Day 9: Valentine, Nebraska to Sioux City, Iowa

From this point on, it looks like the traveling will get a little less demanding every day. There are fewer and fewer miles to cover because I had more towns with lodging to choose from. Aaron and I slept in a bit and made ourselves waffles at the Dunes’ continental breakfast in the lobby. We went back and did the routine morning pack up and got back on the road.
As we headed eastward, the cattle pastures and hayfields gradually disappeared and fields ribbed with lines of corn and other crops rose in their place. The fields lay like embroidered quilts of golden yellow and kelly green over rolling landscape.
Some of our best impressions of the areas we travel through come from the art and the signs we find along the side of the road. People love to decorate their property to show who they are and what they believe. One person painted their utility sheds with silhouettes of children running and large, bushy trees against a sunset background of purples and blues. Another person made a small memorial bearing the names of the Nebraskans lost in the war in Iraq. A few of the ethnically Irish communities have adopted the shamrock as their symbol. O’Neill, Nebraska, painted a giant green shamrock in the middle of their main intersection. American flags and supporting our troops are dominant motifs. In Atkinson, plastic yellow ribbons are tied along white posts and every sign and telephone pole in the city. A home outside of Johnson, had “Support our Troops” written in Christmas lights. A sign near Belden read “One Nation Under GOD. Thank you to all veterans for the freedoms we enjoy. There were also a substantial number of pro-choice themed signs along the side of the road, about the same size as the signs for the town itself and probably erected by churches. Outside of Randolph, one had a single rose and read “Choose Life. Your Mother Did.” A more dramatic display was two trailers in a field, one plastered with graphic pro-life slogans and the other with slogans against homosexual marriage.
Outside Inman, Nebraska, Route 20 splits from the Route 275. For those of you following along on the map, this does not look like a particularly abrupt split. I had been watching the map, and knew it was coming, but couldn’t quite figure out when, so we talked and snacked and kept our eyes open. Suddenly, a small sign on the side of the road dictated “20 =>”, Aaron and I saw it at the same time and he had to turn hard to make the turn. We made it onto Route 20, but not without some reshuffling of the interior of the. Aaron mumbled “Mrph.” I answered “What’s that?” “Ah ohmo dwapf muh twisgif.” “What? You almost dropped your Triscuits?” “Mu-huh.” “But you were able to hang on to them?” “Mu-huh.” “Well, that’s good.” The road is full of traps for the unwary.
We got into South Sioux City, Nebraska, at about 3:30, and checked into the Marina Inn and Conference Center. We immediately noticed the tell-tale signs of a wedding: a small girl in a poofy white dress, and a trail of women in sparkly dresses chasing in her wake, and crowd of bored and uncomfortable men lagging behind. Although the drive to hotel would not suggest it, it’s really quite luxurious. The lobby was large and immaculate, and the room was beautiful. It had a massive flat screen television, a high-speed internet hook-up, a large, comfortable bed, and a massive bathroom with a granite countertop and a large walk-in shower. Perhaps best of all, there was a sliding glass door that led to a small patio that overlooked the Missouri River and Sioux City proper.
After a quick rest to watch the Women’s Volleyball final between Brazil and the USA (it’s amazing how the Olympics can get you to watch sports you wouldn’t dream of watching more than once every four years), we set out in search of dinner. Once again, I consulted the anonymous internet restaurant critics who suggested Sneaky’s Chicken in Sioux City. I looked up the GoogleMap directions, which said that the restaurant was on Route 20 itself, and we headed off. We backtracked to get back on to Route 20, but it looked like an interstate. We were sure it would begin looking like a normal street at any moment. Any time now. After a few minutes, I figured out that Sneaky’s Chicken was on Route 20 Business, not Route 20. Fortunately, I learned this before Route 20 Business and Route 20 intersected, so we were able to get on to Route 20 business and go west through town to get to Sneaky’s Chicken. It was absolutely the long way around. “But,” I reminded Aaron “now we’re on the right side of the street, so you wouldn’t have to make that U-turn.” It all works out.
Sneaky’s Chicken is easy to miss. The sign is small, but visible from the road and has a raccoon as its logo. When we arrived, we only saw the carry-out window at first, and wondered if it only did carry-out business. We almost lost faith when we found the entrance to the lounge, which was the main eat-in dining room. The interior looks like a neighborhood dive, decorated in bright yellow walls with maroon booths on one side and a bar. However, unlike most neighborhood dive bars, the yellow walls are covered in cheery, upbeat quotes and sayings. Near our booth, the entire “I’d like to buy the world a Coke” song was written out. Over the bar, it read “In the beginning there was nothing, and God said “let there be light” and there was and it was good. There was still nothing, but you could see it a lot better.” In the women’s bathroom, next to the mirror, it said “No need for a double take. You are B-E-A-Utiful.” And over the exit, a tribute to another classic Vacation “Wally World, Next 3 Exits.” Sneaky’s specialty was Broasted Chicken. Aaron had asked what exactly broasted chicken was, and I admitted that I didn’t know, but it’s a lot like fried chicken. Actually, after a little research, I learned that the Broaster is a pressure-cooking deep-fat fryer manufactured since 1954 by the Broaster Company in Beloit, Wisconsin. Broaster sells its machines to restaurants along with a special marinade and breading and requires the purchasers of the product to agree to use the Broaster method with their machine.
So for all practical purposes, broasted chicken is basically Midwestern fried chicken. Aaron and I both ordered the broasted chicken meal which came with cole slaw, seasoned potato wedges, and a dinner roll. The chicken was wonderful. Crisp and flavorful on the outside, plump and juicy on the inside, pretty greasy but not offensively so. All the side dishes were good, but the chicken was clearly the spotlight. The service was friendly and the rest of the booths were filled with locals. In short, Sneaky’s is a gem.
After dinner, we went to Lewis and Clark Field to watch the last regular season game of the Sioux City Explorers, Sioux City’s Minor League baseball team, against the Saint Paul Saints. Because they had clinched a spot in the post season the night before, it was a busy night. All the box and reserved seats were sold out, so we had to settle for $6 general admission bleacher seats, which still gave a pretty good view of the game even though we were stuck behind a light that buzzed aggressively after the sun went down. Most of the people around us were families with young children, some still in arms, but there were a handful of young single people mingling in groups. As a young, childless couple, we were odd birds. The weather was perfect for a baseball game, clear, pleasant, with just a bite of chill in the air. The score stayed at zero all for the first four innings, and then in the fifth, the Explorers ran up at 4 run lead. Over the course of the evening, the lead widened to 9-0. Afterward, to celebrate the end of their regular season, the park shot off a number of fireworks choreographed to patriotic music. Minor league baseball is one of the great underappreciated joys of summer. It’s cheap. It’s fun. It’s outside during the season of the year designed for the outdoors. Content, we went back to the hotel and called it a night.




For more on broasted chicken, particularly in the D.C. area, see “This chicken’s not roasted, broiled, or fried. It’s BROASTED. Good Luck finding it, though.” http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn?pagename=article&contentId=A26913-2004Apr20