My Brought From Home Lunch Can Wait

Mid-morning Hubby Tony and I decided to go walk in downtown Kirkwood and see what was new. We planned on being gone for a couple of hours, and I figured I would get hungry before we got home, so before we left I threw together a lunch that could be eaten on the go and threw it in my string backpack.

Tony drove, and five minutes after we left the garage we were parked in a Two Hour parking space. We started walking east, then turned north when we got to Kirkwood Road. It was too early for many of the stores to be open, but two blocks later we stopped at an international grocery store and browsed the aisles of unusual items. The only thing we left with was a bag of navy beans for tonight's dinner of ham, beans, and cornbread. 

We crossed Kirkwood Road at a stop light and headed south. We passed the Pioneer Bakery Cafe, which does a great job training people with intellectual disabilities to work in the baking field, but we didn't stop to see what was in the display cases. The cat cafe wasn't open yet, but we peeked into the window to see the cute felines sauntering around. We poked our head into a new biscuit and gravy restaurant to look at the menu, but decided to try it out some other day. 

Continuing down the street, my eyes automatically swiveled over to the chocolate shop as we passed it by. I thought about stopping in, but decided against it. The popcorn shop a couple of storefronts down was closed. At the next street we turned left and saw a doughnut shop. According to the posted hours it should have been open, but the interior looked dark. We passed on going into the feed store and the gift shop.

At the end of that block I saw an interesting-looking yellow sign across the street. Neither Tony or I could read what it said, so we crossed the street to get a closer look. The sign was for Mr. J’s BBQ, and an arrow pointed to the right. The area turns residential there, so we guessed it might be pointing to the Farmer's Market catty-corner from where we were standing.

We would have headed to the market anyway, but as soon as I entered the area I could smell the wonderful barbecue smoke and I knew I was in the right place. 

Mr. J's turned out to be a small setup under a pop up canopy. There were two industrial-sized smokers at the back, a preparation station in the middle, and an ordering table placed at the front. Tony and I talked with the owner and learned that he was there every Thursday, he also did catering, and he hoped to eventually open a brick and mortar place.

After our conversation we felt like we should order something. Since I had lunch food with me I wasn't looking for a huge meal, and we told Mr. J we would split a hot link sausage combo, which came with a bag of chips and a drink.

Mr. J turned our order fulfillment over to his assistant and took care of the payment part. He offered us each a bottle of water, and a couple of minutes later a Styrofoam tray. When I opened it up I was amazed to see he had set us up with two sandwiches instead of the one we ordered. Each perfectly-toasted roll contained a split sausage with a spoonful of potato salad on top.

Of course I ate the whole thing, and half the bag of chips. After our meal we meandered back to our car and back home. There, I put my lunch food in the freezer to take with me when I run errands tomorrow.

Five years ago today: 25 Signs That You Have Grown Up