Time Out for a Cotton Bowl Posting

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(Once in a while we talk about sports on Meteorological Musings, so if the 2012 Cotton Bowl or places to eat near I-35 in Oklahoma and Texas do not interest you, please stop reading here.)

Congratulations to the Oklahoma State Cowboys for bringing the Big XII to 6-1 in its bowl games this year. There is one left...

The Cotton Bowl is the biggest (in terms of number of fans in attendance) of all of the bowl games and this year it features the Kansas State Wildcats versus the Arkansas Razorbacks.  More than 105,000 are expected to attend. The 'backs are the favorites but I'm predicting a Wildcat victory (especially against the spread).
One of our tickets!
So, since tens of thousands will be traveling down I-35 from Kansas to Dallas, I thought I'd provide some information that might be helpful. My qualifications: I frequently drive that highway on business trips to Norman and DFW. I want to share these with my blog readers but do not tell anyone else. I don't want the waits to be too long for our group!

If you are looking for non-national chain places to eat roughly halfway between Kansas and Dallas, here are three recommendations from north to south that are worth getting off the freeway for:
  • Edmond, Oklahoma 66 (formerly U.S. Route 66) exit. Go east about 5-8 minutes to Pops. Great burgers, a killer ice cream cake dessert, and the world's largest soda pop collection (Coca-Cola made in Mexico with real cane sugar, for example) to drink there or take with you. Photos below.


  • Norman. "Coach's" sports bar downtown. The best pizza in Norman. Just take the Main Street exit, go east, and it will be on the south (right) side of the road immediately before the railroad tracks. And, take a moment to cross the tracks to see the statue of Norman's favorite son, James Garner.

  • Interurban, Ardmore. With a name more similar to a streetcar or train, this restaurant is like a "TGI Fridays" with really good service and fun decorations. Great place to stop with kids.


It is located between exits 32 and 31B in Ardmore on the east side access road ("A" on map below):
click to enlarge
Once you get to Dallas, here are three wonderful places, two Uptown and one Northeast:
  • For brunch, Breadwinners Cafe and Bakery. Wow. You have to try it!  Photos below. 

The brunch of champions. "I'll have one of each, please."




  • And, finally, even though it is a chain, since we don't have one in Kansas (I'll invest; hint, hint), for Italian food like my late Grandmother Lembo used to make, go to Maggianos. If you have never experienced their food, get their lasagna or spaghetti and meatballs and, for dessert, apple crostada (ask for extra ice cream!). Our reservations are for 6:30 Saturday. See you there!
Hoping for a great game and, in a spirit of good sportsmanship, I invite Arkansas Razorback fans to use these suggestions, too.  See you in Big D!

Comments

  1. AnonymousJanuary 7, 2012 at 1:30 AM

    Mike:

    Thank you for this post and a warm welcome to Texas! I mean 73'F warm.....lol. Wish that the Cotton Bowl football game results were what we wanted (Wildcat & Big 12 Victory) but we will have to get them next time.

    Wishing you all a fun and safe trip and looking forward to more blog entries over the weekend.

    Tom N Tejas

    ReplyDelete
  2. Mike SmithJanuary 8, 2012 at 1:22 PM

    We had a GREAT time, thank you. I'll have a post up about it this evening. We are now at Pop's in Edmond, OK on our way back home to Kansas.

    ReplyDelete

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