Italian food, the hard way

It was 4 o’clock on a Sunday afternoon and we were all bored out of our minds.

None of us had any good dinner ideas and we’re pretty much sick of the restaurant choices in Jonesboro and Paragould.

What to do?

Road trip!

In this case, we had a taste for Italian food that couldn’t be satisfied in northeast Arkansas, so we headed for Bartlett on the northeastside of Memphis and the Olive Garden.

(There is an Olive Garden planned for Jonesboro sometime late this year or early next year, but we couldn’t wait'.)

There was a hideous traffic snarl on I-40 and I-55 stretching two or three miles west of where the two interstates split. As we approached the split, we could see that the I-55 ramp was blocked by two police cars and we could see signs of a major semitrailer truck crash about a mile down the road.

The traffic cost us about 25 minutes and we spent another 20 minutes or so waiting for a table, but it was all worth the hassle.

The bread sticks and salad were splendid. Austin had a variety plate, Maria had ravioli and I had grilled salmon.

It’s a helluva thing when you have to drive 180 (round trip) miles for a decent Italian dinner, but we needed the break.