25 Arkansas [Updated to Full Credit]
Well, contrary to my dire prediction in my original Arkansas post, my sister is off the hook because I have now been to Arkansas. The occasion was half a week visiting stephywang and her husband D. They live in the Memphis suburbs, just across the river from Arkansas, so in addition to the long list of music related tourist attractions, I told them I wanted to go to Arkansas so I could cross it off the list.
Our original plan was to spend a big chunk of Saturday hiking at a state park in Arkansas. Unfortunately, the numerous flash flood warnings nixed that idea. We were primed to skip the state (after all, I'm going to visit them again some time), but on the verge of going to a Memphis attraction D took us across the river. We opted against the casino and pulled into the visitor's center. There I found a flier for Big John's World Famous Shake Shack in nearby Marion. The flier promised unhealthy food, in particular milkshakes, fried pie and other such delicacies, so we drove ten minutes down the road.
The founder of the restaurant passed some years ago and his widow and family run it now. The founder's son was in charge the day we attended, and he was vastly amused by the real reason for our visit. He was happy to point out the Americana bric-à-brac his mother has decorated with. He urged us to punch some pins into the map of "where people have visited from", but oddly both Cleveland and my part of North Dakota were checked. Or maybe it's not that odd. Apparently the Shake Shack has been featured in at least one cookbook from Southern Living; it certainly appears to be a prime candidate for a Food Network show appearance.
I had an excellent milkshake, D hit up the fried pie and stephywang had something that I don't recall, but that she thought was good. And with that, I crossed the state off the list using the "had a meal" criteria that I had previously only used for Delaware. Maybe I'll go back some day for the hiking, but the milk shake was good enough to remember even if I never do go back. If you're in the area, I urge you to check out the Shake Shack.
Scoreboard
Full Credit - 42: Delaware ( partial credit post), Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland ( partial credit post), New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas ( No Credit Post), Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa ( partial credit post), Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska ( partial credit post), Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona ( partial credit post), Alaska, Washington D.C.
Partial Credit - 3: Connecticut, Alabama, Idaho
No Credit - 6: South Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Oklahoma, Hawaii
Our original plan was to spend a big chunk of Saturday hiking at a state park in Arkansas. Unfortunately, the numerous flash flood warnings nixed that idea. We were primed to skip the state (after all, I'm going to visit them again some time), but on the verge of going to a Memphis attraction D took us across the river. We opted against the casino and pulled into the visitor's center. There I found a flier for Big John's World Famous Shake Shack in nearby Marion. The flier promised unhealthy food, in particular milkshakes, fried pie and other such delicacies, so we drove ten minutes down the road.
The founder of the restaurant passed some years ago and his widow and family run it now. The founder's son was in charge the day we attended, and he was vastly amused by the real reason for our visit. He was happy to point out the Americana bric-à-brac his mother has decorated with. He urged us to punch some pins into the map of "where people have visited from", but oddly both Cleveland and my part of North Dakota were checked. Or maybe it's not that odd. Apparently the Shake Shack has been featured in at least one cookbook from Southern Living; it certainly appears to be a prime candidate for a Food Network show appearance.
I had an excellent milkshake, D hit up the fried pie and stephywang had something that I don't recall, but that she thought was good. And with that, I crossed the state off the list using the "had a meal" criteria that I had previously only used for Delaware. Maybe I'll go back some day for the hiking, but the milk shake was good enough to remember even if I never do go back. If you're in the area, I urge you to check out the Shake Shack.
Scoreboard
Full Credit - 42: Delaware ( partial credit post), Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Georgia, Massachusetts, Maryland ( partial credit post), New Hampshire, Virginia, New York, North Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Ohio, Louisiana, Indiana, Mississippi, Illinois, Missouri, Arkansas ( No Credit Post), Michigan, Florida, Texas, Iowa ( partial credit post), Wisconsin, California, Minnesota, Oregon, Kansas, West Virginia, Nevada, Nebraska ( partial credit post), Colorado, North Dakota, South Dakota, Montana, Washington, Wyoming, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona ( partial credit post), Alaska, Washington D.C.
Partial Credit - 3: Connecticut, Alabama, Idaho
No Credit - 6: South Carolina, Rhode Island, Vermont, Maine, Oklahoma, Hawaii