The “Shelter in Place” order seems like has been going on forever and the Dining Duo is getting bored. While standing outside hoping to see other signs of life, our friend John goes zooming past on his bike. He stopped to talk, and we told him we would like to ride our bikes but it was too much work. Nancy said it’s too bad that there isn’t a bike with a motor on it. He suggested we look into an ebike. After much Googling, we jumped into the Mini-mobile and off we went to Madison, Wisconsin to Crazy Lenny’s ebikes to check out these battery operated contraptions.
You can use these bikes in three ways. As a normal pedaling bike. Pedal assist, where the motor helps you pedal. The last way is to push the throttle and off you go. Would you believe these bikes can reach a top speed of 20 mph?
Jim tested it at the store, but I never tried my bike since I had a hard time getting on it with my new knee that was replaced in mid-January. I decided to wait until we got home to figure out how to get on the death trap and figure how it works. We purchased two of them and headed home to play with our new toys.
Nancy watched as I rode up and down the block like a 12 year old on Christmas morning. Now it’s her turn. She finally figured out how to mount her steel stallion, put her foot on the pedal, the electric motor kicks in, and she shoots out of the garage like Chevy Chase on his saucer sled in Christmas Vacation. She held on for dear life til the end of the driveway, crashed, and broke her ankle and big toe.
Since Chef Moron is banned from my kitchen, and I can’t stand long on my ankle, we are now relying on take out meals. We try to patronize local restaurants, but honestly, is it that difficult to get a takeout order right? Not pointing fingers, but we have been cheated out of tacos and nachos, tzatziki sauce, Italian sausage in a combo sandwich, and at a local grocery store asking for eight potato wedges in their deli and only getting seven. Seriously??? Could it have something to do with the fact that they know once you leave, in all probability, you will not go back to retrieve the missing items. Our biggest ripoff was when we ordered Chinese takeout pan fried noodles. When ordering this we were asked what we wanted in it, shrimp, pork, etc., and we replied, just the noodles. We picked up our order and it was just that, an order of noodles for the bargain price of $9!!! All you hear is that the restaurants are hurting for business and when we patronize them, they either screw up the order or charge an arm and a leg for something. Outrageous.
Nancy now can walk comfortably in her boot, and Phase Three has opened up restaurants for patio dining only. We wracked our brains trying to figure out where we could dine without sitting in what previously was an oil stained parking space. We were also apprehensive venturing out for the first time in this post-Covid world.
We remembered that Boston Fish Market in Des Plaines has a lot of shaded outdoor seating on their patio. So, off we went at 1:30 in the afternoon for a late lunch. It felt so good to have some semblance of normalcy and to dine out. The food, as always for this restaurant, was delicious.
Stay tuned for further adventures in this emerging post Covid-19 world with the Dining Duo. Also, stay safe and healthy!
Have comments or restaurant suggestions for the Dining Duo? Send them an email at thediningduo@gmail.com
