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 1st, 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.
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