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| "Hungry; But not interested. Entertained; Yet not convinced." -Kaluluwa Looking...for a position, for a wave, for a ride, for f#*king anything. 66th and Holidays, 6/18/2020. |
As I looked back upon this session, reviewing the surf conditions, reviewing the pictures, reviewing our dining experience, I found the entire experience to be lacking. It was difficult to find inspiration in not only these aspects, but our...the Crew's...overall performance. Personally, I was lazy. Had to push myself to get farther out in the lineup to even have a chance to catch the waves as they did a fast break over a more distanced sandbar and quickly fizzled out. Which also meant I had to catch 'em near the peaks and stay away from the dying shoulders. On top of which I felt a light tug on my leash and let it give reason to come out early...which I never do. I've still never seen a shark. Target struggled with the camera, as if he was having to re-learn it's habits (ie shutting down into power saver mode if there was a stretch between shots). I could've been eaten, and he woulda' missed it this evening. LWatt distracted Target with discussion on current events and life in general, thus failing to keep him on track.
Beaches were open, amusements were open, and now...on a limited basis, restaurants were open...inside and out. Concerning our comfort level, we had preferred outdoors (I miss the bar!). As aforementioned, we left prematurely and headed on over to Belly Busters. However, their limited outdoor seating made them a no-go. T-Man quickly ran into action. I mean literally Ran Into Action; 3 blocks north to verify that another establishment on 48th street, had seating availability. And, indeed it did. Upon his return, we drove on up to 48th and Ocean Highway, parked our vehicles and our keisters at an outdoor table in front of Dry 85, a pub we had visited a couple years ago just before our season was starting. Maybe it was the continued struggle to overcome this pandemic. Maybe it was the effort to find a place worthy to serve the Crew. Maybe it was the accident that occurred on the main drag as we waited to be served and the onslaught of gawkers it enticed. Maybe it was the fact that the first two draft beers I had chosen were already kicked.
Whatever the issue was, this evening's dining experience lacked motivation from the start. No one could decide what they wanted, and when we did, we debated the merits of the choices. Bourbon Barbecue Wings (we get BBQ a lot). After all, it was a whiskey joint. And the Dry 85 Burger,with bacon slaw, pulled pork, and more barbecue sauce. To continue to drive the stake through the heart of this experience, the lack of kitchen help meant we waited more than an hour to get what was, for the most part, a couple of appetizers. I got my 2nd, room temp beer just before the food arrived...also room temp. The food was completely cooked. Not sure who to hold responsible here...in addition to management...but to be served luke-warm or less meant the dishes had been sitting...for a while. The wings were good sized, and meaty. They had a decent amount of sauce. Regardless, they had become tough as they got cold. LWatt even struggled to cut them up with a knife. Not pleasant. The burger, which was the best of the two, could have been award winning, but again, served less than warm, and a little too pink inside for our taste. The accompanying steak fries had good taste, but were cold as well. Our server, although continuously apologetic, was fly by night. She would bring our drinks (don't get the water- unfiltered, ugh!) and apologize for the lack of selection, then disappear. We would flag her down and she would apologize for the wait, say she would check on our food, and disappear. After bringing the food, she apologized and disappeared. And then finally bringing our tab, which based on all-told, was too much, she apologized and disappeared. I actually had to go to the hostess to get it payed and even she was hesitant to help. In general, the staff seemed slow and lost. This was truly an exploit lacking. Lacking service, lacking quality, lacking inspiration. Seemed to be an underlying theme for the evening. However, what we lacked most was appreciation. We focused on what was missing when we should have focused on what we had. Appreciation for the pleasant weather, the fact that our Crew and our families are healthy, and for our continued ability to share in each others company and continue our weekly quest. We will do better next week!
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THE RATINGS-
Bourbon BBQ Wings: C-
Dry 85 Burger: C+
Beer: C-
Atmosphere: C-
Value: C
Overall Score = 1.90
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