Spoiler alert: no photos of the breakfast cause I didn't want to spook the local fauna.
As with the Pharmacy in Glasgow, the middle and front of the Slater Pharmacy is devoted to a cafeteria with a long bench and Happy Days stools to sit on. Behind the bench, a younger lithe woman of about 30-something serves the customers while another older lady cooks on the griddle and puffs away at cigarettes. I sit just down from a weathered 50-something guy wearing a western shirt. I'm facing the extensive sinks / coffee maker / griddle / soda fountain and the waitress. Behind me are the booths in the middle of the room. On the back wall, all the way down to the back of the shop, are the typical chemist shelf items. The back of the shop is the prescription medicine area.
As I sat, the waitress asked what I'd like to drink.
Coffee with milk please.
She pours me a cup of black coffee and proceeds to fill a metal milk jug. As she does so, I reach for the glass container with metal pour lid and spoon in one teaspoon. As the coffee goes whiter, I ask if this is the creamer or sugar. Her answer, "oh everyone makes that mistake!" as she tips out my coffee and pours another one. Meanwhile, western shirt fires down an identical glass jar of sugar like tossing the beers down the length of the bar.
She passes the menu. It has eggs, omelettes, meals with eggs, "meat", toast and hash browns with various combinations. All under $4. The bacon on the griddle looks paper thin so I thought I'd have 2 eggs and bacon.
Out came two eggs and bacon - eggs sunny side up and bacon super crispy - on a plastic picnic plate and a fork (no knife).
As I slowly consumed these items, greedily taking in every morsel of the surrounding atmosphere, Walter sat two seats down from me. It was like when Norm walks into the bar from Cheers - everyone immediately welcomes him. Cook fixes up a plate with (what I thought were a pile of fried onions) hash browns and (what looked a bit like oatmeal) gravy with the announcement of, "no charge." (see aftermath blog entry for gravy)
They chat openly across the entire patronage about how he has to take someone for treatments 3 times a week - Monday, and Thursday, and then again next Monday. I'm looking at things like the calendar which has a quote from Herbert Hoover: "All men are created equal before..." can't see because the milk shake mixer is blocking. I lean across to spy the word, "fish"
We chatted about how good the menu was and how busy the place gets. There's 8 people in the place for late breakfast at 9.30am. This is the quiet time. The specials menu for dinner includes ribs, smothered pork chops (smothered in what is not known), steaks and other daily specials - no prices mentioned but I suspect very cheap. I enquire about Hushpuppies. He explains that these are his favourite - some sort of corn meal, fluffy, deep fried dough-nutty thing.
After chatting about nothing for a while, I finished my coffee (2nd top-up) and made my way home. The experience was exactly as I was expecting and hoping.
Got home just in time to see the dog catcher trying to put a lead on Leroy in our front garden. Before giving her the option of trying to say she brought him home (a $20 fine), I grabbed him, thanked her for her efforts and dragged him around the back. She left without her prize.
Went to Phil and Cath's place for dinner. These two people are outstanding pillars of the community. Phil is 69 and Cath may be slightly younger but both are classy retired dudes. They live in a house which is well suited for a couple but maybe not so much for entertaining. As they travel for most of their retired year, they don't really require much for the winter. The kitchen is not small by standards here but there is practically no dining area - just a breakfast bar for two and a cramped table for four. Phil had been cooking brats (pron. "Brotts") and cut of pork which was smoked with hickory and then shredded. Cathy had a large dish of fried beans in a sauce (much like baked beans but with a hint of peanut), coleslaw and rolls.
Again, not a knife in sight anywhere.
Phil bought the house next door from the druggies who neglected it for $5000 and gradually deleted the house and reduced it to the basement where he now has a pizza oven, fire places and a place to entertain.
He's also planning to buy the next house up which is in similar condition. This will give a really significant sized block for him to have as a house plot. He also owns the land on the other side of the bridge and plans to have a huge veggie garden when access via the bridge is stabilised. As the cost of property is ridiculously cheap here, you can really set your own limits - but you can't pick your neighbours.
As the sun began to slowly set, there were numerous people testing the fireworks in preparation for the upcoming 4th July celebrations. The whizzes and sonic booms were quite load (the standard we'd get at a school fete.) This goes on for the two weeks leading up to 4th July and for one week after, as people use up their purchased supplies. At the end of the evening, Phil decided that the dune buggy should come out for showing off. This is transport for a quick terrorisation of the neighbourhood up to the C&R Market (the local shop) or around to other neighbours' houses. Tim was brave* enough to have an off-road experience at the hands of a 69 yr old kid who had been working all day and seriously partying all night.* Feel free to exchange with other appropriate adjectives
Off in the distance, we could occasionally hear the sounds of the buggy plowing through the neighbouring fields and around various houses, trees, shortcuts to grandma's house, on the road and off road, with no lights on. When the buggy was too far away to hear the engine, we could still hear the screams of terror from Tim.They did a couple of laps of the neighbourhood and then looped the property a couple of times, ending in a screeching halt back at the party. I think Phil has done this sort of thing before.
Next morning, we heard the story of Phil taking Crystal for a spin after we had gone home - they ended up in the lake and came back soaked.
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