a special breakfast (lyn)

Yesterday I buy nova thinking that this morning I will make a quick breakfast to take on the road.  That doesn't happen. Instead, four hours after going to sleep, my alarm goes off.  It's 5:15 am and Alexander and I are taking a 6:23 train to meet Val and Abbey in Stamford, and from there, driving to the Cape.  We barely have enough time to get dressed.


We meet Val and Abbey as planned.  Two hours into our trip we stop at a Dunkin Donuts.  Valerie reminds me how bad donuts are and so I watch Alexander eat his, and have only coffee.


We meet my parents at an IHOP not far from their house.  I cannot remember the last time I was in one.  We arrive at an odd time...10:30--too late for the breakfast crowd and too early for the lunch one.  It's about 90 degrees outside and 40 inside.  We are all freezing.  We ask the manager if he could please lower the AC (there is only one other group of diners in the restaurant) and he says, "I'll try," as if adjusting the AC requires approval from corporate headquarters.  But a few minutes later, the air is noticeably warmer. And a few minutes after that, we are all sweating. We say nothing.


The menus arrive and my mother excitedly points out an unanticipated surprise. "Hey everyone, look." She's found a section on the menu called 55+ SPECIALTY ENTREES. Under that heading are listed items like Senior Sampler, Senior French Toast, Simple and Fit Senior Buttermilk Pancakes (I wonder what qualifies these particular pancakes as healthy?) and something called Senior Rooty (we have no idea what this is and no one asks).  We all settle on the Senior Rise and Shine: two eggs, hash browns (which I give to my mother), bacon (which I probably haven't had since starting WeightWatchers almost two years ago), and a buttered English Muffin. The eggs are runny and the English Muffin is under-toasted.


The quality of our breakfast is not very good, but the pricing is. That's what makes it special.