Geocaching in Missouri March 2016

We're thrilled that spring is starting to show up so we hit the road with mom and dad and headed to Missouri for a day of caching.  Here's a look at some of our favorite caches of the day.

The cache at Trucks Galore was a clever hide....

Dad made quick work of Kiss a Prince.......

It was hidden near this pretty water fountain....

My favorite cache of the day was No Value Meal Here.   It was hidden in the front yard of the cache owner.  Can you guess the meaning behind the cache name???

Fir Real  was quick and easy....

In all we found 9 caches and then we headed over to one of our favorite restaurants for lunch - Lambert's Cafe  in Sikeston, Missouri.  I've written about this fun restaurant before.  This is the place where they throw huge rolls across the room for you to catch.  Check out the giant drink mugs.  Don't worry, if you don't finish it, they will give you a take home cup for your leftover drink...

They walk around with large bowls of sides for you to choose from, like fried okra, fried potatoes, macaroni and tomatoes, or black eyes peas.  And you can have as much of any of those sides as you want, in addition to your meal.

Here's an order of fried shrimp with cottage cheese and beets....

This is the meat loaf, mashed potatoes, applesauce and peaches.....

They give  you so much food that we all took half of our meals home and heated them up for dinner.  I'm telling you, if you are ever in southeast Missouri, stop at Lambert's Cafe.  Just get there early.  By noon there was a line going out the door!

Road Trip to Lamberts Cafe'

When my parents were visiting us at the lake we planned a whole day around a road trip to Missouri, with the intention of eating lunch at Lambert's Cafe'.  I actually did a blog post on this place last May when Louie and I took a trip there.  We had such a good time and enjoyed the restaurant so much that I wanted my mom and dad to experience it.  I knew they'd love it.  And if I'm going on a road trip, well, you know there has to be some geocaching involved.

We stopped and grabbed some caches along the way - a couple new ones for us...

And a couple that Louie and I had already found, but that I knew my parents would enjoy, so we stopped again....

Dropping off a TB.....

This was one of my favorite caches that we had done before - it was inside a resale shop.   Mom and Dad looked around for awhile and then made the grab!

By 11:30 we had worked up an appetite, so we headed over to Lambert's.  Just check out the food - huge softball sized warm rolls - that they throw across the room to you and you have to catch - then drenched in sorghum or honey.  And how about the fried okra?  Hot and crispy.   You lay some paper towels down in front of you and they will give you as much of the appetizers as you want.

I had chicken pot pie, white beans and beets....

Louie had beef tips, beans and fresh corn.....

Mom had fried shrimp with cucumbers and coleslaw.  Look at all those shrimp!

Dad had meatloaf, mashed potatoes, peaches and something else that I don't recognize....

They also come around with huge bowls of the best fried potatoes I've ever had.  And you can eat as much as you want...

We had enough food left over to make lunch for all of us the next day.  Geocaching, good food and family time - It was a perfect day!

Geocaching and Lambert's Cafe'

We've been hiding out at the lake for the past few days getting some R & R.  Pretty much all I've done is park my butt on our dock and fish for bluegill.  Yesterday Louie asked me if I was up for a little road trip.  Did someone say Road Trip??  I didn't have to be asked twice.

Last fall we had driven to Missouri to go geocaching and stumbled across a restaurant that sounded pretty cool, but it wasn't open when we were there.  We resolved to go back this year and check it out.  So I loaded up the GPS with a few geocaches and off we went.

However, the powers that be decided it would be fun to try to keep us from reaching our destination.  The bridge going over the Mississippi River was closed due to maintenance and there was no other close way across.  Fortunately I had tossed my I pad into my caching bag, so I whipped it out and quickly re-routed us. First we had to drive north up into Illinois, and then we were able to cross the river before swinging southwest and heading into Missouri.  It was a bit of a detour but we were determined.

First we stopped and grabbed 3 geocaches.  One was a cache we had tried to find last fall and ended up blanking on it.  Today we had better luck and made the grab....

 The 3rd cache was really excellent.  Unfortunately I can't show it to you or tell you anything about it because I plan to bring my parents there the next time they're at the lake and I want them to find it themselves.  I'd really hate to spoil the surprise.  But here's a link to the cache page  in case you'd like to just check it out.  If I know my mom, she's already hitting the link as we speak and checking it out.  LOL!

Louie didn't eat any breakfast before we left, so by 11:00 he was starving and we decided to head over to the restaurant.  It's a good thing we did too.  We got there at 11:15 and it was already getting crowded.  We got seated immediately, but by 11:45 the restaurant was full and there was line forming.  The name of the restaurant is Lambert's Cafe' and their claim to fame is that they throw softball sized dinner rolls at you from across the room.  How fun is that?

Server grabbing a roll and winding up....

Once you catch your roll another server comes around with containers of Sorghum molasses or honey butter.  You spread a napkin on your table and she plops it right into the middle of the napkin and you snack on that while you're waiting for your food.  I'd never had Sorghum before and I didn't really know what it was, but I tasted it and decided it tasted like apple butter.  I'd definitely have it again.

Another server comes around with fried Okra that you eat the same way....

There's a lot of stuff to look around at while you're waiting, like license plates from around the United States, and antiques, and trains running around the rafters...

Once you get your meal, they come around with more sides for you like black eyed peas, fried potatoes, and macaroni & tomatoes.  That's all in addition to the 2 sides you get on your plate with your meal.  Believe me, it's a lot of food, and good food at that.  Louie had the chicken and dumplings....

 I had the meatloaf....

And I added the fried potatoes - my dad would LOVE these!

Ok, that was way more food than I could ever eat in even 3 meals, so I had plenty to take home and Louie and I split it for dinner...

So it was a good day - geocaching, a fabulous lunch and I didn't have to cook dinner - it doesn't get much better than that.

I highly recommend Lambert's Cafe and they have 3 locations to choose from.  Mom and Dad, we'll be going there next time you come visit us at the lake.  Bring your geocaching bag too!