Smokey Bones

It was a rare occasion that dad came to visit me in Tampa and Mom was not there.  I was going to take part of the day off to study for another Microsoft certification.  I had heard about Smokey Bones from my neighbor and had never been there so I suggested we go there for a beer and some food.  Well, I had a beer, Dad had his Brown Russian.  We got a big order of wings and I tell you, they were the best damn wings we had ever had.  There was just something about them because from that point on, whenever Dad came to visit, he wanted to go to Smokey Bones.  There were so many times after that where especially Mom and Carina were like, “Do we really have to go to Smokey Bones again?”  I would try to talk Dad into another restaurant but it was a lost cause.  There were even times when I went out to pick up food and we had to make a special trip over to get him take-out from Smokey Bones.  Two years ago for the big 4th of July blowout, we drove to the nearest Smokey Bones all the way in Cleveland to bring back huge vats of wing sauce so we could use it on our own wings.

For me, it always felt like we were chasing that first high from Smokey Bones because although they were good, they were never as good as that first time.  Dad felt the same, but he was not willing to risk the chance of not eating there and not getting those great wings.

Now for the nastier part of the story.  If you have a weak stomach, stop reading now.  My stomach has the tendency to get pretty upset whenever I take a certification test.  Besides that you cannot leave the room until the test is over.  So let’s just say the beer and wings the night before the test was bad idea.  I was sweating bullets throughout the whole test and by the end, I did not even wait for the results.  I bolted for the bathroom and let loose.

Then I immediately called Dad to complain. Although Smokey Bones was good, it gave me the shits.  His response was, “Well, you didn’t have to go and eat 20 damn wings.”  Somehow it was my fault because I should have known this or that and it would not have happened.

Shawn