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My tag line for this site is “Cenay Nailor on Online Marketing, Blogging and Life”. If you have been following along, it has been mostly about blogging with some online marketing thrown in. The life portion hasn’t figured prominently since I am kinda a private person. (Who knew?)
Today, I am breaking the silence to share an exceptional experience I had today in the small town of Wickenburg, AZ.
Naturally, a little back story is in order.
I am traveling. I am outside my comfort zone. Therefore, true to Murphy’s Law or Karma or just plain bad luck… my working glasses broke. Yes, the one’s I use to see the computer, read, take notes or generally just about everything except watch TV or drive.
And since I am staying in my RV down in Circle City, AZ… I am way outside my sphere of influence. Vendors, businesses and people I know and deal with daily are 150 miles to the north. A jeweler that will repair my metal frame glasses down here? Who knows?
A mild panic is creeping up my spine as I can’t read the damn yellow pages. Like any true geek, I did the only thing I could. I enlarged the resolution on my computer from 1920 x 1200 to a huge 1280 x 768. The letters are now large enough to read from my desk chair. I search via Google to find someone within 20 miles that can get me back up and running.
Oh joy, there is a jeweler in a small town to the north of me only 20 miles away. Danny’s Jewelry of Arizona. Specialty of the house includes unique, quality, wearable, jewelry that features turquoise. Yes, you read that right. Remember, this is a small western town (5000 folks) that has been here since 1863.
I jumped into my truck and headed to the old mining town.
Danny’s proved to be a clean, well lit shop off one of the main drags with friendly people, lot’s of brick-a-brac, and interesting jewelry.
“$35 flat to fix ‘em, be ready in ‘bout hour” was the brisk message when I handed over my glasses. Okay, kill an hour. I can do that. I am hungry after all.
I asked about a place to eat and was directed to the “Cowboy Cafe” just ‘round the corner. I guess I made a wrong turn, because I swear, I never found the cafe. However, while wandering around, I came across the “Horseshoe Cafe”, which turned out to be very lucky for me.
I parked on the street next to the cafe and walked around front, following the smells of bacon and biscuits. Now, I make no bones about being a sucker for home cooked bacon, especially pepper bacon. So, my mouth was watering before I ever opened the door.
Not too many folks inside, but it is between breakfast and lunch (11:00am – hey, I work from home so I don’t HAVE to get up at the crack of dawn) so I am not worried. I announce my intention to eat a bite to the smiling waitress that greets me and am told I can sit anywhere I want.
During our brief discussion, I tell her I have to kill an hour (so no hurry) and one of the gentlemen sitting in the dinning room wants to know if I am packing a gun to kill this hour with. Yep, down-home.
Struggling to read the menu without my glasses, I finally give up and just order what I want to eat. She will tell me if they can’t handle it, right?
Two eggs, over easy, bacon, home fries with onions and sour dough toast. “Don’t you want to try one of our biscuits?” she asks. I am already being adventurous ordering eggs over easy so I tell her “why not?”
When my food arrives I discover I have stumbled into one of the few remaining down-home cafe’s left in America. Nothing frozen. Everything cooked fresh. And a cook that knows what the hell Over Easy means. Bacon that is not too done, not too chewy and tastes like it was cooked in a seasoned cast iron skillet. Home fries with onions cooked to perfection and served in a generous portion. A freshly baked biscuit that is at least 3 inches tall. Yep, I have died and gone to heaven right here in Wickenburg, Arizona, population 5000.
Now, I know there are reviews out there for this little cafe, I read most of them when I returned to the RV to write my own. But I have to tell you what I learned by listening carefully during my hour or so inside the walls of this homey cafe.
The new owners, Deb and O.J. have only owned it for two years. Deb was a local legend there in the kitchen (6+ years) and when the owner went to close down the restaurant, the customers got together and raised the money to buy it for Deb. The idea of going without Deb’s home cooked meals brought one big burly tow truck driver to tears. He openly wept when it was announced that Deb now owned the cafe and would continue cooking the home style meals.
Though the customers raised the cash to keep their favorite cook in the kitchen, when Deb called the owner to make her an offer, she found the price was within her budget. She bought it before the owner could change her mind and then went home to tell her husband O.J. He wasn’t as happy as the customers. At 74, he was looking forward to some travel time with his wife.
Can you guess who it was sitting at that table asking if I was packing a gun to kill an hour with? Yep. O.J., sitting there wishing there was something that would get his wife out of the kitchen!
If you ever get out anywhere near Wickenburg, stop by the Horseshoe Cafe and grab some down-home grub. That’s if O.J. hasn’t kidnapped his wife and carried her off.
And JoAnn, thanks again for a most pleasant experience. Happy women who wait tables are hard to find.
