More from the William Ann

The comments from Marie and Dane about the beds in the William Ann reminded me of the story I meant to tell yesterday.

Many years ago I was taking a trip from Saginaw to Albuquerque.  Kansas City seemed like a good place to stop as I could eat at Arthur Bryant's BBQ and take in a Royals game.  I got lucky in that there was a Drury Inn right across the interstate from the Kauffman Stadium.

I walked into the office and the woman behind the desk is staring out into space and there is drool running from her lip to the desktop.  When she finally noticed me she was mortified.  I'm told there is only one non-smoking room left.  I take the room because the place is so convenient to the stadium.  The woman hands me the key and says the bed is on the right when I enter the room.

The bed is on the right?  That's a little strange.  How hard can it be to find a bed in a motel room? 

I go to the room, open the door, and step inside.  There's a wall to the right but no bed.  To my left is an unstocked bar.  Down the hallway, in the room, there are two bathrooms.  There's a full kitchen, a conference table that seats twelve and a smaller table.  No bed that I could see.

At this point I'm totally confused.  Why was I given the conference room?  Where was the bed?  I went back to the office to inquire about the location of the bed.  Seeing the confused look on my face the formerly drooling woman comes down to the room to find the bed.  In my initial visit, overwhelmed by the bar, kitchen and conference table, I had not noticed that the wall to the right was only half a wall.  Hidden away behind the half-wall was the bed.

That was by far the largest motel room I've ever stayed in.  Arthur Bryant's was delicious and filling.  See their short movie, Don't Forget My Fries for a glimpse of the awesomeness.  The baseball game was awful.  The Twins beat the Royals 11-1.  Johnny Damon played for the Royals but all I remember from the game was the Royals starting pitcher getting shelled and the guy sitting in front of me going on and on about how much he liked "that 'Butterfly Kisses' song".

Comments

[Dane]

The drooling lady, the bizarrely large room, and the Butterfly Kisses song (*shudder*) thing all made me laugh. That room must have seemed surreal.

[Joe]

Surreal is a good description. Plus it was a long walk to the bathroom in the middle of the night.

[Cheryl]

Holy cow - that's a plate of meat and fries! Calvin Trillin has always spoken highly of Arthur Bryant's. Hope this link works...
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0374524173/ref=sib_dp_srch_pop?v=search-inside&keywords=bryant&go.x=0&go.y=0&go=Go!

Guess you slept on a hide-a-bed in the Drury Inn. (hahahahaha)

[Joe]

It was exactly like that video. There must have been at least a pound of delicious BBQ. The biker dude in line behind me asked if I was going to eat the whole thing. I had to shrug my shoulders and say I'd give it a try. Have you ever eaten there?

P.S. If you look up tonight you'll see me flying over.