It’s been a bit, but we’re back on the road. This time we
are headed to Germany for the Christmas Markets.
I was sitting at the computer about three weeks ago. My wife
had forwarded me an article about the German Christmas Markets she had seen
online.
As I read the article, I thought, “why not.”
I went online and booked flights, hotels and a car.
There is a bit of insanity, booking a trip to a country you’ve
only dreamed of going to, hoping that between Utube and one semester of high
school German you can navigate a trip to a foreign country.
We’ll see how that works out.
We left home on Saturday and headed to Los Angeles
International Airport.
On the way we stopped at Clearman’s North Woods Inn for a
meal before the flight.
Clearman’s holds a special place in my memories. I remember
going there as a child with my father.
My parents separated when I was very young, so I didn’t see
my father much. One of the things I remember most about the time we spent together
was eating out. He didn’t cook much and at home with mom, we didn’t have much money,
so we rarely went out.
I love Clearman’s from the start. From the fake snow
covered roof, to the dimly lit interior illuminating the Canadian
North Woods décor. And as a kid, anyplace that let you throw peanut shells on
the floor was a rare treat.
Not much has changed since I first walked thru their doors
over 50 years ago. On this visit, I had the “Steak Chunks on skewer” served
with two salads, rice pilaf, baked potato and garlic cheese bread.
The salads are a pretty plain salad and a red cabbage salad.
I would go to Clearman’s just to have the cabbage salad and the garlic cheese
bread.
It’s not cheap, but for a special treat it’s well worth the
cost.
