Let me tell you now about last night's dinner in Cortland. First of all one should never ever ever eat in a restaurant called the Community Restaurant ( it's in front of the car in the picture on the left) if one doesn't know what the communities tastes are. My meal was a white on white on white affair. The special was chicken and biscuit, which I mistakingly thought would be a lighter than lite deep fried chicken dish. I was wrong. It was a white biscuit of some kind covered by a half bucket or so of bits of chicken in a white tasteless starchy gravy, served on a, yes you guessed it, a simple white plate. I thought I was back in the dining hall at Collège du Sacré Coeur in 1964. I passed on the vanilla ice cream dessert; but I did have a Saranac beer, which went well with the tomato juice I had also ordered.
At around 9:00 this morning when I was leaving the Day's Inn the sky was clear and the temperature was already 25 celsius. I figured I was in for a hot day and it turned out that I was right. As the day wore on the heat kept rising. By lunchtime it was 27 and by the time I pulled into the Howard Johnson in Harrisburg the temperature was over 29 degrees and the humidity was off the scale.
The ride south on route 13 from Cortland to Ithica was nice but not as nice as the stretch along route 14 in Pennsylvania to Williamsport. This road winds its way through a valley between lushly forested mountains and along small rivers and brooks, and the sides of the road are marked with large clumps of wild flowers and patches of beautiful orange day lillies.
Lunch at a tavern in the town of Lewisburg was a surprise. The special (I must learn to mistrust that appelation) was a chicken bruschetta. OK I thought, that should be nice; ome bits of grilled chicken on a toasted piece of bread of some kind with chunks of ripe tomatoes, onions, fresh parsley, lemon juice, olive oil, freshly ground pepper and salt; along with a small greek salad, and a glass of nice cold unsweetened ice tea. Sounds delicious I hear you say.
Well, not so much, the aforementionned chicken bruschetta was a hot pita wrap of grilled chicken and melted cheese with pieces of tomato soaked in cheap balsamic vinegar. The same tomatoes were also on the greek salad, along with finely sliced canned black olives and crumbled pasty feta cheese. And so I would not run out there were two small plastic containers of greek salad dressing.
But the ice tea was perfect! So, like a good Canadian, I left a nice tip and was on my way. After all, siiting in an air conditionned room has got to be worth something. Right?
The remainder of the drive to Harrisburg along route 147 which follows the Susquehanna River, and even the 20 mile or so detour on even smaller back roads, was very enjoyable.
After dinner at the Lancaster Brewing Company establishment next to the HoJo in Harrisburg, I'm still searching for a first really good meal. As luck has it there are still many miles to cover, so I'm confident that my patience will be rewarded.
Tomorrow I plan to visit the National Civil War Museum here in Harrisburg before heading south to Winchester Virginia. A room awaits at the George Washington Hotel.
No comments:
Post a Comment