We treated ourselves to fried cheesecake  Friday night AND Saturday night at the Blue Heron restaurant in Van Buren, Mo., just to make sure it really,  truly was one of the best desserts ever. Cheesecake center, fried doughy crust, squirts of whipped cream, powdered sugar sprinkled on top of that with chocolate syrup poured on top of THAT, just so the sugar stays put.
That’s from the travel editor’s perspective.  

So I guess it would be good to note that as the new Health & Fitness editor,  we did hike a few miles at Greer Spring. We also did some rock climbing at Elephant Rocks State Park. Yes, sweating did occur.
But in the interest of full disclosure, the left  turn off Route 32 signaling St. Francois winery  was intriguing. It was only  .4 miles off the path, so we sampled the wines, pet their dogs, bought two bottles of Traminette and headed for home.

But let me give you a few more particulars about Van Buren. The Rosecliff Lodge at the Landing puts Current River practically on your front porch. Off-season rates of $70/night make it tough to beat.
Where to eat
To me, the rule of thumb (or fork) is to eat what’s local. That’s why I had catfish for dinner both nights. It was great at the Blue Heron on Friday night - a large serving of catfish fiddlers, lightly breaded, mild taste. Saturday night, we went to Van Buren’s Courthouse square (right around the corner from where we had breakfast at the Float Stream Restaurant) and ate at Michael’s, where the catfish had a stronger, better taste and the breading had more of a kick. The evening’s entertainment  at Michael’s was a young woman named Lacy who sang  Loretta Lynn’s  ”Coal Miner’s Daughter” with as much ease as her version of  The Wreckers “Leave the Pieces.”  It was clear by the applause that the audience - mainly family, friends and weekenders, in that order - helped with the playlist.  
The tip jar received repeat visits from the littlest patrons who seemed to enjoy putting paper money in the trio’s jar as much as  they did putting quarters into the gumball machine.