Having destroyed several body parts, my new shirt and also my dignity at the skatepark, the missus and I left our son happily scooter-ing away with his friends in Lee’s Summit while we went looking for anywhere with the temerity to open their doors and feed us liquid encouragement on Christmas Day.

We Drove Everywhere.

Downtown Lee’s Summit was a ghost town (maybe on this particular day we could call it a “Holy Spirit town…) except for one sketchy looking little place straight out a of Stephen King novel where the “Open” shimmered like a mirage as if to say “Don’t Come Here”.

The normally bustling highway corridor was much the same and we drove past other similarly searching souls who waved us back, shaking their heads sadly as if they’d already been though the abyss and found nothing but the deep void of booze free space.

Reaching the north end of LS civilization we detoured west and on a whim drove down a wide and deserted street, still defeated and resigned to our QT beverage cooler door fate when suddenly a shimmering halo appeared over the horizon.

As it turned out, the halo was actually a packed movie theater parking lot and the sun was reflecting off of the cars and into the sky like a multifaceted beacon in the otherwise devoid of life landscape but in that very parking lot was a lone and tiny…

Applebee’s.

Shifting into up I sailed across the median and over the hedges, screeching to a halt in a parking spot with my tires juuuuust touching the passengers side line of the handicap spot and we skipped gleefully to the front door.

Inside was a superb mix of everyone out of a 70’s Coca Cola commercial and it was a holiday delight to see.

Old folks, young ones (mostly at the bar), people of every color, some hippies (I did find it odd to see hippies at a chain restaurant), some circus performers and what I thought was the very small man from The Station Agent happily consuming their famous rib platter.

We breathlessly informed the hostesses that we were there to make the acquaintance of their glorious bar and made our way to a couple of empty seats.

We looked at the bartender with starstruck eyes as she gazed at us from across two feet of polished and gleaming oak and ordered real, non gas station drinks.

They. Were. Delightful.

Thank you Applebee’s. My first visit to your hallowed halls in at least two decades was excellent