Last updated on April 12th, 2017
When my wife was 11 years old, she was mesmerized by Peter Tork, a member of the Monkees. Depending on whom you ask, the Monkees were either actors in a TV comedy or musicians in a rock-band. Or both. My wife would say both, and more, but her focus was always on the blond, hazel-eyed Mr. Tork. It still is.
All of this explains why she and I drove to Merrillville, Indiana, yesterday to watch the Monkees (three of the four, anyway) perform at the Star Plaza Theatre. It was a stop on the group’s 45th anniversary tour. Since “the guys,” as Anita calls them, were in their early to mid-twenties when their TV program launched, they are all now pushing 70. This is not a dig. I’ve gotten older since 1966, too, and I have to admit that the Monkees still put on a good show. Or as Anita would say, “Magical.”
She found Mr. Tork especially magical in his red oriental-brocade shirt and black laced-up-the-sides pants. I noticed the red shirt, but completely missed the laces on his pants. Go figure.
While on our pilgrimage, we wanted to stick to a low-carb road-trip eating plan, and it turned out to be easy to do. We left home after lunch on Thursday, armed with almonds and water for snacking on the road. For dinner, we ate at T.J. Maloney’s Authentic Irish Pub & Restaurant, which is inside of the Radisson Hotel at Star Plaza. We had a package deal at the hotel for show tickets, a room, and a couple of meals.
I don’t know what the package cost. We have a modern marriage; I don’t ask Anita what she spends on her obsessions, and she doesn’t ask what I spend on mine.
For dinner, I ordered grilled salmon and salad. Anita ordered the Irish Cobb Salad, minus the crisp fried sweet potatoes. We both drank unsweetened iced tea. We also both had bowls of French onion soup, with plenty of Provolone cheese but without the house-made croutons. The waitress brought us a small loaf of bread, but Anita immediately waved it off. That was good; I might have been tempted to try a piece. Since dessert was not included in the package, resisting that was a given.
Anita took a portion of the salad back to our room and stored it in the fridge for an after-show snack.
For breakfast, also part of the package, we went to the Star Cafe and had the breakfast buffet, which included several low-carb items: scrambled and hard-boiled eggs, turkey and pork sausage, and bacon. We ignored the high-carb choices, such as pancakes, potatoes and waffles. We both had coffee. Anita also had a glass of tomato juice, and I had a few bites of cantaloupe.
The breakfast lasted us both a full six hours, as a good low-carb breakfast should, which was more than enough time to drive home for lunch.
Anita is still gushing about Peter Tork, in her view the sexiest man alive. I’d be worried, but on the occasions that she has come face-to-face with Mr. Sexiest Man Alive, she has reverted to a tongue-tied pre-teen with stars in her eyes.
“We also both had bowls of French onion soup, with plenty of Provolone cheese but without the house-made croutons. ”
Ah yes, I do miss the French Onion Soup since going LC. Apparently you are consuming more carbs per day than I do, but if I go over 25 or so, the weight begins to slowly slide back on.
My late husband, the love of my life, and I used to visit a restaurant in the Denver area quite often that served this amazingly delicious soup. Your post brought back really good memories. Why do onions have to be so darn “carby”?
I had reservations about the onion soup, too, but it was a small bowl and, as it turned out, somewhat onion-poor. It was cheese-rich, though, with a good onion flavor. So it worked out OK.