Long Horn Family Dining has closed!

Forsyth Mo. - I recently learned that the populat eating venue known as the Long Horn Family dinign restaurant has closed. I tried call that location to see what was going on, but no one answered the phone.

The McRib is back!

Forsyth Mo. - The McRib is back and is (supposedly) available at the local McDonald's in Forsyth on Hwy 160 and Coy Blvd. For those who've never enjoyed eating one, it's 'a barbecue-flavored pork sandwich periodically sold by the international fast food restaurant chain McDonald's. It was first introduced to the McDonald's menu in 1981, following test marketing the year before. After poor sales, it was removed from the menu in 1985'. The previous statement was taken from Wikipedia. Well, that used to be true, but now the McRib is back to stay! And did I run out to purchase one with fries? You bet your ass I did! (Actually, I planned to go there about noontime and will report back when I confirm that it's available.) Update: They are available!

Now, what I'm still unsure of is whether or not this iconic sandwich is really back to stay or will it remain on the 'periodic offering' page? (The article I read was unclear either way). Whatever. The thing is, my body craves one right now! Sadly, whenever the body craves something, you can be sure that it's also not a particularly nutritious item to consume... As the panel, shown below clearly illustrates, the pork sandwich has 480 calories per serving all by its lonesome. Add in a medium order of fries and you're a tad over 800! Whoa Nellie! Thar goes my diet all to hell and back!

My next post will be titled: How I hide unwanted fat.

White Oak Conoco Station has some pretty cool stuff!

Forsyth MO - A local gas station slash convenience store known as the White Oak has some very fine folks working there and thus they get most of my gas purchasing business. But they also have some very good deals on items like cell phone charger cables and accessories!

One item in the display case that caught my attention was Iphone USB cables for only $5.99! That was one of the lowest prices I've seen in the area.

A visit to the Long Horn Family Dining restaurant!

Forsyth MO. - It was a rather night day in early fall in mid October that I got it in my head to re-visit a local eatery that serves up some pretty decent grub, including a breakfast dish known as the Works!

For those who may never have had the pleasure, the Works Platter consists of the following combos; two eggs (made to order), toast or biscuit with gravy, a choice of meat and hash browns. I generally opt for sunny side up eggs, toast, sausage and the hash brown's with just a splash of A1 sauce. Throw in some jelly for the toast and I'm a very happy camper. With a cup of coffee, this meal-a-deal comes in at about eight and a half dollars. It's a tasty way to start your day that doesn't break the bank!

The Long Horn is located at 16039 US-160 in Forsyth and is just across from Fat Daddy's. I understand they serve breakfast until 11AM each day and do support both smoking and non-smoking areas. They can be reached by calling (417) 546-9751 during regular business hours. I always encourage area residents (and those just passing through) to make it a point to get out and visit business venues like this. The food is great and the income helps them all stay in business.

Tanco Lumber in Forsyth Mo to relocate?

Forsyth MO. - Apparently Tanco Lumber a lumber yard currently located at 240 State Hwy H, on the outskirts of  Forsyth Missouri, will be moving a bit closer to town to a new location that used to be Bob's EZ Package Store and which was renamed Pump 30 some months ago! The reason for the change of address remained unknown to me as the time of this post. Perhaps the ownership was going to keep the original Tanco location as a storage facility, but that would be idle conjecture on my part. 

One concern I had was the fact that this store slash gas island was used by many residents of both Rockaway Beach and Merriam Woods. Now, customers may have to drive a bit further down the road to get either food or fuel!

Shadowrock Park re-opens!

Forsyth MO - While driving by Shadowrock Park, located just to the east of the town of Forsyth Missouri, I noticed that the gates were no longer closed and so drove on through.

I did spot a few electric coop trucks effecting repairs and that was encouraging, in of itself. After many months of having been flooded, the park infrastructure didn't look all that bad. I mentally made plans to go on an impromptu picnic early next week. (That was assuming that it stayed open).

River Run Park, over across Bull Shoals still had a ways to go, it would seem. The lake level, on the day of this post, was 672.86 feet above msl. I was guessing that it would be another week or so before it too became accessible to auto traffic.

You can reach the people who man this Park by calling 417- 546-2876...

Area parks had dried out, yet remained closed!

Forsyth Mo. - As the summer of 2019 drew to a close, I was happy to see the flood waters in the Bull Shoals Lake area receding to levels that were closer to normal. On the date of this post, the water level had dropped down to 673 feet msl and was dropping at a rate that averaged a third of a foot per day. At that average rate, it was still going to be another 49 days before levels got back down to the normal level of 659 feet! But it was at about 677 feet that Shadowrock Park was pretty much clear of water. (That occurred toward the end of August and so a couple of weeks later, most of it was high and dry). And, there had been evidence that park personnel (or perhaps volunteers) had gotten much of the debris removed to debris piles for removal or burning. I drove down there to snap some pics and to maybe walk around a bit. Sadly, the park remained locked down.....

I made a call to the Park people about when the park might re-open and was greeted with a message informing me that the park was closed 'indefinitely'.

Shadowrock Park emerges once again!

Forsyth needs its own Park/Tourist Center!

After spending yet another spring and summer season languishing beneath the waters of Bull Shoals, the one popular park located just to the east of the city of Forsyth, MO has emerged. And, as you may have guessed, there's a boatload of assorted debris that will now need to be hauled off.

With the final holiday of the summer just a day or so away, Labor Day will have to be celebrated at some other area park should one be so inclined. Empire and Shoals Bend are the two closest that I can recall. And while Empire Park does only have a few amenities, it still shines brightly when compared to Shoals Bend. Here's a very short rundown on all four;

Shadowrock Park - May become available a few days toward the middle of September.
River Run - I'm guessing the the Corps will keep this park shuttered until perhaps next year.
Empire Park - Open for business
Shoals Bend - This is actually not a park. It's a fair ground that few seem to want to go to... I definitely don't like going there after dark.

If I might be so bold as to say WTF? is the town of Forsyth so strapped for resources that we can't develop a fully functional and equipped park somewhere in the city limits? And, I'm not talking about a few picnic tables dumped on some vacant field with a porta potty. I'm talking about a fully landscaped area that could support such amenities as; flush toilets, a stage, a public indoor swimming poll and meeting hall, vendor sites. Well, you get my drift. All that's lacking is the public's will to plan and develop what I feel would be a true visitor attraction that could also pay for itself over the long haul. Will this ever happen... no, probably not.

A Pittsburg salad with fries? And at the Frosted Mug? Uh no...

Forsyth Mo - Here’s the real deal, salad lovers. Sometimes we all want to eat a salad that’s simply full of lettuce and vegetables. Other times we want to eat a salad that’s full of lettuce, vegetables, shredded cheese, croutons, Ranch dressing, more cheese and more croutons.

But we had no idea we wanted to eat a salad that’s full of lettuce, vegetables, cheese and FRENCH FRIES.

That’s right. There’s an actual real life salad that’s topped with our favorite French cuisine — fries. WTF??

I had the occasion to observe this creation served, recently, at a local venue and had to admit that the patron who ordered it (special) seemed to enjoy the experience totally!

So, is this so-called salad now on the menu at the Mug? No. It would seem that only the intelligentsia has access that mere mortals, such as myself, can only dream...

Shadowrock Park may soon reemerge!

Park at 678' or just after it was closed for the 2019 season!

Forsyth MO. - After spending the bulk of the spring and summer resting beneath the waves of Bull Shoals Lake, a popular area park may once again make an appearance by early October or just in time for the end of the Summer season. The graph below is based on water level trends and assumes a relative dry month of August (dotted trend line). The more aggressive purple line represents the most recent trend based on higher release rates at the Bull Shoals dam.

Bull Shoals Lake level

What's missing regarding restaurant condiments?

I think that most everyone who lives in and around Forsyth Missouri has likely had a chance to  visit one of the many fine sit-down styled restaurants that my small town supports; Long Horn Family Dining, Fat Daddy's, Thrive and Mountain William's Pizza to name a few. All offer a great dining experience and my only, as of late, concern has been with the table condiment selections as of late...

Most venues have the basics always in place at each table; table salt, pepper, sugar and sugar substitutes being the most common. Other venue's table side condiments reflect the food that is served with places like Fat Daddy's also having a nice selection of sauces to go on that shredded pork sandwich or BBQ. But, there is most always something(s) missing, and I wanted to address that point in this post.

Even if unused, these open tubs must be tossed!

The picture above was taken at the Long Horn on the date of this post. Notice that there is no salt substitute or packaged jellies. Whenever I dine out that this venue, I often have to request the jelly and always have to bring my own ' fake salt'. Seriously, in a town with a pretty large population of older persons, you'd think everyone had gotten the message about why per capita salt intake is at record high levels! Likewise, I prefer that the jelly be in sealed packages along with the salt and pepper. Please see my other post on 'The Gross Reason You Should Never Pepper Your Food in Restaurants'!   

Friday, Aug 16th Back to School Party!