Pizza anyone?

In our blog we have only mentioned one of the trials that we have faced here in Salem. We wanted the blog to have a positive note. I figured you, the reader, were deserving of a follow up to that first blog about our suffering in the summer heat of Oregon. Thanks to my brilliant husband, we have an air conditioner! After those four days of our house being 95 degrees, Nathan insisted that we call for quotes on installing the unit. Of course, immediately after we signed the contract to have the unit installed, the outdoor temperatures dropped. We were grateful that as the temperatures decreased our indoor comfort level increased. Consequently, I began to question our decision on the air conditioner. It was installed Monday and I have no more doubts. My family in Arizona can mock our wimpiness all they like, our house is now a constant and perfect temperature.

Our other struggle has been to find a good pizza place in town. Before you become too concerned, know that there are national chains in town that are willing to deliver. We just wanted to find a local sit down place. Is that really too much to ask? There are almost 300,000 people in Salem and the surrounding communities, certainly a large enough community to create a demand for a good pie. We started on our quest at the local favorite pizza place. I won't mention names, but it shares its name with that fictional bear with the yellow rain slicker. We had asked several people for suggestions and unanimously they mentioned this restaurant. How could it not be good? Lousy crust and hard to locate sauce, that is how. What hold does this restaurant have on the people of Salem? Did they once upon a time know that it doesn't taste good, but get caught up in the Old West motif? The place does have character and root beer on tap...aahh see what I mean?

Unwilling to let this experience discourage us, we persevered. On one of the evenings that our house felt like a dry sauna, we ventured out once again. There is a chain restaurant down the street, we had never been there, but the word pizza appeared on the sign, so in we went. What we failed to notice is that the sign said "Pizza and Salad Bar". The pizza was actually better than the previously mentioned restaurant and the salad bar was refreshing on a hot summer day. Having said that, honestly, it was over priced and we don't plan on going back.

Nathan received a suggestion for another pizza place in town from someone at work. We decided to give it try. I will admit that on the way there I did suggest we just go to the Pizza Hut. I didn't think I could suffer another disappointment. Nathan insisted that we needed to give it a chance. You will be delighted to know that it was good pizza. Thanks to Nathan, another problem solved.

From our struggle to find a descent pizza joint, our readers may deduce that Salem is not known for its haute cuisine. This is correct, but Salem is home to the best breakfast place in the world. No, I haven't been to every restaurant in the world, but I will put that statement out there anyway. It was even featured on the Food Network show, $40 a day. In case you haven't seen the show, the perky host goes to various cities and shows the viewers where they can eat for a total of $40 in one day. The show was delighted with the restaurant, but I can't find where they went for lunch and dinner. I think they just left town. Actually, we have found some local restaurants that we really enjoy.

I hope this entry won't discourage anyone from visiting us here in the great city of Salem. I promise to take you to the fabulous breakfast restaurant and I will make Nathan cook. Speaking of haute cuisine, I had better check on that jar of spaghetti sauce I plan to warm up for dinner.