As of January 1, 2019, we have closed our forums. This is a decision we did not come to lightly, but it is necessary. The software our forums run on is just too out-of-date and it poses a significant security risk. The server software itself must be updated, and it cannot be without removing the forums.
So it is with a heavy heart that we say goodbye to our long-running forums. They came online in 2000 and brought together so many wonderful Disney fans. We had friendships form, careers launch, couples marry, children born ... all because of this amazing community.
Thank you to each of you who were a part of this community. You made it possible.
And a very special thank you to our Guides (moderators), past and present, who kept our forums a happy place to be. You are the glue that held everything together, and we are forever grateful to you. Thank you aliceinwdw, Caldercup, MrsM, WillCAD, Fortissimo, GingerJ, HiddenMickey, CRCrazy, Eeyoresmom, disneyknut, disneydani, Cam22, chezp, WDWfan, Luvsun, KMB733, rescuesk, OhToodles!, Colexis Mom, lfredsbo, HiddenMickey, DrDolphin, DopeyGirl, duck addict, Disneybine, PixieMichele, Sandra Bostwick, Eeyore Tattoo, DyanKJ130, Suzy Q'Disney, LilMarcieMouse, AllisonG, Belle*, Chrissi, Brant, DawnDenise, Crystalloubear, Disneymom9092, FanOfMickey, Goofy4Goofy, GoofyMom, Home4us123, iamgrumpy, ilovedisney247, Jennifer2003, Jenny Pooh, KrisLuvsDisney, Ladyt, Laughaholic88, LauraBelle Hime, Lilianna, LizardCop, Loobyoxlip, lukeandbrooksmom, marisag, michnash, MickeyMAC, OffKilter_Lynn, PamelaK, Poor_Eeyore, ripkensnana, RobDVC, SHEANA1226, Shell of the South, snoozin, Statelady01, Tara O'Hara, tigger22, Tink and Co., Tinkerbelz, WDWJAMBA, wdwlovers, Wendyismyname, whoSEZ, WildforWD, and WvuGrrrl. You made the magic.
We want to personally thank Sara Varney, who coordinated our community for many years (among so many other things she did for us), and Cheryl Pendry, our Message Board Manager who helped train our Guides, and Ginger Jabour, who helped us with the PassPorter-specific forums and Live! Guides. Thank you for your time, energy, and enthusiasm. You made it all happen.
There are other changes as well.
Why? Well, the world has changed. And change with it, we must. The lyrics to "We Go On" for IllumiNations say it best:
We go on to the joy and through the tears
We go on to discover new frontiers
Moving on with the current of the years.
We go on
Moving forward now as one
Moving on with a spirit born to run
Ever on with each rising sun.
To a new day, we go on.
It's time to move on and move forward.
PassPorter is a small business, and for many years it supported our family. But the world changed, print books took a backseat to the Internet, and for a long time now it has been unable to make ends meet. We've had to find new ways to support our family, which means new careers and less and less time available to devote to our first baby, PassPorter.
But eventually, we must move on and move forward. It is the right thing to do.
So we are retiring this newsletter, as we simply cannot keep up with it. Many thanks to Mouse Fan Travel who supported it all these years, to All Ears and MousePlanet who helped us with news, to our many article contributors, and -- most importantly -- to Sara Varney who edited our newsletter so wonderfully for years and years.
And we are no longer charging for the Live Guides. If you have a subscription, it's yours to keep for the lifetime of the Live Guides at no additional cost. The Live Guides will stay online, barring server issues and technical problems, for all of 2019.
That said, PassPorter is not going away. Most of the resources will remain online for as long as we can support them, and after that we will find ways to make whatever we can available. PassPorter means a great deal to us, and to many of you, and we will do our best to keep it alive in whatever way we can. Our server costs are high, and they'll need to come out of our pockets, so in the future you can expect some changes so we can bring those costs down.
Thank you, thank you, thank you for your amazing support over the years. Without you, there's no way us little guys could have made something like this happen and given the "big guys" a run for their money. PassPorter was consistently the #3 guidebook after the Unofficial and Official guides, which was really unheard of for such a small company to do. We ROCKED it thanks to you and your support and love!
If you miss us, you can still find some of us online. Sara started a new blog at DisneyParkPrincess.com -- I strongly urge you to visit and get on her mailing list. She IS the Disney park princess and knows Disney backward and forward. And I am blogging as well at JenniferMaker.com, which is a little craft blog I started a couple of years ago to make ends meet. You can see and hear me in my craft show at https://www.youtube.com/c/jennifermaker . Many PassPorter readers and fans are on Facebook, in groups they formed like the PassPorter Trip Reports and PassPorter Crafting Challenge (if you join, just let them know you read about it in the newsletter). And some of our most devoted community members started a forum of their own at Pixie Dust Lane and all are invited over.
So we encourage you to stay in touch with us and your fellow community members wherever works best for you!
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I tend to only try chain restaraunts we don't have here in Maryland, and we have most of them.
On the other hand, I like to check out the local places, and often watch the Travel Channel and Foodnetwork to see different places. That's how I picked places for our last road trip.
So based on my research with both of these channels and their websites, here is what they recommend. and I have added them to my list of places to try when and if we travel to these places:
South Dakota
Firehouse Brewing Company
610 Main St.
Rapid City, SD 57701
Tel: (605) 348-1915
Website: www.firehousebrewing.com
Joan listed a couple I was going to list. In San Antonio we always go to Mi Tierra's. It is the first place we head when we get in town.
In STL, she listed Charlie Gittos. It is in an area called The Hill. It is full of Italian restaurants!! When you come through just about any sit down place you go here you can get Toasted Ravioli. It is a local favorite. If you want dessert go to Ted Drewes Frozen Custard!! We were just there last night! http://www.teddrewes.com/Drewes.asp
Send me a private message if you need some more specifics on the area. I would be glad to help!!
In Amarillo, if you want a fun touristy place, try the Big Texan Steak Ranch, located right next to the Big Texan Inn. It's been years since I was there, but I recall the food being good and the beer and margaritas being even better. I checked online and it is still open and gets decent reviews for the most part.
Charlie Gitto's is excellent! Also in St. Louis is the St. Louis Bread Company - also known as Panera Bread. I'll cast another vote for them!
I too have a weakness for Sonic -- and I'm about 12 hours from the closest one
N Sioux City SD, really doesn't have any popular chain restaurants, but Beano and Sherry's Casino is pretty good.
S. Sioux City NE has DeAnda's an awesome Mexican restaurant.
Sioux City IA has Chilis, The Outback (I agree about the salt!), Famous Dave's, Applebee's, Panera Bread, Cold Stone Creamery....I've heard that Rebo's is good (soul food), but have never eaten there myself. No Qdoba's here though.
If you are taking I29 to Omaha, stop in Salix (14 miles south of Sioux City) there is a restaurant in the bar called Walker's. Huge burgers and tons of fries...Tell Randy and Rhonda and my auntie Lynn hi if you stop there They have the best broasted chicken too. They aren't open on Mondays though.
Omaha has quite a few as well. Sgt Pfeffer's is awesome!!! We have pharm reps bring that for lunch quite often. PF Chang's and Macaroni Grill are both really good too. Right now I can only think of the more popular answers
My DS really enjoyed the BBQ at Famous Dave's in Kansas City. Another chain restaurant I like to visit is Steak & Shake - you must get a shake there!!! I prefer Longhorn's to Outback's for steak. Chili's is probably my favorite mid priced, sit down restaurant. It's got a good variety on the menu to suit everyone.
OK! Here's my two cents worth. There were so many mentioned I may repeat and not know it but here goes. My son works (corporate) for Texas Roadhouse so we eat there quite often. The ribs, the filet, the loaded sweet potato (sweet), and the baked beans are to die for. But the rolls . . . those you will dream about. And I am not a bread eater as a rule. Also we love TGIFridays. Try anything with the original Jack Daniel's sauce and you will go m - m - m - m - m! My favorite is the Jack Daniels shrimp but you have to ask for this special as it is no longer an entree by itself. But they do it! Also for counter service try an Atlanta Bread Co. They make the best soup and sweetened iced tea ever. Especially since they will always tell me what the soup base is since I am allergic to beef! And then in a desperate moment of starvation Burger King: a junior whopper meal and ask for the Zesty sauce that you normally get with onion rings and try it on your fries. If you like just a little zip, this is great. If you see one along the way, halt the car immediately at any Macaroni Grille. This is Italian food a step above Olive Garden but still affordable and OH ..... SO......GOOD.....! I could go on and on and maybe I will later but gotta run. Hope this helps a bit. Bigred
When we go south or west we always have to hit the following: Steak 'n Shake, Carl's Jr., In-N-Out Burger, Sonic Drive-In, Waffle House, Chick fil-A, Bojangles, Hardees and Quaker Steak and Lube. We don't have any of these in New York State and we just love having something besides McDonalds and Burger King!
Wow, I'll be printing this thread out Sunday night to make sure I don't miss anybody's suggestions. If anybody has any more suggestions, keep 'em coming!
If you want to stick with the chain restaurants, there's a couple of local Italian chains here in StL that are pretty good. The Pasta House Co. or Rich and Charlie's. On Monday nights they have all you can eat pasta! And you can get the Toasted Ravioli's there!
My favorite place on the Hill is Favazza's. or Cunetto's. or Zia's.
And if you're adventurous you can go to Imo's for a St Louis style pizza. It's on a cracker thin crust with provel cheese cut into squares. You either LOVE it or Hate it!