#22 (big john), archival inkjet print, 15 x 11" (min. paper dimensions 19 x 16")
culinary update friday morning was raining pretty good. i hid in my room till check out.
then got lunch, hopeing that it would blow over. ive been eating at alot of these diners often the only choice. one...
in a rather large town of around 1000 people. this town also sported a
pizza hut AND subway. this is a big deal, both fast food places where packed.
of course since this is a big town this diner had a big sign. most of the diners that i visited are in small towns with under a hundred
people. i walk in a hush falls on the room. this is alway broken by the
waitress greeting me an chat resumes. the silence returns whenever the waitress
ask me a question(ie where u goin? where you been?). everyone shuts up and
pretends not to be listening. this of course is given away by the fact that
you can hear a pin drop in a room that was filled with chit chat not a moment before. its the same menu every time. one side has hamburgers. the other side eggs.
maybe something chicken fried or a pork chop thrown in for good measure.
to fill out the menu instead of listing the topping for your burger or eggs
they come up with 50 preselected topping combos. then make up prices for each one. when one is in such a place questions like When you say baked potato is that
baked or microwaved? or Did you boil a potato or dehydrated chips to make the
mash taters? are not a good idea. It would be considered rude, and could
jeopardize the quality of your food. i risk asking for no gravy, instant
mashed taters is bad enough but that gravy out of a bag stuff is dog food. big johns was a surprise. real mashed taters, real pot roast, tastey veggies
and fresh bread. i could tell i offended him a bit when my plate came and
there was a empty hole in the taters where the gravy would go. it looked
like that scene from close encounters of the third kind. a sign by the cash register explained it. this is the third generation
running the place and everything is made from scratch. the best diner to date. the weather channel is on as im leaveing. its stopped raining outside but
another front is on the way. tornados, hail and thunderstorms warnings.
this front has wind comeing from the right direction though and i want
to be pushed along after fighting the wind going out west! saturday i arrogantly don't bother with my rain gear. i have had such great
luck with the weather and its warm out! i do this despite the fact that the
forecast calls forthe same rain/hail/tornados and the mountain roads that
i took not a few days ago are under 5 feet of new fluffy white stuff. still no wind at my back, no wind in my face either so i cant really complain. i stop for lunch at this place [Creston Family Restaurant]. i walk in a ask for a table for one. the reply "smoking or non?" i choked up.
i'm a confirmed smoker and a tear came to eye. i want her to say it again.
she leads me to the smoking section in a daze. i light a cig, open my menu
to see a page of burgers and a page of eggs. crestfallen i look around and
notice the three giants at the next table. these guys are huge. they would
make a nfl linebacker look like a toddler. they also have a foot high stack
of plates each. whats that there eating?!? Fried chicken and ribs! i turn
back to my menu. there! a slip of paper with the specials. a slab of ribs
tater and salad for only $7.25! or all you can eat ribs and chicken for $8.75! Fee yells from the parking lot "just get a salad you pig or i will kick your ass!" i hear ".... get .....pig.....kick...ass!" after seeing the mounds of food coming to the giants table i wisely opt for just
the ribs. my salad comes its very fresh and crunchy "see fee im eating my salad".
from the lot i hear "PIG!". right, i think as i push my half finished salad away,
pig coming better save room. meanwhile at the giants table there is a virtual black hole. the waitress(who looks
all of 12 years old) is struggling with huge platters of ribs and chicken. she sets
them down and one of them would manage to utter "rib" or "chicken". she would run
back to the kitchen and return with more and more. the empty plates and bones are
piling higher and higher. every once in a while one of them would giggle(!) or a
short belly laugh. she tries to clear some of the plates away and one of them says
"NO!" "dogs" another one manages. a slight frown crosses her face, no doubt picturing
the mess when the table collapses from the weight of all those plates and bones.
she summons up her courage, grabs a plate and starts to pick the chicken bones out.
i look on with real concern. although she correctly figured they didnt want to feed
the dogs the chicken bones if her arm strays to close to one of them she could get
sucked in. then with no one to feed them they would no doubt turn on the other patrons. my ribs and tater arrive. i dive in. these ribs are soo good you can eat them with a
fork. i keep a wary eye on the jolly giants. i may be small but these are MY ribs! about the time im trying to finish off my single platter of ribs. the giants by some
unspoken communication push back from the table and say "done". a quick smile from the
waitress who has been fighting a losing battle with the mounting plates. she darts
off to retrieve shopping bags for the bones. after such a good and entertaining meal, im a bit sleepy when i hit the road. a couple
miles out side of town it starts to drizzle. i should find a place to pull over and
get the rain gear on. then it just comes down im soaked just like that. when you ride
into rain the drops sting a bit when they hit you in the face. then all the sudden BAM!
something slams in to my lip. OW that hurt! tears come to my eyes for the second time
that day ,this time from pain. what kind of rain drop was that! and who was the dumb
ass who spilled marbles all over the road! oh..hail. i pull a u turn and try for town.
i have one arm covering my face. i look like a fool for sure. i find a building to park fee from the worst of it and a overhang for me to hide.