fandomhigh | Food Field Trips, Friday 9/27 2nd Period

Food Field Trips, Friday 9/27 2nd Period

“Today,” Stark said once everyone was assembled at the customary meeting spot at Portalocity, “we’re going to Idaho to visit the Idaho Potato Museum.”

Because potatoes were wonderful, okay?

“Where they ‘ strive to educate people about the Idaho Potato and the Potato Industry.’ I’m not sure why Idaho potatoes are different than any others but perhaps the museum will tell us. The claim is that Idaho is the ‘potato capital of the world’ so that must mean something? I’m not entirely certain where Idaho is, either, but the portal will take us there so I don’t need to.”

Putting a lot of trust in those gnomes, Stark.

“So, let’s go to Idaho. And learn about why their potatoes are so wonderful and about potatoes in general, I suppose. And we’ll eat some potatoes. Of course.”

What kind of a monster would take people to a museum about potatoes that didn’t serve potatoes?

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Like a couch potato?

Sir Graham of Daventry

Steven Grant

Summer Smith

Charlie Gale

Raiden

Llewellyn Watts

Enjoy the museum and various exhibits which is located inside an old railroad depot that was completed in 1913 and turned into the Idaho Potato Expo in 1988.

Learn about the history of the potato and how it made its way to Idaho (and around the rest of the world).

Watch informational videos!
Visit the outdoor potato farm equipment displays!

Enjoy the Mr. Potato Head toys

Check out some potato experiments in the Potato Lab.

Maybe you want to see the world’s largest collection of potato mashers or the world’s largest potato crisp ever made?

Of course there’s a gift shop to pick up potato paraphernalia.

And, as promised, no trip to a potato museum would be complete without the opportunity to eat potatoes. According to the museum’s website, “the Potato Station Café serves them baked, fried, in salads, cupcakes, dipped in chocolate or as bread!” There’s potato ice cream, potato salads, fries, tater dollars, and baked potatoes with a toppings bar.

Was there anyone more excited to visit a potato museum as Sir Graham of Daventry was? Probably not! But if there was, Graham would love to meet that person, shake their hand, and share some potatoes with them.

As it was, though, he was bouncing around trying to experience as much as he possibly could, oohing and ahhing and zoundsing at everything between bites of fried potato like...well...a Graham in a potato museum, really.

Okay, so, yes, Summer should have figured something like this would happen eventually, but the fact of the matter was that she was in Idaho right now, and she had a right to be a little salty about that.

But, okay, she was sort of enjoying the potato Cafe menu and the potato souivenier kitch of the gift shop.

If you catch him in the Cafe he is likely to be eating a cupcake. Possibly with potato ice cream.

Steven did catch him in the cafe, since that seemed a time when Stark might have a moment to talk.

"Stark, hello!" Steven said.

"Hello, Steven," Stark said, looking up from his cupcake. "Enjoying the potatoes?"

"Yes," Steven said ~~since we'll assume there's vegan options~~. He gestured at Stark's cupcake. "You?"

"Of course." They were in cupcake form. How could Stark not enjoy them?

Wait. Don't answer. He's seen enough cupcake war crimes already in his life.

"Did you like the museum? I didn't realize Idaho potatoes were so special."

Stark just loved all potatoes.

"I did," Steven said. "Enjoy, that is. Didn't know that about Idaho potatoes either. Gift shop was handy."

If the gift shop didn't officially have potato themed cat toys, Steven had absolutely bought something which could count as one.

"Before I forget, wanted to mention that Llewellyn and I won't be here next week," Steven said. "Holidays. Hope that's all right?"

If there weren't potato pet products the museum people were really missing out on a lot of sales.

"Are you going away?" Stark asked. "For your holiday? Of course it's all right to miss things."

"Staying on the island, I think," Steven said. "Llewellyn and I will figure it all out this weekend. But it's a holiday, you see. New Year. For our religion. So we'll be celebrating that."

"So you get to have two new years in your year?" Stark asked. "More celebrations. I like that."

"It is nice," Steven agreed. He grinned. "Hopefully we won't miss anything too good? No visit to a pretzel factory planned for next week or the like?"

"No pretzels planned," Stark said. "That would be very unkind of me."

"Good thing," Steven said with a smile. "So that's next week sorted. How are things now? With you?"

"Things...things are good."

Which still threw Stark a bit, sometimes. And probably meant something terrible was waiting in the wings.

"We've been going away on Thursdays and coming back in time for our classes. I like that. Things are going well with you, too?"

"With me and Llewellyn absolutely," Steven said. "And Marc is getting out more, which is also good. Er - he's not one for the holidays by the way. In case you bump into him. Might not want to talk about those."

Not that Stark could understand someone with trauma issues, of course. Far too far outside of his experience.

"Going away?" Steven asked. "Off island, I take it?"

Trauma? Never heard of it.

Stark nodded. "We've been going different places. It started over the summer just staying wherever we'd gone for Ignis's class and now it's different places. To keep the squirrels from bothering Summer on Fridays but they seem to have settled on Graham for Fridays now anyway."

Since Steven was a fan of Graham on radio he could find no fault with this system.

"Just an overnight then?" Steven asked, curious. "It's not too much for your classes the next day?"

"It's worked so far," Stark said. "No disaster yet. It helps, for me, that we're just going somewhere to look around and eat. Hers have more for her to do, usually, but she's good at this."

And they consumed a lot of caffeine.

"Neither of us has anything left after my class, either. That helps."

"So sort of an elaborate dinner date?" Steven said, to see if he had the right of it. "I'll have to keep that in mind. Could be fun for me and Llewellyn. And it's well then? You two?"

Steven had tried to keep an eye out on things while they were all in this class together, but hearing it directly from Stark was different.

"Something like that," Stark said. "But a good part of the day, and then overnight. It's been very enjoyable. And yes...things are well. With us."

No major disasters. She liked his small attempts at surprises. They went away for little trips.

"I'm happy," he said quietly. Not that it was a secret.

"Happy's good," Steven said. "I approve of that. You deserve happy, you ask me. Any particular trip you liked? Llewellyn and I were making a list of ideas of places and things for us to try, you see."

"Santorini was very nice," Stark said. "Very pretty. I wouldn't mind being there longer. And I liked Tokyo. We went on a boat, there. Sometimes we've just been adding names of places to a hat and picking one to decide where to go."

"Japan was one of the ones on our list," Steven said. "Trying to come up with places we've never gone and things we've not done before. Though - the world. Rather large. Hard not to find places we've not seen I suppose. But that's what we're aiming for."

"There is so much to see here," Stark agreed. "And then...there's other worlds as well. Not just this one. If you ever wanted to try that."

Easier, certainly, when you were a space person and an honorary space person, but still possible for others!

"We tried Amsterdam, as well. That was yesterday."

"We did when we took Lana's class that one time," Steven said. "Saw other words, flew in spaceships, that sort of thing. Don't know that it appeals to me for holidays? But I didn't think to ask Llewellyn, so that's a good idea."

"There are beautiful places out there," Stark said. "All over the universe. Universes. But it's not for everyone. There are some lovely places I've been."

Sure, some of those places had been destroyed but hey, these things happened.

"And Summer's visited any number of worlds. There is a very nice spa she likes to visit..."

"Llewellyn and I have done resorts," Steven said. "Don't know if that's the same as a spa. Earth bound, though."

"It has a hotel," Stark said. "Restaurants. I took her there for her birthday last year. She'd taken me before. I don't think there's anything on this planet quite like it."

"Last - that was the one before Ireland?" Steven checked to be sure he was remembering right.

Stark nodded. "It was. Ireland was this year."

He was really going to have to work to outdo that for next year.

"Did I tell you I found a club to take her to there, called Copper Face Jack's? When I found it looking for things to do I knew we had to at least visit."

"Oh that's fun," Steven said. He gestured at his face. "A mask? Like yours?"

Where Steven was from one could not rule out someone named Jack whose face was made of actual copper.

"Just a nickname. No mask. But I couldn't resist. I wanted to tell her when I found it but I waited until we were there. For a surprise."

"Did she appreciate it?" Steven asked.

He would have. But he liked word play.

"She did." Stark grinned. "She appreciated all of it. The whole trip."

"Wonderful," Steven said. "Glad it all worked out then. If we do a holiday to Ireland perhaps I'll ask if you've any recommendations then."

Been a long week but I bet some potatoes would cure me

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OOC