This year my wedding anniversary fell on a Friday, which meant my birthday was Monday. Susan and I took Friday and Monday off work to have an extended four-day weekend. We had originally planned to spend the weekend in Eureka Springs, but ended up cancelling those plans. Susan’s backup plan was to rent a camper van for the weekend, but the renter backed out on us at the last minute. Instead, we ended up driving our own vehicle to Medicine Park, OK, and stayed overnight in a tiny house village made of shipping containers.
This change of plans allowed us to have dinner Saturday evening with our friends Jeff and Heather, who took us to Flame (a local Brazilian Steakhouse) for our anniversary. This was our first time visiting a Brazilian Steakhouse and I was unaware that they would be serving us every ounce of meat available in Brazil! For an appetizer I had shrimp, cheese, sushi, and half a dozen other items before the meat arrived. Once the meal started, a never-ending parade of “gauchos” stopped by our table to slice off servings of pork, beef, lamb, chicken, and bacon-wrapped filet mignon. We concluded the meal with cups of coffee and slices of cake. After the meal the four of us waddled through the attached casino, playing random games and having a great time. I tried hard to come up with a non-cheesy way to say that regardless of who won or lost money, we were all winners for having such good food and company.
Sunday morning we hit the road and drove to Mount Scott. The road up the mountain led us past several wild free-range bison. There was no fence between the road and the bison — nothing to stop the bison from approaching us (other than disinterest) or us from approaching it (other than a general sense of self-preservation). As I said online, seeing an animal as massive as a bison in person is way different than seeing one in captivity. Even though we were a good distance (50 ft?) away, the animal’s power was obvious.
As we began ascending Mount Scott we could see that the top of the mountain* was covered by clouds. (This is Oklahoma; mountains are relative.) The second half of the drive was a white-knuckle event for the passenger (me). Although Susan assured me she could see more than I could, all I could see was fog. When we arrived at the top of the mountain the fog was there waiting for us. I was informed that this is normally quite the view. All we saw were clouds. Also, it was raining. Consider this a thumbs-down review for Mount Scott on a cloudy, rainy day.
After our visit to Mount Scott, Susan surprised me with lunch at the Meers Store & Restaurant. I’ve never eaten there before, but their burgers are legendary. Food Network once named them as the best hamburgers in Oklahoma, and one of the best in the country. In the early 1900s the building was relocated to its current location, which sits on a fault line. There’s even an active seismograph in the lobby. The restaurant is almost as well known for the wait times to get inside as they are for their burgers. Luckily we arrived at 2pm on a Sunday, and only had to wait 15-20 minutes for a table.
Still full from our Brazilian meal the night before, Susan and I decided to split a Meersburger and an order of onion rings. Little did I know that their burgers are 16oz and served in a pie pan! By the time we had finished bowls of Meers’ famous cobbler (apple for me, cherry for Susan) and ice cream, we were back to being miserably full.
As we left the restaurant the line to enter had grown considerably, stretching all the way out the door. “It’s worth it,” I told a man as we passed each other in the lobby. Once again with full bellies, we climbed into my car and headed to our final destination: Medicine Park, Oklahoma.