Kentucky Fried Chicken

This afternoon saw me running around doing some errands. A friend had helped me in the morning. I was going by a local KFC franchise and decided to stop again at his house and surprise him with lunch.

It had been years since I had eaten there. I decided I should go in rather than use the drive-thru as I was unfamiliar with the current menu and didn't want to slow down any of their processes.

I went inside and stood back to examine the menu. It appeared the line wasn't moving very fast so I stepped inside the ropes. A woman waiting near the door announced from the pick-up line that I may be in for 'some wait.' I wasn't in much of a hurry; I was hungry; I was there so I thought I would just deal with it. I couldn't have imagined how bad it would be. It was 23 minutes from start-to-finish. The most astounding part? Twenty-three minutes and they didn't get my order right! Unbelievable!

Before I had a chance to witness the poor service I was a bit stunned by the prices. The most shocking was $1.69 for a 12 oz. soda. The 8-piece/2 side dinner I was about to order ran a shocking $18.99. I ordered such a dinner 'Extra-crispy' recipe; a side of potato wedges and a side of cole-slaw with one soda. My total for one dinner/2 sides, one soda with sales tax was over $21. A little bit more than I wanted to spend for lunch; but, again, I was there.

I had plenty of time to study the menu. Over five minutes passed from the time I stepped into the line until I actually placed my order. I then took my place waiting with others in the 'pick-up' line. Five minutes into this wait a woman advised me there were not enough pieces of the 'extra-crispy' recipe to satisfy my request; it was going to be eight minutes. She tapped and handed me my soda. She asked if I wanted to wait. It had been interesting to watch the crew as they stumbled their way through order after order. Confusion clearly reigned as orders got mixed up between the drive-thru and the counter and the staff was obvioulsy unprepared for what seemed to be just a steady flow of customers. One couple got out of the line before ordering seeing how things were advancing. I decided to wait and watch and made my way as far to the left as I could be.

An older woman found herself to my right as those of us waiting simply moved slowly to the left. It was obvious to me that the confusion was obvious to her, too. She knew I was waiting eight minutes; told me she was a church organist and hoped she got her order before the sermon on Sunday...lol. The gentleman who had taken my order reappeared behind the counter and began preparing my order. I watched as he pulled the potato wedges from the heat tray and put them in a box. He grabbed the bucket and began to retrieve the chicken. He realized there weren't enough pieces and approched me. He told me there wasn't enough and asked if I wanted to substitute 'original recipe' instead of waiting. Knowing that my potato wedges were getting cold I wanted to to say, 'Yes.' I really had seen enough. The woman who was working nearby snapped, 'NO! He is waiting.' He then emptied the bucket as the potato wedges cooled on the counter. The woman waiting to my right finally got her order, tapped me on the shoulder and told me good luck. Suddenly, they called to her just as she was making it to the door. There had been an error. Her order was destined for the drive-thru; they were continuing to wait for a specific item she had ordered. We both laughed as she returned to her waiting position. I welcomed her back. She joked again about the sermon on Sunday morning.

Somehow, in the on-going confusion my cold potato wedges made it to a different order. It got to the point that it was amusing that when my chicken was finally prepared and packed up there were now no potato wedges in the heat tray. Luckily, they were done quickly. My order was packed up; handed to me and I bolted for the door.

Imagine my dismay when, after twenty-three minutes in the store I arrived at my friend's; unpacked the meal and saw that my cole-slaw had morphed into instant potatoes and bland gravy.

It's been many years since I stopped there.

Now I know why.

Random pics from UP

Random Acts of Kindness

One of the first things we checked out as we first drove down the waterfront main street in St. Ignace was check to see if a local Chinese restaurant was open. It had not been when we were there this past Fall. Luckily, it was.

Upon walking in the eatery it appeared like any other diner-style restaurant. This one happened to have a spectacular view across the street, across the town harbor and across the seemingly infinite expanse of Lake Huron beyond.

We waited patiently for a table right by the front window. There were only about 15 tables in the entire establishment; they offered carry-out, too. We sat right inside the large front window. Jeff's 'Black Beauty' was parked on the street immediately outside.

As we dined on our amazing appetizers we noticed a car pull in to park in the space immediately behind Jeff's brand-new Mercedes. It was a total clunker. It was proof-positive that Michigan has no vehicle inspection laws. A woman dressed in hospital scrubs got out from the passenger side; a guy in a T-shirt and grease-stained jeans got out from the driver's side. We commented they might have driven over an hour for their 'night-on-the-town' in St. Igance. The guy walked up to the parking meter. There were two meters on a common post. We hadn't taken any notice to them. The guy put a coin in for his vehicle. He saw that the meter for Jeff's space was in 'violation' and put in a coin for him, too. They then came inside and were seated in a booth against the one wall.

There is a definite cultural difference between where I live in Pennsylvania and the people in Michigan. The people there are inherently 'nice.' His gesture was proof-positive of that. That would never happen here; the thought would never enter one of the 'locals' minds. We talked about it as we ate THE BEST Chinese/Thai food I have EVER eaten. The food was incredible; my meal is pictured above. Who would have thought such fine food in such a modest place with a stunning view.

When we were finished eating and went to pay the tab, Jeff looked at our server and said, 'See those people in that booth?' as he pointed to the couple parked behind us. She said, 'Yes.' He handed her a $20 bill and told her what he had done. He told her, 'Please put this on their tab.' She understood and eagerly agreed.

How cool is that?

Pure Michigan

The pictures you see below were taken in the beautiful state of Michigan. They were taken not down in 'regular' Michigan; instead, the Upper Peninsula which could easily be called 'premium' Michigan. As you can see it is very beautiful. This was my second chance to explore the area and would return again in a heartbeat.

We stayed right across the road from Lake Huron in the town of St. Ignace. We were very close to the Mackinaw Bridge; the famed Mackinac Island, too. We explored a wide area of the region from within yards of Canada on the UP's eastern flank to about half-way to Wisconsin to see the Pictured Rocks. The pictures below contain shots of Lakes Huron, Michigan and Superior. Needless to say, we had a great time.

Jeff had just purchased his new ride and was anxious to break-it-in with a trip 'up north.' I drove from Amishland to Lansing, Michigan and we headed north the following morning. It was a very nice ride. His new vehicle is a Mercedes Benz CRV. It is very comfortable; very beautiful, too. As we headed north we came to refer to her affectionately as 'black beauty.'

Our hostess at the cool motel was a charming woman by the name of Carol. She went out of her way to be sure we were comfortable and to take care of our needs. Her hospitality was very cool as she even grilled hot dogs for us. We told her soon after we checked in for our three-day stay that with the great weather forecast we were hungry for charred hot dogs cooked outside on the grill. We took the drive and three-hour cruise to the Pictured Rocks on Lake Superior our last full day there and she made sure there were hot dogs, baked beans, potato salad and more when we got back to our lakeside dwellings. It was very nice of her. We had a great time there with her at her Tradewinds Motel.

I joked with Jeff on our passage back across the bridge and our descent back into lower Michigan that the area had to be one of America's best-kept secrets. Given it's location above the 45th parallel and at the western edge of the Eastern time-zone the days were long. The air was clear the weather was very good during our stay. The glow of the twilight sun was visible until close to 11PM. It was very cool, indeed.

The area really is an American gem. It's 'Maine' in the middle of America. The people are very nice, the land is beautifully wooded, and the lakeshores are spectacular. As you can see we watched the sunset from a beach that was absent any people for miles in both directions. Unbelievably cool.

The UP was only my first stop in what would become a week long road trip.

I'll post pictures from my second stop soon.

I hope all's well with everyone.

WHERE IN THE WORLD?

Where in the world IS Christopher K.?