ChuckDoherty.com

Last night I ventured east into the heart of Iowa, along Interstate 80 from Des Moines to Brooklyn, a town which shares very few characteristics of its more famous namesake. I was going there to meet an old friend from many years back, who I met when he was in a band and living the Rock & Roll life in NYC, and I was spending much of my time in New Jersey. We made plans to rendezvous’ at Rednex Steak and BBQ, which was about equidistant for us both. It was described as one of those grill-your-own-steak joints that are popular in this part of the country.

After about an hour’s mind-numbing drive across the fruited plain, I arrived in the town of Brooklyn and tracked down Rednex, which was not at all difficult since it was one of two buildings in town with lights on. My friend Joe was waiting at the bar, and we chatted for a bit before heading to a table and looking over the menu.

Now, perhaps I am a bit jaded with my city-slicker ways and all, but I don’t think it unreasonable to expect a restaurant named “Rednex Steak and BBQ” to offer steak or at least some BBQ. We learned that neither were available and that these rare delicacies are offered on weekends only. Oh well, no big deal, I am a visitor to these parts so I have to be flexible and understanding of local customs and procedures. We asked if there might be someplace nearby (with or without the word steak in its name), where one may actually get the sort of food we were craving. The waitress directed us to a place “just down the road.”

I had the impression she was speaking about someplace we could walk to, or at least travel to on the same tank of gas, but in central Iowa the meaning of “just down the road” turns out to be quite different than it is back home. We eventually did come to the place we were sent only to discover that it was well and truly closed. Figuring, in for a penny, in for a pound, we kept going along the same road until we arrived in the town of Victor. We settled in at a little joint named the Sit & Sip, which was this town’s only illuminated spot besides a gas station. The was not the sort of place where you could ask for a side of arugula, but I did enjoy a nice burger and had chance to catch up with Joe before we both hit the highway in different directions for home, what with this being a school night and all.