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Tio Wally Eats America: Casey’s General Store

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Williamsburg, Iowa.

Greetings from Williamsburg, Iowa
N 41° 41.433’ W 092° 00.707’ Elev. 815 ft.

Here was an wholly unexpected score. I was driving on Interstate 80 through Iowa one night looking for a place to park for the night and, hopefully, get a decent cup of coffee in the morning. I ended up stopping at a Casey’s General Store in Williamsburg (130 W. Evans St., Hwy. 149 and I-80, Exit 220).

Casey’s General Stores are mainly little convenience stores/gas stations of various sizes, with various amenities. A few of them have diesel and a bit of parking. This particular one had a restaurant attached to it, which is unusual for a Casey’s.

Unbeknownst to me, some Casey’s also have little deli’s inside that feature pizzas as well as sandwiches; $5 for their “Classic” foot-long subs.

I’ve made no secret of my fondness for Tuna Salad. Most places charge extra for tuna, if they even have it. But lo and behold, not only does Casey’s have it, it’s considered part of its “Classic” menu.

I ordered one because it looked so good and was not disappointed. It was great. Moreover, the lady that made the sandwich put five giant scoops of it on the sandwich. I have no idea how many ounces of meat was there, but I’m thinking it was well over a pound; it was definitely more than one of those containers from Braum’s contains. It was huge! Enough for four meals for me.

There was also another special of sorts going on in the parking lot that morning that was strictly for the birds. A truck had spilled some feed corn and the local avian community was going crazy. At times the pile was nearly covered with three or four different species. Unfortunately, I was never able get a shot of the “big gang.” They were very skittish and, much like the Amish, refused to pose.

I also made another major score on that cruise. I was in Norfolk, Nebraska and hit the Hy-Vee for dinner. One of the specials that day was a monster stuffed pork chop with two sides and a roll for $5. For the sides I got scalloped potatoes and baked beans. Needless to say, it was great and made for multiple meals.

And so we roll.

Casey’s General Store, throughout the Midwest, primarily in Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Missouri, South Dakota, Minnesota, Kansas and Nebraska.
Hy-Vee, throughout the Midwest

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.

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tio wally travel

Tio Wally Eats America: Hy-Vee in Cherokee, Iowa

I’m happy to have Tio Wally (long-time Me So Hungry reader) aboard to send in his eating adventures from across America. Here he is in Los Cherokee, Iowa.

Greetings from Cherokee, Iowa!
N 42° 45.903  W 095° 33.090’  Elev. 1309 ft.

If you’ve never been to Cherokee (and I bet you haven’t), it’s located in the center of north-western Iowa and could be fairly characterized as one of the Great American Geographic Centers of Nowhere. (You know, due north of Holstein, northeast of Correctionville ….)

Although it has some pretty cool parks along the Little Sioux River and, keeping with its rural nature, boasts a roping arena in the one nearest to downtown, there really isn’t a lot here. And this is the “big town” hereabouts!

At this time of year, it’s all brown, rolling hills of fallow cornfields and bare trees, if there are any. But the folks are nice and warm, unlike the wind that’s colder than a witch’s … well, you know.

I’m here picking up at the evil corporate chicken plucker/packer. I was hoping to finally hit Tammy’s today, a little hole-in-the-wall (literally) lunch place located inside the Shell station at the south end of town. Unfortunately, I was too late (again) and so didn’t get to try the day’s special, Beef Stew on Mashed Potatoes. Sounded good on a cold day.

Thankfully, the last time I was here the security guard lady had tipped me off to the local Hy-Vee, a supermarket chain throughout the Midwest. I don’t know if they all have them, but this one has a service deli inside, featuring hot food you can eat in or take out.

Today’s special was Meat Loaf with two sides, a roll and a 10 oz. drink for $5 tax included; it’s regularly $5.99. The last time I was here I got it with baked beans and German potato salad and it was really great. They didn’t have the baked beans or German potato salad today, so I got Calico beans (red, pinto, white and garbanzo — those are chickpeas, fella! — beans), with onion and big chunks of ground beef) and stuffing/dressing with turkey gravy.

They don’t mess around portion-wise here. The slab of meat loaf must’ve weighed at least a half-pound, and the stuffing was piled up so high it barely fit under the cover of the container. Like last time, it was easily enough for a couple of meals.

And once again, the meat loaf was really good. It wasn’t too dry and, with the addition of just a half-dash of salt, easily hit the mark. The beans were really, really good, and sort of sweet. They were so outstanding, in fact, that I was tempted to go back and get a quart! The dressing was actually kind of bland. But it was very moist, with the texture of wet bread pudding, with big pieces of celery. Better yet, it wasn’t sage-y; a lot of places go overboard with sage, which is one of my least favorite herbs. (Actually, I don’t consider sage a legitimate herb. I think of it only as “that semi-noxious smell you get all over your clothes when you ride your Sting Ray bicycle off the trail through the canyons of Southern California.”) The turkey gravy, however, really put the dressing over the top. Heck, had I known the gravy was going to be so good I would’ve had her put it on the meat loaf, too.

This place was a hell of deal and made for a great, satisfying grab-and-dash meal, especially considering the only quick alternatives were the usual fast-food suspects.

While I was wandering in the store I ran across these bizarre little things in the Deli case, but I can’t remember what they were calling them locally. I was so fascinated by these weird looking things that I sought out a local to explain to me what they hell they were. It turned out they were dried beef that had been spread with cream cheese and then wrapped around a dill pickle, which was then cut into bite-sized *medallions. The lady I talked to said they were actually pretty good, and that she also made them with gherkins, sometimes using pastrami as the meat-wrap. I didn’t try them as I thought they were a little overpriced. They sure looked interesting though. (I have got to remember to carry the camera in with me!)

*Turns out there are a zillion recipes for these things on the InterTubes.

And so we roll.

Hy-Vee, 1300 North 2nd St., Cherokee, Iowa

Tio Wally pilots the 75-foot, 40-ton(max) land yacht SS Me So Hungry. He reports on road food from around the country whenever parking and InterTube connections permit.