Succotash with Ramon and Katie
Posted on December 21, 2022 by Ching under Food and Drink, Travel.
Staying in the same house as Ramon and Katie was so much fun. I feel like we took the whole “team bonding” concept to the next level. Firstly, Katie and I are both morning people so we are early risers. I feel like we had the best heart-to-heart conversations in the morning when first waking up.
Both days we ended up laying in my bed and just talking about things before we started getting ready. It’s so funny because I always thought the guys were exaggerating about Ramon’s snoring. Well, we put him in the basement and I could hear him snore all the way up in my room. The first morning Katie was like, “Are you sure it wasn’t me?” I said, “I’m pretty sure because it was coming from that direction [while pointing to Ramon’s side of the house].” Anyway, as we were chatting, she heard it too so that confirmed it was him because we were both awake at that point. LOL.
The next morning, she peeks in my room around 6:00 AM as I’m laying in bed. I’m wide awake because I always wake up around 5:30-ish, with or without my alarm. I’m like, “Come on in. I want to hear about last night.” After our dinner at El Canelo, Ramon and Katie went out with Ramon’s Kansas City pals while I stayed in to catch up with Brian.
She cracked me up because she was just laying on top of the covers at first and then started to get cold so before she got under the covers with me she asked, “Are you naked?” She knows I prefer to sleep naked and, when we were together in Tulsa, I just slept in my underwear and a t-shirt. Since I thought I was sharing a house with three other people, I did invest in some modest pajamas.
So we are laying there chitchatting when Ramon comes up from the basement. Now the three of us are laying around in my room trying to figure out plans for the day. Katie had some Christmas shopping on her agenda. Ramon wanted to watch the FIFA World Cup championships and was waiting for a text from his friends. As we were hanging out, chatting and waiting, Katie decided she wanted to have breakfast at this place called Succotash that Ryan (one of Ramon’s friends) suggested when they were out the previous night. I got super excited because Brian and I had been to Succotash twice before and loved it. The first time was in 2012 and then the second time was in 2017. Although, I went without Brian this time around, I feel like I’m right on schedule (visiting every five years or so). Ramon hadn’t heard from his friends (who were more than likely still hung over from the night before) and, since they have WiFi at the restaurant, he agreed to go with us and just watch the soccer championship on Katie’s iPad.
Succotash hasn’t changed much since Brian and I were there last. I think the most notable difference was that you now ordered at the counter, instead of having a server come to your table, and you pretty much had to fend for yourself on drink refills. I didn’t look at the fresh juice options but I think the menu might have changed slightly but everything else was pretty much the same for the most part.
Here are some pictures of our food:
The serve my most favorite corned beef hash there which is what I got.
Katie got these giant pancakes.
Ramon got French toast with both bacon and sausage. I have to say, I was a little jealous of his French toast and partially wished that I would have gotten it instead. Their corned beef hash is really good though, so I couldn’t pass it up. Katie wanted Ramon’s sausage and thought about taking one of the links when he got up to order some regular toast for his eggs but there were only two left and I told her he would notice if one was missing. Anyway, before we remembered to ask him for it, he had already eaten them both but he said he wouldn’t have minded if she ate one of them. So that was a missed opportunity.
Anyway, here’s a video of Katie demonstrating the best way to eat pancakes.
After our delicious breakfast, Ramon and I went back to Northland Racquet Club to watch some of our friends compete in DUPR 16. It’s basically the same as the team event that we played in the day before, just a different division. For this division the sum of the team members’ DUPR ratings could not exceed 16. In ours the cap is 18. Katie went on to the Lego place which was conveniently just steps away from Succotash. It’s like she planned the whole thing! LOL.
I’ll share pictures of the DUPR 16 teams in a separate post. This whole weekend has been fabulous. Well, except for my flat tire in the middle of I-35 while trying to leave Kansas City on Sunday afternoon. This would be my second tire blowout this year. The first time was in the middle of Kellogg traffic and I actually called 911 because I pulled over on the shoulder but the cars were whizzing by so fast that I was too scared to get out. Brian came to rescue me and replaced my tire in the middle of that mess.
I knew I did not want to be in the middle of Kansas City traffic so rather than pulling over on the shoulder, I took the very next exit. Luckily, there was a Phillips 66 right there. As another stroke of good luck, a man who works for Mopar just happened to park one stall over from me. As I was on the phone with Brian, telling him about my predicament, the man caught my eye as he came out of the convenience store. He asked if I needed help and I emphatically said, “Yes!” Anyway, he replaced my tire so fast it was like a NASCAR pit crew. I think it took longer for me to take all my crap (luggage, portable net, folding chair, umbrella, windshield sunshade, etc.) and dig out the spare tire, jack, and tools from the trunk than it took for him to replace the tire. This dude as amazing and I was ever so grateful. Brian was fully prepared to drive the three hours to Kansas City to rescue me but we were both relieved that he did not have to because it would have meant getting home super late. Three hours for him to get to me, another half hour to replace the tire, and then another three hours for us to drive home.
As it were, my three-hour drive home took nearly four hours because I couldn’t go faster than 60 mph on the donut. At least, that’s what the Mopar guy told me. Brian says there’s a reason that they call them 55-mph tires so going 60 was probably pushing it. Anyway, I made it home safely and while it was still daylight outside, thanks to the help of that nice man. I probably need to start seriously thinking about getting AAA, though. Or so my friends are telling me. ‘Til next time, GNG.
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