It was that quiet time between storms, that magical couple of hours between lunch and supper when most restaurant workers can catch their breath and people like me can eat without braving a crowd. Speck Pizza + Street Food at 430 Broadway in Cape Girardeau, having just opened for business on Sept. 1, still had a decent crowd but it was by no means full. Perfect...

Coming off of a spectacularly hectic weekend that saw me taking three trips to St. Louis in four days, I found myself on a Monday staring at a Tuesday deadline for this article. Honestly, this is nothing new. Procrastination is life for me. It's when I'm most productive, precisely because I have to be. ...