Fish Fry! Part 2 of 2 The Golf Course

Fish Fry Friday at the Indian Rock Golf Club - The Rock Bar and Grill!  Jim met us in the parking lot of The Rock Bar and Grill.  Jim and his wife recently retired from their careers in Utah and moved to Missouri.  Details of their first year in Missouri might be worth a story to share at a later date.  Strange drivers would pull up to their house and turn around; the garage was wired for a high-voltage greenhouse; the sheriff knows the house well; and a water pipe burst while they spent a month in Texas filling the first level full of somewhere upwards of 138,000 gallons of water - Jim knows exactly how many gallons because it is stated on his water bill!  Anyway, Jim and his dog drove a couple of hours to meet us for lunch.

Jim finds a good, cool, and shady spot for his dog in the parking lot.  We are slightly concerned about a dress code at the golf course bar and grill.  We were happy that our attire fit in just fine after entering the building.  Customers filled the bar stools and tables.  We found three empty bar stools at a corner of the U-shaped bar.  Fish Fry Friday, AKA Golden Fried Cod Dinner, was popular.  The waiter had to check with the kitchen to make sure there were enough fish for our orders.  The crowd at the bar was lively and funny.  Brad fit in with them really well, telling jokes and getting the whole bar involved.  I remember some loud laughter and a lot of smiles.  We learned a lot about the locals in the area too.  There was a discussion about storylines in the show Ozark.  People voiced some comparisons and similarities with real-life families and events.  We have to acknowledge that the Ozark was mainly filmed in Georgia, not Missouri.  The locals make that known up front.  

That fish fry was one of the best we’ve experienced.  It could have been the like-minded patrons at the bar.  It could have been because we got to catch up with Jim.  Jim is a Jimmy Buffett fan and had wanted to recon the Margaritaville Lake Resort at the Lake of the Ozarks.  So we checked the map and navigated to Osage Beach, where the resort is located.  I didn’t realize there would be so many buildings at the resort.  I ended up leading Brad through a parking garage entrance that said staff only.  We made U-turns with our loud motorcycles under the curious eyes of employees.  I found the hotel check-in area.  I didn’t want to be there.  I rode back to an intersection on the property with Brad following.  A security guard in a golf cart intercepted us.  I shut off my engine so I could hear him speak.  I explained where we were trying to find.  With some helpful directions, we ended up at the Land Shark Bar and Grill on the resort property.  Jim arrived a few moments later with no problem using his phone for navigation.  Oh, there was a parking spot labeled just for him.  I think it stated Reserved for Jimmy (Buffett) or something to the effect.  What are the odds Jim was able to find a reserved parking spot on a day when Brad and I circled twice looking for a spot to squeeze our motorcycles in?  

The Land Shark Bar was buzzing with activity.  People were inside, outside, on the beach, and pulling up on boats.  It seemed like a scene from the old Spring Break movie.  The bar was huge.  We found three stools and ordered our iced teas.  When I said the place was buzzing with activity, service employees were briskly walking about, taking orders, delivering food and drinks.  The bartenders’ feet stopped moving only long enough to grab a drink and set it down on the bar in front of a customer. The music was awesome; of course, it was Jimmy Buffett!  The restaurant had large glass windows overlooking the outdoor deck with tables, the beach, and the marina.  It was a fantastic view to include all the pretty people moving about outside.  We took in the sights, enjoyed our drinks, and called it a day.  Jim had to get back on the road.  Brad and I returned to the Great American Campground. It was a great day!

Fish Fry! Part 1 of 2 Invasion of the Old People!

Part 1 of 2 Invasion of the Old People 

Brad and I have very few rules while underway on our motorcycle adventures.  We agree upon a general direction.  I take the role of navigator.  Brad has the ideas to keep us moving and not sitting idle too often.   It works well.  Breakfast.  Breakfast is an unspoken rule.  We do not eat breakfast before a long ride.  We ride long to breakfast but we don’t eat and ride long.  Why? Why because Brad will fall asleep.  Yes, he falls asleep or zones out on the motorcycle.  One of the first instances was riding through the Wind River Range in Wyoming.  The road was smooth.  Temperatures warm.  Sun glistening off the river that meandered along the road.  Beautiful part of the country.  I am taking in the views, learning around the curves, enjoying an awesome morning ride.  Brad is right behind me in my side view mirror.  We stop at a diner and I ask about how his eyes and glasses adjusted in the tunnels.  He replied, “what tunnel?” There were tunnels!  I asked if he saw the slow moving train riding along with us as we went through a tunnel?  Brad replied, “what train?”  I was puzzled, I watched his headlamp in my side view mirror.  He was behind me on the same route at the same time.  How could he miss these scenes?  He was sleeping! Zoned out!  Brad admitted it happens quite a bit when we ride together after breakfast.  So no more breakfast before long rides!

Oh, the fish fry.  Brad is a creature of habit.  He enjoys a good fish fry once a week.  While on the road we uphold his desire for a fish fry.  So we ask for recommendations for a fish fry from anyone we speak with.  Brad learns of two promising locations.  The American Legion and a bar called The Rock.  We stop by the American Legion and learned that their fish fry was later in the week or is cancelled for some reason.  We get directions to The Rock.  I remember most of the directions and put on my navigator helmet and we ride on a recon mission finding the location of the fish fry.  I check the map, estimate the mileage and we ride down the road.  As we get close to where I think the place should be, I see many side roads are gravel.  I have to slow down to negotiate a gravel turn from fast. I see the turn but the sign read something about a Golf Course.  I was looking for a bar, The Rock.  I slowed to be ready to turn when around the curve there was a bar on the opposite side of the road. I turned in to check the phone map.  We were at Rocky Top Sports Bar and Grill. It wasn’t the place we were looking for.  We decided to go inside anyway.  The bartender was just opening up but wasn’t ready to serve anyone.  We declared that we just wanted iced tea and refuge from the heat.  So she allowed us to sit at the bar and gave us some iced tea.  She returned to prepare the bar for customers.  Once she is finished, she assumes her position behind the bar, tops off our iced tea and participates in small talk with us.  We learn there is a place called the Rock Bar and Grill at the Golf Course.  So her information confirmed that we know where to turn when we return for the scheduled fish fry.  

Brad and I finished up our drinks and was about to leave the bar.  Several customers one after another begin to enter the back door.  It was like a bus just parked and customers were in single file line exiting the bus and into the bar.  The first few folks were just a little older than us.  They sat at the right side of the U-shaped bar.  Some other folks sat on the left side of the bar.  Brad and I were at the bottom of the U-shape and closer to the left side.  We chat with both groups.  Everyone seemed friendly.  There was a group of women hosting an out of town guest. They stopped in Rocky Top before heading off to visit a winery.  Not sure what the folks at the other end of the bar were doing.  A man, a little older than Brad and I, was buying beer for his group.  That group was not responsive to small talk.  Brad and I decided to close out our ice tea tab when the door opened again and a line of silver haired old folks walk through the door.  They might have been twenty years or more older than us.  Their silver hair was kept neatly.  All walked in with purpose.  Their presence was known. Their eyes had lasers burning holes in my and Brad’s head.  Three sets of laser eyes were fixed upon our heads as the group walked the length of the right end of the bar.  The unwelcoming group turned walking towards us.  Their eyes fixed and burning holes in us.  They turn and find tables behind us.  Despite the laser eyes burning holes in my head, I felt a chill.  What had happened?  Curiosity caused us to ask the bartender who was busy serving another round to the wine tour crowd.  The bartender told us to pay them never mind.  She said the ladies are regulars and we are sitting in their seats.  Whoa!  With those looks we didn’t want them behind us.  So we finished cashing out and left.  This place was for locals and some didn’t like tourist sitting in their seats!