Here he is with his girlfriend, Erica. She's a sweetie.
I told him that I would take them out to eat wherever they wanted to go. He chose this place because they served alligator. It was actually north of Austin in Round Rock, so it was quite a drive.
On the way, we talked about the neighborhood he lives in, which apparently has quite a large Hispanic population. That is evident from all the Mexican taquerias and mercados in the area. He drives an economical Mazda now, but when he first moved here, he had a big Dodge truck. He told me that he drove into the local Wal-Mart one day and it was so crowded, he had to park on the side of the parking lot. When he pulled up, a bunch of Mexicans ran up and jumped in the bed of his truck which totally freaked him out. Apparently, they thought he was a contractor who needed some construction help. Ha!ha! I told him that would have made a good video...and it definitely gave me a good laugh.So here's the inside of Razoo's...cool effect with the wine bottles...
Inside...
A neat table...
It was a gorgeous day, so we decided to sit outside. They have a playground for kids which is pretty cool for parents.
Here's the menu...
This was one of the rare opportunities when my other two sons were able to come along...usually work or school schedules always interfere with getting together. So everyone (except me) ordered the alligator. The boys ordered it grilled with rice...
And Erica ordered it fried...
I was the odd ball and ordered the stuffed shrimp. It was delicious. Spicy, but not too much to make it unenjoyable.
I tasted the grilled alligator. When I told people at work that I had alligator over the weekend, guess what they asked. "Did it taste like chicken??" Everything that's not chicken is supposed to taste like chicken. Well, I wouldn't say it tasted like chicken. And it definitely didn't taste like fish. In my opinion, it's kind of in between chicken and beef. It was good...but that could have been because of the Cajun seasonings. Anyway, I don't think I'd go 50 miles to have it again, but it was fun.Besides that, Jeffrey got a free dessert because it was his birthday...a warm brownie sundae. Muy bueno.
Here are the other bros looking pretty bored, but we actually had a good time. (They just hate having their pictures taken.)
And here is the birthday boy. Wait...look behind him! What is that??
OMG...it's an...
...store!! I know all about them and have seen their catalogs, but have never been into one. Oh, yeah...we be going to IKEA after the alligator.This place was incredible...a homeowner's toy store...
Here's the crew testing one room out...
Jeffrey trying out the video game...
And more...
The place is absolutely huge. I told Jared that you could get a hotel room because there's too much to see in one day. Erica actually got lost. Jeffrey called her and told her to send a picture of where she was so that we could find her. Haha! They have several maps and arrows to get you through the place...it's pretty amazing.
And even some food items at the check-out...
Not to mention a cafe. And they don't serve just burgers or hot dogs...they have salmon with dill sauce!
So it was a pretty cool day of firsts...first time for alligator and first time at IKEA. Life's good.
5 comments:
The IKEA store in CT is about 50 miles away from me--Have been a few times--I'm sure they're all about the same--great to go in the fall--great inexpensive stuff for Xmas. Tough thing for me is there isn't much else where it is, but you can spend the whole day in IKEA!
We finally have an Ikea in NC, but it's in Charlotte, about 3 1/2 hours away. Haven't been yet, but would love to! Have also never eaten alligator. Enjoyed your post, Deb, especially seeing photos of your boys.
How nice that you could have all your sons together for Jeffrey's Bday. My son Jeremy turned 34 yesterday but he lives in the Rocky Mountains (Jasper Alberta)so I couldn't see him. I used to embarrass him on his Bday. It started with his 19th when I bought him his 1st legal drink. OK his whole baseball team was there so I arrived on patio of the bar with a tray full of B52s.
I have never been in an Ikea either. I would be almost afraid to go in. How would I get all that stuff into a suitcase and back down here! LOL!
Did you know that nothing tastes like chicken. Chicken tastes like everything!
Ann - Since this IKEA is about the same distance from me as yours, I don't think I'll be going there very often. I think it has to be a planned visit...preferably with a truck.
Vee - My boys are always paranoid that I'm going to put something personal about them on my blog. We were talking about the lady friend Jared was seeing and he said, "Geez, she's probably on Mom's blog!" lol...I wouldn't do that...well, unless it was really interesting! (I'm kidding.)
Jeanie - Yeah, it's always a bummer when they live too far away to get together for birthdays. I love the few opportunities we have to all get together.
Wayne - When I told someone at work that I went to IKEA and didn't buy anything, he said, "Wow, do you have self control!" It's only because I didn't have my own vehicle. If I had, it would have been a VERY different story. And I think you're right about the chicken.
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