Prologue:
- Hungry and full
- Bubbly and simmered
- Excited yet calm
- In love with food and life
1. Adventure Time!
Our tour guide was the kindness human imaginable and told us, "You know, Johnny Depp once lived here!" He told us all about how part of Johnny Depp's house was now available to rent on Air B&B, and Josey and I looked at each other eagerly thinking, "I wonder how cheap that is now in the middle of the pandemic? Hmmmm...."
We thought of all the things we could do in the midst of the Pandemic if they were done right and how maybe, if no one was going to Disney World, we could go and be the only ones there and have the whole park to ourselves! Imagine! What a magical world it would be. Josey also brainstormed how she could bring trick-or-treating to the kids in her neighborhood or at least her friend and family circle if we are still under quarantine during Halloween. Then, we finished our tour, received our complimentary souvenir (a super awesome Museum of the Weird poster), and went on our way.
By that time our stomachs were growling, so we walked a few minutes down the road to the less spooky Voodoo Doughnuts. If you're not familiar, Voodoo Doughnuts makes things like this:
- Old Dirty Bastard (Raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting, Oreo cookies, and peanut butter).
- Chuckles (Raised yeast doughnut with chocolate frosting dipped in hot chocolate powder and topped with peanuts and caramel and chocolate drizzle)
- Portland Cream© (Raised yeast shell filled with Bavarian cream and topped with chocolate and two eyeballs, representing the vision of the great city of Portland)
- Maple Cream (Raised yeast shell filled with Bavarian cream and topped with maple frosting, a set of eyes, and a mustache)
- Voodoo Doll © (Raised yeast doughnut filled with raspberry jelly topped with chocolate frosting and a pretzel stake)
- Apple Fritter (Fried dough with apple chunks and cinnamon covered in a glaze)
But it had been so long since I had been blessed with a raised glaze donut, so I felt obligated to get it. And I did not regret it. Sometimes the simple things in life like a basic glaze donut are the best things in life. Eating glazed donuts takes me back to being with my now deceased grandmother when we'd take her grocery shopping at H-E-B and I was allowed to pick a donut out at the bakery and usually ate it while we were shopping.
We couldn't eat there (nor did we want to), so we headed back to the car to drive home to the hotel. Realizing that it was lunch time and we should maybe at least try to eat something else before the donuts, we stopped at Subway and picked up a couple sandwiches. Because I was vegan for two years before the pandemic, I had not been to Subway in a long time. Hungry with mouths watering and theatre energy shining bright, Josey and I were like two kids in a candy store as we described what we wanted on our sandwiches to the Sandwich Artist. "Before we get started," he warned, "we are out of Turkey." My heart smiled because all I wanted right then and there was Oven Roasted Chicken Breast toasted on 9-grain honey oat wheat bread with no cheese, add spinach, tomatoes, pickles, olives, onions, and mustard. He grabbed the bread, meat, and stuck it in the toaster. "I like ya'll," he said, "Ya'll are fun." "Thank you! We like you too!" We laughed at our ridiculousness apologizing, "Sorry we're being so weird, we're just SO hungry!" Once the sandwiches were toasted he again warned, "Before we begin" (I held my breath waiting for him to tell me he was out of everything I wanted), "let me go grab you all some fresh veggies. It was clear that they had either not been busy or had been very busy but these veggies had been sitting out for a while so he left with the current bins and returned with fresh veggies to make our sandwiches.
Next, he asked what veggies we wanted on our sandwiches and I spoke like a villain concocting a draft of the world's deadliest potion, "I want lots and lots of Spinach . . . Yeeeeessssss, and tomatoes . . . yeeeeees yesss yess" he mimed me putting my finger tips together as if making my evil plan and we laughed. "Man, you must get a lot of weird customers," I said. "Yeah, I hear people say some weird stuff," he said. "I bet you do," I said. "They look so pretty!" I said, admiring the fresh tomatoes he brought out just for us. "I get that a lot. People always tell me how pretty the sandwiches look and how I do such a great job." "You do!" Josey and I both chimed. "You really are a sandwich artist," I said. "That is my title," he blushed. Josey asked him if he made art (outside of sandwiches) and he said, "No, but I do magic" and we both gasped and said "REALLY!?" leaping for joy. "No, I'm just joking," he said. "Awww. . ." we sighed in disappointment. "Maybe we just see the magic and artist inside of you!" Josey said. "And maybe the only way it can be expressed right now is through sandwiches!" I said. "Ya'll are cool," he said, "Most people don't talk to me because they think I look too scary."
This shook me. I stopped laughing and joking and I looked at him. Really looked at him. I thought about how I would treat him if I saw him walking in the street by himself or if he approached me outside while I was alone. It really made me stop and think about all the fear constantly instilled in me and how my parents beg me never to go anywhere by myself even though they spend their lives by themselves going to and fro and like how am I supposed to do anything if I don't go by myself? Do I just stay in my house until my prince knocks on my window and takes me wherever I need to go forever? Ridiculous.
So we grabbed our sandwiches, our donuts, and headed back to the hotel to finally be able to eat (and use the restroom as no place had public bathrooms due to the pandemic). We savored our delicious food, and I relished in how wonderful this moment was. Full in more ways than one, I laid down and napped. It was a beautiful nap. A delightful nap. A rehabilitating nap. It was everything I wanted and more. No pressure from anyone to wake up. No pressure to be doing something "productive". No pressure to define naps as "bad" or "unhealthy". Just listening to my body and giving it what it needs: food, joy, friendship, and rest. What a beautiful day. I am so grateful to be alive. And God Bless Voodoo Doughnuts. Thank you, Universe!