As some of you may remember, Animated Meat first came to life in 2008 as a way to document some sights that managed to slip through the cracks of most popular travel websites. You may also remember that the original website was built on Apple's now defunct iWeb. From there, it migrated over to WordPress where it met an untimely demise at the hands of Russian hackers. Many of those old, pre-2012 entries have found a new home here in the Before the Now section. I would consider these posts as my starting place as a writer, probably comparable to a musician's first demo tapes. They are very rough, but I took them all seriously and wrote each one with passion. While I would like to believe that I have matured in my abilities as a writer, it is my hope that I carry this same blind passion into all of my new efforts.
Are the owners of this place believers in aliens who decided to supplement their income with beef jerky? Or, are they beef jerky enthusiast who decided to lure some of the believers in? Either way, in the town of Baker, there is a place called Alien Fresh Jerky.
I think the name pretty much encapsulates what this place is all about. Lots of jerky and free samples. However, they also have hot sauce, alien souvenirs, and air conditioning. It’s worth a stop after a long drive through the desert.
If the Mad Greek would have tried to get his business going these days, it probably wouldn’t have happened. You see, with the number of doctors all too happy to prescribe mood stabilizers, the Mad Greek would be known as the Well Balanced Greek As Long As He Doesn’t Go Off His Meds.
The Well Balanced Greek would have never had the vision to open a Mediterranean restaurant in the middle of the California desert. He would have done something considerably more conservative, like work for the city as an accountant. Something steady where he would have a pension, a dental plan, and a few weeks of vacation. Sure, he might be boring but at least he wouldn’t be prone to flights of fancy.
But apparently, modern psychiatry hasn’t yet got a hold of our Mad Greek. Instead, he resides in the town of Baker and serves up all kinds of Mediterranean eats. I’m sure that at times, his toaster talks to him, but he also makes one of the richest, densest milkshakes I have ever had.
As noted on a previous entry, thanks to a misread bus schedule, we managed to burn some time we could have used to take in some sights in Victoria. When we arrived at the Royal British Columbia Museum, we had exactly one hour to tour the entire place. I can report that while it’s not the most leisurely way to see it, it is possible to get it all in.
The Royal Museum is three stories that tell the history of British Columbia.
They have everything from stuffed animals to rooms devoted to the history and culture of the First Nation people. I recommend that you give yourself considerably more time to take a look at it than we did. While it is possible to see the whole place in an hour, it’s kind of like driving a car with your feet. Yes, you can do it, but it’s really not a good idea.
A view from the outside.
Saint Tupin-Upon-Avon is an obscure saint. Tupin-Upon-Avon is in charge of Americans who do not pay attention when they travel to foreign countries. I have become connected to St. Tupin-Upon-Avon because she has seen me through a few scrapes, most recently at the Victoria Butterfly Garden.
You see, in order to get to the Victoria Butterfly Gardens, you need to take a bus. Without bogging you down in the details about my experience, let’s just say I didn’t so a good job of paying attention to the bus schedule.
We toured the gardens leisurely spending just over an hour among the lush, green foliage and the colorful insects.
Now here’s where my personal patron saint comes into play. I figured that this bus, like all buses runs every fifteen minutes. Wrong! It runs every hour. We just missed the departing bus and our reward was fifty-five minutes in the warm Victoria sunlight.
Thankfully, after a few prayers to the patron saint of American dumbasses, she sent a bus along so we could enjoy a few hours in Victoria.
Portrait of the artist waiting on a bus.
My sister-in-law recommended this place, not because she had eaten there, but because she saw Anthony Bourdain eat there. I’m not much into celebrity chefs [this portion edited out in 2018. Please see note below]*
Well, once again yours truly was wrong about something. It turns out that Bourdain was on to something. This place is great. It was one of the more original places I have eaten at in a while.
Japadog offers up grilled hotdogs topped of with Japanese style condiments. Imagine if a sushi chef ran into a hotdog salesman. Two great tastes that taste great together. This is a must do while in Vancouver.
*The portion of this post was written in 2009 when I was a younger man and had a much smaller outlook on life. I made a cheap joke about Anthony Bourdain's drug addiction. Now that I am older, I would like to believe that I would have taken the higher road. Rest in peace, Anthony Bourdain.
