My Culinary Odyssey: 2026 Update

    I've finally found the time to update last year's series about everywhere I've eaten out. I wish I could say I've gone to somewhere new in the past year, but I haven't. This update is more about clarification and correction than anything new.  Still, there are a few places I need to add some details to. All are in blue, as they are all still open. I didn't eat at any of them, but I someone did.

    Hardee's, Louisa, TO:  While I wasn't sure if I really did stop here before when I first gave it an entry last year, I have since had to stop here a few times on my way back from the Huntington Mall. The parking lot was a large, but a little uneven is places. I stayed in the car, but it looked to be fairly large.

    Wendy's, Norton, VA, TO:  I gave this place a partial entry last year, but I'm giving it a full one now. I stopped here during my quest for missing comic books after my regular store closed temporarily after last the February 2025 floods. Again, I stayed out in the car, while they went in. They really liked it. Soon after this trip, we stopped going to Wendy's for mornings. (I've eaten lunch at Wendy's a few times since then. Most recently, I had the banana swirl vanilla Frosty. I liked it much better than the strawberry one, although if you could mix the two....)  Ever since they discontinued their oat and fruit bars, they haven't wanted to stop there for breakfast anymore. I offered to try recreate them, but I was turned down after they  looked at some clone recipes online. None of the recipes looked particularly good to them.

    Popeye's, Fayette Mall, Lexington:  As I mentioned in another post, I almost stopped here for lunch during my fall trip to Lexington last year. I was really intrigued with their special garlic parmesan chicken strips promotion, that also came with a small cake. I decided against it just before ordering. The meal also came with a soft drink, which I wouldn't have. See, I don't like large, public restrooms, so I try to limit my fluid intake on longer trips. While basic water would have been okay, a carbonated and sweetened beverage would not be, especially so early into the trip. I wasn't sure if it could be substituted, so I chickened out. Still might want to try eating there one day.

    One of the things I pointed out last year were promotion items, many of which you had to pay for. The one item I frequently got were the holiday mugs from LJS. However, I would occasionally get glassware from other places.  Most of those have long since broken over the decades, but I have a few left. One of these is a glass from Burger Queen/Druthers, or somewhere else in Prestonsburg. At the start of the Smurf craze, she got me a glass featuring Baker Smurf, who I never heard of. I would later find out that in the original European comics, the village had a Smurf who did most of the cooking, Baker Smurf. He wore a chef's hat and apron. They also had a Smurf who would take all of the food and try to eat it, Greedy Smurf. In the US cartoon, Hanna Barbara combined the two into a Greedy Smurf who wore the hat and apron. Not only would he make the food, he would try to eat the desserts as well. I guess it makes some sense.

    Finally, after decades of not taking any promotional items from anywhere, I got my second Burger King crown last fall. I know, stupid of me, but after getting my first one just a few months earlier, I decided I needed a second one.  This was in the Halloween design, where the various food products were in costume. I figured out of them, except for the vampire. He didn't look like any item on the menu that I could tell. 

    Yes, I still have it.

    Both of them actually.

    Stupid, but whatever.