Et Tu Cracker Barrel?

I love Cracker Barrel. Does that surprise you at all? It shouldn’t.

As modern as my tastes are in art and culture, I’m a bit of an old soul. I love “down home”and “old-timey” kitschy stuff. I also love eating copious amounts of food that is probably okay if you’re out working in the fields all day, but pretty bad for the rest of us. So Cracker Barrel is right up my street.

Cracker Barrel is often thought of as a restaurant only for senior citizens, and while that is their largest demographic, it’s certainly not an exclusive thing. Many families go to Cracker Barrel for extended family meals. Some go while on vacation just to have a bite somewhere familiar because it brings a feeling of homey-ness, which is a word I’m pretty sure I just invented. You’re welcome.

We regulars go to Cracker Barrel because we want to eat chicken and dumplings, biscuits and gravy, have breakfast at night, and get a mess of okra on the side. We want to wander around the general store looking at products and clothing we don’t need but, ehh, we may pick up something anyway if it’s unique enough, or would make a good last minute Christmas gift. We’d also like a few of those old timey candies and sodas, too, as long as we’re at it. Basically, Cracker Barrel is a vibe that lets us feel connected somewhat to the past (fabricated though that feeling may be), and puts us in touch, ever so slightly, with an idyllic, small town America that, for the majority, no longer exists.

And they’re going to take it away from us.

Yep. Rebranding. Ugh.

It seems that the corporate yahoos over at the CB offices have noticed a bit of a decline in business. That’s pretty much true with restaurants across the board since Covid, of course, but there you are.

According to the brand’s new CEO, the chain “isn’t as relevant” as it once was. Umm…okay. Has Cracker Barrel ever been relevant? Depends on your definition, I suppose, but I would tend to say “no” to that one. Which is okay. It’s not supposed to be hip and relevant. It’s supposed to be kitschy and uncool. That’s why we love it!

The aim, of course, is that the chain will appeal to new customers while continuing to please the current base. Seldom does this work. Sure, there’s usually an uptick in business when the new changes roll out, but that’s mostly due to curiosity. Once the sheen wears off, many businesses find themselves in trouble just like they were in before. Which tends to start the cycle all over again.

It has also been stated that the chain will focus on better tasting items. This is good. However, that generally means that the chain will be simplifying the menu (throwing out your favorites). That could go either way.

Basically, what the company is trying to do is to modernize while still keeping the nostalgia factor. That’s going to be hard. No doubt there will be an overhaul inside the restaurant, probably removing most of the crazy crap on the walls and painting them in a muted shade of beige. They’ll probably try to bring in some sort of technology aspect as well, which could be anything from replacing the waitstaff with tablets for ordering (shudder) to an electronic version of the peg game. No good can come of this.

They’ll probably even redesign the logo. Every other restaurant on the planet has adopted streamlined, soulless logos, so why wouldn’t Cracker Barrel follow suit?

The logo we all know and love. I may or may not have bought this tee shirt exclusively for this post.

Okay, I know I sound like a grumpy old man here, but, I mean, honestly. Nobody wants this. Other than the guys in the suits, I mean.

Do you wanna turn things around Cracker Barrel? Here’s what we want:

– Better tasting food. It’s not that the food is bad as is, but there is room for improvement on some of your dinner items. Okay, sure, the food is gummable which helps the seniors out, but not everything needs to taste like it was boiled. The menu doesn’t need changing as much as the recipes do, and even then, you don’t need to CHANGE. Just tweak a little. Except for your breakfast items. They rule. All of ’em. Leave them be.

– Lower prices. This is difficult in these times when food is overpriced across the board, I know. Maybe run more specials? Discounted prices for smaller meals? Themed specials, perhaps, like “Okrafest”, or “Dumplin’ Days” maybe? There are lots of possibilities here.

– Better connection with customers. How about some big community outreach programs? Maybe partner up with some local charities to get people in the door to spend money and donate to causes that affect their neighbors and friends. Perhaps this is already done, I don’t know, but if so, I’m not aware of it. So if there is a charitable arm of Cracler Barrel, make some noise about it. Involve yourselves in your customer’s lives, and people will notice.

Now. What we don’t want is the standard, boring, lifeless makeover. We also don’t want these changes to come at the cost of people. Please find a way to avoid the “minimize choice and minimize workforce” system that so many other restaurants have followed in the past. This idea may help the bottom line, but it usually results in longer wait times and grumpy employees. Which leads to grumpy customers. Certainly, this is not the change you are looking for.

Alright, rant over. I’ve complained about this sort of thing before, and no CEOs have listened to me yet (rude!), but I still feel obligated to raise a ruckus.

You’re one of the few consistent, reliable, comfortable, “happy place” restaurants left, Cracker Barrel. Don’t let us down.

Thanks for reading, MonDavers. See you next time.

Well, What Is So Funny?

So, in my last two blog posts, I shared pictures from my t shirt collection and told a quick story about them. Not being one to turn my back on a theme, I’m going to do that again this week. I might keep this up for a while because I have a lot of shirts and a lot of stories.

Some of my shirts are from rock bands/shows I have attended, others are pop culture based, from travels or major events, on and on. Sooner or later, I’ll hit on all of those things.

Anyway, here’s this week’s entry. It’s a twofer, featuring both music and message.

You get 10 points if the song started running through your head.

Five bonus points if it was Nick Lowe’s version.

Lowe wrote the song back in 1974, but it took Elvis Costello’s version to really bring it into the public consciousness. It has been covered by multiple artists to varying degrees of success since.

I read somewhere that the original idea was that the song was written from the point of view of a hippie who was already being phased out as being part of the “old guard”‘, who found himself a bit of a laughingstock and couldn’t understand what was so funny.

Rightly, Nick Lowe realized that there was a much bigger idea there, so he kept the title and junked the rest. The lyrics to the verses are quite simple and non-specific, letting the overarching idea in the title do all the work.

And work it does. By not tying the lyric to any one specific historical event or time period, Lowe has crafted a song that is both universal and, sadly, just as poignant and effective today as when it was first released.

Now, I don’t know that the title is super accurate, I mean, most people don’t actually make fun of the ideals listed. But then, a lot of people don’t exactly practice these ideas very well either, do they? Especially when politics or money are involved.

Anyway. If you have somehow never heard this song, I urge you to give it a listen. It’s the kind of song that could be a little bit melancholy or even depressing, but instead, it’s almost anthemic. It’s the kind of song that makes you feel better when everything seems dire.

This is a song that can make you feel like you’re not alone and that maybe, just maybe everything might turn out all right.

Isn’t it wonderful how music can do that? It’s why I love the song, and why I bought the shirt.

I also bought this one at the same show:

Okay, so it is completely ridiculous, but you can’t be serious all the time. This one could also use some explaining, I suppose, but that’s for another post.

Alright, MonDavers. Hang loose, I guess, and be good to one another. See you next time.

Okay. Let’s Talk About It.

Can we talk a moment, you and I? You all know I try to keep things light around here, but sometimes it’s necessary to get serious. I promise to stay as respectful as I can and try to tone down the snark. I know, it scares me too, but here we go.

There’s been a lot of talk about the Olympics this weekend. Well, more about the opening ceremony, really. I’m going to touch on that, but there’s something bigger involved here. Bear with me, and we’ll get there.

We all are entitled to our own opinions, of course, but this whole situation has gotten out of control. There are a lot of people out there, many of whom I love, who seem to have been caught up in what can only be classified as a fabricated controversy. Please keep reading, I can explain. Indulge me here.

Many of my fellow Christians are upset by what they have interpreted as a “mocking of God” and Leonardo Da Vinci’s painting of The Last Supper. The claim is that the painting was recreated using Drag Queens.

Others have argued that the reference was not to that painting, but the Baccanaal, which is a part of Greek cultural history, this being the Olympics and all. These people claim that the painting referenced is “The Feast Of The Gods” by Jan Harmensz van Biljert.

Here’s the thing, though. According to the actual director of the piece, and I am always one to take the creator of an artistic piece at their word, it’s not directly tied to either painting. The party was meant to celebrate togetherness and inclusivity.

Anyone who actually watched the ceremony (and I wonder how many of the enraged did) would have seen models of all races, sizes, genders, and abilities walking down the runway of the fashion show (not a supper or feast, mind you) in the spirit of love and inclusivity intended.

Which is where my confusion sets in. I watched the ceremony and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Last Supper never entered my mind, and I truly believe it was just the camera angle and pan out that set this all off. One shot of a fashion runway which then zoomed out to show people on both sides. So, no table, just a runway.

I’m thinking maybe some people got carried away here.

Okay, my Christian sisters and brothers, I love you, but we need to talk. If this blog is a bottle, here comes the message. I say this with love. Tough love, but love nonetheless.

This is why people hate us. This is why people run from the church and not to it.

Some of y’all have nothing better to do than to make up things to be angry about. Many of you reacted to this whole kerfuffle without taking time to research the cultural touch points, reasoning, or intentions of what you saw. My guess is that a lot of you were triggered by a social media post and just went off from there.

You know, if we as Christians (and I include myself in this) spent more time caring for “the least of these”-feeding the hungry, caring for the sick, housing the homeless, seeking justice for the oppressed, welcoming the stranger, etc., the world would see that and the pews would be full every Sunday. Because we’d be doing Jesus stuff.

But do you know what they saw instead? Hate. Prejudice. Self superiority and a “holy” righteousness that does not invite others in to know Christ, but pushes them away. It turns people off, guys.

And you know what? It turns me off, too.

I had a pit in my stomach all weekend over this whole thing. It hurts my head and my heart. Jesus is about love. God is about love. I haven’t seen any of that in the posts I’ve been reading or rhetoric I’m hearing. The problem is that this is not an isolated incident.

Guys, I am embarrassed to tell people I’m a Christian. I don’t know how to reconcile the message of love with the culture of hate and prejudice. I don’t know how we can say that God is the only judge and then judge people based on their gender, sexuality, race, or anything else. I mean, I kinda don’t want to be involved anymore. That’s how bad it’s gotten. I feel like giving up.

But… God has his ways, doesn’t he? This morning, I opened my drawer full of t-shirts and saw this one on top. I bought it from The Chritian Left website a while back. I also may or may not have been responsible for the design due to my suggestions on a Facebook post.

Anyway. It reminded me that I have some Christian friends who feel the same way I do and that I am not alone. I’ve found a church that is both inclusive and biblically sound. There are other Christians out there who are horrified at the thought that we would turn away any of God’s children from our door. It’s not just me. And that gives me just enough strength and hope to keep on the path.

I know I’ve stepped on some toes here, but it’s my hope that providing an often overlooked perspective may do some good, or at least get others thinking about the way we represent ourselves and how we deal with the outside world.

Oh, and if you think it’s a reach to say that Christians got carried away by all of this stuff and are looking for something to be angry about, remember this. The same day that the ceremony aired, an ex-president and current candidate told a group of conservative Christians that if they voted for him, they’d “never have to vote again.” The man just threatened to take away our right to vote and implied that he’d set himself up as dictator for life. But sure, let’s get mad about art. That’s clearly where the conversation should be, right?

Okay, that was snarky, but it wouldn’t be a MonDaves without a little snark, and I’ve been really good the whole time!

Thanks for indulging me and taking the time to read this through. You’re one of the good ones. See you next time.

A Little More Wisconsin Stuff

I just wanted to share a few more things with you all from our trip.

As you may or may not recall, I mentioned buying souvenirs at some of our stops. I have always been a fan of high-quality-knick-knackery, and clothing in particular. A lot of other people are, too, obviously, since the souvenir business is always a money maker.

I am also a fan of YouTube rabbit holes, but more on that in a minute.

Anyway, if you are one of those people who likes t-shirts and whatnot, here’s the stuff I bought.

First up is my t shirt from Bay Beach Park. It’s a little more green than grey in real life, but that’s okay. It’s a nice shirt. My wife likes this one a lot. Good thing she was around. Left to my own devices, I’d have bought something cheesey.

Speaking of cheesey, or…um…sausage-y, I got this spiffy trucker hat from the Johnsonville store.

Now. Sheboygan. I titled a section of the last blog, “Sheboygan, Who Knew?” but I can’t take credit for that line. Neither can the guy who sold me this shirt. It actually comes from Gabe Leistekow, who made a slightly snarky little video about his hometown that is both funny and a loving tribute. Both the shirt and the video follow:

Yup. Gabe.

Oh, and we also got a magnet.

Welp. I hope you enjoyed that. Maybe I’ll show you more of my collections sometime.

Have a great week Mon-Davers. See you next time.

Brink Family Vacation 2024-Part Two

If you’ll recall, part one of this story saw us experiencing car trouble, losing a full day of our vacation due to said troubles, and finally arriving at our destination.

What you didn’t find out about was that youngest daughter Melody got car sick. Once in the van, and then again inside the lobby at Wally’s gas station when we stopped shortly after. I thought I was saving her some embarrassment by not sharing these details, but she insisted they be included for the sake of accuracy. Honestly though, I think she just likes to see her name come up in the blog.

So,

Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody, Melody.

Melody.

There, that should make her happy. Now, on with the blog.

DAY 1: De PERE
We spent the first day of our suddenly three day vacation tooling around De Pere WI, where our Vrbo was located. We picked up a few provisions for the house (snacks, drinks, and what-not) at Festival Foods. This is a local chain store that is not only impressively huge, but has arguably better selections than any store I can think of locally. No real story to share here, just giving a plug.

We also went to Scray Cheese, which is a small cheese shop/factory (Cheesery?) just outside of town. Not only do they sell their own wares, but you can also watch through the display window as the cheese is being made. There are plenty of choices to be made and samples to be tasted. This is where I tasted my first, official, fresh cheese curd. Not the fried kind from Culver’s, but an honest-to-goodness, made fresh that morning cheese curd, the state snack of Wisconsin! They are super chewy, and squeak when you bite them. So that’s a no from me. However, the various cheeses we bought and snacked on back home were all excellent.

De Pere is a nice, quiet suburban community with the kind of small “downtown” area one would expect. Except that this town has the Fox River running through the middle of it, separating East from West. There is a really cool section with a park where you can walk along the river and see the locks. Lots of people can be found fishing in this area, and during the Summer, pelicans gather on the river as well, giving some pretty neat photo ops. It’s a gorgeous little area, but it was quite a windy, chilly, and rainy day when we went, so our exploration of downtown De Pere was a bit more brief than it could have been. See, we are used to hot Summers here in St. Louis. While we knew it would be a little cooler than we were used to, it wound up being more than we expected. I brought along a hoodie just in case, and Tessa wore it all day long. Dad gets a W on that one.

We went out to dinner that night at The Village Grill, which is a nice, but reasonable restaurant featuring American fare. Recommended if you’re ever in the area. The rain got heavier as we ate, and continued poring down, so we went back to the house and had a nice quiet evening, resting up for Day Two.

DAY 2: SHEBOYGAN! WHO KNEW?

Okay, so this requires a little backstory. Early in the school year, many teachers will play “getting to know you” games with their classes. Melody (there’s that name again) can’t stand these. She is a very guarded person, and isn’t much of a sharer. So when her teacher asked the class where their dream vacation destination would be, she came up with Sheboygan. Because a.) it was funny, and b.) she figured there wouldn’t be too many follow up questions. She did, however, have to stick with the bit at school, and it became sort of an “in joke” with her friends and with the family too.

So, when we decided we wanted to travel to the Lake Michigan area, and we realized that Sheboygan was right on the lake and not far from where we’d be staying, a visit was an absolute must. We figured we’d probably spend an hour or two wandering around and then move on to another adventure. I mean, how great could Sheboygan be?

Well, “pretty darn” is the answer to that question. Situated right on the lake, there’s a really cool marina, and a lighthouse you can walk out to. It’s a really beautiful area, that feels a little bit like you’re on the ocean (just don’t let the locals hear you say that. I mean, they probably wouldn’t laugh right at your face, but you never know). There’s also a city park with a white sand beach for sunbathing and water activities, though when we were there, although it was Sunny with temps in the 80’s, the lake water was still freezing. No swimming for us but a few brave souls waded in up to their ankles. My soul and ankles are not that brave.

Next stop was the river walk, where the river and lake meet. There are some nice houses, a few shops, and restaurants to explore here. We ate at a barbecue restaurant called Parker John’s, which I misread as “Porker John’s” due to the cute little pig in the logo, and which is a way better name. This was a pretty standard place with lots of wood and tin décor, lots of signs and crazy crap on the walls, and a staff wearing T-shirts that read “We have the best smelling butts in Sheboygan”. BBQ Humor at its…finest? anyway, it was a big, satisfying meal, though honestly, Wisconsin is just a little too far North to get GREAT barbecue, but it was good and we all enjoyed it. Except for Patterson, who ordered Pizza, but he gave that a thumbs up too.

We spent the remainder of our time in Sheboygan exploring 8th street and the area right around it. 8th is one of those main streets you often see in vacation towns with lots of fun shops, cafés, and boutiques all up and down. One of our favorite stops was Freaktoyz, which is one of the coolest toy stores I’ve ever been in. They had lots of retro figures from Star Wars to He-Man, Strawberry Shortcake to the Smurfs, Funko Pops, horror icons, superheroes, and just about anything else you can imagine, both in and out of the box. Freaktoyz also carries video games-also often in the original box, going back as far as the Atari 2600, all the way up to the Nintendo Switch. Definitely a fun time!

While we were on 8th, we also went to a fancy boutique for Tessa, got some candy at an old time candy store, and a T-shirt for me. While walking around, we stopped in to the Kohler Art Center, just to cool down for a bit and use the free bathroom. Valerie and I both wished we could have stayed longer and explored the museum, because their bathrooms were amazing! There was art everywhere on every surface (I kind of felt bad using the facilities, to be honest), and we both took pictures to prove it. Of the art, I mean, not anything else. Don’t make this weird. Anyway, if that much attention was paid just to the bathrooms, how cool must the rest be?

That’s the question we were left with about Sheboygan itself: how cool must the rest be? There are still quite a few things we didn’t see. Obviously more shops and restaurants are waiting to be discovered. There is also a state park we’d like to explore, and a botanical garden with displays based on children’s literature, which for a family of readers sounds like a delight. We didn’t get to see one of the popular boat parades, or hang out for the live music and food trucks in the green space either. Who knew that this town would be so charming and have so much to do? I think a return visit will be happening some time in the future.

Sheboygan feels like it’s on the cusp of becoming well known as a vacation destination-not just to Wisconsinites and Illinoisans, but to everybody else too. We were there on July 3rd, and it wasn’t overcrowded or overly touristy at all. It’s a great little destination to spend a day or two, and I’m glad we discovered it.

Before we left Sheboygan county, we had one more stop to make. Johnsonville. Home of, you guessed it, Johnsonville Brats! It’s actually kind of funny, as you are driving to the factory/store, all you see around you is farmland. Then, suddenly, there’s this giant, gleaming, steel and glass office mecca that is the world headquarters-and it’s HUGE!!! The factory is right next to it, and the factory store right across the street. It was far too late in the day for a tour (if they even give them), but the factory store was open. Apart from being able to buy all sorts of bratwurst-with flavors I have not seen anywhere else- and Summer Sausage, there is just, like, a TON of merch. From useful stuff like coolers and grilling supplies (all branded with the Johnsonville logo of course), to hoodies, jackets, sweatshirts, t shirts, and more, the Johnsonville store is a slightly tacky, though undeniably delicious, sight to behold. I bought some sausage. And a baseball cap.

DAY 3- BAY BEACH

Okay, so now it’s July 4th, and we haven’t been to Green Bay yet. We were hoping to get into the downtown area, but first stop was to be Bay Beach Amusement Park. This is the only city run amusement park that I know of, and it is a city park. There are plenty of picnic tables and pavilions, a playground, lots of green space, and an amusement park that sits right on the bay. The park consists of carnival rides that were purchased by the city, rebuilt and refurbished on the park grounds. A lot of the classics are there, from the Tilt-A-Whirl to The Scrambler, a giant Ferris Wheel, a giant pirate ship ride, kiddie rides, and more. It is also the proud home of the Zippin’ Pippin’ rollercoaster, which according to lore, was Elvis Presley’s favorite ride. We rode it twice, and the air time you get in that thing is unreal! A classic wooden coaster to be sure.

Here’s the other cool part. Since it’s a city park, parking at Bay Beach is free and so is admission. You do have to pay for the rides individually by buying tickets, in true carnival fashion. The tickets are only .25 per! The most any ride takes per rider is six tickets, so do the math, and find me a better deal out there for families who want to spend a day at an amusement park. We spent $40.00 on tickets and rode everything we wanted to. We also had hot food in the cafeteria, which was also reasonable and tasted a bit better than you’d expect. So we got out of the whole day with food and rides for under $75.00, which is about what we’d pay for one ticket anywhere else. Sure, it’s all carnival rides like you’d see pull up in your neighborhood shopping mall-no state of the art stuff here-but they are a lot of fun. These rides are classics and make the rounds every year for a reason! For a family day out, you really can’t beat it. It was a really cool way to spend the 4th of July for us.

Remember that rain we had on Day 1? Well, it came back late afternoon. This prevented us from going to the Bay Beach Wildlife Sanctuary, and kind of put me off trying to find my way around an unfamiliar downtown. So back to the house we go, with smiles on our faces, and yes, another t-shirt for Dad.

The rain did clear up in the evening, but we heard very few fireworks, outside of the faint noise of an official display somewhere in the distance. This is a far cry from where we live-every neighborhood sounds like a war zone on the 4th. I’m not against people having their fun, but it goes on and on into the wee hours of the night every year, to the point where the dogs are frightened and anyone who has to work the next day is going in with bags under their eyes for sure. This was a nice change.

A few more observations:

Wisconsin is super into roundabouts. I mean, we have them here too, but there were A LOT of them in WI. It’s almost as if the entire state decided that traffic lights were pure witchcraft and put in roundabouts instead. They mostly go smoothly, but some people are a little more bold than others in the roundabouts-so you have to keep your guard up.
In St. Louis we have, and love, our Quik Trip convenience store/filling stations. In Wisconsin, they have and love Kwik Trip. they are largely the same, only misspelled with a K, and still missing the “c”. Turns out it’s the same company owns both, so whoever named these things must think we all learned our “A, B, D’s.”
Anyway, the differences are notable. Better selection of fountain drinks? QT. Better donut selection? KT. More variety of premade food? KT. Food made to order? QT. Quality of hot food? Kind of a tie. So it all evens out, but, not gonna lie, it did kind of feel like Bizarro World in there.

In the end, we had a good vacation. It started off pretty rocky, but we made some nice memories and had a good time. Since we wound up having to “wing it” a little due to missing the first day, there were quite a few things we didn’t get to do or see, but sometimes that happens. Besides, this is a trip that can be driven in a day (providing your car doesn’t freak the heck out in Milwaukee) and we could easily do it all again. Only next time we stay in Sheboygan!

Thanks for reading, Mon-Davers. If you’re doing any traveling of your own this Summer, I hope you stay safe, keep yourself open to finding a new, unplanned adventure, and make some great memories along the way.

See you next time.