Thursday, January 03, 2008
The Last Krystal Thursday
| In about an hour I will be leaving Wilmington for a short trip. I will be headed down to the Krystal in Murrell's Inlet. While under most circumstances, a road trip for Krystals would be a happy occasion. Today's trip will be a sad one. Today's trip will be the last "Krystal Thursday" for me. Almost 18 1/2 years ago when I first starting going to Krystal on Thursday I never even imagined that 18 years later my Thursdays would still be filled with that delicious taste. I've been doing Krystal Thursdays for over half my life now. I wouldn't even venture a guess at how many Krystals I have eaten in that time. When I made the decision to leave Macon and move to Burgatory (Wilmington) I knew that might be the beginning of the end. I felt I had come to a workable solution by freezing sackfuls of Krystals for later defrosting and eating. They are good, but not even close to as good as fresh Krystals. That allowed me to survive, but not thrive. To be honest, Krystal Thursday is not any fun anymore. I don't have 10 stores in a 20 miles radius to choose from. Murrell's Inlet is my closest store at roughly 2 hours away. Krystal Thursday is now work, and can be stressful at times. I have missed more Krystal Thursdays since I moved here 6 months ago than I did in the previous 10 years. My teaching schedule this coming semester also does not lend itself to Krystal Thursday. I can no longer do "Krystal Thursday" the justice it deserves, so I have decided it is time to put it to rest. The past few trips back to Krystal Kountry confirmed that it's not really the food, but it's the people. I have met many wonderful people over the years. Many have worked for Krystal and many have joined me there. But when you are staring at your microwave in your kitchen on a Thursday evening, watching 3 week old frozen Krystals go round and round, you start to get the feeling that maybe it's gone too far. I have not mentioned this here before, but prior to leave Macon I had finally perfected making my own Krystals at home. If I absolutely had to, I could make my own. It does tend to give the place onion aroma that lingers for days, though. While being able to make my own Krystals is a unique experience, it really only serves to remind me of what I am missing. Or more specifically, who I am missing. On my long Christmas road trip I ate 7 times in 5 different Krystals and they all more or less confirmed it: even more than Krystal's food, I miss "The Krystal Experience" I have spoken to a few people about this since Thanksgiving and I know the questions that people are prone to ask. Let me address those briefly before I head out on my own trail of tears. First of all I am NOT swearing off Krystals. I will chow down on them any time I possibly can. I may start making monthly trips to Murrell's Inlet for my own "Square Off." Those trips won't be possible on Thursdays. But at least they'll quality as "Krystal Adventures." Second, if a Krystal does open in or near Wilmington then you can bet your bottom dollar Krystal Thursdays will resume. Depending on the timing I may be one of those nuts who camps out in front of the store for the opening. This is not, however, some twisted ultimatum to try and get Krystal to put a store here. I know and trust everyone I have met from Krystal HQ and I believe they will look out for what is best for Krystal. If that does not include a Wilmington store, then so be it. Third, I don't have any plans to start a new Thursday tradition. Or any day tradition. Wilmington has many many great places to eat, but nothing I have felt such a strong connection to as Krystal. Though if they set of a Central Park hamburgers, around here I may have to change my mind. I'm not sure you can understand how hard this will be for me, but then if you've been around here for a while maybe you do. And no I can't even contemplate on what the end of Krystal Thursday means for the future of this blog. I'll jump off one bridge at a time.  |
Labels: Macon, Onions, Wilmington
