I’m always quick to give high fives to the awesome Mom and Pop restaurants we find in our travels…but let me share one of our less than awesome meals on a previous road trip.
This diner was in Ocala Florida on our usual winter route to our Florida condo. And let me also tell you this diner has now been three different restaurants in the years we’ve stayed nearby. But THIS dining experience was truly one for the record books several years ago.
We wanted a simple meal. Maybe a salad, some soup and some iced tea. And we certainly didn’t want to drive miles to get it since we were already checked into a motel nearby. But that night we learned another lesson. Sometimes the best part of a traveler’s meal is NOT the meal…it’s the people in the next booth!
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| Ruth and Bruce…from Warsaw, Indiana |
Being the “Foodie” that I am, I’m always listening to comments made by other diners. And I knew we might be in trouble with our restaurant choice as soon as we sat down. I heard the lady in the booth behind us tell her server the sweet potato she was served was cold. (Not good.) The server was completely overwhelmed with her job. Completely. Overwhelmed. Did you get that? Overwhelmed.
I began to hear other diners beginning to complain, and all I kept hearing from the two waitresses was “I’m sorry. I’ll fix that.” Or “I forgot to bring that” or “We’re out of that.” YIKES. So we quickly decided to make our orders really simple. I ordered a baked potato and a garden salad and Peepaw ordered a cup of soup and a salad. Quick and simple..right? WRONG. Here are some of the mistakes our server made with our meals–just for OUR order:
Forgot the sweetener for our tea.
Forgot straws.
Forgot my sour cream and butter (I guess I should have been happy to get the potato!)
Forgot our salads.
Finally brought hubby’s salad.
Forgot my salad.
Forgot what kind of salad dressing I ordered. (BY that time I CANCELLED my salad!)
Charged us for my cancelled salad.
Charged Peepaw for bowl instead of cup of soup.
ARE YOU GETTING THE PICTURE?? It actually became funny after awhile! And then I realized the entire restaurant had filled with customers and NOBODY was getting any food! I later realized they were so mixed up they simply LOCKED THE DOORS so nobody else could come in! (It’s the only time in my life I’ve had to unlock the door to get out of a restaurant!!!) I am STILL laughing about THAT!
Since our meals were a total bust, we began to visit with the couple behind us and to compare notes on our orders. Ruth finally got a hot potato, but the couple each got the other’s steaks (cooked incorrectly) and the comedy continued. As we visited, we talked about food (imagine that!) and jobs, retirement, etc.
Turns out Bruce used to sell Lifetime Cookware door to door in Indiana..and at age 70, STILL had customers among the Amish and Mennonites in Indiana. I actually bought Lifetime cookware when I was a senior in high school! Because way back then girls were supposed to be thinking about getting married even if we were going on to college! (Sounds like the Dark Ages now, doesn’t it? ) Believe it or not I STILL use those pots and pans. They’re AWESOME. And they’ve lasted as long as ME…and that’s saying something!
Ruth and Bruce told us they have a painting hanging in their kitchen of the general store in Honeyville, Indiana…the town Peepaw’s great-great-grandfather started! We had so much fun visiting we all almost forgot our dinner disasters.
I never had so much fun NOT eating a salad!
I wonder what adventures await us as we get ready for our next road trip adventure next week? Stay tuned to find out.
Hi what a small world. You meet total strangers somewhere in Fla and you end up talking about Honeywille, In. and that happened to be a place that Fred had a connection with. You honestly never know. One time bro. Wayne was someplace in a restaurant in Ohio and an amish family came in. Wayne started talking to them and they told him about a family they knew who had had a Dutch girl stay with them for 1/2 yr. It happened to be our Saskia. I had told Wayne to say Hello to the amish family where Saskia had lived if he saw them. He told the amish people to say Hello from me for Saskia’s Amish family. A yr later Jan and I were in Ohio. The amish people who met Wayne heard that Jan and I were coming to visit. The lady had forgotten to give the message so she went over and gave the message that my brother had given. Then when we got there we got thanked for the message even tho it had been given a yr before it still got delivered. I love it when this kind of thing happens.
gr. marye
LOL Marye! I love your story…all the way from Holland! The best parts of our road trips are usually unplanned…and I love that. There are new adventures around every bend in the road.
XOXO
Meemaw