We arrived at our La Quinta hotel in Birmingham, Alabama last night to discover that the hotel is under renovation and they did not have any rooms with a Queen or King bed. We contemplated changing hotels, but that would have necessitated driving across town and dealing with refunds and re-booking. So, we checked in and headed across the street to the SuperTarget for some midnight shopping therapy. Well, not exactly real shopping therapy as we actually just needed a charger for our iPhone (which we forgot we had placed in our camera bag) and as it was cold and damp, Target offered a convenient dry and warm place for an 11:30 PM walk.
I picked up a black cashmere cardigan for $59, a black cotton skirt for $19, exchanged our iPhone charger, grabbed a bag of popchips, a couple of bottles of Vitamin Water and some clementines for a snack and we were back on the road.
We had never tried popchips before, and decided that if you have to eat potato chips, this is the way to go. They are popped and not fried. So the consistency is different, but at only 120 calories for 22 chips they are an alternative to regular high fat potato chips. The best part was that they did not leave any grease on your fingers! With the abundance of potato chips and other high fat salty snacks available at truck stops we thought we need to see if anyone is selling these?
I59 Alabama
As we had split the bag of chips and then ate a couple of oranges each, we were not ready to stop for lunch. So we continued along I59 through Alabama and into Mississippi. By the time we felt ready to stop for lunch, we were having a hard time locating truck stops until we had almost driven passed them, or we were in the wrong lane to safely exit. We decided to wait until we hit the Louisiana border and followed a couple of big rigs who were pulling into the TA / Country Pride in Slidell, Louisiana.
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
We were feeling optimistic when we spotted the Dine With Us! posters at the front entrance. The menu items on the Stay Fit with Flavor poster actually looked pretty good. I got out of the car intending to have another grilled chicken salad, but decided that this might just be the place to expand my truck stop dining horizons.
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
Before heading into the Country Pride Restaurant, we did a quick walk through the store. My attention was diverted from our subject of study to a display of alligator heads. We knew we were in Louisiana now. I wondered about the ethics surrounding killing what must be baby alligators to make tourist trinkets?
Alligator Head
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
In comparison to the first TA we stopped at in Michigan, this travel center was a bit older and slightly more dingy. We could not find any of the fresh fruit or packaged salads that we noticed at the other TA truck stop. They did have a cooler with milk, packaged sandwiches and burgers alongside a rack holding loaves of both wholewheat and white bread.
TA TravelCenters of America
Slidell, LA
The self-serve concession area was smallish featuring a limited selection of coffee and hot beverages, hot dogs, and snacks.
TA TravelCenters of America
Slidell, LA
This particular location was actually pretty heavy on the snacks both salty and sweet with an entire cooler dedicated to pint sized containers of Ben & Jerry's priced at 2 for $4, and the mega-sized packages of sale candy and giant cake pan sized RiceKrispies Treats. We had noticed these before at a few other truck stops and were still wondering how you deal with eating this on the road?
TA TravelCenters of America
Slidell, LA
Alongside the snacks was a selection of pre-packaged meals that could be heated up in the Stove to Go devices, or I suppose at those stops that had microwaves available for the drivers use. Although there was variety in terms of brand, they were primarily cream sauce based, or stew, chili or chunky soup.
TA TravelCenters of America
Slidell, LA
At $4.99 the Heater Meals come in at 320 calories per serving, 9 grams of fat and high in sodium. However, probably still a better cost effective and nutritious choice than some of the food available on the road.
A small refrigerated case at the back of the store contained oat bars, carrot cake squares, wrapped burgers, burritos and sandwiches on a bun which looked fresher and more appetizing than many of the packaged offerings we had seen elsewhere.
TA TravelCenters of America
Slidell, LA
Feeling we had checked out the store as much as we could we headed into the restaurant. Although it was dinner time, the dining room was relatively quiet with a few drivers eating alone and a couple of groups of locals. The waitress greeted us as we sat down. We asked what she recommended from the Stay Fit with Flavor menu and she suggested the Wild Pacific Salmon and the Grilled Chicken Dinner. So, I opted for the salmon and Phil decided on the chicken.
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
I was feeling more like a salad or a good stir-fry, but was a bit worried about getting some sort of tasteless stir-fry mystery sauce, so took the waitresses recommendation and ordered the salmon. As we waited for our food we overheard the truck driver sitting behind us telling the waitress that he had been looking forward to this meal all day as it was his first stop since early morning.
Stay Fit with Flavor Poster
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
The photo on the menu suggested a plump grilled chicken breast with a side of stir-fried red peppers, broccoli, and baby corn on a bed of wild rice. The description read: "Tastefully seasoned and grilled to perfection. Served alongside stir-fried vegetables and wild rice. Enjoy the soup and salad bar with your meal."
The salad bar was fresh and offered romaine rather than iceberg lettuce and what we had come to expect, a variety of mystery condiments and sauces, cherry tomatoes, cottage cheese, jello, and canned fruit. The bread stick looked somewhat promising but was dense and bland. I took one bite and decided that it was not worth the empty calories.
Grilled Chicken Breast Dinner
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
Sadly, Phil's Grilled Chicken Breast Dinner looked nothing like the meal advertised on the posters, menu or menu card on the table. There was not a vegetable to be seen!
Menu card
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
My wild Pacific salmon was subject to an almost identical presentation except the salmon was artfully placed on a leaf of lettuce.
Wild Pacific Salmon Dinner
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
The salmon may have been of the wild Pacific variety, but certainly not a sockeye or coho. Probably a pink or chum and definitely overcooked. I ate it but left the rest.
Remainder of Wild Pacific Salmon Dinner
TA TravelCenters of America / Country Pride Restaurant
Slidell, LA
We left Country Pride wondering if we would have been better off sticking with a grilled chicken salad? We wandered back into the store in search for mints, gum, candy, anything. Something to get rid of the taste of dry overcooked food.
CORRECTION: In doing some further research we discovered that Heater Meals are actually designed as emergency rations and are self-heating. Therefore, not needing an external heating device. While this is probably handy for drivers that do not have any cooking devices in their trucks and want a hot meal while on the road, it does make us wonder why there are not more alternatives available for drivers who want to be able to heat up a prepared nutritious and tasty meal?
No comments:
Post a Comment