Monday March 27th, 2017
We had a relatively quiet night on the hook by the North bridge at Fort Pierce. The current changes with the tide and we flop North and South with the current. The anchorage holds fairly well in a black mud bottom. This time we anchored very near the floating sign. They’ve taken an old sailboat and mounted a billboard. A good idea I guess although for the life of me I can’t remember the restaurants name.
In the morning we checked with Harbortown Marina to see if we could get a dock for the week and regroup and perhaps get the engine exhaust fixed a little better for our last week before they lift Fracas the week of April 10. We fly back to Canada on the 14th of April.
Harbortown is a closed lagoon so no current to speak of and the wind was down. This made docking Fracas relatively easy. She is still a pig to maneuver in close quarters but we didn’t hit anything we didn’t plan to hit. We can have the slip until Saturday and hope to have it a few days longer as my birthday is Saturday and I will be as old as dirt that day.
We did typical things when first ashore. We had real showers. We had lunch in the restaurant because that was also much needed. Usually when we have a lunch like that we just have snacks or nibbles for dinner. After that Mangos suggested we go to Wendy’s for Frostys. I’ve never had a frosty chocolate or otherwise but a walk would be good so what the hey.
The particular Wendy’s is the Taylor Creek location here in Fort Pierce and I have the store number for my complaint. When we entered we went to the line. There were only two customers ahead and they were together. The server was engaged in conversation with this person as she was a friend, lover or cousin. This went on and on. You know how time seems to slow down from time to time. When you call an ambulance it seems like hours when it is minutes… This seemed like hours but it was 10 minutes. Ten minutes in a line with two customers who were ordering.
We were blatantly ignored. The apparent in charge person floated through and took part in this repartee and the group ignoring that was taking place. I had been observing the menu board and the frostys were prominently displayed, chocolate and vanilla. I was thinking vanilla. Then the family reunion was finished and he said “may I help you”?
Oh, we don’t have Frostys. Karen Mango decided to engage in a lesson in customer service and questioned why we had been ignored and why they didn’t have Frostys as clearly identified on the menu board above and why we had waited an interminable 10 minutes just to find out they got no Frostys.
It seems I was wrong about who was in charge. I mistakenly thought the guy wearing the Buzz Lightyear headset was in charge. It seems that the young lady who was manning or young ladying the window was in charge. Very quickly she did her best to tell us “it’s not our fault”. Karen wanted a sales slip to get the store number because we were going to escalate this travesty. “Why are you going to complain, it’s not our fault” she kept insisting.
We learned that the vanilla machine was broken and had been for a indeterminate time. The chocolate machine wasn’t running because someone would have to make Frostys and then likely clean the machine at the end of shift. Perhaps that’s the real reason they got no Frostys. If you don’t want to clean the machine simply put a not available at this location on the menu board over the ‘less delicious as time goes on’ Frostys.
We wanted nothing else but Frostys from this location. While Karen was engaged in the line up and waiting for the staff to notice us, I went over to the counter and filled my pockets with napkins. This is a practice that is done by all cruisers who are worth their salt. Paper products are expensive in the Bahamas and the Islands so you scrounge for them and you judiciously use them. Captain Rick taught me how to tear them into sections so one napkin will do for a meal for 8.
We left the Wendy’s in a huff, a loud feisty huff. Discussion (ranting) continued as we walked away. ‘When what to our wondering eyes did appear’ a PUBLIX grocery that was quite near… In the the publix we went straight to the frozen section and grabbed a box of four drum sticks (caramel). We got to the cash and the clerk asked if we wanted a bag… not likely. The life expectancy of a drum stick was quite short this night so no bag required. Turned out ML didn’t want a drum stick so John Mango got two, which he ate before I finished my one.
more later