Over a year ago a failed attempt to eat my lunch at The WMBD/WYZZ/CI Proud TV studios led to a lunch with Lindsey Mills, Clay Gordon, Lauren Rainson and Taylor Mickelberry, the hosts and the producer of Good Day Central Illinois, Peoria’s best morning news, weather and local talk and personality live TV show. You can see that post here. Well that post led to me becoming a somewhat regular guest on the show and it’s really been fun doing it and getting to know, Lindsey, Clay, Lauren, Taylor and all of the other people at WMBD/WYZZ/CI Proud! I thought since a year has gone by it would be fun to have another lunch and then spotlight some of my appearances on Good Day Central Illinois from last year and so here we go!
Khaki Jack’s
The first stop on this luncheon post is over to one of my favorite restaurants/pubs in Peoria, Khaki Jack’s! I go here a lot when I’m picking up a lunch to take somewhere, in fact this was the spot that I got last year’s TV Dinner lunch. The food was spectacular, as always...but...well, there was just a little problem with the pizza, but I’m not going to get into that again (you can scroll down last year’s post to see what I’m talking about.) Anyway, there’s Chuck with this year’s pizza, he told me that Tony, the owner of Khaki Jack’s has personally prepared and packaged this one, so I’m anxious to unwrap this! Keep on scrolling to find out what this Khaki Jack’s pizza surprise is!
WMBD/WYZZ/CI Proud TV Studios
Here we are at the WMBD/WYZZ CI Proud TV Studios and there’s a poster outside featuring three of today’s luncheon guests, Lauren Rainson, Lindsey Mills and Clay Gordon! I still need to ask someone about how they got the address 3131. I walked in and the lobby was empty and then I went down a hallway and that’s empty too! Could I be the last living soul on earth? Where is everybody? This is kind of a Twilight Zone moment and I’m more than a little frightened here! Mama!
Then suddenly, out of nowhere, Producer Taylor Mickelberry appears and saves the day! He led me into a fancy-schmancy board room where we’re going to have lunch today. Since I picked up the food, they said they could provide the drinks and there’s everything on the table, all we need now are the other guests for the afternoon. While we wait, Taylor shows me how he can hold down a table in case the pull of gravity suddenly ceases to exist. This guy can do it all!
Alright, here’s Lindsey, Clay and Lauren, we can officially let this year’s TV Dinner/luncheon begin!
Drinks
Lindsey and Clay told me that they brought the drinks from their refrigerator at home and Lindsey pointed out that they discovered the expiration date on them had expired! I didn’t even know that drinks had expiration dates! Lindsey bravely agreed to be the first taste tester and it looks like she survived the first sip, but Lauren looks happy that she brought her own drink! Okay, onwards and upwards as the luncheon continues!
Food From Khaki Jack’s
Tony from Khaki Jack’s generously supplied the delicious food for today’s luncheon and here we are tearing into it. There was an order of chicken wings, cheese-filled Bosco sticks and Tony included the latest specialty sandwich from the Australian themed pub, the Khaki Jack Kuban Sandwich! This sandwich was highlighted on week number 15 of our year-long sandwich tour and you can read that post right here. Lauren got the job cutting the sandwich and she did a great job!
The Khaki Jack’s Pizza Moment!
Here’s the moment I’ve been waiting for, the unveiling of this year’s Khaki Jack’s Pizza! As I said, last year’s was just a little bit of a problem and it looks like this year that problem has been resolved with a box and a special note from Tony and the crew at Khaki Jack’s! Very nice and the pizza is perfect! Not muddled and it looks amazing, as does all the rest of the food from Khaki Jack’s! Thanks again to Tony and everyone there for the wonderful food, now it’s time to dig in!
Lunch was a lot of fun and we had a nice lively conversation...well, that is until I started bringing up the topic of people I know that have died! I can bring things down in a New York minute, maybe that’s why I lived there for 19 years! But seriously, it was a lot of fun, the food was fabulous and thanks to Taylor, Lindsey, Clay and Lauren for hanging out for the afternoon, it was a wonderful afternoon!
We needed a group portrait, so Lindsey went and got Josh Ewing who brought in his professional camera and I had to have him stoop to taking the photo with the MBIP Camera, which he did! Josh does photography and videography work that has led him from to Peoria, to L.A. to New York and back to Peoria again! Thanks for the photo Josh!
After the photo I realized that maybe we should’ve looked under this Khaki Jack’s warning label and Taylor said he’d hang on to the box and we’ll unveil the secret to this next Wednesday on Good Day Central Illinois around 8AM, so tune in if you can! And speaking of Good Day Central Illinois, I’ve had a blast being a guest on the show this past year and below I’ve picked out a few of my favorite segments with links that you can click on to take a look at! Lights, camera...action!
The Best Of MBIP On GDCI!
Here’s the very first time I was a guest on the show. I was really nervous and Lindsey, Clay, Lauren and Taylor really put me at ease and they really are great at interviewing and making the segments flow nicely! Here’s the link to that one: MBIP First Appearance On GDCI!
For this appearance I did something I usually only do at weddings, funerals and job interviews, I put on a suit and a tie for this appearance! Check it out here: A Suit And A Tie On GDCI.
Last summer I took a little vacation to New York City and we talked about that and showed pictures of my vacation in this segment. Here’s the link to what I did on my summer vacation: MBIP In NYC.
I went to the Costume Trunk and got some masks for all of us for this Halloween segment. Boo! Here’s that one: Halloween and The Costume Trunk.
My friend Amber is a taxidermy artist and last year she gave me Sgt. Squeak for a birthday present and he made his television debut on this segment! I’m so proud of him! Here’s the link for Sgt. Squeak’s TV debut: Sgt. Squeak On GDCI!
I grew a beard last year and after the new year I got it shaved off at Cullen’s Classic Barber Shop. I came on with a special prop for this segment, see if you can tell what it is! Here’s that clip: Marty Shaves His Beard.
Thanks again to Tony from Khaki Jack’s for the great lunch and to Taylor, Lindsey, Clay and Lauren for a fun afternoon and for having me on as a guest on Good Day Central Illinois! We’ll see you all tomorrow!
Related Posts: Getting Wiggy Wit It, TV Dinner and MBIP Behind The Scenes @ GDCI.