Saturday was my birthday. My favorite sister Helen and I celebrated with a weekend shopping trip. We went to the Houston area to shop at The Woodlands Mall and surrounding areas. We both needed to find swimsuits, but I won't go into that story now. The mall was crowded with the weekend shoppers, but toward evening limos with teenagers in prom attire started arriving. Apparently a large high school had scheduled prom at a hotel next to the mall on Saturday night. I saw more limos in that mall parking lot than I have ever seen in my entire life.
There were really no restaurants available near the mall because of the crowds, and traffic was unbelievable. That's when we made the decision to get out of Dodge. We drove north to a small town called Conroe, found a hotel and registered for the night. By this time it was 10:00 p.m., and since it was my birthday, we decided to go to Dairy Queen for a Midnight Truffle Blizzard (my favorite). A perfect ending to a long day of shopping. So we thought.
Because we were unfamiliar with the area, Helen used her navigation to look up the nearest Dairy Queen. It was only a little over three miles away, so we headed out on our quest. When the navigation voice announced that "you have arrived at your destination", Helen whipped in to order the Blizzards. We were a little perplexed because we had not arrived at a Dairy Queen at all, it was just a service station with no hint of a Dairy Queen anywhere around. Sigh.
Well, it was my birthday, and we were determined to have a little celebration. Helen searched the navigation again to see what was nearby, and to our good luck, Chick-Fil-A was only two miles away. They have great chocolate shakes, so that would be a good enough substitute for a Blizzard. A few minutes down the road, the navigation announced again, "you have arrived at your destination", and Helen whipped in to order the chocolate shakes. But there was no Chick-Fil-A. There was a...Tattoo Parlor. The navigation had failed us again. Helen suggested a birthday tattoo, but I had my heart set on ice cream.
We got back on the street and with long faces continued on our way. Not far down the street my eyes lit up when I saw the familiar Chick-Fil-A sign. Helen whipped in the drive thru to order the shakes. We eagerly waited for the order taker to come over the speaker to take the order. We sat a few minutes in silence, then Helen looked at the sign. Closed at 10:00 p.m. We exchanged looks and circled the restaurant. There were still people inside, I even saw a policeman sitting at a table. He was drinking a milkshake.
It was still my birthday. There was a strip mall right behind Chick-Fil-A, and we weren't ready to give up on the ice cream quest. The navigation wouldn't be needed for this. It had let us down twice before anyway. Helen drove around to check out the area, and there was what we were looking for, a Tutti Frutti yogurt shop. That would be great. She pulled into a parking space. I could see two men behind the counter. Just as I started to get out of the car, something on the door caught my eye, "closed at 10:00 p.m." No kidding. I closed the door. Hard.
Helen spotted a Five Guys restaurant across the parking lot. We knew they had great milkshakes because it is her son Justin's favorite burger place. So we took off. There were lots of empty parking places out front. And we soon found out why. The sign on the door said plainly, "closed at 10:00 p.m." I was starting to see a pattern.
By this time it was nearing 10:30 and we were wearing down. Time for a new plan. Helen suggested we go to McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae. I didn't even know you could order a hot fudge sundae at McDonald's, but that sounded like a great plan. I could see the golden arches from where we sat.
In a couple of minutes we were in the McDonald's drive thru ready to order. At last, I would have my birthday treat.
"Two hot fudge sundaes, please," Helen said to the order taker. A little static came back through the speaker. We waited expectantly.
"Um, we're out of fudge," came the reply.
All we could do was laugh. So what did I learn? Simply this, don't try to celebrate your birthday in Conroe, Texas, after 10:00 p.m. I'm still waiting for my ice cream.
There were really no restaurants available near the mall because of the crowds, and traffic was unbelievable. That's when we made the decision to get out of Dodge. We drove north to a small town called Conroe, found a hotel and registered for the night. By this time it was 10:00 p.m., and since it was my birthday, we decided to go to Dairy Queen for a Midnight Truffle Blizzard (my favorite). A perfect ending to a long day of shopping. So we thought.
Because we were unfamiliar with the area, Helen used her navigation to look up the nearest Dairy Queen. It was only a little over three miles away, so we headed out on our quest. When the navigation voice announced that "you have arrived at your destination", Helen whipped in to order the Blizzards. We were a little perplexed because we had not arrived at a Dairy Queen at all, it was just a service station with no hint of a Dairy Queen anywhere around. Sigh.
Well, it was my birthday, and we were determined to have a little celebration. Helen searched the navigation again to see what was nearby, and to our good luck, Chick-Fil-A was only two miles away. They have great chocolate shakes, so that would be a good enough substitute for a Blizzard. A few minutes down the road, the navigation announced again, "you have arrived at your destination", and Helen whipped in to order the chocolate shakes. But there was no Chick-Fil-A. There was a...Tattoo Parlor. The navigation had failed us again. Helen suggested a birthday tattoo, but I had my heart set on ice cream.
We got back on the street and with long faces continued on our way. Not far down the street my eyes lit up when I saw the familiar Chick-Fil-A sign. Helen whipped in the drive thru to order the shakes. We eagerly waited for the order taker to come over the speaker to take the order. We sat a few minutes in silence, then Helen looked at the sign. Closed at 10:00 p.m. We exchanged looks and circled the restaurant. There were still people inside, I even saw a policeman sitting at a table. He was drinking a milkshake.
It was still my birthday. There was a strip mall right behind Chick-Fil-A, and we weren't ready to give up on the ice cream quest. The navigation wouldn't be needed for this. It had let us down twice before anyway. Helen drove around to check out the area, and there was what we were looking for, a Tutti Frutti yogurt shop. That would be great. She pulled into a parking space. I could see two men behind the counter. Just as I started to get out of the car, something on the door caught my eye, "closed at 10:00 p.m." No kidding. I closed the door. Hard.
Helen spotted a Five Guys restaurant across the parking lot. We knew they had great milkshakes because it is her son Justin's favorite burger place. So we took off. There were lots of empty parking places out front. And we soon found out why. The sign on the door said plainly, "closed at 10:00 p.m." I was starting to see a pattern.
By this time it was nearing 10:30 and we were wearing down. Time for a new plan. Helen suggested we go to McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae. I didn't even know you could order a hot fudge sundae at McDonald's, but that sounded like a great plan. I could see the golden arches from where we sat.
In a couple of minutes we were in the McDonald's drive thru ready to order. At last, I would have my birthday treat.
"Two hot fudge sundaes, please," Helen said to the order taker. A little static came back through the speaker. We waited expectantly.
"Um, we're out of fudge," came the reply.
All we could do was laugh. So what did I learn? Simply this, don't try to celebrate your birthday in Conroe, Texas, after 10:00 p.m. I'm still waiting for my ice cream.
There were really no restaurants available near the mall because of the crowds, and traffic was unbelievable. That's when we made the decision to get out of Dodge. We drove north to a small town called Conroe, found a hotel and registered for the night. By this time it was 10:00 p.m., and since it was my birthday, we decided to go to Dairy Queen for a Midnight Truffle Blizzard (my favorite). A perfect ending to a long day of shopping. So we thought.
Because we were unfamiliar with the area, Helen used her navigation to look up the nearest Dairy Queen. It was only a little over three miles away, so we headed out on our quest. When the navigation voice announced that "you have arrived at your destination", Helen whipped in to order the Blizzards. We were a little perplexed because we had not arrived at a Dairy Queen at all, it was just a service station with no hint of a Dairy Queen anywhere around. Sigh.
Well, it was my birthday, and we were determined to have a little celebration. Helen searched the navigation again to see what was nearby, and to our good luck, Chick-Fil-A was only two miles away. They have great chocolate shakes, so that would be a good enough substitute for a Blizzard. A few minutes down the road, the navigation announced again, "you have arrived at your destination", and Helen whipped in to order the chocolate shakes. But there was no Chick-Fil-A. There was a...Tattoo Parlor. The navigation had failed us again. Helen suggested a birthday tattoo, but I had my heart set on ice cream.
We got back on the street and with long faces continued on our way. Not far down the street my eyes lit up when I saw the familiar Chick-Fil-A sign. Helen whipped in the drive thru to order the shakes. We eagerly waited for the order taker to come over the speaker to take the order. We sat a few minutes in silence, then Helen looked at the sign. Closed at 10:00 p.m. We exchanged looks and circled the restaurant. There were still people inside, I even saw a policeman sitting at a table. He was drinking a milkshake.
It was still my birthday. There was a strip mall right behind Chick-Fil-A, and we weren't ready to give up on the ice cream quest. The navigation wouldn't be needed for this. It had let us down twice before anyway. Helen drove around to check out the area, and there was what we were looking for, a Tutti Frutti yogurt shop. That would be great. She pulled into a parking space. I could see two men behind the counter. Just as I started to get out of the car, something on the door caught my eye, "closed at 10:00 p.m." No kidding. I closed the door. Hard.
Helen spotted a Five Guys restaurant across the parking lot. We knew they had great milkshakes because it is her son Justin's favorite burger place. So we took off. There were lots of empty parking places out front. And we soon found out why. The sign on the door said plainly, "closed at 10:00 p.m." I was starting to see a pattern.
By this time it was nearing 10:30 and we were wearing down. Time for a new plan. Helen suggested we go to McDonald's for a hot fudge sundae. I didn't even know you could order a hot fudge sundae at McDonald's, but that sounded like a great plan. I could see the golden arches from where we sat.
In a couple of minutes we were in the McDonald's drive thru ready to order. At last, I would have my birthday treat.
"Two hot fudge sundaes, please," Helen said to the order taker. A little static came back through the speaker. We waited expectantly.
"Um, we're out of fudge," came the reply.
All we could do was laugh. So what did I learn? Simply this, don't try to celebrate your birthday in Conroe, Texas, after 10:00 p.m. I'm still waiting for my ice cream.
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