I think you can tell that by the pictures.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We were then taken to a table.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">So we receive our menus and our drink order was taken. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">*Please see the menus at the end of the post.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The drinks arrive and we place our order for the first burger....the naked burger. Medium rare as always and we order the Kobe. Our waiter Jorge spoke English which helped with taking our special burger request but he did come back once to check just to be sure. I'm pretty sure the grilling maestro questioned his order.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">It is obvious that there is basically no one that goes in to any of the establishments that we have gone to so far and orders just a burger and the bun. It is totally alien to do that.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The burger arrives and it looks good. Nothing on it and cut into three pieces as requested.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Upon opening it up we see that it is heavily weighted to the rare side. I'm drooling and Reg and Barry are going with it but would like it cooked a bit more.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Now this way of cooking seems to be the norm from what we have seen so far. Most places cook a medium rare request on the rare side so it would make sense if you don't like them like that to order medium on your first visit to see where they take you.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">The meat to toasted bun ratio was very good and the burger's diameter was larger than the bun. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">You could see that it was preformed but the way it came apart suggested that they make up the burgers and then form them themselves. We all thought this but we could be wrong.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Tender, very juicy and even though it was cooked a little light for two of us the opinions were this burger is in the top two! The flavor was outstanding.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">We then ordered our burgers, again Kobe, the way we liked them and they arrived as requested. Ordering this one medium got Reg and Barry their medium rare burger and I stuck with the medium rare. Grrrrr!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">As we are finishing Francisco appears and inquires as to our experience and we responded accordingly. I just hope he'll let us do this again when we go back to our top three and do the taste off! We'll see!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I have also included their wine list which in my opinion is quite nice. It is obvious that it is a steak restaurant as the list is super heavily weighted with vino tintos. Which, again in my opinion, you can't go wrong with either the Fuzion Santa Rita Tempranillo/Malbec or the Las Moras Black Label Bonarda....both are Argentinian wines.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">Until our swords cross yet again we are at your service!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">One for all and all for one!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Rueda/169246916447008" target="_blank">https://www.facebook.com/pages/La-Rueda/169246916447008</a></span>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-23959243503118130072014-12-17T13:58:00.000-06:002014-12-17T14:26:23.902-06:00Burger Quest 10th Outing<span style="font-size: large;">This past Friday we set out to check out a burger at a restaurant that isn't specifically noted for their regular burgers. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It was John's turn to choose but he didn't get to do that and it was his turn to drive and he didn't get to that either. The choice was a coercion but the no driving was due to his new knee. Yep, a brand spankin' new knee fresh off the shelf. (Dance video at a later date!)</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, Acqua is a great restaurant and all the Burgerteers have eaten there gobs of times and have always been extremely happy with the food and wonderful service. Additionally they are known for the burgers on their menu but their burgers are way over on the gourmet side.....not the kind of burgers we "Burgerteers" have been investigating thus far. We weren't sure how it would work out but hey, when you're on a "Quest" let nothing stand in your way so off we went.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We arrived and in celebration of "The Knee" we pulled up in the valet parking area and dismounted our ride. Away it went and then it was time for a few pics.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We entered and to be honest I can't remember ever having to open the door to go in. There is always a friendly face there to greet you. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">In addition none of us have ever had any issues with the wait staff. They are always very attentive.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We took a table by the front window and settled in.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We got our menus (copies of the menus at the end of the blog) and ordered our beverages and the standard first naked burger medium rare. We were asked if we were sure we didn't want mayo or lettuce or....and we said yes, we were sure.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The interior was remodeled not that long ago and looks great. It is spacious, modern and always clean.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger arrived. It was very handsome and it was cut into four pieces. Spot on so far.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We opened the burger up and there was nothing extra on it, the meat to bun ratio was good and it was cooked to an exact medium rare.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9MEAWlWKcz8/VJHSWao0aWI/AAAAAAAAGaM/Od4eU45deG4/s1600/P1070962.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9MEAWlWKcz8/VJHSWao0aWI/AAAAAAAAGaM/Od4eU45deG4/s1600/P1070962.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">We each took our share a started in. Very juicy and the bun was very good and toasted!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our initial tastes revealed a seasoning added to the meat. It certainly wasn't bad or anything but just nothing that we had experienced to date with the taste of the naked burger. It just seemed to interfere with getting to the basic flavor of the meat.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">But let me say again that they do not serve a standard burger here.....you can see that by looking at the menu. Barry has had the burgers off the menu here many times and raves about them.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Regardless, I ordered a non menu burger and it came as ordered and it was good. The other items added to the burger blended with the seasoned meat and it was an fine burger. However, it will not be replacing any of my top picks to date.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So though this will not be one of the "Burgerteers" regular burger haunts when we are Jonesing for a burger it will continue to stay on our list as one of the best restaurants in Merida.....IOHO!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until we load our muskets and cross our swords next time we "The Burgerteers" are at your service!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">"One for all and all for one!"</span><br />
<br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-26446015988069218142014-12-08T12:17:00.000-06:002014-12-08T12:17:28.342-06:00Burger Quest 9th Outing<span style="font-size: large;">We, "The Burgerteers" get asked questions about where we plan on going, are we limiting the number of places to go to, do we have a cut off date plus we get oh soooooo many suggestions. In most cases the suggestions are where to go get a good burger and others are just telling us where to go! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, we talk about places to go on the "Quest" all the time. Places each of us have been and places friends and people in general tell us about. There seems to be an endless amount of places that sell burgers. I was asked the other day if we were going to include Carl's Jr and I replied why yes, of course, why not? </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now if you decide to make a suggestion to any of us please remember that the place has to be open on Friday afternoons around 1:30-2 PM. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We seem to have a following (thanks to all four of you!!!!) and in many cases people just enjoy our adventures. We realize that you or your friends or even our friends may not agree with our findings and that's ok. Heck, we don't always agree between ourselves, well, except John, and as I reported previously every new burger is his favorite....or so it seems. LOL! At the very least we give you a glimpse into the many varied establishments that sell burgers. Our information can guide you and help you to decide if one of the places we visit might be worth your time whether for a burger or in most cases the varied different items on their menus. Which we always try to provide in the blog.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Burgerteers were back in action this past Friday. It was Barry's turn to choose and in turn his turn to drive as well. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I got picked up first and then we drove over to Itzimna to pick up Reg.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now each time we have had everyone in the vehicle the vehicle has been pointed North and off we'd go. However this time Barry turned in an unusual direction.....South. Now don't get the wrong idea, there are many burger places in the South part of Merida but it was just not expected.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So we head down or up Montejo depending on your orientation and Reg and I are both puzzled until Barry pulls up on the opposite side of the street from Hennessey's.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZDPhO9YvDc/VIUiU_drMyI/AAAAAAAAGTA/H0ADl90RyiU/s1600/P1070939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XZDPhO9YvDc/VIUiU_drMyI/AAAAAAAAGTA/H0ADl90RyiU/s1600/P1070939.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">So we dismount our ride and mosey across the street.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit; font-size: large;">I know that many of you have been to Hennessey's and of course there are some that may be reading this blog and have never been and that's all good too. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Yes, this little shout out has nothing out do with burgers! Regardless I need to say that they are a major player in this community and they relentlessly continue to give of themselves and their resources to many non-profits and the community at large. Big ass kudos to Hennessey's or maybe better said </span>"go raibh maith agat!"</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, back to our report!!! When you enter there is almost always someone there to greet you and the during the week days you don't need a reservation or anything like that.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LpvO2fXN36g/VIXQ0xibwlI/AAAAAAAAGVc/hfbeaWyzHJY/s1600/P1070943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LpvO2fXN36g/VIXQ0xibwlI/AAAAAAAAGVc/hfbeaWyzHJY/s1600/P1070943.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">As you can see Friday early </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They have a very nice bar area which gives you the Irish setting that you'd expect for a place called Hennessey's!</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GF_BSdIY8Sw/VIXQ1ilgfHI/AAAAAAAAGVw/V_yDenKKrU8/s1600/P1070944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GF_BSdIY8Sw/VIXQ1ilgfHI/AAAAAAAAGVw/V_yDenKKrU8/s1600/P1070944.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">They have an upper deck that was just recently put in but is not usually open during the day time hours unless there is an event.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8U_eguPRpcg/VIXQ0oQzG0I/AAAAAAAAGVY/-oIL-tNsfG8/s1600/P1070941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-8U_eguPRpcg/VIXQ0oQzG0I/AAAAAAAAGVY/-oIL-tNsfG8/s1600/P1070941.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">The upper deck looks down into the courtyard area where there is also seating and where many events take place.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They also have separate rooms for private events and the have a pool table and a dart board.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, the other Burgerteers are already seated and they always have to wait for me since I have to do the photography. The menus are already on the table. (Copy of the menu at the end of the post) The waiter asks if we want something to drink and we all order our beverages of choice.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">He delivers those and then we tell him what type of burger we want. As always, a naked burger...bun and meat only....cut into thirds. He didn't understand fully the first go round but got it the second time we told him. And yes, he did ask us how we wanted it cooked and we responded medium.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger arrives and it is without any thing on it. Just burger and bun and it was cut into three pieces. Oh, the fries are delish!</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E8zCEz5ROp4/VIXRRW3MwPI/AAAAAAAAGWo/8_HuA7n7J0Q/s1600/P1070955.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-E8zCEz5ROp4/VIXRRW3MwPI/AAAAAAAAGWo/8_HuA7n7J0Q/s1600/P1070955.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">We separate the pieces for the photo and see that the burger has been cooked <i>way</i> over on the medium rare side and not the medium as ordered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger to bun ratio is good and the buns are tasty!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I thought that I tasted a toasted bun and when I opened my third there was the proof! I love my burger buns toasted!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We each take our third and start in. Reg and Barry both comment that it is too rare for their liking and I'm having no issues cause I get excited when I have a sharp pocket knife in my pocket and see a herd of cattle.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">FYI: The burgers are preformed and come in from Cancun frozen. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Everyone thought the burger was good but not at the top of our list. There was something missing or maybe a little off about the core flavor of the meat. That extra little flavor component that just takes it over the edge. It certainly wasn't bad in any way just something not turning our cranks,</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We then ordered our meals and my burger came as requested with mayo, ketchup. onions and lettuce. I was surprised to see caramelized onions and raw onions together but I really like onions so "party on"!</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7gdOWB_g0ro/VIXRWHW5JLI/AAAAAAAAGXI/Sgv_uj3a6Ik/s1600/P1070960.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-7gdOWB_g0ro/VIXRWHW5JLI/AAAAAAAAGXI/Sgv_uj3a6Ik/s1600/P1070960.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I would not be at all disappointed having a Hennessey's burger again because with all the fixins' I didn't notice the something that we thought was missing with just the naked burger. But it isn't dislodging any of my top three burgers to date.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pF-1Mp2Sga4/VIXQ20pcDdI/AAAAAAAAGWE/wPxskXZSXww/s1600/P1070948.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-pF-1Mp2Sga4/VIXQ20pcDdI/AAAAAAAAGWE/wPxskXZSXww/s1600/P1070948.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;"> <a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mRCr2W41lRw/VIXQ3ertA9I/AAAAAAAAGWM/OOaPLxQ3Nmk/s1600/P1070951.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em; text-align: center;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mRCr2W41lRw/VIXQ3ertA9I/AAAAAAAAGWM/OOaPLxQ3Nmk/s1600/P1070951.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgJ0_DoLvJ8/VIXQ3hGzNfI/AAAAAAAAGWU/8HCMcS_kfNU/s1600/P1070952.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-wgJ0_DoLvJ8/VIXQ3hGzNfI/AAAAAAAAGWU/8HCMcS_kfNU/s1600/P1070952.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Plus they have a daily special board:</span><br />
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<a href="http://www.hennessysirishpub.com/thepub.shtml"><span style="font-size: large;">Here's their link for more info! </span></a><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So until next time we stand united...."one for all, and all for one" your humble Burgerteers!!!</span><br />
<br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-11497768183447822592014-11-16T18:52:00.000-06:002014-11-16T18:55:31.265-06:00Burger Quest 8th Outing<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, ok, I know!!!!! Where have we been? What's the hold up? Are you Burgerteers on this "Quest" or not?</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">I was always told that if I asked a question I should have an answer of my own to the question.....and I do! We're almost old, ok some would consider us old! We're all retired for sure! Things like health issues pop up (which are not appreciated) and travel and family stuff pops up which the travel is appreciated! LOL! Just kidding....mostly!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Anyway, we have had some of all that stuff happening lately and since we decided at the onset of the "Quest" we would have to have three in attendance, well, we miss a week or two once in a while. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">But hey, we're back to the hunt and this past Friday had us setting the bar a wee bit higher in regards to ambiance. Yes, we understand that ambiance is not a necessity when it comes to chowing down a burger and we agree. It would never drive our decision to visit a particular restaurant but hey, it was nice.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We had a wait staff that was all over us, linen table cloths, utensils and plates used then removed and new ones brought! And for a burger....Zowee! Helped to take the sting out of the 170p price tag of the burger but you did get fries with it!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was John's day to choose so we headed down Montejo onto the Prolongacion and then we pulled into the valet parking area of La Recova.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B5gO4bHZRko/VGjUsi7Pv3I/AAAAAAAAGOk/2j0myJJPBjw/s1600/P1070867.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-B5gO4bHZRko/VGjUsi7Pv3I/AAAAAAAAGOk/2j0myJJPBjw/s1600/P1070867.JPG" height="400" width="300" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As you enter on your right you can see the grill and kitchen area. (Sorry about the reflection but it couldn't be helped!)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We were greeted by the hostess and a very friendly wait staff and taken directly to a table. Within a few seconds we were being asked what our beverage of choice was and we were given menus.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large; text-align: center;">La Recova is spacious, spotless, open and very modern. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We ordered the usual medium rare naked burger and within a few minutes it appeared as ordered. This time there was no extra nothing just plain burger and bun. Kudos to La Recova.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It arrived as ordered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The meat to bun ratio was the best we have ever encountered. This puppy has 270gr of grade A prime beef from the US in it. Note the toasted bun!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The only disappointing thing was that the burger came out much rarer than ordered. As you can see it was raw in the middle (no issue for me, growl! LOL!) and the middle was cold. </span></div>
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QrwBlOdG1iE/VGjU9fXcrDI/AAAAAAAAGP0/NCx6NuhiiG8/s1600/P1070878.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QrwBlOdG1iE/VGjU9fXcrDI/AAAAAAAAGP0/NCx6NuhiiG8/s1600/P1070878.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Regardless we ate it as it came and the flavor was extremely good.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Of course each time we have a new burger we discuss what we think of it and where we think it sits within the first three places of our liking.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, now I must fulfill a promise........John made me promise to report that he felt that this burger was the very best burger to date. I told him I would relay that and I just did but what I need to add to that is that out of eight "Quests" he has said that six times! LOL!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">After we finished the naked burger we ordered our burgers the way we wanted them.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Only this time we ordered them one step one more done than the way we like them and they came out perfect.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Also note the toasted bun and the grill mark on the onion. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The small bowl with the white creamy stuff reminded me of tarter sauce.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Once all put together it made a tasty burger.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fries were extremely good and I might say that I think they were the best fries to date.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let me say that their ketchup did not turn my crank. It seemed weak and way to sweet. Sure wasn't Heinz.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Be aware that a glass of water with ice will set you back 48p.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="http://www.larecovamerida.com/">Here's a link to give you details about hours, map, etc.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Until next time "burger on"!</span></div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-60488741211922800432014-10-19T16:27:00.002-05:002014-10-19T16:27:16.929-05:00Burger Quest 7th Outing<span style="font-size: large;">Friday was a very good day for the Burgerteers!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">It was John's turn to drive so we headed North on Prolongation Paseo Montejo and he made a 'U' turn at the light at Campestre and pulled up in front of Pamplona Steak House.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We used their valet parking and walked up to the front door and entered.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Upon entering we found ourselves in a small alcove with a set of stairs. The stairs went up to the restaurant.</span><br />
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From just coming in from the outside our eyes took a minute to adjust.<br />
It had subdued lighting and my first impression, though I have never been in one, was that of a speakeasy. It was kind of cool!<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br /></span>As we entered the room our eyes started to adjust and we could see that it was about a third full.<br />
There were about five tv's with music videos playing.<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were greeted by a waiter who took us to the table of our choosing. We chose a seat over by the windows which are on the front of the building as we felt it would have more light to see the burgers and for the pictures, etc.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We got seated and the waitress was there to find out what we wanted to drink and to supply us with menus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We ordered our drinks and some guac. We further perused the menu and thought that there was a good variety of various dishes.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The waitress brought the guac and the drinks. We commented to each other that for that much guac there weren't very many chips so we knew we'd need to order more. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The guac had decent flavor but all of us like our guac a bit more chunky than the finely processes style that we were served.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I feel that I need to add a comment about the orangish colored sausa as it was very tasty with the guac and chips. It carried some heat with it but it was very nicely balanced and the flavor was super.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We then ordered the burger and bun as we always do. Just the the meat and the bun so we can check the quality before anything else is added.We're not sure if the waitress would have asked us how we wanted it cooked as it was ordered with that info being specified from the beginning. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It arrived closer to rare than medium rare but that was fine with me and John and Reg went with the flow. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We're not sure if the bun was on the dry side as you can see from the pictures because of the way we ordered the burger or what. However the buns for the other burgers were fine.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The meat was very juicy, not dry at all, and the flavor was at the top of our lists in the first three positions to date.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Reg pointed out that the fries that came with the burger were leaving no grease on the checkered paper. Their flavor was very good and not over salted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Each burger comes with you choice of french fries, steak fries, or onion rings. </span><span style="font-size: large;">The onion rings had a great flavor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">There always seems to be some kind of order mistake and this time was no exception. The meals came out as ordered except that I didn't order cheese on my burger but got it nevertheless.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, I could have sent it back but one of the complaints that we had was the amount of time it took to get the meals as it was outside of a reasonable time frame.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I will say that by two fifteen or so the place was full up. That leads us to one other minor complaint, and not that we are not used to it, was the amount of noise being generated.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Regardless, we all consider Pamplona Steak House a heavy contender in our "Quest"!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a link you can cut and paste with more information.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">https://www.facebook.com/pages/Pamplona-Steak-House-tel9441413/448712515261765</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">FYI: A wee bit of added information just to be sure there are no misunderstandings about the "Burger Quest".</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We do not get comped any food. We do not let the restaurants know that we are coming.</span><br />
<br />Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-68292274064584664682014-10-10T19:50:00.000-05:002014-10-10T22:12:44.270-05:00Burger Quest 6th Outing <span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As with life the "Quest" gets steered in different directions depending on the influences that occur to the "Burgerteers" at any given time.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Recently, Reg (d'Artagnan) happened to be at a car wash and noticed that the next car to be washed had a window down. He found the owner and the window went up and a friendship started.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It doesn't always need to be a life changing event that brings people together but just an act of consideration or kindness.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Today was d'Artagnan's day to chose and drive. One of our members, Barry, fell ill and couldn't make it so the three of us set out after Reg picked us up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">As always no one knows where we are going except the person choosing and driving. Today was no exception. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">When we turned off of Reforma at the bullring I remembered a restaurant that Debi and I went to many years ago with friends for steak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We indeed pulled up at the same restaurant but I could not remember anything except that they had a great steak!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So allow me to jump back to the car wash for just a few seconds and say that the owner of the car was David Reyes Aguiar who is of the family that has owned El Tio Ricardo for the past 35 years. David is the hefe!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">El Tio Ricardo is in Colonia Garcia Generes on the corner of Calle 8 y 23 with the entrance on 8. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It has a non pretentious and modern facade.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Upon entering we were greeted by one of the staff and the warm glow that only a wooden interior can provide.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is plenty of seating for 60, approximately, in the dining areas we observed. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There is a small salad bar that many were taking advantage of.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Now I will report to you what you can expect when you go here and not what we experienced and not that you will not receive the great service that we received but you didn't save the bosses car interior from getting soaked! <b>;</b>)</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The waiter arrived and gave us menus. He then asked what we wanted to drink. We each ordered a beer and looked over the menus.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is their wine list and David admitted that it is not very extensive as they do not sell a lot of wine but they do sell a lot of steaks.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Moving along we ordered our "naked" burger as always. I guess we'll need to basically assume that if you are eating burgers in Merida, few if any waiters ask how you want it cooked......the case this time as well.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Chips and salsa arrived at the table and they were tasty.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The burger arrived and it was "naked"...................</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We cut it and is showed a great meat to bun ratio................</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We asked David about the meat and he buys his meat from Costco in bulk. They cut their ribeye and new york steaks themselves. They grind the meat for their burgers from the left overs after the steaks are cut. If needed they'll grind a steak.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The flavor was very good and the bun was outstanding. The meat leans more towards the lean side. You can easily taste the quality meat used in making them.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">David was very aware of what we were doing there after talking to us for a while (yes, he speaks excellent English) after we first arrived and he wanted to know what we thought. We suggested raising the fat content in the meat preparation and changing the grind of the meat so that it would be a little less fine. Being a little coarser would help to hold in the juice and make it hold together better. Regardless a good burger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We then ordered our burgers the way we like them. The interior face of the buns were grilled....nice! You can have raw or sauteed onions....nice!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Again, the bun to condiment and meat ratio was very good!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We also ordered one order of onion rings and one order of fries.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The batter used to coat the onion rings was very tasty....what us "Burgerteers" tend to expect. Our only complaint was that they were a bit on the greasy side. But better greasy than no flavor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The fries had good flavor and the right amount of salt. However they were a wee bit limpy. We thought that they needed to be in the hot grease maybe a few seconds longer.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Overall the experience was very good. Would we go back....YES!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We arrived around 2 and shortly after the place started filling up.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There's also another reason to return and it is not burgers but steaks. Everyone, well, most everyone was ordering and eating steaks and from what we saw they were mighty fine looking steaks. Coming out on sizzling plates and the smells, well, you know!!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">FYI: You can bring your own vino providing it is not on their list and the corkage is 100p.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><a href="https://www.facebook.com/ElTioRicardo">Here is the link to their fb page.</a></span>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-46742048579286544772014-10-04T17:38:00.001-05:002014-10-04T18:48:08.654-05:00Burger Quest 5th Outing<br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are the results of the “Three Burgerteers” most recent conquest.<br /><br />This outing was ever the sweeter for now we are all in attendance as we have been reunited with our brother d'Artagnan who winters here from Detroit. Welcome back Reg! <br /><br />If I would mention to you "the land of bangers and mash, The Queen, Tower of London or the Crown Jewels” you’d know where I was talking about….right! Flying free over this country is a flag lovingly referred to as the “Union Jack” and its striking colors are known the world over and there is no mistaking it when you see it. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />However for The Burgerteers, we were not looking for the Union Jack itself but more accurately for "UNIONJACKS" Luxury Burgers and Beer. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Now there is a connection with that wonderful country and our destination as the owner, Josh, is from London.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So this was our destination this week in our ongoing burger quest.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zgws631rnnc/VDAoOHmY75I/AAAAAAAAF_c/rZGfQS3ymMQ/s1600/P1070654.JPG"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zgws631rnnc/VDAoOHmY75I/AAAAAAAAF_c/rZGfQS3ymMQ/s1600/P1070654.JPG" width="320" /></a></span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was easy to find and very close to the City Center complex.</span><span style="font-size: large;">We pulled into the parking area of the two story strip mall and our objective was on the lower level on the West end. Very easy to see!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There is seating for approximately 40 outside and 24 inside.<br /><br /><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uQxcnqQr6Oo/VDAoiRgtTjI/AAAAAAAAGAw/Ugh_khPIulM/s1600/P1070665.JPG"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-uQxcnqQr6Oo/VDAoiRgtTjI/AAAAAAAAGAw/Ugh_khPIulM/s1600/P1070665.JPG" width="320" /></a><br /><br />There is a small bar and the selection of beer is quite nice. I chose a Hobgoblin which I thought was very tasty. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">It was </span><span style="font-size: large;">modern and clean and the service was good overall.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The waiter came to the table and gave us food and drink menus and asked what we wanted to drink. We asked him to give us a minute as there were a few things to choose from. We looked the beer list over and ordered.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are the drink menus........</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here are the food menus.........</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">He brought the beer orders and asked if we were ready to order. We then ordered our first burger. Again I must say that there is just something odd that happens when you order a burger with bun and nothing else on it. As you know we start each visit to each new place this way so that we may better evaluate the meat and the bun. Well, this time we figured we had it nailed. The waiter spoke some English and we each went over the fact that we only wanted one burger to start and all we wanted was the burger on a bun. Carne y pan solomente….nada mas! So the four of us each took a turn making sure he knew. The two best Spanish speakers in Spanish and the other two in English. We knew we had it nailed this time! Well, uh.......nope! For the life of us we just can’t figure out why it's so hard to get accomplished. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />Here’s what we got……..sorry I didn't get the pic as it was placed on the table but at least with the burger opened up you can see that it wasn't a burger and a bun only. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now don't get me wrong, the tomato was nice and fresh as was the lettuce and mayo, but! <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A6Qx97Me3Uw/VDAodnmwJHI/AAAAAAAAGAY/jfr1KgiZUwk/s1600/P1070662.JPG"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-A6Qx97Me3Uw/VDAodnmwJHI/AAAAAAAAGAY/jfr1KgiZUwk/s1600/P1070662.JPG" width="320" /></a><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yQnOF3QjyG0/VDAodYDYAAI/AAAAAAAAGAU/FWEx853RjOE/s1600/P1070661.JPG"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-yQnOF3QjyG0/VDAodYDYAAI/AAAAAAAAGAU/FWEx853RjOE/s1600/P1070661.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We also noticed that he did not ask how we wanted it cooked. We all believe that this was a first for us!<br /><br />Moving on, instead of starting over we asked if we could have a new bun which we were given as soon as it was warmed. So back on track we hoisted up our sections and started eating. An extremely good flavored burger and three out of the four of us gave it a hearty thumbs up. There was a comment that the ratio of bun to burger was off a wee bit with the bun winning out.<br /><br />We asked Josh if he got the meat locally or what and he said that it is flown in from the US to Cancun and then transported to him.<br /><br />So we then ordered our burgers. The waiter again didn't ask how we wanted them cooked but we told him and they came out to our satisfaction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />The burgers are pretty big and as stated before the flavor is very good. As a matter of fact most agreed that this was their second favorite burger so far.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now when the first burger, the naked burger, was delivered to the table it came to the table with fries. These were good fries, crispy, soft in the center and just the right amount of salt. </span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Most everyone saw what was called "Union Rings" on the menu, which was their name for onion rings. The two burgerteers that ordered them were less than taken with them. The coating didn't have a real distinct flavor so they were a thumbs down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">I ordered fries and got rings, I just left it go, and I too was not impressed by the rings.....but I will say that they were not real greasy</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;"><br />This pic was taken not to show you how sloppy we are but to try to show the diced cooked onions.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">But the flavor is the thing and this one had it!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, we'd go back!<br /><br />They are closed on Mondays.</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Here's a link to more info about <a href="http://www.yelp.com/biz/union-jacks-merida">UNIONJACKS</a>! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">It was Barry's turn to make the venue selection this time and since his choice actually invited us to stop by he thought it was a good idea.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So after Barry picks John and I up we head North once again. Up Prolongacion to the glorieta at Siglo XXI where he turns right.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">John and I have no idea where we are going but Barry has the directions written down and we are zigging and turning and all of a sudden we pull up and see the sign! Now it's not a large sign as you can see so you must have your eyes peeled for it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We park and walk up and I take a pic of my fellow Burgerteers with the sign.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">At this point we turn and walk past the open door where w</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">e are greeted by a most cordial young lady who welcomed us to Canada Burger!</span><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"> As we look in we are very surprised at what we see. </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">NOW<b>*</b> This is where I need to place a big asterisk next to all the rest of the information I will pass on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">To be sure there is no miss understanding the following information is given as fact....not a complaint in any way.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">However, I have to say that the fb page does say "Canada Burger Food and Restaurant" which I think is a wee bit misleading!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, moving on, as you can see it was a cart, a big cart! The smells wafting around were mouth watering to say the least. I knew I should have eaten breakfast! LOL!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">There are no tables to sit at but there are stools to sit and wait while your order is made fresh!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHxUnwIx-jI/VCBrKvIWj3I/AAAAAAAAF9o/dEnmb6Ehr7g/s1600/P1070615.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-hHxUnwIx-jI/VCBrKvIWj3I/AAAAAAAAF9o/dEnmb6Ehr7g/s1600/P1070615.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yes, it is an order and carry out and that was the majority of the business that we saw while we were there. I might add that it was a brisk business as well! Only a few people sat on a stool and ate their burgers.</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mEzRGCuA7QU/VCBrMkHqOCI/AAAAAAAAF90/JFlAiMraQDE/s1600/P1070617.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-mEzRGCuA7QU/VCBrMkHqOCI/AAAAAAAAF90/JFlAiMraQDE/s1600/P1070617.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6py5LTgENjo/VCBrG2nlyYI/AAAAAAAAF9c/mtzXdWFpYyU/s1600/P1070613.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-6py5LTgENjo/VCBrG2nlyYI/AAAAAAAAF9c/mtzXdWFpYyU/s1600/P1070613.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Sooooooo, not what the Burgerteers were expecting as we are retired dudes that like ac, cold beer and a table at which to sit. That said we were there and we are not ones to shy away from things that are different and not what we were expecting. So we re-evaluated, adjusted and improvised and made do with what was available.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So we ordered the first burger as we always do, bun and burger only, cut into thirds and we dig in. Due to the call in orders and the people waiting when we arrived we waited for about 25 minutes before we got the first burger. Of course that's the way it goes with a carry out business. Those that call in ahead have much less of a wait time! Heck, it could have happened at a busy restaurant as well. So I guess I'm saying that I'll be calling in the order ahead of time....oh, and you can place your order online as well!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Back to the burger, the flavor is wonderful, the meat is tender and very juicy and the bun is fine. All three of us were impressed.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Because it is a carry out business everything that is served is in a carryout format. Fries are in a styrofoam cup with a lid, the burgers are wrapped very nicely in what I might refer to as a non-waxed white butcher paper and those items are placed in a white paper bag. Your choice of soda on the side. I might add that they have Canada Dry Ginger Ale which I thought was very apropos! However I had an A&W Root Beer! Yum!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Ok, now for the last asterisk and actually the biggest asterisk! If you look closely at the meat you may very well recognize that it doesn't have that beefy red color and that's because Canada Burgers are 100% Yucatecan pork!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Actually John pointed that out to Barry and I shortly after arriving and we all agreed that we'd have to make this a special report because we cannot rate it against the other burgers because they were beef.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Our research analyst, Barry, set to work on determining the definition of a burger because he thought the Canada Burger would qualify even with pork. His findings did not agree with his hopes so we are not going to be evaluating the Canada Burger against the other places we have been or will go! </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">With that said we will evaluate the burgers and fries we had.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Let's talk fries first....all of us agreed that we like our fries a little crispy and these fries failed to even get close to crispy. They had good flavor but we have to give them a thumbs down.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">The burgers were a completely different story. None of us had ever had an all pork burger. These burgers were great! To be totally honest the meat is that good that we all agreed that the best burger we had there was the first one with just the meat and bun. Juicy and seasoned perfectly. It was a most awesome flavor! Three thumbs up!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Last let's talk cost, we had the regular burger and three sodas, then three combo burger meals that included fries and sodas and the total was right at 280p.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We all agreed that we'd certainly go back but order ahead of time.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Canada Burger has it's own website and you can visit it at...www.canadaburger.com to see their menu, prices, and you can also order.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">They also have a frequent diner punch card!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">We spoke to Scott, the owner or at least one of the owners and things are going well. There is an expansion coming in the form of a sit down restaurant in another location. He hopes to have things ready to go by the X-mas holiday. Keep you eye on their website for further updates.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Here is a link to Google maps that is a better map than the one on their website especially if you are not familiar with the area behind Gran Plaza. <a href="https://www.google.com.mx/maps/place/Canada+Burger/@21.031686,-89.6228818,17z/data=!4m2!3m1!1s0x8f56769b5e8a1387:0x53e05607db3266ea?hl=en">Map link here</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">So until next Friday.....burger on dudes and dudettes!</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Yours truly,</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: large;">Tres Burgerteers!</span></div>
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-28103049034388769542014-08-01T23:48:00.000-05:002014-08-02T16:23:38.625-05:00"The" Burger Quest third outing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well, it's Friday and the three burgerteers were back out on the street checking out another establishment that touts a great burger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Today was John's turn to pick and to drive and after being picked up we headed North on Montejo. It's always fun trying to figure where the person whose turn it is is taking the other two. So out past Gran Plaza, we go. Then past Liverpool and further North. We get to the Dytzia exit and he turns and goes under the highway and Barry and I both are thinking he is going back to Las Americas cause he talked the AA guys to open early. LOL! No chance!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">John then continues back out onto the Progreso Hwy and Barry and I both say at about the same time "The Road House"! John smiles and says "yep!"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So we pull in </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">and mosey towards the front door where we are greeted by a very nice young lady that opens the door and invites us in! I might add that she speaks very good English.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ljy0qsiirFM/U9xcka1EYOI/AAAAAAAAF4E/CZZzVjCnGHk/s1600/P1070303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Ljy0qsiirFM/U9xcka1EYOI/AAAAAAAAF4E/CZZzVjCnGHk/s1600/P1070303.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">There are two adjoining rooms with a total of about eight tables and two bar areas.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ip8rpbyv8bk/U9xc2JTXeDI/AAAAAAAAF5g/sljhcz8_YHI/s1600/P1070316.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Ip8rpbyv8bk/U9xc2JTXeDI/AAAAAAAAF5g/sljhcz8_YHI/s1600/P1070316.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Very clean and of course a biker feel and theme to the place!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">The owner came to our table and greeted us and suggested that we try their own beer which is brewed just for them and it is a weizen style beer.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2KzUG4XXos/U9xcnzdzueI/AAAAAAAAF4Y/bGW5VQ2v9i8/s1600/P1070307.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J2KzUG4XXos/U9xcnzdzueI/AAAAAAAAF4Y/bGW5VQ2v9i8/s1600/P1070307.JPG" height="320" width="240" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well hey, when in Rome......so why not. It was good if you like the weizen style and on a warm day.....you know the kind of days I'm talkin' about, a weizen can be delightful. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then it was time to order the first burger. Now as you remember every time to date when we order the first burger sin everything but meat and the bun we have received more than we asked for. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We order it and again we ask for medium rare.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The young woman that met us at the door and the manager/owner were there telling us that we had come to the right place for the best burger.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">She takes the order and repeats it to us and seems to understand what we are doing. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We finish our weizens and then order something more to our liking...dark....and the burger arrives...................</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XC2zep5pfto/U9xctFGd-FI/AAAAAAAAF4w/9RwUtqxCCAU/s1600/P1070310.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XC2zep5pfto/U9xctFGd-FI/AAAAAAAAF4w/9RwUtqxCCAU/s1600/P1070310.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
<span style="font-size: large;">Now, not only is the burger only meat and the bun, you can see that it is also cut into three, I repeat, three pieces. Zowee!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The burger and the bun are big and round but</span><br />
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ljFehbeyVow/U9xcuycUxeI/AAAAAAAAF44/y6UrOTMMmvU/s1600/P1070311.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ljFehbeyVow/U9xcuycUxeI/AAAAAAAAF44/y6UrOTMMmvU/s1600/P1070311.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">the burger is not cooked medium rare and the bun is a bit to much for the burger as I think you can see from this picture.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now don't let us give you the wrong opinion, our issue was with the bun to burger ratio not the bun itself because the bun, which a bakery makes especially for the Road House, had a very good flavor. It may very well be the best bun to date!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The meat is Angus according to the owner, it is shipped in to them and they make/press their own patties there in the kitchen.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The flavor was fine but not great.....almost seemed to refined. It just wasn't ringing our bells.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Next up it was time to order our burgers of choice! They arrived and they looked very nice! But, yes another but, the amount of wedge fries seemed a bit on the lean side but it was a big ass burger.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qNe6Vt4B4Is/U9xcvZ-sORI/AAAAAAAAF5A/5HsaI1mRAJo/s1600/P1070312.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-qNe6Vt4B4Is/U9xcvZ-sORI/AAAAAAAAF5A/5HsaI1mRAJo/s1600/P1070312.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We all agreed that the added makin's improved the burger but it just wasn't holding its own compared to the others so far.</span><br />
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<a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-roCbrivr2Rs/U9xczZk6u6I/AAAAAAAAF5Q/JMcheAL44KY/s1600/P1070314.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-roCbrivr2Rs/U9xczZk6u6I/AAAAAAAAF5Q/JMcheAL44KY/s1600/P1070314.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">Again we all agreed that we certainly wouldn't have sent the burger back or not eaten it but we are very doubtful that we'd go back just to buy one. But it wouldn't stop us from going back and trying some of their other dishes!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The Road House is on the left side of the Progreso Hwy shortly after you go under the Periferico. You can see it easily as you are heading North to get to the Dytzia turn off where you can turn back and head South (back towards Merida) on the Progreso Hwy.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Just a heads up, the burger quest will be on hold while there is traveling accomplished so don't give up on us and please stay tuned. We'll be back in the saddle a little after mid September.</span><br />
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-1830571209381393022014-07-26T16:57:00.000-05:002014-07-26T18:56:38.600-05:00"THE" Burger Quest second outing<span style="font-size: large;">As the old saying goes, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go awry" seemed to be with us on our Quest yesterday.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Each Friday in the afternoon we take turns choosing and driving. This was my week so after picking up Barry and John I headed for Angry Angus out in Fracc. Las Americas. I had looked at their fb page and <i>thought</i> I saw that they were open at 1 PM. Well, for those that have been there before you know that that is correct but just on Saturday and Sunday. They open at 7 PM through the week.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Of course as will be said way too many times during this quest, old guys, retired, plenty-o-time so no set back is devastating in any way. Options abound when it comes to burgers.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The option that presented itself was Salamanca Grill. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We noticed it on the way to AA, no the other AA! So it was a likely stop to see if they serve burgers for lunch.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Now some may ask, "why would a well known steak restaurant not sell burgers for lunch?" Well, never take anything for granted here because things are not always, shall I say "what you might expect!"</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Many of you probably know about the La Rueda steak houses. If you don't you certainly should! I know of two of them. Regardless both are open for lunch. The one out on Ave 2000 aka 128 is open for lunch but doesn't serve burgers until they open at 7 in the evening. The other in Emiliano Zapata Norte cooks burgers outside during lunch but they can only be purchased and carried away. No eating burgers inside until they are served in the evening. Just another one of those great mysteries that keep us intrigued here in Merida!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We found this out the day John and I returned to La Cabana Sonorense for steaks. We both figured that La Rueda would do a killer burger. So I stopped and john went in to see. FYI: John is our official "burger checker outer" (BCO) so he is sent in to recon any time we're not sure. It's good to have an official BCO along on the quest!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Moving on......we pulled into Salamanca's parking area and sent in our BCO. I mean no sense we all get out of the ac car and go see when you have a BCO! LOL!</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S-0DN4Sd2rA/U9Py_oGZO_I/AAAAAAAAF2I/qLxd_U_tbi4/s1600/P1070290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-S-0DN4Sd2rA/U9Py_oGZO_I/AAAAAAAAF2I/qLxd_U_tbi4/s1600/P1070290.JPG" height="480" width="640" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">After a minute or two he returned and gave us the high sign. Barry and I get out and we all go in and sit down.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;"> Things looked new and spiffy and a waiter was there immediately.</span><br />
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<a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3NIcOBXCgg/U9PzFx69l_I/AAAAAAAAF20/xsOlRTvW8kc/s1600/P1070293.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-r3NIcOBXCgg/U9PzFx69l_I/AAAAAAAAF20/xsOlRTvW8kc/s1600/P1070293.JPG" height="240" width="320" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">As you can see it wasn't busy when we arrived but about 45 minutes later a few more tables started to fill.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So it was time to order the burger after we ordered our beverages of choice. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Then this is where the miscommunication comes in. Now I know we have just started this quest but to date no one understands that we want a burger cooked medium rare on a bun and nothing else. Huh? Say what?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We can only figure that when we tell them that they either think that we are old loco gringos or we're messing with them. And even though we are sure we have told the waiter exactly what we want in Spanish, (solo carne y pan, sin cebolla, sin lechuga, sin tomate, sin tocino, sin queso, sin habeneros, sin ketsup, sin mayonesa, y sin mostaza....nada mas solo carne y pan!) that between us, him and the cook, well, something gets lost. The waiter asks if we want it cut and we say yes....tres piezas.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The cook, once seeing the order, has to be in the back thinking that the waiter has had to of totally gone off the deep end and has screwed up the order because when and who, in their right mind, has ever ordered a burger on a bun and nada mas? Simply unheard of and he/she isn't going to send out any burger naked! No! No! Not on their watch!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, now to all that you have to add the fact that there are three guys sitting at a table ordering this one, only one, very non conventional burger to be divided between them. Yet another huh from the waiter? WTF?</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Yes, we explain as best as possible that we will each be ordering a burger after we eat the first one but that seems to get lost some where along the way.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So as the order is placed with all the "sins" the waiter, as he is walking away, I hear him say "solo?" I look at Barry and John, whom by the way are the Spanish speakers.......way, way better than I, and I say I think there will be an issue. They protest at my suggestion as it was made perfectly clear what we wanted.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So we're talking and drinking our chilled beverages as the burger arrives. As the waiter sits it on the table the melted cheese is oozing and the bacon is sticking out at weird angles from all four pieces.</span><br />
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<a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-p4aAjDaOo/U9PzG23FyeI/AAAAAAAAF3A/S6S8tFyBAv4/s1600/P1070295.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span style="font-size: large;"><img border="0" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J-p4aAjDaOo/U9PzG23FyeI/AAAAAAAAF3A/S6S8tFyBAv4/s1600/P1070295.JPG" height="300" width="400" /></span></a></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We all look at the burger, then at each other and we start laughing and start scraping off cheese and bacon.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">After the cheese and bacon were removed we tasted and commented and feel that the burger is very good. The burger was pre-made/pressed and came to Salamanca frozen according to the waiter, Alex, that replaced the first waiter after he didn't show up again. Loco gringos!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We then ordered our burgers the way we like them........</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Our combined thoughts were that the burgers were very good but the toppings were too slight for the size of the burger.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Two out of the three buns didn't seem real fresh and were dry. Of course we are talking about the top of the bun since the burgers are very juicy and the bottom of the bun was soaked.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The meat was cooked to everyone's satisfaction.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Two of us thought the fries were just a wee bit over cooked and the other thought that they were spot on.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">None of us three burgerteers would have sent our burgers back but all agree that La Cabana Sonorense holds the edge.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Would I go back to Salamanca for a burger.....indeed!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We were burgering at Salamanca Grill on Calle 74 in Fracc. Las Americas.</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">There's another one on Calle 28 No 401 x 35 y 37 in Col. Emiliano Zapata Norte.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On a different meat note I will add that if you haven't been to Salamanca for a steak then you are without a doubt missing out on a wonderful experience, imho!</span><br />
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-9812845007873711872014-07-24T21:24:00.002-05:002014-07-24T22:27:39.902-05:00In quest of "THE" burger in Merida!<span style="font-size: large;">You know how different subjects come up in conversations with your friends when you're just sitting around BSing.........well, a few weeks back John, Barry and I were sitting at a downtown coffee house sipping our ground beans of choice and someone remarked, "who do you think has the best burger in Merida?"<br /><br />Well, without getting into the details of that conversation let me just say that we decided that we would go on a quest to find the best burger in Merida.<br /><br />Yes, yes, I know....who says it's the best, I may not like what you like and how do you compare, etc, etc<br /><br />Well, after some discussion we decided that we'd play it this way: each Friday one of us will choose a place to go and that person drives and picks everyone else up, <br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VvPMhU6OOvU/U9E2NHD7ZRI/AAAAAAAAF0g/ihO4QV0lmm0/s1600/P1070147.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VvPMhU6OOvU/U9E2NHD7ZRI/AAAAAAAAF0g/ihO4QV0lmm0/s1600/P1070147.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /></span><br />
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<br />upon arrival we order one burger medium rare with nothing on it and have it served on their standard bun. (the standard bun thing is only important if they have a special bun which is doubtful) We then cut it into three equal pieces and we each eat a third. During the eating process we discuss. comment and judge.<br /><br /><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9gFL75v4btk/U9E2sIPm2cI/AAAAAAAAF0o/CIydntmC12g/s1600/P1070156.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-9gFL75v4btk/U9E2sIPm2cI/AAAAAAAAF0o/CIydntmC12g/s1600/P1070156.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><br />Next we each order a burger the way we like to eat a burger. There's no sharing this time as we all seem to not agree on the best toppings for a burger.<br /><br />We eat our burgers and make comments as we feel the need and then decide what we think. Obviously this second tasting is for our own decision making process and carries no weight with the other judges.<br /><br />Needless to say my blog report will reflect our opinions of the plain burger and bun. <br /><br />If there are any “WOW” factor statements at any point for either burger I’ll let you know! <br /><br />Ok, so let me start with one of our first stops on our quest! La Cabana Sonorense located on Circuito Colonias about 50 feet from Ave Aleman. So if you are headed out Aleman (sort of NE) turn right on CC and it will be on your right in about 50 feet, err, 15.3 meters.. They have three parking spaces to the left of the stairs if everyone parks correctly. It is very well signed………... <br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KRxHYb4uts4/U9E31s6F6QI/AAAAAAAAF1A/LlFw-PHonEg/s1600/P1070219.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-KRxHYb4uts4/U9E31s6F6QI/AAAAAAAAF1A/LlFw-PHonEg/s1600/P1070219.JPG" width="400" /></a><br /><br /><br /><div style="text-align: right;">
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just look for the red bull with horns and the flame above its head.<br /><br />After you go up the stairs it opens into a nice space with a good amount of seating in both the main room and......<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEIOfDf8c3w/U9E36tUWkQI/AAAAAAAAF1Y/DKJEOMQMRFE/s1600/P1070223.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TEIOfDf8c3w/U9E36tUWkQI/AAAAAAAAF1Y/DKJEOMQMRFE/s1600/P1070223.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />the smaller room off to the left where we decided to sit.<br /><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cstgjx1xPPk/U9E4CxoR5iI/AAAAAAAAF1g/6Zza5zuNoJg/s1600/P1070224.JPG"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Cstgjx1xPPk/U9E4CxoR5iI/AAAAAAAAF1g/6Zza5zuNoJg/s1600/P1070224.JPG" width="400" /></a><br />It was spacious, clean and Pedro, the owner was at the table in a few seconds.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I might add that the beans on the plate of beans w/chips and four sauces he brings to the table are totally some of, if not the best beans I have ever had here!</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: large;">We ordered our burger to share, ate it and we were very impressed. The meat was fresh and the patty was hand made. It was cooked to a perfect med/rare. Very juicy and it had a most awesome flavor. Absolutely delicious! No doubt a heavy contender and a force that will be hard to out do in our quest, imho!<br /><br />Then we ordered burgers made to each of our specs and zowee! We were even more impressed when we got to bite into our individual burgers!<br /><br />The fries were also extremely good but could have been just a wee bit more crispy. However there were none left on the plate.<br /><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zVPizl7ehGA/U9E4Flv74pI/AAAAAAAAF1o/NhSIoCG2mFk/s1600/P1070225.JPG"><img border="0" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zVPizl7ehGA/U9E4Flv74pI/AAAAAAAAF1o/NhSIoCG2mFk/s1600/P1070225.JPG" width="640" /></a><br /><br />I believe that we would all say that if you want a great burger you should not miss the opportunity to stop by La Cabana Sonorense!<br />BTW: the cost of the four burgers was 260p total.<br /><br />On a side STEAK note, John and I went back a few days later in order to have a steak. It was part of one of our BDOs (boys day out) things we do from time to time. We like it and the wives like us to be gone! LOL!<br /><br />Anyway, this visit was due to with the wonderful impression we got from our burger visit.<br /><br />We talked to Pedro about the different cuts and after speaking with him John ordered the Ribeye and I ordered the Vacio. Pedro thought the Vacio had the best flavor and he was spot on! Both were cooked to perfection which was med-rare for John and rare for me.<br /><br />The Ribeye was very good but John commented that it was a hair too lean as he likes them with a bit more fat/marbling in them. The Vacio (flank steak) was superb! Stupendous! A flavor that was over the top and very tender. <br /><br />So I'd have to say that LA Cabana Sonorense is a must stop for any carnivore out there in Merida!<br /><br />This will be a fun quest! Stay tuned!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Check them out on fb @ La Cabana Sonorense</span></div>
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He is just a breath away from achieving his Master Gardener's Certificate up on the Outer banks in NC. He lives there with his lovely, Pammy whom I might ad has possessed a piece of my heart since we first met! <br />
Oh, and they were the best man and woman at our wedding in 1974.<br />
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Well I thought it might be a good idea to send him some pics of our garden for his Birthday. <br />
Debi saw me taking pictures and she asked what was happening and I told her that I thought it would be cool to send Gary some pics for his birthday. She then suggested that I do it as a blog since we had promised a few other people current pictures of the back area of the casa. Once again she was right on!<br />
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To remind some and introduce the starting point of Debi's Garden to others I have started with a couple of pics of when we bought the house 8+ years ago. <br />
Debi has the green thumb and the vision which has grown into visions and the pictures I am posting will show her garden as it is today. <br />
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So here you go Gary I hope you find this post an enjoyable Birthday present and whomever else casts their peepers upon it I hope you enjoy it as well.<br />
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March 2006:<br />
Standing just past the end of the pool and taking the picture towards the back wall of the property....<br />
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Similar shot today......<br />
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March 2006-turning around and taking a picture back towards the house.<br />
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Similar shot today.........<br />
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Ok, here's some picks of what's in the garden now.<br />
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These are some pics of the kitchen garden named because it is right outside the kitchen door. The tree is a sour orange.</div>
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So that's about it! Hope you enjoyed it my friend! Happy Birthday! Oh and always remember, mi casa es su casa!</div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-88927084593080233182014-01-20T12:43:00.001-06:002014-01-20T12:43:43.825-06:00”QUERREKE”.....150 Beers On The Wall <div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok the song was actually 100 beers on the wall but that was a song and this post is about a restaurant/bar out in City Center.</span></div>
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<b id="docs-internal-guid-13db2ce4-b0a4-ee86-962e-f1a29c57829f" style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A few months ago my good friend John and I went out on one of our frequent Boys Day Out (BDO) excursions. FYI: BDO is a manly thing that gets us out of the house and from underfoot of the wives. They get a break and we get to do guy things, like scratch, belch, walk leisurely up and down all the aisles in Home Depot, eat steak for lunch, and stop and investigate new places for a cold one or three!</span></div>
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<b style="font-weight: normal;"><br /><span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></b></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">On this particular day we had gone to City Center to buy some wine at La Europea. After a few successful wine purchases we departed LE. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">When you walk out of LE you can see the backs of all the shops/restaurants that are in the front section of the mall. Most have entrances in the front and the back.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was a hot day and as we walked out of LE we noticed this……..</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It was an unusual name, there were beers on the barrel with a sign and the sandwich board had the beers of the day specials. Hmmmmm, a hot day and the "come hither" of a cold brew and they're offering "the good life"! It was a no brainer, we stepped in......</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; color: black; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">We were impressed with the beer selections. We went back again on another one of our BDOs. </span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Here's a look at their list of beers and they have specials from time to time that are not on the list.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><br /></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The jefe, Santiago, says that it is the only place in the Yucatan that has 150 beers available. Now I haven’t been everywhere in the Yucatan to verify his statement but there were more beers there than any where I’ve been in Merida.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ok, believe it or not it gets better!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">John and I never ate there but last month my wife, Debi, and I went to a movie at City Center with our friends Doug and Robin and I was telling them about Querreke. So we stopped in for a cold one and some lunch! WOW! We all thought the food was incredible.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So it’s a double whammy as far as I’m concerned! Great brewskies and chow! WOW!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I wanted to post about this place before but I also wanted to wait and check out the food one more time. So Debi and I just went back again last week and she got the same dish, salmon, as last time and it was just as good as the first time.....</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I had a great meal the first time and the second time they had a seafood stew special called chilpachole. Delicious!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I'm a fan of dark beers, not necessarily stouts but the lager oscura Baja Black from Mexico is a most awesome beer in my opinion and it went so well with my special of the day!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">There are 8 to 10 seats at the bar and about eight tables inside. The back has three tables outside and the front has a large patio with seating in the front which is shared by other establishments.</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Omar was our waiter both times and he took good care of us. Heck you even get a cloth napkin!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">So next time you're lookin' to have a good but different beer and something to make your tummy happy stop in and give it a go!</span></div>
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<span style="background-color: transparent; font-family: Arial; font-size: 19px; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">PS: no, I don't get a kick back or free beer! However my post is self serving as I want this place to stay open cause I like going there!</span></div>
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Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-36305022566221355462014-01-13T17:16:00.000-06:002014-01-13T17:16:37.949-06:00<div dir="ltr" style="line-height: 1.15; margin-bottom: 0pt; margin-top: 0pt;">
<span style="background-color: transparent; color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: large; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; font-weight: normal; text-decoration: none; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I want to share with you a story and a poem prompted by the story but first I want to say that the dogs and cats of the Yucatan would appreciate your help with the ongoing and upcoming spay and neuter clinics. Your donations of time, food, money, water, old blankets, towels, newspaper, cardboard, paper towels, etc would be sooooooooo much appreciated. <br class="kix-line-break" />Always and forever are the needs of the shelters for your assistance of your time, food and donations!<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />The other morning I opened the door out to the street just to look up and down the street. Always nice to see what's happening.<br class="kix-line-break" />We have a tope just a few meters away from the front of the house. It's one of those that is humped in the middle and it is very abrupt so everyone slows down for it.<br class="kix-line-break" />Sitting right in front of the tope and next to the curb is an old man hunched over in a wheel chair. His clothes were tattered, his back and spine were bent to one side and, well, I just got the feeling that he and the wheel chair had been together for a very long time. <br class="kix-line-break" />The front wheels were against the tope and lying right beside him on the sidewalk is a street dog. I could see patches of mange, a crooked ear, and a few ribs were showing. Neither of them moving. Friends? I didn't know.<br class="kix-line-break" />I leaned against the doorway watching and carrying on an inner dialogue........do I go see if he needs or wants help to get over the tope? Is he from this area? I haven't seen him before. The dog doesn't look familiar either but there are so many. Did he come down the street by mistake and can't maneuver over the tope? Is the dog his? Will it try to protect him from this tall white dude? A few minutes went by and still no movement. Maybe he is just napping.......I wonder if he's dead?<br class="kix-line-break" />I look up the street, no cars coming. <br class="kix-line-break" />Then his arms drop to the wheels and he slowly turns the chair to the left. The dog gets up and looks to see what's going on.<br class="kix-line-break" />Without looking up the calle the man slowly propels the chair parallel along the tope. The dog walks along on the tope itself. Now I can see his face and he is old, his face weathered but no sign of discomfort from moving the chair. I wonder if he was one of those guys that used to unload the supply trucks at construction sites where they would carry two bags of sand or gravel at a time....which I still find totally amazing....and did he get hurt? Is that the reason for the chair? The bent back?<br class="kix-line-break" />At about two thirds along the tope there is a spot where the cap is missing so the height is reduced by about three inches. At that point the man turns the chair to face the tope. The dog stops beside the wheelchair but doesn't sit.<br class="kix-line-break" />More inner dialogue starts again as I wonder if I should now go over and help him to cross over the tope. I hesitate as there is this machoness here and sometimes help that isn't asked for is not wanted and sometimes not appreciated. I have first hand experience with it. I go to my fallback position which is, he gets three chances and then I assist. <br class="kix-line-break" />I look up the street, no cars coming.<br class="kix-line-break" />His first attempt got the smaller front wheels on top of the tope. The dog was now straddling the tope. The second attempt failed. The dog stood still. The third attempt got the back wheels on the tope and with an extra effort he was over. The dog beside the chair.<br class="kix-line-break" />Still no cars!<br class="kix-line-break" />Without knowing I had moved. I found myself standing at the curb. Always strange how that happens.<br class="kix-line-break" />I watched as they slowly moved over closer to the curb, dog at his side, as they went down the calle and turned at the corner and they were gone.<br class="kix-line-break" />A car passed by. Tears rolled down my cheeks.<br class="kix-line-break" />Was it his dog? I don't know and probably never will. But if even for a small period of time I know the dog was pleased to be with someone that didn't judge or show a mean hand. But kindred spirits they most certainly were connected by all that life had laid at their feet.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />No, I'm not a writer but I think certain things can bring out the writer or poet in someone. This and the fact that I seem to be getting more emotional as I get older and things are affecting me more.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />“I AM READY”.............the unspoken wish.<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to go with you,<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready rain or shine,<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to stand with you,<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to sit with you<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to share your sadness<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to comfort you<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to make you smile<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to see you smile at me<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to try so much harder<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to do better and I will<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to know you're there for me<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to always be there for you<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to feel your caress<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to feel your love<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to share my life with you<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to commit forever<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready for you to want me<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready for you to care for me<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to go home with you<br class="kix-line-break" />I am ready to get off the street!<br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" /><br class="kix-line-break" />Tom Kuhn<br class="kix-line-break" />January 2014</span></div>
<span id="docs-internal-guid-0caaa45f-8dde-358b-3484-6ff5c7512da2"><br /><span style="color: white; font-family: Arial; font-size: 16px; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"></span></span>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-73971503609490003962012-12-20T11:40:00.003-06:002012-12-20T11:40:49.362-06:00<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; font-size: x-large;">Regardless of how we refer to tomorrow, either "the end of the world" or as we all know it better by "the end of the Mayan calender" the theme that is front foreward is "death". The end, fin, kaput! This event, in all probability, has made many of us think about "the end" more than we usually do, if at all. I've given it thought and wrote this to hopefully show respect for the big "D" and to postpone its visit not only tomorrow but many years to come for me and you! I call it "End".</span><br />
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the sunrise <span style="background: white;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the sunset<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the seed<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the plant<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the spark<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the wet<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the egg<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the bird<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the song<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the silence<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the joy<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the sad<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the first breath<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the last<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;">If you are the life<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span style="color: black; font-family: "Arial","sans-serif"; font-size: 18pt;"><span style="color: #d5a6bd;"> I am the death<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-70719710445481889872011-12-17T16:07:00.001-06:002011-12-17T16:08:58.346-06:00New Kid In Town<span style="font-size: large;">I've been living in Merida now for five years and </span><span style="font-size: large;">I've been drinking wine in Merida now for five years. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until recently the best access to wine that I knew about was either Costco, Sam's, or Covi. Yes, there were some smaller neighborhood stores but they don't carry much of a selection. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Merida is an infant in the wine scene. Don't get me wrong, there are wine drinkers here and some with discerning tastes but for the most part they drank red or white. Ok, what others are there besides roses? None, without getting technical! But there was little concern to the varietal (type of grape) that the red or white wine was made from. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Over time the wine culture here has changed and is still changing and I hope it continues.......forever!</span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I see three main things that have made these changes come about. One, the influx of people moving here to live from the northern parts of the country. They bring with them a better level of knowledge and a more discerning palate. Two, more and more gringos moving here also with a broader base of knowledge and desires for wines they want to have access to. Three, the locals growing knowledge of wines and with that the desire to try other varietals. </span><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I think this is great for numerous reasons with the two biggies being a much wider variety and lower costs. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Things are changing here and not only in regards to wine but many other things associated like food items and restaurants. Go Merida Go!!!!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">For a couple of years I have heard about and then came to know people that would drive to Cancun and/or Playa del Carmen to access a liquor store called L</span><span style="font-size: large;">a Europea. Seems that they are a big chain in MX and they have a variety of wines, liquors, deli items, oils and nuts that puts all other similar stores to shame.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Well guess what? Yep we have one! It just recently opened at City Center.</span><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">You may remember my last post about going there but it being closed. It did have a bit of a rough start and even though it is open now it isn't functioning at full capacity.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">There is still some construction going on.............</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0G43tGfxAlg/TurMdIcpg0I/AAAAAAAAFaM/OoTh2cBXNkE/s1600/P1010935.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0G43tGfxAlg/TurMdIcpg0I/AAAAAAAAFaM/OoTh2cBXNkE/s320/P1010935.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">and there is construction dust every where and there are prices missing..........</span></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jr9VTXBuPX4/TurOmkSYDnI/AAAAAAAAFac/2mpRS3PFMyI/s1600/P1010932.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Jr9VTXBuPX4/TurOmkSYDnI/AAAAAAAAFac/2mpRS3PFMyI/s320/P1010932.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">but it is a work in progress and it will be a great addition when it is finished!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">These next two pictures are of the yet to be finished deli area. From the looks of it it'll be quite large. Who doesn't like a big deli!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mKTUxMvzjTI/TurPXLuU-xI/AAAAAAAAFak/7KV11xt1jdY/s1600/P1010936.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-mKTUxMvzjTI/TurPXLuU-xI/AAAAAAAAFak/7KV11xt1jdY/s320/P1010936.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-beDDprY5yHw/TurP9w3t5XI/AAAAAAAAFas/odQdtvlLj7Y/s1600/P1010934.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-beDDprY5yHw/TurP9w3t5XI/AAAAAAAAFas/odQdtvlLj7Y/s320/P1010934.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">It really gives me the feel of the large liquor stores in the states. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BwSMzVuMCpE/TurQt0nuxuI/AAAAAAAAFa0/nxNKV44sY4U/s1600/P1010944.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-BwSMzVuMCpE/TurQt0nuxuI/AAAAAAAAFa0/nxNKV44sY4U/s320/P1010944.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TLkmNhNcRI8/TurRDd93kFI/AAAAAAAAFa8/SRh1cyzzNZk/s1600/P1010931.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-TLkmNhNcRI8/TurRDd93kFI/AAAAAAAAFa8/SRh1cyzzNZk/s320/P1010931.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">They have all sorts of gift baskets and gift sets for sale too! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ogxjlWbJtxU/TurRv5mYAYI/AAAAAAAAFbE/KTsbMMxNd-8/s1600/P1010941.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ogxjlWbJtxU/TurRv5mYAYI/AAAAAAAAFbE/KTsbMMxNd-8/s320/P1010941.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Plus they have oils, and nuts and all sorts of stuff!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b-U8ukiqGdI/TurShF-0ADI/AAAAAAAAFbM/VgacNuMVwMI/s1600/P1010938.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-b-U8ukiqGdI/TurShF-0ADI/AAAAAAAAFbM/VgacNuMVwMI/s320/P1010938.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vvVAGpQ8RT8/TurS0InHVyI/AAAAAAAAFbU/K8bA3ewUQPE/s1600/P1010939.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vvVAGpQ8RT8/TurS0InHVyI/AAAAAAAAFbU/K8bA3ewUQPE/s320/P1010939.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">So go, browse, snoop, check it out! Who knows what you might find!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KINvwZvrC1M/TurT22xzVKI/AAAAAAAAFbc/eOaHZejhjqU/s1600/P1010943.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KINvwZvrC1M/TurT22xzVKI/AAAAAAAAFbc/eOaHZejhjqU/s320/P1010943.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y9ETEjeCJa0/TurUKhfCHnI/AAAAAAAAFbk/acIgS9Kt1XQ/s1600/P1010945.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-y9ETEjeCJa0/TurUKhfCHnI/AAAAAAAAFbk/acIgS9Kt1XQ/s320/P1010945.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NUnLixzogAg/TurUi5JfHnI/AAAAAAAAFbs/V4_CQz2ckwQ/s1600/P1010942.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NUnLixzogAg/TurUi5JfHnI/AAAAAAAAFbs/V4_CQz2ckwQ/s320/P1010942.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">I can't wait to see it when it's running on all cylinders. They do have wines I've never seen here before and they have some of the old reliable ones too. However, I was impressed by them not being inundated with the wines you see very where else. Ye they have <em>some </em>bu not shelf after shelf of things like Concha y Toro. Ok, don't anyone get their knickers in a twist! I like some of C yT's wines but I don't need to see them dominating the aisles and shelves. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Give something new a chance.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Last, the prices were disappointing overall. I thought when a big chain store came in that the competition would get a kick in the pants. Not so much. Of course I had to go on the same-o same-o and they seemed to be priced the same as other places. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">But, the variety was better than anywhere else in the city so I guess I'll be learning about some new wines! I love it!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;">Now I have been led to believe that there are case discounts but I failed to ask when I was there. But you'll be going in to see the place I'm sure, so you can ask when you get there. FYI: Roberto's name has been dropped as the go to guy for his knowledge and recommendations. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1CC_-TGLFE0/TurXt78CBuI/AAAAAAAAFb0/pS-T085gN9U/s1600/P1010946.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-1CC_-TGLFE0/TurXt78CBuI/AAAAAAAAFb0/pS-T085gN9U/s320/P1010946.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">Regardless, it's worth the trip just to see the place. Kinda' gives you the feeling that Merida is growing up!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span style="font-size: large;">PS: I might mention that Cavit Italian Pinot Noir at 150p per bottle is a good wine at a decent price!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span style="font-size: large;"></span></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-54256724304142269602011-12-12T00:09:00.107-06:002011-12-12T11:50:51.716-06:00No wine-ing!<span style="font-size: large;">Friends have said that I should write about wines and associated things like costs, availability and restaurants that have wine here in Merida</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I have hesitated as I have had no formal training in these areas. However I like to drink good wine and I like to eat good food and I’m pretty darn good at both. These are skills that I have been honing for a very long time and I like to do both at a reasonable cost.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I've also been reluctant but not that I don't have anything to say about these things but I was worried that I'd become famous. Worried that people would start saying things like...."well Tom says", you know, like they do with "Robert", you know, that Parker dude from Wine Advocate! Yea, right!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ok if you don't know him or publications like Wine Spectator but like wine then I guess I've got at least four or five folks that might read what I talk about. So with encouragement like that I'll continue! Can you tell I'm easy!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">First and foremost I am <u>not</u> a wine snob. My lovely wife will not agree with that statement but then, when has she ever really known me in the thirty nine years we have been together! Now I openly admit I have certain likes and dislikes when it comes to wines and restaurants but I certainly do not think that those things would ever place the moniker of "snob" on me. Regardless you'll get to know them over time and you can be the judge. I'm sure you have some too!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">So I'll give this a go!I'm sure I'll improve as time goes on and I'll remember to take not only more but better pictures to accompany my revues.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Many of us have been anticipating the opening of the “La Europea” liquor store at City Center here in Merida. Yes, It is a chain of sorts, found all over MX. For whatever reason and as with most things Merida it took a long time to get it here.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I had heard that it was supposed to have opened about a week earlier but another friend reported that it didn’t. TIM! Then it was supposed to open the beginning of this week, it didn’t. TIM! So now another friend reported that a mutual friend bought two cases of wine there a couple of days ago so it was open.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So my amigo John and I loaded our wallets and headed out to see the new store on Thursday the 8th. We were to meet our friend Reg there at 2PM and we were all going to experience La Europea together.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Upon arrival we knew something was wrong because there were more people walking away from the store with empty arms than there were people going in.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We passed Laureen and Shawn, other friends, coming towards us and they asked “going to La Europea, we said yes, and they said it’s not open!” We discussed briefly the things heard about when it was supposed to have opened, etc, etc.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">So John and I continued on and saw Reg talking to a few people. Reg informed us that the door guard said that they didn’t have all their papers in order so they couldn’t open. Reg has also talked to the owner and he said that he, the owner, was sure that if they were not open by 5PM that day that they would be open for sure by 10 AM the next morning Yea! Right!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Regardless we did some window shopping and did managed to get an abundant amount of nose smears on the glass. It is a fairly large store and certainly larger than any other liquor store in Merida.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Oh, and you might be curious about the other friend buying the two cases of wine……well, let me just say that it is always good to know somebody!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, La Europea was a bust but how can it be totally bad if there is but another oasis of wine and food set before us. Yep, in City Center is the “winebar”.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf2qRwgajEs/TuU6PXKVg8I/AAAAAAAAFY4/NXL9e7asd8k/s1600/P1010930.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Qf2qRwgajEs/TuU6PXKVg8I/AAAAAAAAFY4/NXL9e7asd8k/s320/P1010930.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The winebar is a restaurant, wine bar and deli. The sandwich board on the left had their lunch special listed and that's what we thought we'd get. 160p for the lunch special that included two glasses of wine! Que Bueno! More on that later!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Upon walking in the place had a nice feel, very modern. There was a tall rack of wine on your right…. </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hN05jp_3lDg/TuVBBfxSLLI/AAAAAAAAFZI/gQyrlNpvAVQ/s1600/P1010929.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-hN05jp_3lDg/TuVBBfxSLLI/AAAAAAAAFZI/gQyrlNpvAVQ/s320/P1010929.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QyvafPnyElY/TuVB9kg6eLI/AAAAAAAAFZQ/q3hCUpKHqGo/s1600/P1010927.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QyvafPnyElY/TuVB9kg6eLI/AAAAAAAAFZQ/q3hCUpKHqGo/s320/P1010927.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">......that separates the entry way from the front dining area.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H_hwD6O9X0k/TuVEbmZ4iTI/AAAAAAAAFZg/JWvTLdijTlI/s1600/P1010928.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-H_hwD6O9X0k/TuVEbmZ4iTI/AAAAAAAAFZg/JWvTLdijTlI/s320/P1010928.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the left as you walk in are the main counter and a small chilled cabinet with cheese and meats. I guess it is what gives the place the designation as a deli. Ok, a small deli!</span><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-csGvS_1IjPE/TuVF8Gol5kI/AAAAAAAAFZo/-qsEHhVXejw/s1600/P1010926.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-csGvS_1IjPE/TuVF8Gol5kI/AAAAAAAAFZo/-qsEHhVXejw/s320/P1010926.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">They have another wine rack just past the bar on the left side as you walk back to the rear dining area. All the wines are available by the bottle for carry out and also off the menu. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Both the front and back dining areas have a lot of glass so they are well lit with ambient light as long as it is sunny. At this time of day, 2:30, the rear area was very bright and since it was that way the floor was very well lit. I was surprised at the lack of cleanliness of the floor. Now don’t get me wrong, there were not hunks of pasta or meat stuck to the floor but you could tell that it hadn’t been swept since at least dinner the night before. And yes, I know that I wasn’t eating off the floor.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The waiter was right there as soon as we sat and we asked for a wine list. He left and immediately returned with the list.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I always like to look at the wine list at every restaurant I go in no matter if I am ordering wine or not. It tells me what wines they have and what the costs are. I can usually find a few that I know what my cost is and then I can tell what kind of mark up the restaurant has; My experience here in Merida is that almost all restaurants are pretty outrageous on their mark ups for wine!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Anyway, as we looked at the list we started asking a few questions about the lunch special. You could choose four out of the five salads on the menu. You had a choice of either a pasta or an arrachera dish. With either dish you got papas cambray or fritas, a small bowl of guac and a garnish of lettuce and tomato plus two glasses of wine. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We then asked about the wine and the waiter told us we could have either blanco o tinto. We asked about the wines as to what varietal they were, where they were from, etc. He told us they were from Chile and pointed them out to us on the wine list. I’m sorry but I can’t remember the winery but you’ll soon see why it didn’t matter.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">All three of us also ordered the arrachera special and the vino tinto which was a malbec. The waiter had problems with all of our Spanish but after repeating things a few times he understood.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">As the ordering was going on Reg looks at the only other table with people and said to me, “Tom, look at their wine glasses. I looked and there was a lot of condensation on the glasses. So much so that it was rising above the wine level on the sides of the glass. This meant that the wine was very cold. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, one of my biggest dislikes is cold red wine. I don’t care for cold red wine. It’s just not right. The chill closes down the flavors of the wine. It doesn’t allow you to enjoy all that the vintner intended you to enjoy when he/she made the wine. I feel the same way about most white wines as well. However living in Merida I have learned in the hot months to enjoy a few whites chilled but never, ever a red! </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Ok, so we engage the waiter in checking to see if we can get our wine poured out of a bottle that hasn’t been chilled. He leaves and comes back with the right answer, “yes. </span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">The three glasses of wine arrived and we swirled and sniffed and sipped. We all thought it was a bit closed but we figured that with the bottle just being opened that it was fine for a lunch special wine. I commented that I got a small amount of a salty taste which is somewhat typical of Mexican wines but not usually Chilean reds. We all commented that the color was more of a garnet than a bright ruby or red which can mean an older wine so we got curious and asked to see the bottle. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The waiter brought the bottle and we gazed upon a non vintage Mexican wine, not a wine from Chile. It was not a malbec either but a cabernet sauvignon/malbec blend.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">We gave a brief thought to asking the waiter about it but we figured it wasn’t worth the time or effort we’d need to put into it so we just drank the wine we had and continued to talk. </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">John and I got ceasar salads and as usual for here they were not true ceasar salads. They were dressed with bottled dressing. Reg got a deli salad and he said it was good. Next we got our second glasses of wine which were brought in new glasses and the old glasses were taken away. Then the meals came and the presentation was nice. The arrachera was very good as were the potatoes. The guac was decent.</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h9-AWJh6ZVc/TuVX-drhe0I/AAAAAAAAFZw/I1QmPN_vELc/s1600/P1010924.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-h9-AWJh6ZVc/TuVX-drhe0I/AAAAAAAAFZw/I1QmPN_vELc/s320/P1010924.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<span style="font-size: large;">We all were a bit surprised at the use of a wooden board with trim as the plate. But hey, TIM!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">I also take issue, yes another dislike of mine,with the state of the "wine" glasses that a restaurant or "wine" bar serves their "wine" in!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Since "wine" is one of their main themes then the glasses should at the very least sparkle. They should never have water spots on them especially if the dining area has large glass windows with a ton of bright light! If they want to mark up their wines to the extent they do they certainly can afford to have clean glasses in which to serve their wines. After all, part of the wine experience is presentation!</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">Another one of my issues with glasses are chips. Yes, my second glass of "wine" had a chip in it. I'm sorry but this should never be in an upscale restaurant. Again especially in a "wine" bar! I mean they stepped up and brought us new glasses of wine when we ordered our second glasses and they certainly didn't need to do that since it was the same wine. They could have just brought the bottle and refilled our glasses and I expected that to happen at lunch.</span><br />
<br />
<span style="font-size: large;">I hate to repeat myself but if "wine" is one of, if not, the main theme that a restaurant is hanging its hat on then they should not serve their "wine" in glasses with water spots or chips! Ever! Well, during a full blown hurricane would be acceptable!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Now if this glass "thang" puts me into the "snob" catagory on your "snob" meter then so be it. Call it the way you see it. I have fairly broad shoulders and I can handle it! LOL! But I will remind you that I didn't have lunch at a "wine" bar economica! </span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Overall the experience was ok and I would go back to see if they were possibly just having an off day.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">On the wine cost comparison side of things at the "winebar" I saw a wine that I’m very familiar with on the rack and on the wine list at the “winebar". Yellow Tail Shiraz from Australia was my house shiraz in the states because it was consistently good and inexpensive costing around seven dollars a bottle. I see it here in Costco, Walmart, and other places frequently at 110p a bottle +/-. I consider it a fairly good deal here!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">The “winebar” sells it from their rack for 340p a bottle. If you order it off the wine list with a meal then it is 460p a bottle. That is outrageous even at 14p to one dollar exchange rate. That makes it $24.00 US off the rack and just under $39.00 US off the wine list. Or comparing pesos to pesos that’s three times as much off the rack and four times as much off the wine list that you can buy it for.</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Don’t get me wrong, I know there is expense in having to do all the things necessary that goes with serving a bottle of wine but there never has been and never will be a justifiable position for an over 400% mark up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-size: large;">Until next time</span><br />
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<div style="text-align: right;"><span style="font-size: large;"><span style="color: purple;"><em>Pick me, squeeze me, make me wine!</em></span> </span></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-20565345702530276362011-10-23T13:49:00.000-05:002011-10-23T13:49:35.067-05:00I read emails, I really do and I admit it!<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">I really enjoy emails especially since moving to Mexico. I seriously look forward to receiving them from my friends. I think it's a great way to communicate with people in general!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">An email carries with it many meanings for me that I do not and will not ever take for granted. Like it means someone was thinking of me, that someone thought I was important enough for them to chisel out a piece of time from their life, to sit down and communicate with me. Sort of like when we used to sit down with pen and paper to write a letter to a friend but without the pen, the paper, the envelope, the stamp, the licking and mailing. Gee, that's probably why emails caught on so well! </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Over the past couple of years I have become more aware that my friends do not read emails. Well, maybe it would be more accurate to say that they probably read them but fail to respond to all items of inquiry within. Admittedly I do send some pretty long emails from time to time. <span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">A close friend in Durango CO crowned me "Mr. Wordy" after many communications in which my advice was asked for and I responded profusely! LOL!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span></span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Emails are a wonderful way to communicate setting aside the need to be very specific and then some times things are not received as they were sent. You can't show your body language or facial expressions within an email and that sometimes makes a world of difference in what you are trying to get across. But I'm getting off the subject here and that part of emails is<span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"> fodder for someone else to blog about, my gig here today is about thoroughness.</span></span></div><div> </div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">Regardless even when I greatly reduce the amount of words it seems that, for the most part, the first half of the email is responded to and the rest is left by the wayside. Or, selected parts are responded to and the not the rest. Now I seriously doubt that it is intentional and may just si</span><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">mply have something to do with age or possibly a gray matter infection. But whatever it is it just really annoys the hell out of me! I mean if a person contacts you via email with the need to have answers to something or to set a date for an appointment with you then you should respond in kind and in a timely manner. This is especially true when a person contacts you for your assistance on something and asks what day in the coming week you would be available. You respond saying that you are available between 8 AM and 5 PM on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday and tell the requester to pick which ever day and time suits them best. You then receive an email that states, "That's great, thanks, I'll see you at 10 AM sharp on Friday! WTF? Or you send an email needing a request for something happening in two weeks and during the two week period you get two other emails from the person that you were doing the inquiry to and nothing is ever said about your request? Say what? And my last example is the multiple inquiry email and the response comes in answering the first, second and last item and the others are not responded to. Come on folks, work with me here would you pretty please!!!!!! </span></div><div> </div><div>Here's the way I see it, all of us are important and <strong>time</strong> will always be precious. But in the realm of emails everyone's<strong> time</strong> is equal. When someone takes the <strong>time</strong> to compose an email, especially one in which information is needed, then you should take the <strong>time</strong> to read it thoroughly and respond! Once an email is opened you are committed imho!</div><div>I don't know about you but as you can tell from my post, I'm gonna' get pissy when you dis' my email! Trust me when I say that I realize that the subject matter may not be as important to you as it is to me but we must respect each others <strong>time</strong> for whatever effort we are putting forth.</div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;"></span> </div><div><span style="font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: small;">So please try better to read and respond to emails with a bit more thoroughness please. I'll appreciate it and I'm willing to bet others will too! Oh and always keep in mind how fortunate we are to be doing this minus the pen, the paper, the envelope, the stamp, the licking and the mailing. </span></div></span>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-45717748455479148812011-03-25T22:17:00.000-06:002011-03-25T22:17:30.496-06:00Hey everyone....darts! Get the point?A while back my friend John asked if anyone was interested in playing darts. There were many of us that thought it was a good idea and were interested in playing. So he checked into the possibilities and came up with Hennesseys as a place with a dart board. So with Hennesseys being a great place and with a board and cerveza and food, well, look no further! John did a great job! Yea John!<br />
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In getting ready to go today I had to find my darts. I hadn't shot them let alone seen them since arriving her in Merida five years ago. I used to play darts a lot back in the states because it was something that came naturally to me and it was fun. It took me about an hour to finally find them and it was just in time to go.<br />
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We met today at three o'clock. There were seven of us and we were stoked and ready to have fun shooting darts. However, Hennessey's darts had been overly used by their patrons and were not in a serviceable condition. I was so pleased that I had brought mine with me as it saved the day. <br />
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We talked about how we were going to play and what game we were going to play.<br />
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So we put two teams together and started playing,<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">and drinking......well you have to because that's what you do when you shoot darts!</div><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">we decided to play 301, it's a game where both teams start with 301 points and the points accumulated from each throw is subtracted until one team gets to zero....and you must get to zero exactly.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zEUGH0cm9z0/TY1fNSFPy1I/AAAAAAAAFHs/MldqhxT6plI/s1600/P1010377.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-zEUGH0cm9z0/TY1fNSFPy1I/AAAAAAAAFHs/MldqhxT6plI/s320/P1010377.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">there are more details to the game and scoring but we were there to have fun, maybe we'll get more detailed later but for now we're just going to have fun. Who knows, maybe we'll get to the point that we'll have a league or something if we can get enough players.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Nancy was pretty darn consistent with getting great points when she threw. <a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yV2tv165UI0/TY1extq3jAI/AAAAAAAAFHo/KwZlbvHiAcc/s1600/P1010376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-yV2tv165UI0/TY1extq3jAI/AAAAAAAAFHo/KwZlbvHiAcc/s320/P1010376.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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So we continued to shoot, drink, and eat and drink, shoot and eat, and well, you get the picture!<br />
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So if this seems like something you'd like to try we'll be doing it again the last Friday in April at 3PM. So come join us and we'll laugh, and drink, and eat, and shoot darts, and laugh, and...............!<br />
<div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-491472810789001162011-03-16T17:30:00.001-06:002011-03-16T17:35:02.392-06:00Sarro no more, acid, acid baby!<div style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em; text-align: center;"> </div><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">My pool was gorgious when it was finished almost five years ago. The brillant sky blue little tiles made the water look so amazing and I was so taken with it. Looking out from the terrazzo towards the emerald green garden area the awesome blue color of the pool water just set things off. I was happy and the all was right with the pool gods.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">This was my first pool so I had a learning curve on pool maintenance and all that stuff. I can only surmise that over the years I allowed the ph to get wacked out from time to time because after a while this kind of brownish/gray/green build up started. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Oh, I may not have brushed the pool walls and floor as often as I should have either. Anyway this build up was very stubborn and I learned that it was called sarro and it was a by product of the heavy mineral deposits in the underground water here in the Yucatan. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It actually started showing up at the water line on the pool walls. At first it would come off with the pool brush and then I had to drain the water a wee bit and use some muratic acid and the brush and then it escalated to using a screwdriver and scraping as hard as I could. While this was going on the floor was getting a build up especially along the floor at the base of the walls.</div>Things got worse so I thought that I'd throw on the scuba gear and see what I could do to remove the build up. With a special hand filed and edged scraper I went down and commenced to scrape. Over a few days I burned up four tanks of air and accomplished getting the steps scraped. Total hours probably about three and a half. I did not get much enjoyment out of scraping each little one inch square tile one at a time but the results were great. However it wasn't something that I wanted to continue with.<br />
For a while I tried various things on the tiles at the water line including using what I was told was pretty strong acid with little or no results.<br />
Then as luck would have it I was over at our friend's Jim and Marianne's house and they had just had their tiles at the water line cleaned. Jim said it was pretty fast and easy and Javier always did a great job. I was introduced to Javier and I asked if he could clean the sarro off of the tiles in my pool. He said yes, gave me his phone number and I said that I'd call.<br />
I knew that I'd have to drain my pool and that kept me from calling for many months. Sometime in the past I had been told that there was a possibility that when a tiled pool is drained and when the tiles dry out they might start coming loose. I was fearful of that happening but the sarro had finally gotten so bad that I got to the point that I was willing to risk it.<br />
So I made the call, well, as usual when I need to call someone that speaks Spanish Debi has to do the talking.<br />
Javier came by on Friday and looked at the pool which was still filled with water (40,000 liters) and said he would come back on Monday and clean the pool. Cost:400pesos.<br />
He said that I needed to go to Barroso and get twenty liters of industrial acid. Since I get most of my pool supplies from Hidromechanico I asked if I could get it there. He said no that it had to come from Barroso. <br />
I asked when he would arrive on Monday and he said he would arrive at 11 and work for about two hours and then go eat and then return and finish around 2.<br />
Oh, and the pool needed to be empty. I kind of figured that but it was nice of him to remind me.<br />
I said ok and the deal was made.<br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5Man9A1Hz7c/TYA2KBAxIeI/AAAAAAAAFFI/hOCzh_ZMIKQ/s1600/P1010353.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" q6="true" src="https://lh6.googleusercontent.com/-5Man9A1Hz7c/TYA2KBAxIeI/AAAAAAAAFFI/hOCzh_ZMIKQ/s200/P1010353.JPG" width="150" /></a>This is the 20 liter container of acid I got from Barroso. 225pesos</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fv8JYBp9mu0/TYA2_kDMhKI/AAAAAAAAFFM/YUr2tHhkTUE/s1600/P1010347.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-fv8JYBp9mu0/TYA2_kDMhKI/AAAAAAAAFFM/YUr2tHhkTUE/s320/P1010347.JPG" width="240" /></a>I opened the drain valve and emptied the pool starting late Sunday night into early Monday morning. It took about three and a half hours to drain.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">When I awoke the pool was empty and you could really see how bad the sarro was.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">It was hard to believe that I had cleaned these steps previously and they had gotten so bad in less than a year. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;">You can see the build up of the sarro is heavier on the pool floor especially close to the walls.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OhEOEZCBHhk/TYDgLJBWOnI/AAAAAAAAFFc/dbd2TRWwAzE/s1600/P1010349.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-OhEOEZCBHhk/TYDgLJBWOnI/AAAAAAAAFFc/dbd2TRWwAzE/s320/P1010349.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-F5ZLjp3EA2w/TYA5xgDYZ2I/AAAAAAAAFFY/InbUxTTvBfQ/s1600/P1010352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"></a>This photo really gives a great overall picture of how bad the sarro is/was! Of course the pool looked much better when it was filled with water which in turn allowed me to procrastinate longer than I should have! </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vDi2jiW1ah0/TYFCTQAij3I/AAAAAAAAFGE/UlFTwIk3zEw/s1600/P1010352.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-vDi2jiW1ah0/TYFCTQAij3I/AAAAAAAAFGE/UlFTwIk3zEw/s320/P1010352.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div align="left" class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I figured that I'd get up Monday morning and go get the acid and hopefully get Tate to the Vet for a nail trim. I called the vet at 9 and he wasn't available so I made an appoinment for the next morning at 10. Around 9:30 I was ready to go get the acid and Iwas heading towards the door and the doorbell rang. Debi and I went to the door and there was Javier and two guys. We looked at him, we looked at each other and then back at him and Debi asked "are you here to clean the pool?" He said "yes", Debi said "but your early", he said "yes". </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Hmmmmm, a new phenominom....early! We're really more adapt at the late arrival but not this. We were kind of stunned and you could see a puzzled type look starting to come onto his face.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Debi says to him "Tom hasn't gotten the acid yet, he was just leaving to go get it." Javier says "ok" and then asks "if I am going to the Barroso on calle 51 by 76 that is about ten minutes away?" I say "yes" and he says "ok he'll be right back!"</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I scurry off to Barroso and am back at the house by 10:15. I carry the acid back to the pool while thinking that it will be great to have the cleaning done even sooner than projected and I'll be able to get the water back in the pool faster! Yea!!!!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Shortly after I get back Debi leaves to run some errands. I decide to do some painting around the house....you know a little touch up here and there. The regular homeowner maintenance stuff. I get my painting supplies out and I start painting figuring that Javier and his guys will arrive soon. 11 AM comes and goes. 12 noon passes, no pool guys. 1 o'clock comes and goes. A little after 1 Debi comes home and asks "how's it going?" I said "it's not, they haven't come back yet." Debi says "you're kidding?" She gets her phone out and calls Javier. She asks "what's happening", he responds by asking "do you have the acid?" She says "of course, we've had it since 10:15." He says "ok, I'll be there soon." Ok, now were talkin' about the normal reality I'm used to! LOL!</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">Javier and his guys show up around 2:30. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">As we all stand there looking into the pool Javier comments on the amount of sarro that is in the pool. He says "I may need to get more acid, probably 5 to 10 more liters, but not to do it now as he wants to see how the cleaning goes."</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">They got ready by first finishing up their cokes and punching a hole in each plastic cap. They would be used for distributing the acid to the walls of the pool. They took off their chanclas, rolled up their pants legs, filled up their five gallon bucket with water, got out their short bristled broom that looked like it had been through at least a thousand other pool cleanings and it had not one straight bristle left in it. The cubeta de acido was tipped to fill an old plastic one liter yogurt container that they used to fill their coke bottles and the cleaning commenced.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v8jGzXJQwEY/TYEhwPHt4cI/AAAAAAAAFFg/zNJYE4v7qJM/s1600/P1010355.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-v8jGzXJQwEY/TYEhwPHt4cI/AAAAAAAAFFg/zNJYE4v7qJM/s320/P1010355.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">They worked on the steps and the walls first and they periodically hosed off where they had applied the acid.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mvzITw2e1SE/TYEjEzLnE0I/AAAAAAAAFFo/scy3m_sQqnQ/s1600/P1010359.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-mvzITw2e1SE/TYEjEzLnE0I/AAAAAAAAFFo/scy3m_sQqnQ/s320/P1010359.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gQofdeSw2Sk/TYEiSyqUZpI/AAAAAAAAFFk/0oCVNr64mYU/s1600/P1010357.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-gQofdeSw2Sk/TYEiSyqUZpI/AAAAAAAAFFk/0oCVNr64mYU/s320/P1010357.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I expected to see metal bristled brushed and scrapers to assist in the sarro removal. But yet again I was wrong. They allowed the acid to do all the work and when I asked about the use of a heavy duty brush or metal bristled brush they showed me that neither would be of help. </div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1F_CjZIiX3Y/TYElvpKnvYI/AAAAAAAAFFs/Ieh9FBS9so8/s1600/P1010360.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-1F_CjZIiX3Y/TYElvpKnvYI/AAAAAAAAFFs/Ieh9FBS9so8/s320/P1010360.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">They used their broom to move the acid around on the walls and floor after the initial impact of the acid had done its thing. </div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The amount of bubbling and off gasing from the interaction between the acid and the sarro was overwhelming. The acid bubbled streams of blues and greens and the vapor steam rolled into the air. Javier's guys were prepared for this and as the vapors became overwhelming they puller the necks of their t-shirts up over their noses.</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;">The bucket of water was used to stand in to remove the acid from their feet, ankles, calves, wash off their coke bottles and their hands periodically.</div><div class="separator" style="margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">At about the three quarter completed point Javier asked me to go back to Barosso to get ten more liters of acid. 142pesos. I certainly had to agree as the sarro was being very uncooperative.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The extra acid was just the ticket and as the sun was going down the sarro was gone.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The drain was closed and the pozo pump was turned on and the filling commenced.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cCn_GSgmucY/TYEnapoJ7aI/AAAAAAAAFF8/0uBKMl7F15U/s1600/P1010366.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" r6="true" src="https://lh5.googleusercontent.com/-cCn_GSgmucY/TYEnapoJ7aI/AAAAAAAAFF8/0uBKMl7F15U/s320/P1010366.JPG" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">I missed getting a picture of Tech and Ceniza running up and down the steps and into the water as the pool was starting to be filled. But you can see I did capture Debi in the pool.</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;">The fill took a little under six hours and when we awoke in the morning my pool was gorgious and the brillant sky blue little tiles made the water look so amazing and I was so taken with it. Looking out from the terrazzo towards the emerald green garden area the awesome blue color of the pool water just set things off. I was happy and the all was right with the pool gods once again!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-laY6UhjSm-4/TYEmnJ9-LGI/AAAAAAAAFF0/3t-DIXGQb24/s1600/P1010368.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://lh4.googleusercontent.com/-laY6UhjSm-4/TYEmnJ9-LGI/AAAAAAAAFF0/3t-DIXGQb24/s320/P1010368.JPG" width="240" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-29253520274432687272010-05-15T13:11:00.007-05:002010-05-15T13:28:23.941-05:00Our cat named Matt<strong><em>"If man could be crossed with the cat it would improve man, but it would deteriorate the cat." - Mark Twain</em></strong><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LKIOFmxLaG4/S-7eOFDRnoI/AAAAAAAAEdU/wR-pR3saZTg/s1600/Matt+1998+reduced.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_LKIOFmxLaG4/S-7eOFDRnoI/AAAAAAAAEdU/wR-pR3saZTg/s320/Matt+1998+reduced.jpg" wt="true" /></a></div><br />
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Our lives with Matt started on a warm Colorado spring day back in 1992.<br />
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We had been hearing the meows on and off coming from the overgrown field behind our neighbors house. With the number of alley cats that were in the hood we first didn't think to much of it as we went about our normal routines.<br />
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However the meows became more pronounced and after a few days of hide and seek we found the culprit. At first we couldn't understand what we were looking at as the cat in the field was partially bald and had large weird mounds and/or balls of matted fur on the none bald parts of his body. We feared that the cat was diseased and in extremely poor health.<br />
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After a few more days and the lure of food we managed to get a good look at the cat and we could see that the bald areas were created by large mats of fur that formed and were pulling the fur from various parts of his body. He was skinny and very skittish and would only come to the food after we had backed away.<br />
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As many people do we decided to help this cat get back on its feet.<br />
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From then on Debi would go out to the lot each day to feed the cat. Often she'd sit for an hour or so and just talk to him. He started looking forward to her visits and slowly but surely he came closer as Debi gained his trust. We surmised that his mistreatment had to of been bad and we had no idea how long he had been wandering the area, where he came from or when he might have been dumped.<br />
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It took over three months before the cat would allow Debi to touch it.<br />
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Upon being able to touch him we found that the mats were massive, thick, and very tight against the skin. It seemed that any handling of him was appreciated but somewhat painful due to the mats. After more time had passed and trust was being achieved we attempted to cut some of the mats away but he resisted our attempts. So we went to the vet and got kitty valium and accomplished the deed without any complications. Well, there were a few nicks to his skin but as I said the mats were very tight against his skin.<br />
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After the mats were removed and he had a few days to get used to not being restricted by the mats we took him to the vet. There was a bit of stress with the cat carrier and the car ride but thank goodness it was less than a mile. <br />
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We found out from the vet that he was a Maine coon cat and overall his health was fair. The vet determined that he was between seven and ten years of age. We decided that we'd go with the seven year old estimate as everyone including cats want to be younger! LOL! While there he received the normal host of shots for parasites and vitamins to help jump start his recovery. His teeth were in terrible condition and all but his canines and two others were pulled due to infections and abscesses. Of course the teeth were pulled at a later appointment. <br />
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As the weeks and months passed he worked his way into our hearts and our home. We decide to name him Matt because of all the fur mats that we had had to remove. <br />
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We decided that his birthday would be January 1st. Everyone needs a day to celebrate their birth and why not at the birth of each year.<br />
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<strong><em>Cats are intended to teach us that not everything in nature has a purpose. - Garrison Keillor</em></strong><br />
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He was mostly an outside cat but certainly was welcome inside. He would come inside quite often but never stayed too long. Of course as time passed that changed as well.<br />
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He learned to use the swinging doggie door very quickly and without our assistance. We were surprised the first time we found him sitting in the middle of the living room floor and we hadn't let him in.<br />
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On numerous occasions we would hear cats fighting and we'd go out to see if it was Matt. There were very few times that he was ever involved in a cat fight, at least that we knew about. Mostly when we would go out to check we would find the fight but Matt would be sitting off to one side just watching. Also on numerous occasions we'd see the other cats from the hood come up to him and they would check each other out but not fight. It was one of those things that always made us go hmmmmmmmm and a question that never got answered. We had to assume that he was just a good diplomat or possibly he had proved himself enough times so he was sort of like 'Fonzie'! LOL!<br />
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The years passed and Matt provided us with companionship and lots of kitty love. He was a lap lover and his favorite place was with you on the chair or couch with his front paws and head on your lap. <br />
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As Matt aged our Colorado winters found him sleeping on the heating pad on our couch. He and Debi both despised the cold weather.<br />
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Towards the end of 2004 he started loosing his hearing but it never slowed him down. We could always get his attention by stomping on the floor of our wood frame house. He would feel the vibration and come to see what was up. This behavior was more often than not rewarded by either a brushing or a treat.<br />
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When we moved to Mexico in 2006 he was totally deaf. Of course, after the move, we could no longer stomp on the floor and get his attention! LOL! We're sure that he felt that we moved just for him as his arthritis had been getting worse and heat was the best thing for him. Almost immediately he found that the patio provided immense heat and it became his favorite place to be. As the next few years passed the heat of Mexico became even more welcome. There were times that we could hardly pick him up off the patio and hold him because he was so hot. He loved the patio.<br />
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We're sure that our move to MX prolonged his existence and allowed for him to have a better life. We can only hope that it will do the same for us!<br />
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Aging for Matt brought with it more severe arthritis in his old joints especially in his hips. His eyes developed cataracts and he developed what we refered to as "kitty alzheimers".<br />
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As the cataracts grew bigger his eye sight got worse and he started walking into things. First door frames and chair legs but it slowly got worse. His balance was off and with the advanced arthritis he couldn't scratch without falling over. His personal hygiene fell off as well. However, he never forgot where the litter box or his food dish was located! Oh, and he never confused them! LOL!<br />
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Our combined quality of life together slipped to a point where we, with the opposable thumbs, had to make the decision to end our relationship. Never a good time, never the best part of the relationship and rarely is there as much love and heart wrenching that goes on in ones life as when this decision must be made. Nevertheless the decision was made.<br />
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<strong>To our beloved Matt, we hope that your kitty toys never stop smelling like catnip, that your food bowl is always full, and that a lap is always there to lay your head upon! You deserve no less.</strong><br />
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Matt Kuhn <br />
Born: January 1, 1985 <br />
Died: May 15, 2010<br />
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<strong><em>No amount of time can erase the memory of a good cat, and no amount of masking tape can ever totally remove his fur from your couch. - Leo Dworken </em></strong>Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-62927082747353631732010-04-13T14:57:00.000-05:002010-04-13T14:57:26.316-05:00How to get soap in your mouth!<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Growing up we all had childhood friends some of whom are still friends today. One of my best friends was Gary, he and his family lived a few houses away. We played together and shared all our toys. We were always around to help each other celebrate the biggies, especially the birthdays.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Gary's family had a few rough edges and I learned most of my "bad" words at his house. It was wonderful! I also learned to enjoy potato chip and ketchup sandwiches!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">On Gary's twelfth birthday he received a most magnificent electric train set. He was ecstatic and couldn't wait to get it set up so he could play with it. I was envious but knew I'd be able to be the engineer at some point down the road just like when I had gotten my new bike and he got to ride it after I rode the newness off.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">I stopped by his house for two reasons. One he said that I could play with the train and his mom had made our favorite cake. She made the best cakes!</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">So on this particular day we started acting out the passenger train scenario. Loading, unloading, and all that fun stuff. Well Gary decided to be the conductor and started announcing the stops etc. So all of a sudden he stops the train and says, "All you sons of bitches who want off, get off now cause this is the last stop. And all you sons a bitches who are getting on, get your asses in the train cause we're leaving!" He started giggling and it was contagious!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LKIOFmxLaG4/S8TGbrkPWaI/AAAAAAAAEZQ/wK4ZBgXfeRc/s1600/conductor.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_LKIOFmxLaG4/S8TGbrkPWaI/AAAAAAAAEZQ/wK4ZBgXfeRc/s200/conductor.jpg" width="200" wt="true" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div>Of course this outburst brought his mom in from the kitchen and she said, "You don't use that kind of language in this house. Now I want you to go to your room for two hours. When you come out you can call Tom and he can come over and you can play together again but I want you to use nice language."<br />
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Gary went to his room and I split and went back to my house and watched some tv and played catch with the garage door.<br />
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A while later my mom comes out on the back porch and says that Gary called and I should come over. Oh boy, maybe I'll get to run the train.<br />
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I get there and we resume playing with the train after having a piece of cake. The train went round and round and all of a sudden Gary stops the train and says "Attention passengers!" I could hear his mom stop what she was doing in the kitchen. Gary says, "All passengers who are disembarking the train please remember to take all your belongings with you. We thank you for riding with us today and hope your trip was a pleasant one. We hope that you will ride with us again soon."<br />
"For those of you just boarding we ask you to stow all of your hand luggage under your seat. Please remember that there is no smoking except in the club car. We hope you will have a pleasant and relaxing journey with us today!"<br />
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He then exclaims, "All aboard!" He hesitates a moment and then says, "For those of you who are pissed off about the two hour delay, please see the bitch in the kitchen"?<br />
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I bolted for the door, jumped on my bike and headed for home! I figured he'd call in about a week!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1840063358369335185.post-53200566755161615842010-02-09T16:58:00.000-06:002010-02-09T16:58:37.415-06:00Computers, wives, and accurate subtleties!As most of, if not all of you know Debi is the computer guru in the house. I can function but when things get out of hand I need to call her in. <br />
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Of course as I have gotten older I have also gotten stupider! (yes it's a word that reflects on me very accurately especiall when it comes to computers) So Debi is called in on the same things over and over again. It's great for me as I don't remember having the problem before but she does remember and gets irritated with me for not remembering how to fix various issues as they come up.<br />
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Recently I was having trouble with the computer so I bellowed out that I needed her help. As in most cases she's in the middle of reading a book and she must stop and come into the office to listen to me droan on about an issue I'm having. It usually goes like this:<br />
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I say "blah, blah, blah, I don't know what to do." <br />
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She says "I just showed you how to do this day before yesterday."<br />
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I say, "sorry, but I don't remember."<br />
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She says "get out of the chair as I can't do it standing here!" <br />
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She sits down and clicks some keys along with a few mouse clicks and looks at me and says "there, it's ready to go." <br />
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I say, "why does it do this to me all the time?" <br />
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She says, "well, it never does it to me!" <br />
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I say, "I wonder why that is?"<br />
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She looks at me and says "it's almost always the same issue!"<br />
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I say, "well what is that and if it's always the same thing then why can't you teach me to avoid it!"<br />
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She says "because I've tried before and it's just you!"<br />
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I say, "ok, I'll really remember this time so please tell me again what the problem is."<br />
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She says "well, it is now and has always been an ID ten T error."<br />
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I said "what?"<br />
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She says "it's an ID ten error!"<br />
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I say "ok, what is that and how do I fix it?"<br />
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She says "since it's the same thing each time I think it would be more helpful if you would look it up yourself on Google." "I think it may help you to remember what it takes to correct it."<br />
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She got up, I sat down.<br />
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She says "go to Google search and key in ID ten T error." <br />
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So I keyed in ID10T error...............and as I looked at the keyed in letters and number a smile started to form on my face until my grin was ear to ear.<br />
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I stood up, turned around, looked into a pair of devilish eyes, kissed Debi on the cheek and went out and got in the pool!Tomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09484520744283302005noreply@blogger.com4