Good day for a lunch run

I had originally planned on a lunch run to St Louis on Thursday but decided to use the nice day to to finish some yard work around the house. The original forecast was for rain on Friday (today), but it turned out to be a great day for a ride.

I needed to make a quick stop in Springfield before getting out on the road. I really had no idea where I was going to end up. Heading west out of Springfield I found myself on a portion of Historic Rte 66 and decided to stay with it. It went from a four lane highway down to two lanes and then it was just a paved country road. The section in Springfield still had some of the old buildings that housed business -- motels, restaurants, gas stations. As I rode through the more rural areas, most of the old buildings were abandoned and in varying states of disrepair.

I was westbound on Hwy 96. As I crossed Hwy 39one intersection, I saw a sign for the Hanger Kafe with an arrow pointing north. As I cruised through the intersection, I thought that I should have turned and tried it out for lunch.
No worries. A few miles down the road I was coming up to another crossing highway and recognized another sign for the Hanger Kafe. I made the turn and rode about four or five miles before being directed back to the east for a couple of miles and then saw the drive for the restaurant.

As you may have guessed, it is in an old airfield hanger. There is still a small functioning airstrip and a sky diving business. Although the restaurant is pretty small, it was packed for lunch. I overheard one guy on his phone. He told his wife, "I'm not really sure where I am. I'm at a little restaurant in the middle of nowhere."
Yep. That's right where I was, too!

I'm a sucker for a good tenderloin sandwich so when I saw it on the menu I had to ask about it.

Me: Tell me about your tenderloin sandwich.
Waitress: We're kinda famous for it. It's about this big (as she gestured with her hands).
Me: I'm in!

She hadn't indicated that it would be a monster tenderloin and that was fine. I didn't need a monster sandwich for lunch. I was slightly more than the diameter of the bun one way and about twice that the other way.

Under the sandwich was a thick slice of onion that matched the size of the bun, a smaller tomato slice, several pickle chips and leaf of lettuce. The tenderloin itself was thick and tasty and worth going back for another one on another day!
I skipped dessert. The list on the white board said -- carrot cake, pumpkin pie, blackberry cobbler, and mixed berry pie.
Yum. Pretty tempting.

I took a more scenic way home and ended up with 122.5 miles for my lunch run.

I'm going to call it a good day!

John <><