Chick-fil-A Grand Opening!

When James first moved into the Nuthaus, back in February, this was happening:

Woo hoo! A Chick-fil-A! In walking distance!

Two nights ago, James and I were reading and talking in bed (actually, James was reading and I was talking) when we heard the sound of metal pipes bouncing off of concrete. Over and over. It was annoying, and it was well after 10:30, so I very seriously considered calling non-emergency police to complain about it. After all, eventually, I'd grow tired of talking and want to sleep, right?

James went out and almost the moment that he did, the sounds stopped. When he came back in, though, they started up again! His investigation that time gleaned that there were people putting up temporary awnings and tents in the Chick-fil-A parking lot. A day and a half before the grand opening, they were camping out. This is why.

They had tables set up under the tree and were playing card games. There was a "corn hole" game and football tosses going on in the middle of the lot, which had been kept cleared. There was a DJ for a while, and there were lots of people under the drive-through awning with recliners.

But you will just have to take my word for it, because I didn't notice that there was a stinking piece of landscaping in the way! :)

Now you might notice, as I did when they were building this, that there are two full drive-through lanes. Not just two order boards and one set of windows, like at the McDonald's across the street. Two standing sets of windows separated by a drive-through tunnel or breezeway or whatever you want to call it.

I theorized mightily as to how this might work. James and I discussed it, and he was, for some inexplicable reason, horrified by my idea that it might be pneumatic tubing. Then again, I think he pictured employees putting an unwrapped sandwich in the tube to be sucked to a different location, and in my head, it was an entire bag comprising one order.

One day, as James and I were walking home from the store, we got lucky! The construction workers had left the door open on the remote drive-through housing!

It's a belt system! How brilliant is that?

We'd read the "First 100" rules and so we thought we'd sneak over there early this morning and try to sign up for the raffle, but by the time we got there at 5:30ish, they'd packed up the registration materials and people were starting to pack up their tents and get ready for the opening. I was surprised at how many small children and even pretty elderly people there were.

We walked around a bit, then went back home for an hour or so. Just before 6:00, they started announcing free meal winners, and there was much rejoicing. This time, knowing what it was, I didn't mind the sleep intrusion. It was fun.

At 7:00, we walked back over to buy breakfast and the place had really cleared out. That's when I realized something I hadn't noticed before: This restaurant has no indoor dining area.

Yep, that lovely patio is it for on-site eating. Although, if you look at the lot on which it is situated, it makes sense. They really can't have families bringing kids and sitting in the dining area while kids play on the playground for hours when they only have a dozen or so parking spaces, and everywhere around here offers fun ticketing and towing.

You step up to one of three ordering windows, then your food is presented at the far left window.

Hey, you know what else is inside of that far left window?

The belt deployment system! Which we got to see in operation!

After James and I had gotten breakfast, come home, and eaten, I decided to go back to get some of these pictures. I had this idea to take my cup and ask for a refill. Which, of course, I got. Because Chick-fil-A is awesome. It's tempting to keep trying it until the ice melts, but I don't want to take advantage of their goodwill. Although they do insist that it's "my pleasure."

Now I'm wishing I'd bought a cowlendar this year, because I anticipate huge chunks of our cash going over here... especially because I'm on a salt kick and their waffle fries are marvelous. 

That's the other thing... see the white shirts? There were a lot of managers there. It appeared that everything went smoothly, and now we have another quick dining option near the Nuthaus. Of course, we prefer locally-owned, smaller restaurants, but in a pinch... well, it's Chick-fil-A. Yummy.