ARKANSAS!

We are leaving this weekend to take Emiko to meet my family back home. I can't wait. I haven't been to Springdale (the poultry capital of the world!) since last August. That is just too long.

I mostly look forward to the trip for my sister and for the food. I adore my sister and wish I could see her more often. She is the person I miss the most from back home. And I miss the food.

I miss the fried chicken and Pickle-Os (deep fried dill pickles) from AQ Chicken House.

I miss the fried catfish and hush puppies from the Catfish Hole.

I miss cheese dip -- especially the cheese dip from Casa Taco. Jose's has great cheese dip, too, and they have swirl margaritas. I am dying for a swirl margarita. Uncle Julio's here in Chicago has them, but I rarely have a reason for going there. But it works in a pinch.

I miss Sonic Drive-In and Chik-Fil-A. Todd is a believer in Chik-Fil-A, so we'll definitely get to stop there on the way.

I used to miss the barbeque, but now that Honey1 is here, I don't miss that as much. Although I wish Honey1 had fried pies.

We're driving down south, so we're going to break the drive into two parts. We'll drive to St. Louis Friday afternoon and finish the drive Saturday morning. I am looking forward to getting some frozen custard from Ted Drewes while in St. Louis.

So while I look forward to introducing Emiko to the redneck side of the family, I'm also ready to eat! That will totally make up for spending two days in the car with a four month old baby!