Weekend Away

When the guys arrived home from a multi-day school trip I was regaled with stories of people watching, theme park rides, and (of course) food.

Lunch tales included chili cheese fries and burgers at Del Taco and hotdogs and pizza at Costco. Of course snacks at mini marts and a trip to the grocery store for Uncrustables were thrown in for good measure. Apparently only two meals were actually memorable: Friday night's trip to Medieval Knights and Saturday's visit to Moose Burger Lodge.

At Medieval Knights guests are assigned actors (dressed, of course in full armor) to root for in their mock battles while being served dinner by wenches and serfs. The menu includes roasted chicken, barbecue spare ribs, half a roasted potato, tomato bisque soup, garlic bread, and an apple turnover which Jeff described as having filling "so hot it burned your mouth and so tasteless you didn't care." This fare was coupled with hundreds of screaming teenagers, several doses of Tylenol, and no utensils (not even for the soup).

Still full from Friday's dinner, the guys opted to skip breakfast because the hotel's pickings were sad the morning before with items like cold scramble eggs, mushy sausage, limp bacon, and tureen's of a simulated oatmeal substance. Apparently the only redeeming choice was a freshly made Belgian waffle for those willing to stand in line with the plethora of junior high ankle biters who populated most of the hotel.

That missed breakfast coupled with multiple roller coasters at Magic Mountain meant the guys were ready for a big lunch on Saturday, so they opted for the Moose Burger Lodge, which was the only sit-down restaurant left open at the park. (It seems Magic Mountain is currently in bankruptcy and many of the shops, shows, and eateries were closed.) According to Jeff, the highlight of this establishment is three animatronic moose singing made up lyrics to the "Beverly Hillbillies" theme song. The boy ordered a bacon cheeseburger that needed more barbecue sauce and was accompanied by a giant pickle. Jeff had the buffet which included more roasted chicken, pulled pork, stewed apples, crusty rolls, instant mashed potatoes with canned chicken gravy, canned corn, steamed mixed vegetables, lasagna, penne pasta in tomato sauce, and golf ball sized meatballs. There was also a salad bar which Jeff skipped on the general principle that you shouldn't eat anything healthy at a theme park. To top it all off, the guys order sodas, which doesn't seem like a big deal until you find out that they were $3.50 a piece. With tax and tip this meal set them back over $40!

After all this eating out, I think they were ready for something a little more homemade, so I obliged with Swedish meatballs. I cheated a little using the "pre-fab" frozen meatballs, but since the sauce was made from scratch, it passed muster. Later, everyone had a big helping of the strawberry cobbler I made last night. All in all, I think the guys are happy to be sleeping in their own beds tonight, and happier to be eating at home.