Friday July 26
A Rainy Day Welcome
This morning I did something I never thought I was capable of doing; an issue I hope I never have to confront again. I'm not proud of it, but this morning I stiffed a waitress. Right across the road from our motel was a restaurant where we'd eaten back in Knoxville, TN on day 2 of our Adventure. Called the Waffle House, it was a tiny restaurant with only a few waitresses, around 10 booths and, from what we remembered of our first visit, down-home Southern hospitality.
I was so looking forward to a nice steaming waffle and a small bowl of hominy grits. Of course, I can make both at home, but there's something about eating grits while on the road in the South; we were now in Louisville, KY. Upon entering the restaurant, we noticed that the stovetop around the burners was filthy. There was spilled, overflowed batter all over the place. But, I figured, it happens at home and I don't always clean it up right away. We took a seat at a booth away from the spills and settled in to order our breakfast. I ordered my waffle and a small bowl of grits "with NOTHING on it." I emphasized the word "nothing."
Corey and I talked for awhile and then our breakfast was delivered to our table. As the waitress put down my bowl of grits, I noted that they were swimming in butter. What I said to her was, "Excuse me, but I asked for these with 'nothing' on them, and they have butter." She abruptly wisked my bowl away... and then THREW it onto a heap of dirty dishes and stormed off! I'd never seen behavior like that before, at least other than in my own home. OK, so maybe she was having a bad day.
I stared at Corey for a moment; her back had been to the whole escapade. When I told her what happened, she was as shocked as I was. Eventually, I did get a bowl of "nothing" on the grits, but I didn't like this waitress' attitude.
After I'd eaten all I could manage, I wrote a short note on a napkin so the waitress wouldn't think I merely "forgot" a tip. I explained that her attitude didn't deserve a tip, and also that the place was "filthy" and that Knoxville was much nicer.
Of course, I didn't really want to just walk out slowly after leaving a note like that; my adrenalin was pumping. This was, afterall, the South. What if all I'd seen of Southern hospitality was phony? What if they came after me? Corey and I exited really fast and got into the car. Hoping it would start quickly, I then threw it into reverse and hightailed it out of there. Only then, did Corey and I venture a slight, albeit ashamed giggle. We were now back on the road, I-64, heading toward West Virginia.
Over the past decade or so, I've become much more appreciative of the Appalachians. Now that I've been out west, I appreciate them all the more. The rolling hills, the smooth-edged profiles of the mountains, the colors of green! Even in the rain. Sometime after we entered West Virginia, the sky opened. After rounding Charleston (the state capital) and passing some of the most beautiful scenery in the east, we were hit with a major storm. By the time I was north of the city (now on I-79), I had to pull over. Several cars ahead of me and several behind me were doing the same, but I was on a curve. After a few minutes, I knew I didn't like where I was, but I really did not want to drive on to the next exit. Luckily, the "next" exit was just about a mile up the road. By the time I reached the bottom of the exit ramp (which was very long and downhill), the rain had slowed. Corey and I used the convenience store's restroom, got some bottled water and snacks and filled the gastank. We then waited to be "sure" the bad part of the storm was over and we drove back to the Interstate, heading north toward Pittsburgh.
You can always tell when you are entering Pennsylvania. The state can save money by NOT buying those nice "welcome" signs. The money saved could go toward paving the roads! Pennsylvania roads are the WORST in the country. Corey and I knew we'd entered our homestate when we suddenly felt as if we were riding on an old washboard. Welcome to Pennsylvania! There's a visitors' center up ahead, should we stop? No, says Corey, I'm hungry (she's always hungry this trip) and so we drove on in the lousy, hot, humid, weather we've loved so much. I had her call my father to let him know we were back "home" and to tell him how gorgeous the Appalachians were. He said he always knew that. We told him how horrible the roads were and he said he knew that too. We called my online friend Sue to let her know we were finally in PA and would call when we got off the highway. We then drove until the exit we needed to meet her and her family for dinner.
Arriving at the Wal-Mart outside Pittsburgh brought back memories and laughs... should we go in? To round out this trip? This now makes 4 Wal-Marts, and Corey went in. I asked a fireman (they were doing a fire safety presentation for the kids) for directions to Cracker Barrel, the restaurant Sue had decided on. Wow, it was right there in the same shopping center, but it looked as if it were across the highway. That's because all the shopping centers are built on various hills, and driving from one part of a parking to another in the same shopping center can be deceiving.
Sue had told us she'd be awhile so we decided to shop a bit at the Cracker Barrel; they have a really nice store there. Having already bought all the souvenirs I needed or wanted on this trip, I didn't buy anything there. But, it was very cold inside and Corey wanted to go get her long pants from the car. I asked her to bring me my jacket and sweatpants, too. She seemed to be gone quite a long time, so I walked out onto the large front porch and saw that it, once again, was raining, HARD. She was sitting it out, inside the car. But it finally got too hot in there for her, so she made her way back to the porch, dripping wet and shivering.
We sat on the rocking chairs on the porch, waiting for Sue. Finally, we were just too hungry to wait any longer. Sue had told me earlier when I called her from my cellphone that if we were really hungry, we should go ahead and order. They'd catch up. So, Corey and I registered with the waitress and finally were seated. We placed our orders and were about 1/4 into our dinner when Sue, Pat and son Michael arrived. We hadn't seen each other in about 3 years and I was surprised at how Michael had matured. He's already on his way to college! The first time I'd met him was when I was on my way to Farmington, PA to Heritage Scout Reservation for my Woodbadge course; that was 5 years ago! We met them again 3 years ago for lunch in Exton, PA when Michael won a Scouting award.
We had a great dinner and went to Sue's house for the night. She had to be at work early the next morning, so we were all out of the house by 6:30 AM! Wow... our last day on the road was beginning so early.
A great big Thank You to Sue, Pat and Michael for being such gracious hosts.
Welcome to Pennsylvania
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