I had a hankering for a milkshake. I don't know what came over me. Probably some sort of misinterpreted malnutrition combined with nostalgia for readily-available junk food that came with living in college. Whatever it was, an uncontrollable desire for milkshake took hold of me, so I collected what little cash I had and headed out.
Suddenly, as I walked out the door and the warm air hit me, the milkshake that had been haunting my appetite transformed into a hot dog. Every other day I walk by the hot dog stand on the way to class, and each time I hold my wallet close and walk on, knowing that the two dollars cash I have to serve a higher purpose and if I saved it I wouldn't be sorry. My foresight finally payed off, it seemed, until I approached the hot dog stand's regular territory on Glebe St. Empty. It hadn't occurred to me, but apparently the stand isn't on campus on Thursdays, least not as far as I found.
My stomach panicked. As far as it was concerned, there was only one thing left on earth that could satiate me was a hot dog from that stand. I'm completely sure there's lot of hot dog places around town, but in my mind there was only one place that would do. I started to wander around, barefoot in the heat (because I always take off my shoes when my plans are foiled), wondering what to do.
Then, while I was walking east down Wentworth, I slowly recalled the original purpose of my quest. A milkshake! But this provided an even worse problem than I had thought about when I stepped out the door: Not only do I have no idea where one can buy a milkshake in Charleston, let alone where for under two dollars. Some dazed mental detective work told me, however, that the last time my family visited, we passed some fast food joints on Meeting. Maybe, just maybe, if I head far enough north I'll find something.
Walking the length of the peninsula isn't exactly an odyssey, but it's still a good long stroll, especially when you don't know how far you're going and your body is whining for sweets. Somewhere past Mary there was a pulverized dead animal on the side of the road, and I remember thinking it smelled really good. I also noticed I was talking to myself in the weirdest accent. Obviously I was going crazy so I started walking a little faster to get wherever the food was sooner.
This may come across as a bit racialist but something became immediately apparent when I finally did find the restaurants I remembered. The moment I saw Church's Chicken across the road from KFC, I realized that everyone around me was black. As far as I'm concerned, race is an artificial distinction, but clearly my ideals don't pertain to Charleston. This was seriously the black neighborhood. But anyway, looking into the horizon, there was nothing else in sight, so I knew I wouldn't be getting my milkshake today.
Walking back was a bit facepalm "duh" moment for me. When I got to Spring, I noticed I was next to a nice big Piggly Wiggly. I live a bit off Morris and all this time I've been shopping at Harris Teeter because I thought it was the closest grocery store. Well whatever. I'm big on the pig so I decided to at least go in and get myself one of those cards they give out to customers. The Pig Card, it's called in their case. Well, once I was in there it seemed like a good idea to at least look for some ice cream, which is pretty close to milkshakes, but nothing was particularly cheap so I was about to go until something amazing caught my eye. Hidden in an odd shelf between beer, salmon fillets, and Swiss cheese, sat a nice little display of Dr. Brown's sodas, and at the very bottom was a brilliant product I had never heard of before: Dr. Brown's Cel-Ray celery soda. Even as my body still longed for either a hot dog or a milkshake, my pride couldn't let me leave the store without purchasing this odd new find. No flavor, no matter how vegetable, can challenge my adventurous sense of culinary courage, so I forfeited my two dollars and bought a can of Cel-Ray and some cream soda I love.
If you want to try it, it's not bad. It's weird, kind of like a sugar-coated salad, but it is a soda and it's not like there's any textural issue. It's just celery flavored water except really sweet. There's probably some sort of cultural aspect about it that I don't get, but to me it's just another too-sugary drink. On the other hand, it has opened me up to the possibilities of celery seed flavor. If I ever work up the income to cook regularly I'll have to try it.
Not much else happened today. I studied and worked on my papers, and attended a presentation on Jews in the Roman empire for extra credit. I noticed that they had open bottles of wine for you to serve yourself, and after the fact I was kind of ashamed of myself for not taking some. Yuki also attended the presentation and we agreed that the entire presentation was kind of silly and didn't really express its point very well, even if it was well supported.
Finally, while I was at the presentation, Robert made a video. It's so brilliant I'm actually going to share it here.
