Tuesday, August 9, 2022

T Stands For The Dropped Dead Murphys Tour - Part 1

A short post this week. Himself, the Eldest, and I took a few days last month to make a genealogy tour to Lewiston, Maine. Himself wanted to find the graves of his maternal great-great and great grandfather. 

The title is a play on words on the Boston Celtic punk band, "The Dropkick Murphys" 

Our trip first began with a slight detour to New Hampshire to visit Himself's youngest sister. She's been having some health issues. We brought a picnic lunch and sat in her sunroom and had a nice visit.


If you've read BioArt Gal's blog, you'll recognize the Piscataqua Bridge that connects the coast of New Hampshire to Maine.

It was a long day of driving. Two or so hours to get to my SIL and then another two or so hours to get to the hotel in Lewiston. We were tired and hungry, but didn't want to go out to a restaurant to eat. I just wanted to take my br shoes off and relax. We found the Chick-a-Dee restaurant down the street from the hotel and placed an order for take-out.

When we got there the parking lot was jammed. I'm glad we decided not to eat in as the wait was well over an hour long. We still had another half an hour to wait for our order even though we had been given a time to come and pick up.

There was a waiting area in an enclosed porch so the Eldest and I took a seat while Himself waited in the car. A lady waiting next to me struck up a conversation. She said the food was really good. It was the only place her husband would do take-out if she didn't feel like cooking. She said she was surprised how busy the place was for a Wednesday night.

There were people going into the restaurant but no one coming out. So I let my imagination wander a bit. Maine is the home state of author, Stephen King. If you're not familiar with him, he's the King of Horror. So here I am waiting for take-out with people going into the restaurant and no one coming out. I'm envisioning a story like the movie Soylent Green. If you don't know the movie, go look it up. Better yet, watch it. 


After what seemed like days, we finally got our order to bring back to the hotel. The Eldest and I split an appetizer of Coconut Shrimp. I had fried clams, sweet potato fries, Cole slaw washed down with Pure Leaf Ice Tea and Lemonade.

As my friend in the waiting area said, the food was really good. The service not so hot. They messed up part of the order and left out dessert, but billed for it. When Himself called to ask for a refund, the help couldn't find the manager. Himself was told to call back the following day. Himself called and after a wait, he got to speak to the manager. The manager couldn't reverse the charge on the credit card, but promised to send a check. You know the expression, "the check's in the mail"? Yup, still waiting.

Drop by hosts, Bleubeard and Elizabeth's blog to find out what the rest of the T Stands For gang is up to. If you want to play, include in your Tuesday post a beverage or container for a beverage. Don't forget to link your blog to Bleubeard and Elizabeth's page.

34 comments:

  1. Sounds like a fun trip. I can imagine how glad you were to throw off everything and relax when you got to the hotel.A check in the mail? Aha, keep patiently waiting.... Happy T Day, Valerie

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    1. It felt so good not to be driving around the countryside

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  2. Ohh It´s an interesting post CJ ! Happy T-day !
    This bridge is beautiful, and your strip may have been so cool and a big adventure !
    I wish you a great day, and send big hugs
    Caty

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    1. We had a good time on the trip especially spending time with the Eldest

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  3. Road triiiip! Even with the long ride it must have felt so go to be out and about CJ! And a visit with family is nice.. even if its only a few hours... sometimes those fly by visits can be the best. Looking forward to seeing more of your trip.. Here, Chickfila sounds like your Chicka dees.. It is ALWAYS packed... with lines that stretch for miles.. We don't even try to go there.. Glad what food you did get was good though... Hugs! deb

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    1. It was nice to be away and see something else besides the same 4 walls.

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  4. It's too bad they forgot the best part of your meal, although the fried clams look delicious. And I had to laugh about the Stephen King reference. Hmmm...are you sure those were clams? (Of course they were). And I've seen Soylent Green and even remember it. Thanks for the shout out too. It sounds like your day was busy, but I hope we get to see some more details from your trip. Hugs-Erika

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    1. There were too many pictures for one post so I had to break it up into parts.

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  5. Good morning, sounds like a nice time with your sister in law, but not so much for the take out order-you can always right a review about your experience if they don't give you back the money Happy T

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    1. It was good to see her as we usually see her twice a year at family gatherings at Christmas and July.

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  6. "I just wanted to take my br shoes off and relax." LOL (Best part of the post.....IMHO.)

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    1. Indeed. It was one of the best parts of the trip

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  7. The food looks tasty, and we'll trust horror and science fiction don't enter into it ;) Maybe the service was overwhelmed by the customer numbers that day. It's always a disappointment when an order is wrong, but leaving out dessert sounds particularly sad :(

    Happy T Tuesday!

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    1. It wasn't so much that the dessert was left out, but the fact that they treated customer service as an oxymoron.

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  8. At first I thought you'd gone to Chic a fila and I thought yuck. Then I saw your food and realized it had to be somewhere else.

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    1. We don't eat there. This was a local restaurant and not a chain.

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  9. Good gracious! Your service was deplorable. Glad the food was good. And, of course, the company:)

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  10. Sounds like a fun trip to see your SIL, shame about the dessert though and the poor customer service! The food does looks yummy, sweet potato fries are a favourite of mine 😊. Wishing you a Happy T Day! Hugs Jo x

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  11. Had to laugh at br and shoes. Long story I won't go into.

    Loved seeing the coconut shrimp and clams. Sad they forgot the dessert, though. Glad you enjoyed the road trip.

    I was shocked to learn that IMDb is now charging for everything you watch. I am sure at some point I have seen Soylent Green.

    Thanks for sharing the first leg of your road trio, your food, and your tea with us for T this Tuesday, dear CJ.

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    1. I think things are available to watch if you have subscriptions like Netflix and Prime. I think they also offer stuff through FreeVee.

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  12. Sounds like a not-so-great experience at the Chick a dee. I have never heard of this restaurant, but your food does look delicious.
    As for Stephen King, I have heard of him but have no interest. I don't do horror as I get nightmares.
    Glad you had time away with family.
    Happy Tea Day,
    Kate

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    1. The Chick-a-Dee Restaurant, is a small local Lewiston, Maine business. They specialize in fried foods like chicken and seafood.

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  13. Good thing this restaurant didn't turn out to be Stephen King inspired place... Loely food, but too bad that they messed up your order. I'm not sure why this happens so often. Happy T day.

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    1. I'm glad it wasn't Stephen King inspired, too 😺

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  14. Hello, CJ! I love that you were visiting family graves - something I want to do when I get over my covered bridge addiction.

    Your food looks awesome and I love how your mind was working - that is how books are created - would love to read one you wrote about that spooky restaurant thought - lol.

    I don't think I have ever received a promised mailed refund from anyone where I complained about a restaurant charge. Still waiting on an extra bacon charge refund from Waffle House from 2011.

    Love that bridge picture. Hubby has developed a fear of bridges late in life - we are trying to figure out why now. He has jumped out of thousands of planes, climbed mountains, rode in helicopers (in war no less), and travelled the bridges bothering him now thousands of times in the past. Strange. Sorry for rambling - it is early and no sleep.

    Interesting post - loved catching up. Happy T-day a bit late. Hugz

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    1. I looked up "fear of bridges". The word is gephyrophobia. Interesting that the phobia comes out now in later life. Or was it there for him all along and he just hid it well?

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  15. That sounds like a fair old drive! Great to see your SIL too. What a shame you didn't get your dessert - sounds as though that too may have been tasty! Sorry that the Stephen King comment was wasted on me(grin) Belated Happy T Day, Chrisx

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    1. Any trip over an hour away for Bostonians becomes a major production 😺

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  16. When it's busy, mistakes happen and it is so difficult to get' justice'. Here in Spain it is even worse as they don't know what customer service is. I don't think they even have a word for it. So go figure...
    At least the food was good.
    Happy belated T-Day,
    Keep smiling,
    Hugs,
    Lisca

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    1. Yes, the food was delicious so a silver lining

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  17. Sounds like a fun trip but terrible customer service lol. I do know movie very well haha So sorry, RL got in the way, and I am terribly late. Happy T Day! Elle/EOTC xx

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    1. No worries. Thanks for taking the time to stop by

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