Feeding Boy Scouts in Amarillo?

B

Buck Naked

25+ Posts
This summer we're taking a crew of scouts (14-18 year old boys) to Philmont Scout Ranch, and spending the night in Amarillo on the way. Can anyone recommend a good place "with character" for dinner and a place for breakfast? They enjoyed the Texas Roadhouse last time, but I'm looking for something other than the chains.

I've been to the Big Texan, and don't feel like spending $15 for a chicken fried steak.
 
sorry for the threadjack, but your username combined with boy scout questions really made me laugh.
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you might get some suggestions here:

The Link

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I understand what you posted, but Boy Scouts should enjoy the Big Texan Steak Ranch.

I've taken my kids there and they still talk about it.

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Lots of ranching memorabilia and mounted hunting trophies, as you know

Tacky souvenier shop to browse

Strolling musicians singing cowboy songs while you eat.

Decent food, everything from 72 oz. sirloins to hamburgers.

You are certainly correct that CFS is 15 bucks. And a hamburger with drink is about ten.

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Don't know why I bothered to post this after you said you didn't want to consider that place, but I've kept checking back to see if anyone had a better suggestion "with character" and, so far, no one has.

However, I'm sure there are some worthy alternatives in Amarillo and I'll be interested to read about them when and if they're posted, so I can try someplace different myself.

Good luck and y'all have a safe trip.

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The Link

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Thanks Fast Fred,

I agree that they'd like the Big Texan, and I've taken a youth group there before, but I'm trying to keep the costs down. They've already voted to have their "victory dinner" on our return trip at Joe's Crab Shack, and I'm afraid we can't afford both.

We may go there anyway and restrict them to hamburgers, unless I can come up with something better.
 
there is always kabuki -- reasonably priced japanese place. There is another place whose name escapes me that serves burgers the size of pizzas. That may have your scouts talking.
 
On your way out of Amarillo in the morning make sure you stop by one of The Donut Stops. They have a location at I-40 and Bell St. They have the best donuts in the whole world, the melt in your mouth kind. They sell them hot right off the glazer.
 
I have nothing to add, but I really enjoyed Philmont. I was the minimum age you could be when I went, and it was my first backpacking trip ever, but I did ok. I got fewer blisters than the older guys. We even saw a bear. Sunrise on the Tooth of Time, Mt. Baldy... good memories.

Did you guys do some fundraising for the trip? Could you just do a little more to help fund the dinner?
 
Enjoy your time at Philmont. I went several times and thoroughly enjoyed it. I was pretty young the first time though, and wasn't physically prepared for the exertion.

Do you have an idea what your trek will be like? Are you going north or south?
 
Thanks everyone for the suggestions and comments.

Fast Fred, I'll see if the Ags have any suggestions.

WillWork4Horns, are those donuts as good as Krispy Kremes?

Miguelito, I'm really lucky - this will be my 6th trip to Philmont; I'm really looking forward to it. We could spring the cash for the Big Texan; I'm just trying to be thrifty, along with brave, fairly clean and mostly reverent.

jbusch, we've sent in our 5 preferences for our trek (as voted by the boys), and should get an answer back any day. The one thing they all have in common is that we hike in to base over the Tooth on the last day. One of our choices takes us north to south over Baldy, Philips, Commanche Peak, Big Red, Black Mt., and Shaefer's Peak. That's the one I hope we get. I love to suffer. The other treks stay pretty much in the south and central country.

Finally, Luke Duke, the armadillo would be within our budget. Got any recipes? I'm thinking simmered in a dutch oven with a nice mango salsa.
 
Hey Buck,

The last time I went through Amarillo I drove past the empty boarded up Krispy Cream store that tried to go in up there. I would grad a big box for the road, wire the fellas out for the drive!
 
My last trip, we came in over the Tooth, however, we did it with a twist. The day before, we bsuted *** to get to our last campsite, go there around 11 am. Slept all afternoon, then around 10 pm, hiked out. We hiked all night, and got to the base of the Tooth around an hour before sunrise, then climbed up to watch the sunrise.

The sunrise itself was cool, but somewhat anti-climatic. The night hike was AWESOME though. All sorts of cool wildlife out. We stopped at the camp that is in the pass just before the Tooth, and their were probably 50 or 60 deer just chilling. They even wandered up within a few feet of us!

I am very jealous, buck. Have fun!
 
WillWork, I'll definitely pick up some donuts, and fill up on them so I can drive the kids crazy.

Hellraiser97, do you remember where your last camp was? We always do something similar. If we're at Clark's Fork or Shaefer's Pass, we'll break camp around 3:00 or 3:30 and catch sunrise on Shaefer's Pass. If we're at Tooth Ridge, we'll get up around 4:30 and get sunrise on top of the Tooth. I really like those alpine starts, especially if you've got moonlight to guide you. If not, then the stars are incredible.

In the old days, you could sneak up to Shaefer's Peak the night before and sleep out under a fly or tarp on the summit for the last night. They frown on that now.
 
The pass we stopped at with all the deer was Shafer's pass, I believe, so I think the last camp was Clarke's Fork. At least that sounds familair. It's been 14 years! The camp as one where we did branding and cattle ropping if that helps.
 
You have a pretty good memory. I've seen deer in the meadow at Shaefer's Pass every time I've been there. Clark's Fork is on the north side of Tooth Ridge, and as you said, is a western lore camp. It's one of my favorites; very low key and not as crowded as Beaubien. The only problem is that the last day's hike turns out to be about 12 miles, with lots of climbing.
 
Another vote for Kabuki. My wife and I have made it a tradition to stop at Kabuki when we're on the road to New Mexico. Actually very good Japanese grill.
 
I've hiked in over the Tooth twice, and was picked up by a bus at the Ponil turnaround once. I prefer the Tooth. One time on Tooth Ridge, we caught a mid-afternoon lightning storm that was going on UNDER us. We were completely exposed in the middle of the ridge with no shelter, so we just raced to get to a covered area ...

The North-to-South trek sounds crazy fun. You actually pack over Baldy, right? I've day-hiked Baldy and packed over Philips, and both were chores. I hope your crew makes a point to get into camp early for the program, especially after long hikes.

I have some great memories of that place. I'm super jealous.
 
Luckily for me, I've always hiked in to base camp over the Tooth. It just seems pretty anticlimatic to end a trek sitting next to the road for an hour or two waiting on a bus.

Tooth Ridge can be a dangerous place during a storm. I believe that a hiker or two has been killed up there due to lightening strikes. Two years ago we were hiking from Cimmaroncito to Tooth Ridge camp on our next-to-last day. It's a challenging hike. We went through Hidden Valley and down Window Rock past the reservoir, and stopped at Clark's Fork for lunch. After the boys branded their boots and belts and played a liitle horseshoes, we left for our final camp.

Around three or so that afternoon a storm started blowing up. We were really hustling to get to camp, and as you know, that trail is very rocky and a little difficult to manuever. When we arrived, we were pretty tired.

This year we have a layover day at Ewell Park, a trail camp near Baldy, and will climb the mountain as a day hike. Baldy is generally done without full packs. We'll be camping on Philips, so we'll have full packs with extra water when we do that one. If the crew is up to it, we'll do a variation of "Black Death", which means hiking with packs over Philips, Comanche, Big Red, Black Mountain, Shaefer's, the Tooth, and in to base camp. We won't be doing it in one day, however; we'll be spending one night at Beaubien, and one at Shaefer's Pass. If there's time, maybe we'll try to get Trail Peak worked in there somewhere so the kids can see the bomber wreckage.

Philmont is addicting. Pardon the analogy, but it's the crack cocaine of scout camps.
 
Buck, how long is the waiting list to get into Philmont? I've heard it's getting pretty crazy.

My old scout leader Scott was hit by lightning when he was there as a kid. His troop was walking up a ridge, and I guess the storm was a ways off. Even so, a bolt came down and hit a tree next to a few guys. They were knocked unconscious for a while, but they all lived. Years later, Scott would still blink funny. About every 3rd or 4th blink was like a spasm, or like someone blasted air into his eyes.
 
I think that if you let Philmont decide when you can go, you are in much better shape than if you tell them when you want to go. For example, our Troop of over 200 kids got zero spots for '07 (not really, but there are politics involved) and our venture crew got 4 treks for '08 because we said we would take anything. We got 4 treks in the second week of August (which conflicts with Football practice and means many scouts won't go).
 
Calico county
Rosas cafe
Mr. Gattis
Blue Sky
Red Robins
furrs cafeteria
Country Barn
Cattle Call
Home plate Diner
All good places to eat in Amarillo that kids like
Speaking of philmont , I worked up there in 77 and 78, tghere was a great little restauraunt in cimmaron called the Idle hour cafe run by two big ol' sisters who got around to cooking your order wheever they liked. The St. James is still there!
 
Around 19,000 campers will hike Philmont each summer; a waiting list in excess of 7,000 is not unheard of. Groups are selected by computer lottery, and may not attend in consecutive years. Local councils may reserve space also, and make these available to local troops. Although Philmont has been coed since the late 1970's, the crews are still around 95% male.

The end of the season treks beginning around the second week in August are a little easier to get into. Two reasons: they are typically only 6-9 days long, rather than the traditional 12-day treks; and, as mentioned, the kids have the usual August conflicts with football, band, and the beginning of school.

kbrown, Troop 80 from Amarillo is well known as a great organization. You were fortunate to have a great experience available to you.
 
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