About a year ago, our family started a tradition of meeting up with the man's sister and her husband every couple months. They only live one state away, but I'm either too scared or too stubborn to attempt an overnight stay with the kids (specifically the boy), and it's not fair to make them drive the whole way here each time. We ended up on Google Maps, searching for a halfway point between our two cities. What we came up with was El Centro. It's closer to us (I'm not complaining), near the California/Arizona border, and is a total pit. Really. If it wasn't so conveniently located, we would have NO reason whatsoever to go there.
We try to line up our visits with events and holidays. Last month happened to be the man's 28th birthday, and last week was his sister's dog's birthday (9th, if I remember correctly). Since summer in our region extends far into November/December, doggy's presence made this trip a little more difficult than previous ones. We needed a place that wouldn't banish doggy to the care in the 100+ degree weather, that had enough room for the boy to romp around, AND that had enough menu diversity to keep the man and girl happy (the boy and I will eat anything...just check our jiggly tummies). Back to Google... what I came up with was a KFC that, according to the photo, had an outdoor patio with umbrellas. Now, driving 150 miles to eat at KFC is something I would ONLY do for family... just want to make that clear.
After two hours in the car and about a thousand dollars in gas (seriously, we need to start choosing our weekends based on projected gas prices), we made it to the pit. I had neglected to check local weather reports, and since this past weekend in San Diego was BEYOND gorgeous, my poor kids showed up in long pants and closed-toed shoes to battle 102 degrees of awful. This is at least half of why I refer to El Centro as "the pit"... I think it's as close to hell as you can get without smelling sulfur. But hey, we made it! Unfortunately, that patio with umbrellas was about ten by three feet... and the umbrellas were doing nothing against the brutal sun. We decided to pack up a small bag of food for the man and the girl, and head to another place we'd seen down the street.
Burgers & Beer had a covered patio facing a busy street, but it was COVERED, and beautifully shaded. Since the host on the phone told us doggy was welcome to join us on the patio, we didn't complain too much about driving around the building three times to find a parking spot (4pm seemed to be a busy time for this place). So for the second time in half an hour, we hauled the kids, the dog, and the birthday cake (pie) out of our vehicles, this time along with that small KFC bag. Once inside, we were immediately turned away by a server for having said KFC bag. No amount of begging, promising to spend a lot of money, or pleading our case to the manager would convince them to look the damn thing over.
So here we are, 150 miles from home, marinating in our own sweat, with two hungry kids and a dog, all dying of heatstroke. The chicken is getting cold, the pie is getting warm, and my heart rate is reaching an all-time high. We decided to take a break (in their parking lot) to crank up our cars' AC, eat the damn KFC, and figure out what to do next. The man's sister remembered seeing an Applebees, so in desperation she called over there. By now, we know exactly what we need to ask: 1) do you have a pet-friendly patio? 2) is the damn thing well-shaded right now? 3) will you kick us to the curb for having a pie with us?? Finally, it seemed we found a place to relax.
The patio was big. It had a gate. It was 20 degrees cooler, easily. It was EMPTY save for us. And no one cared about the damn pie. The manager and server were stellar, the meal was actually pretty good (I'll be honest, Applebees isn't generally my first choice), and best of all we were actually able to sit, catch up, have a couple drinks, and enjoy each other's company.
It may have taken a lot longer to get started than we had hoped for, but we all had a great visit. The man got his KFC, the doggy had a great time annihilating his new toys, the boy happily ran around the patio with his grilled cheese and sippy cup without bothering anyone. I guess the point of this is don't be afraid to ask too many questions! I thought I had done a decent job of planning in advance, but apparently the old saying is true: when you assume you make an ass out of you and me... and get yourself stranded in a pit.
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