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Sunday, 05/04/03; Spartanburg, South Carolina

 

Dear Family and Friends,

 

Not a very interesting day! However, it did begin differently than any other on our trip. Joann remarked last night that she was in the mood for a waffle, so we decided we would go to the Waffle House nearby for breakfast. We entered about 0630 and placed our order. After waiting about 15 minutes engrossed in conversation, we noticed the number of help exceeded the customers by a factor of two! Moreover, there was only one cook at the grill and a stack of slips representing orders. He was cooking only one order at a time! We calculated at that rate we would be lucky to get served by 0800! Nevertheless, we finally got our order, but it was a mess! When we were seated, Joan had to ask that the table in front of her be cleaned, as it was sticky with syrup. Keith had requested sugar-free syrup with his waffle. When it came, the bottle was saturated on the outside with sticky syrup and no syrup would come out of the opening on top. Keith unscrewed the top and found that the seal had not been removed! He gave it back to the waitress and then had to find the restroom to wash his hands. The bacon was half done on one end and scorched on the other! We made the best of the situation and ate what was placed before us, but the waffles were very poor quality. When Keith and Dennis offered their credit cards to the waitress whom apparently was “on break” sitting at the counter, smoking, she indicated that payment was to be made to the cook. The cook had now changed to a woman who was busy making egg sandwiches “to go.” When she had completed this chore and had made change for that transaction, she informed Keith and Dennis that only cash was acceptable for payment.  Of course, all the time we were waiting to pay, the back room was filled with unworking help! We were quite critical of the situation where the cook handled the food and the money. We are certain that practice would earn a “D” rating from the LA County Health Department. We were in agreement that the Waffle House was scratched from our list of acceptable places to eat. We discussed what Keith’s brother, Phil, would have had to say in this situation. (On our trip to Europe in 1998, Phil decided on more than one occasion, to provide lessons in economics and business management to some of the European hired help! Some of our companions on that trip may remember this.)

 

The morning was clear as we left the Savannah area and the temperature in the low 60’s. Dennis really enjoyed it. As we drove northeast on I-95 it started to get foggy and eventually became overcast. Traffic was surprisingly heavy on I-95, considering it was Sunday morning – lots of big trucks. Keith had reviewed our intended itinerary last night and came to the conclusion that he had erred in the route as previously laid out. Instead of going to Myrtle Beach and then to Ashville, NC, he determined that Myrtle Beach would be better placed after Fayetteville, SC. Thus, when we hit I-26, we turned northwest and headed to Spartanburg. We are now settled in a nice room in the Comfort Inn outside Spartanburg. Tomorrow, we head up into the mountains around Ashville. Keith plans to visit his aunt in Brevard, NC before driving on to Ashville.  Join us tomorrow and we will tell you about our visit to the famous Vanderbilt Mansion, “Biltmore.”

 

Regards,

 

The Dauntless Four

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