Recon Mission 8/24/07 and an Hommage to Raymond Carver

Silvio and I had just finished an unsuccessful fishing trip out at the city lake. After a couple strikes of lightening and a rash of chiggers we decided to cut our outing short. Starved and sunburned we headed to the Bamboo Hut for some fried gizzards and baked potatoes. Upon finishing our Styrofoam cups of beer, we ashed our Viceroys and came in from the parking lot. I stuffed a pint of "Cutty" in my coat pocket to mix with our waters while we ate.

The Hut's an institution. It's located off the old highway 40 where as a kid I used to make spending money by stealing wire-spoked hubcaps from indifferent Cutlass Supremes, Delta 88s and Le Sabres parked in the gravel lots of the roadhouses.

After Silvio grabbed us a table in the far corner, I quickly ordered two beers and two waters with swizzle sticks. Sil asked the waitress if she knew his mom and dad and she said, "Yes, I see your mom at Walmart almost once a week. Tell her hi from Judy." This ended up working in our favor because our Cutty and waters went unnoticed. The gizzards were fried in a loose batter that complimented the chewy meat just right.

After we finished the pint of Scotch we tipped Judy our left over cash and stopped off at the bar in front which took us on in to the rest of the night.

Hommage by General Ursus
Photo of Bamboo Hut by Silvio Dante