Since the "prior" posts links were getting a bit long, there is now a page with links to all of the posts: My Transgender Experiences.
Restaurants:
- Village Cafe (Lake Saint Louis, Missouri) - The Village Cafe is located in the "Shoppes At Hawk Ridge" in the location that used to be the Dragon Buffet. M, M2, and P have been there a few times, and a couple of weeks ago they brought me breakfast home. That breakfast happened to be a buffalo chicken sandwich and hash browns. The chicken sandwich was huge and had a generous amount of blue cheese crumbles on it, and was excellent. The hash browns were plentiful and M had ordered them with cheese. They were not as well done as I would normally like, I suspect that M simply didn't ask for them well done. Despite that they were very good as well. This past Saturday, M/M2/P invited J and I to meet them there for breakfast and the food was even better there and the service was excellent. I was treated wonderfully which was nice since it was a last minute thing so I was NOT "done up" like I would normally be. I wish nothing but the best for the Village Cafe and we WILL be back.
- Texas Roadhouse (O'Fallon, Missouri) - The last time I had been here was before my transition, so it had been a while. No particular reason as the food/service had always been good, it just hadn't happened. J and I hit there for an early dinner recently and the food/service was just how I remembered it and as with Longhorn, I could not have been treated better.
- Denny's (Lake Saint Louis, Missouri) - This location re-opened a few months ago after being closed for approximately 2 years for a "remodel". Actually, we were a bit surprised as we had long since assumed it was simply closed for good. J and I were actually heading elsewhere to get a late dinner, but at the last minute when we realized that they had reopened we elected to stop here. Let me say that prior to the location closing, our last two visits there had been very poor. In fact poor enough that the last time we actually complained to their corporate office. However, after two years we had high hopes. Suffice it to say, they may have given the location a nice new look and feel; but the experience hasn't seem to have changed; and based upon our visit seems to have gotten worse. Let me preface this by saying it was later in the evening, about 10:30pm when we arrived as it was a late work night for J. Since we had not planned on going out, I wasn't "fully done up"; so no wig and only some light makeup - basically how I'd look if I were running a quick errand or something. I mention this because I believe our experience was affected by my appearance; though at the time I didn't give that much thought since I'd never had an issue being dressed as I was. Now the visit wasn't a complete disaster as the food was decent for Denny's, but the service was literally the worst I/we have ever had anywhere. I won't take the time to go into all of the details; but it was bad enough that I finally felt compelled to bring the issue up to the manager who in my mind handled it poorly - mainly because she neglected to remove the server from our table and when he did finally come back after I had said something he was brazen enough to make not one, but two snide comments. I probably should have made an issue with their corporate office, but frankly I've given up with the location and simply will NEVER return. It was a bit of a culture shock to have such poor service, but even more so for it to apparently be because of how I was presenting.
- McDonald's (Kingdom City, Missouri) - I've stopped at this location many times over the last 25+ years when I've been going to/from Columbia. Now over the years more restaurants have opened up here, but the food and service at this McDonald's is usually top notch and I try and support places like that. I've been through the drive thru as Madison, but coming back from the Doctor's visit I mention below was the first time I had been inside as Madison. It wasn't my intention to do so, but Green Meadows Clinic (where Dr. Swenson was located) is no more - they've moved into a new building down the street and frankly I wasn't quite sure where the restrooms where there so rather than search I figured I'd stop here and get a late lunch and use their restroom. The restroom was reasonably clean for a McDonald's, the food was pretty good, and the store personnel were incredibly polite despite the fact that I know my voice wasn't up to par. I know McDonald's can be hit or miss, but this location is almost always a "hit" and this visit was no exception.
- O'Charley's (O'Fallon, Missouri) - I was sure I had mentioned this location before; but apparently only in reference to the St. Peters location. We've been here a few times now with me as Madison and the food and service has been great; though I'm not a huge fan of their clam chowder.
- Cracker Barrel (O'Fallon, Missouri) - I've been here with both J and M several times and the service is always exceptional, and while I'm personally not a huge fan of this type of food, M and J love it and despite my feelings it's always been fresh and good. As with some other places I've been here both in full Madison regalia as well as "as-is" and they've never batted an eyelash or been anything other than super polite and courteous. Strongly recommend this location.
Retailers:
- Dollar Tree (Grindstone Parkway, Columbia, Missouri) - It seems like when I choose to leave the house that I invariably forget something. Sometimes it's something small - such as I like to wear an anklet when I wear a skirt, yet I often forget that. Sometimes even when I'm running out "as-is" I forget things such as earrings (even when I'm not "done up", I still like to wear at least a pair of studs in my ears). But it's usually more of a "trauma" for me when I am done up and this particular day I was heading to Columbia for a visit with Dr. Swenson. About 15 minutes after I left the house I realized I had forgotten to put on any perfume and it bothered me the entire rest of the drive. Normally when I'm going out looking nice I'll wear a nicer perfume, but I do keep some cheaper stuff around the house for when I simply want to smell nice or when I'm running out "as-is". Well, I was tight on time and I've picked up some decent knock off perfumes there before, so I stopped here and grabbed one that was a knock off of Chanel No. 5 that I actually liked. While I was in and out pretty quick, the store personnel were all nice and polite and one even held the door for me on my way out. All in all a very nice experience. I've never had a poor experience at any Dollar Tree, but I felt this one was especially good. Speaking of this "trip", here's the outfit for that day so I have a thumbnail. I love the top, the skirt - not as much. I feel I've looked "better", though part of that is probably due to this being a cell phone photo since I managed to misplace my digital camera somehow.
- Dierberg's (Des Peres, Missouri) - This is another location that I thought I'd mentioned before, but apparently haven't. Dierberg's in general has been great for me to shop at, both when fully done up as Madison and when just running out more or less "as-is". However, this location has really been the "best of the best". I only wish it were closer as I'd love to shop there more often.
I realize this entry is heavy on restaurants, but for various reasons I haven't been out doing much other than the last couple of months. I hope to rectify that sooner rather than later, but for now this will have to do. :)
- M
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