Right now, I'm sitting in downtown Columbus, Ohio thinking about the fact that this is not a food blog.
It's a restaurant blog. Perhaps even a lifestyle blog. But today, it IS a Foo blog. That's because I came here to visit my friend Zach McFarlen, a Robinson High School graduate, and see the Foo Fighters tonight. So, see, Foo blog.
And I realize there's a picture of fajitas featured along with this blog. And I realize that has nothing to do with Ohio or the Foo Fighters. But it's because I flew out of Texas relatively early this morning and so I stayed the night at a hotel by the airport.
It just so happened that the hotel was the 4-star resort known as the Gaylord Texan. Don't go jumping to the conclusion that I'm some sort of diva that has to stay in luxury hotels. There's this thing called Priceline and I've figured out that you can basically steal 4-star hotel rooms by using it. The Gaylord Texan cost me $60. Good luck staying in a La Quinta for $60.
Heck, I almost spent more on dinner for me and a friend at the Gaylord Texan's Riverwalk Cantina.
That, my friends, is where the fajitas came from.
So, while I am in Ohio at the moment and enjoying it very much already, this is a "Thank you, Lord, for Texas" blog. The Gaylord Texan, along with a neighboring resort called the Great Wolf Lodge are genius endeavors, mostly because it's something I would never think of, but it makes perfect sense.
I mean, a resort in Grapevine? Have you ever heard anyone say, "Hey, let's go to Grapevine for our vacation" with a straight face? But it works because the resorts are destinations in and of themselves and they're right by the airport. That makes them ideal stay-cation spots for folks in Dallas-Fort Worth, a nice luxury for a weasel like me looking for a cheap room the night before a flight, and a perfect location for conventions because they're less than a 10-minute drive from the massive DFW airport.
You will be happy to know I did my due diligence by progressing through three of the GT's restarts. For my first stop, I had a drink at the Texas Station sports bar, which features a massive screen showing multiple sports games. Then I made my way to the Zeppole Italian restaurant for a prosciutto appetizer. Finally, my guitarist buddy Brian Patterson finished up with a gig and a lesson and joined me for Mexican food at the cantina.
For everyone who wants me to be a food critic in this space, I'll offer you this much: while all of it was great, none of it was revelatory. It was excellent chain-restaurant food.
And now, while Mr. McFarlen finishes his workday, I'm going to go stalk Dave Grohl.
