Coca Cola Starlight, Nitro Pepsi, Duck Donuts & Mongolian Grills

I am doing this a few days later than expected; that is OK as besides having more to discuss, I can mention such news items as what happened at the Academy Awards (a WTF moment which was also the only footage from the awards show I even saw) and the sad Bruce Willis news... for a few years now he has appeared in low-budget movies-terrible ones, too, and I know this as I saw one of them last year-where he was only on set for a day or two and his dialogue was fed to him via earpiece; I only heard the scuttlebutt that he had memory-related issues last month but I am sure that's been a problem for a long while now. It's a bummer for me as Die Hard is one of my personal favorites and Aphasia does not sound like the best way to spend the rest of your life.

On a lighter note, I'll mention two new sodas I recently had. Coca Cola Starlight is rather peculiar; they say it is “space flavored”; o-kkkaayyy. It all sounds pretentious; the taste to me is “burnt marshmallows” so don't ask me why that is an “outer space flavor.” I imagine it pairs well w/ graham crackers and a piece from a Hershey's chocolate bar... I also had Nitro Pepsi, which is made the same way that they do nitro beer. There's far less carbonation so it is strange; while not “stale Pepsi” as I heard one reviewer remark, I do prefer that style be applied to stout beers rather than soda. Still, both are outside the box ideas that aren't terrible.

I could make an analogy to ANOTHER terrible restaurant experience I had recently but I'll save it until next time (sometime the first half of April) as I want to be more positive here. Yesterday I went to a restaurant for the first time despite both my parents having gone there a few times before and both liking it. Another bummer is not being able to tell Mom that I also enjoyed bd's Mongolian Grill in Lakeland. That's on me as it was not until recent times that I discovered the place wasn't what I presumed it was. The way the food is made is different: you pick out various items from a buffet (everything's raw) and put it in a bowl. You then walk up to a giant circular grill and someone cooks it for a few minutes before it's given back to you for consumption. There's chicken, steak, and shrimp-so that was enough for me right there. It was actually pretty tasty so shame on me all around for not even giving it a chance years ago. That was indeed a positive restaurant experience.

This past Thursday I made an airport run to Sanford. After dropping people off, it was off to Daytona Beach again as that wasn't too far away from there. Besides getting gas & food at Buc-ee's, I went to the outlet mall and surrounding stores literally across the street from Buc-ee's. It was the nicest outlet mall I've ever visited. While I didn't purchase anything from there, I did get food from Duck Donuts. I've heard of that Carolinas staple before and all the hype was well-deserved. That was another nice food experience and if one was closer to Orlando I'd be there more often.

Like I said I'll be back sometime in the next few weeks; I'll have at least one theatrical experience to discuss & have at least one restaurant experience to share.

Supercross, Daytona International Speedway, The Godfather & Restaurants to Avoid

I'll say more about the month of March when I return next weekend but unfortunately it was a bad experience last night (yesterday was pretty rotten in general) which precipitated the motivation to do one of these. I'll get the negative out of the way so I can end on a positive. Sadly, it looks as if the staff shortages that have ravaged many industries in the United States have done a number on the restaurant business, at least in Florida. Too often this month I've had major issues with that. It started on the 1^st, where right before I saw The Godfather on the big screen (at Disney Springs. Also, the movie is a classic I'm glad to have seen theatrically a few times now) I had dinner at Splitsville for the first time in a few years.

In the past I always liked it there between the food and atmosphere, even if the cost was rather high. This time, though... there was a LONG time between me sitting down and any staff member even acknowledging my presence. After that it was rather lousy service and unlike the tasty food I had before, what I ordered (chicken fingers) were not only mediocre, they only came out a few minutes after they were ordered. To me, it said, “Oh, here's your food... straight from the microwave!” I tipped the appropriate amount then left in a huff. Thankfully it did not ruin the experience of seeing a legendary movie.

Last night, I returned to a place I mentioned back in December: the poorly named Sickes Garage. They're a chain from the Midwest. Well, the first time went swimmingly well while last night was so poor there won't be a third time for me. I understand it'd be busy on a Friday night... apparently they didn't. A severe understaffing of people, it was. I sat at the back bar as it was the only spot for me, solo on this night. Imagine waiting FIFTEEN minutes for anyone to acknowledge I existed... yes, this happened, along with people nearby not being ignored. The only reason why I didn't left was that I needed food NOW and did not want to try and find somewhere not busy with the NCAA basketball tournament on their televisions. From there the service was atrocious; later on I had to explain to a family that arrived later why THEY were being ignored for 15 minutes straight! While the food I had wasn't bad, for the first time ever I left NO tip as that was truly what was deserved. What a lousy day yesterday was.

There was at least a quality restaurant experience; I ate at Yeoman's Cask & Lion, a place I've been at a few times before & never had a problem w/. What made it special: a random person paid my bill! I don't know why but they were certainly thanked by me.

I'll close this out by mentioning that for the first time ever I saw a Supercross race live in person and for the first time ever I went to the Daytona International Speedway, a place driven by a handful of times beforehand by me. Supercross is dirt bike racing done on dirt tracks; it is more fun in person. The speedway itself was certainly impressive: over 100,000 seats and as it's a 2 ½ mile oval, the structure is huge. It's a shame that not only were not enough concessions open, but the staff that operated these concessions were the dumbest, trashiest looking people! You wouldn't believe the length of the lines at each stand, or how long I had to wait for an average meal. I won't be back at the Speedway until at least March of next year, as NASCAR I have zero interest in. Thank heavens then that all the dirt bike races were a blast, or that it was a nice presentation. Also, the race was held during Bike Week in Daytona so literally a few hundred bikes were seen by me, along with plenty of amazing-looking human beings.

Like I said, next weekend I'll post another one of these and that should be more positive. The month of March hasn't been all bad, thankfully.