Restaurant Report: Iron Skillet, Knoxville, Tenn.

KNOXVILLE, TENNESEE -- Just had a somewhat disquieting and ominous experience at the Iron Skillet restaurant at +/- Exit 360 off of I-40, just west of Knoxville. I was, admittedly, tired, hungry, a bit irritable, and still somewhat hung over from the night before -- but probably half the people at Iron Skillet at any given time are suffering from at least two of those conditions, so presumably it was not just me.

In any event, I was driving west on I-40, en route from Maryland to Texas after finishing up fieldwork for my latest book in the former state. It was a little after 10 p.m. and I had just got done meeting with an author who is doing work for my Skirmisher Publishing LLC and was looking for a place to spend the night and get a bite to eat. When I saw the roadside sign for the Iron Skillet, which noted it was "open 24 hours," it sound like just the right thing.

I exited and drove over to the restaurant was, which was affiliated with a Petro travel plaza. I seated myself, as per the sign at the entrance, and pretty quickly my waitress, an older white woman, came over, gave me a menu, and asked what I wanted to drink. I told her just water while I was deciding what I was going to eat.

After a few minutes, she came back and I ordered the chicken-fried steak and eggs and a cup of coffee. She asked me how I wanted my eggs, etc., started to turn away, and then, almost as an afterthought, asked me what kind of toast I wanted. I asked if they had rye toast.

"Rye toast?" she said, turning to look me full in the face for the first time and the pausing momentarily. "Yes, we have rye toast."

Alright, so call me paranoid and exahusted, but the first thing that struck me is, "Oh my God, she thinks I'm Jewish because I ordered rye toast!" Now I certainly do not consider there is any shame in being taken for Jewish, and it actually happens to me fairly frequently. But there is a certain horror associated with being picked out as a member of a particular group, especially when one is tired, alone, and in a part of the country that -- fairly or unfairly -- is not necessarily known for its love of minorities.

And things did not improve after that. I waited and waited for my coffee, and after about 10 minutes ask for it again. Amid profuse apologies, my waitress went and got it.

I then waited, and waited, and waited for my food. At some point, I heard my waitress yacking in the kitchen and in the midst of it heard her yell the words "rye toast!" and every five or 10 minutes or so whe would shamble past and tell me my food was coming. This was, keep in mind, near 11 p.m., the restaurant was by no means full, and it appeared to be fully staffed.

After nearly half an hour, my food finally arrived, couched in apologies and along with a couple of moderately scorched pieces of rye toast which the waitress offered to replace if they were "too dark" for me. Not wanting to do anything to prolong the experience or draw any special attention, I said they were fine and started eating ... and discovered the eggs weren't hot. The chicken-fried steak definitely was -- and did not seem to be a chicken-fried pork loin, which I was afraid they might give me just to sabotage whatever attempts at keeping kosher they might have thought I was making -- and the hash browns were midway in temperature between the other two items. I don't even want to go into how eggs not being hot is one of my pet peeves, because lots of people like them hot, and if there is one thing a place called Iron Skillet should be expected to get right, it is eggs.

There are a handful of other things associated with my dinner I could bitch about, but won't bother; it's 1 a.m., I am not any less tired than I was before, and I am now riding a case of heartburn on top of everything else. My odyssey continues in the morning and I should probably turn in.

Mill Street Inn, Cambridge, Maryland

Just had a very pleasant stay the the Mill Street Inn in Cambridge, Maryland, while in the field doing research for my current project, Ghosthunting Maryland! Was very impressed with this historic little establishment and would heartily recommend it to anyone traveling out to the Eastern Shore or looking for a fun and relaxing place to spend a few days.

Built in 1894, this beautiful Queen Anne home was designed by a local architect and lived in by the original family until just five years ago. The current owners, innkeepers Jennie and Skip Rideout, purchased it in 2004, converted it into a very comfortable bed-and-breakfast, and opened it to guests in 2006.

For me and my photographer, Chip Cassano, the location of the Mill Street Inn in Cambridge's historic district was very convenient, and made it very easy for us to visit a number of nearby sites of interest. This makes it an ideal base of operations for anyone interested in visiting local historic or reputedly haunted sites.

America's Haunted Road Trip

At the moment I am diligently working away on a book called Ghosthunting Maryland for publisher Clerisy Press and as one of the upcoming entries in its America's Haunted Road Trip series of travel guides. This fun, exciting, and sometimes scary project is, naturally -- or maybe supernaturally -- taking me all over the state (that's me in the "catacombs" of Westminster Hall in Baltimore a few days ago), so keep an eye on this spot for useful and actionable information that I gather and post here.

San Antonio Has Free WiFi

SAN ANTONIO -- I am pleased to be able to add San Antonio International Airport to my list of the most civilized and user-friendly airports I have encountered. My main criteria for this determination is due primarily to the availability to a free wireless Internet connection in the gate areas (and secondarily to the availability of decent eateries, at least one of which serves alcohol, in the same).

Having relocated to Texas Hill Country, I will likely be using the airport in San Antonio for at leat half my flights, so it is nice to have an airport with such good amenities just 36 miles due south of my new home. Almost as close is Austin-Bergstrom International Aiport, a little further away and to the northeast, but I am sad to report that it does not offer free WiFi and is thus not nearly as desirable as a point of departure.

Other airports with free Internet access through which I have recently travelled and posted about include those in Denver, Rapid City, South Dakota, and Charlotte, North Carolina.

Had lunch and availed myself of the free local Internet connection at Rosario's Mexican Cafe y Cantina, across from Gate 34, where I had a decent Mexican BLT and Bloody Mary (my travel drink of choice for several years now).

No Sleep 'til Texas

It is usually not worth noting in travel-related materials that I am very pious person and, out of respect for other peoples' beliefs, I tend to keep my own to myself. It is only proper, however, that I start this post by sincerely thanking God for watching over me and my six cats and bringing us in safely on our non-stop journey from Virginia to Texas.

This trip was, in short, a 1,580-mile trek that I made straight through in 26 1/2 hours, moving at an average speed of 60 mph and stopping only to refuel, use the restroom, and buy more coffee, caffeinated soda, and energy drinks.

Under normal conditions, I would say that it was unnecessary and maybe even a little foolhardy to try to cover so much ground without a backup driver, at least one overnight stay, or both. The purpose of the trip, however, was to relocate our six cats and to get them out of the house the night before the packers came to our house. My original plan was to have a co-pilot and to spend one overnight in Memphis, just past the halfway point. My travelling companion dropped out at the last minute, however, citing a "miscommunication" and leaving me without enough time to create an alternate plan. To say that I set off from Virginia with at least a little sense of doom hanging over me would not be inaccurate.

...

As I added to this post my third night in the house, I was still physically exhausted. That old saying that “The candle that burns twice as bright burns half as long” would seem to apply to micro-instances and not just whole lifetimes; for just over the span of a day I burned as brightly as I ever have but it took a toll on me, to be sure. As I wrote this over a strong cup on green tea, I had been up only a little more than 12 hours and was struggling to stay awake and focused. I was not able to keep going much longer then in any event and, after writing a few paragraphs for a handful of other projects, read a few more pages on The Knight and Knave of Swords, a book I have deferred reading for almost two decades, and then passed out for awhile.

Charlotte Has Free Wi-Fi

It is always a pleasant surprise to discover an airport with free Wi-Fi, and to the short list of those that do I am pleased to add Charlotte-Douglas International Airport in Charlotte, North Carolina. (That was not the case at Austin-Bergstrom International in Austin, Texas, where I started my trip this morning, and where a connection for the half-hour I wanted to spend online would have cost me $7.95 -- the balance of the 24 hours I would have paid for being extraneous).

(Name: CLTNET/Charlotte Douglas International Aiport Wireless Internet Public Access Network)

Pho is a Phull Meal

If you've ever had pho -- a traditional Vietnamese noodle soup that is one of my favorite foods in the whole world -- then odds are you either love it or hate it (very few people tend to have middling views on the stuff). And if you have never tried it, it is a treat that I recommend you try at least twice (assuming you aren't addicted to it after the first bowl).

About half the time I take someone out for their first bowl of pho, they completely blow me off when I tell them that it is a full meal. Even knowing that I tend to have a good appetite, they quite often assume that somehow it isn't going to be enough for them, and order a plate of spring rolls, a spicy beef salad, etc. I have never seen someone do that and then be able to eat both meals.

Pho is, in fact, very filling, and a large bowl -- which, typically at just 50 cents more than a small bowl, is the way to go -- is more than enough for just about anyone, most people being hard-pressed to finish even that.

My brother-in-law Dean Minnick and I are currently on the road and staying overnight in Austin, Texas, where we were lucky enough to discover Hai Ky, a little pho shop just down the street from our hotel. I enjoyed my large #1 bowl of pho very much, and I think Dean would have enjoyed his small #13, his first bowl of the stuff, if he had taken my advice and not also ordered that huge plate of vermicelli and roast pork! But, like I said, they don't always like to listen ...