heidi

    Tuesday, November 14, 2000 was the last night of my volleyball career for college. My mother had come from Logan and my husband was there to cheer me on. To celebrate our victory over Boise State, my mother, Jill took my husband, Ryan, and I out to Applebee's to eat afterwards. Ryan and I drove the truck over and played around on the icy roads while we waited for mom to catch up to us.
     When we got there, we asked for a table close to the bar so that we could watch the basketball game that was on. New York and Seattle were playing, and while we were waiting for our waitress one of the other waitresses began to let the air out of the balloons, that hadn't been given out to children during the day. We were sitting at one of the tall tables near the bar and our waitress, Deborah came to help us. She is a very strange lady and if you have ever had her before, you know that she likes to talk. She will tell you that she is going back to school and studying zoology. She wants to study gorillas. She told us all about how she wanted to go to Africa and study the gorillas, and on and on, until I thought that I was going to explode with gorilla talk. She finally took our order and we continued to watch the basketball game.
     During our stay the bartender rang out the small bell and called out for the last call on drinks. Applebee's has a bar, but if is also a friendly place for families with or without small children. The music that is played there usually is something that everyone will enjoy. It usually is played quietly so that it won't disturb people who would like to talk, or others that are watching the tv's that are around the restaurant. The walls are covered with odds and ends of things. There are pictures of famous people, and cartoon characters. There are also road signs and license plates on the walls from other states. We were sitting at the second table in, when you first walk in and toward the bar on your left. The tables and stools are tall and well built to accommodate for both comfort and for longer and shorter legged people. Around the table stand, was a foot rest that was perhaps built for shorter legs because my mother was able to sit comfortably at the tables without her back aching because her legs couldn't reach the foot rest around the stools. While on the other hand, the stools have a foot rest slightly lower than the tables allowing my husband and I to have a comfortable seat.
     I had ordered kiwi lemonade, and my husband had a coke, while my mother just had water. I love the flavored lemonades, and if you like something somewhat sweet with a little different taste to it, I would recommend the kiwi lemonade. They also have some other flavor that everyone loves, like strawberry, raspberry, and a few others. One of the new ones is peach and I was half tempted to try it, but I decided to stick with something that I knew I liked.
     We had ordered buffalo chicken wings as an appetizer. These chicken wings aren't too hot and they are quite good. The best way to have them is by asking for a little extra sauce to be put on them. Even though they are somewhat already saucy, a little more can't hurt, plus they are a little more moist with extra sauce. Chicken can dry out when it's cooked, so it's nice to have some more sauce with the wings because they are so small to start with, and you don't want to eat something that doesn't taste good, or that is a disappointment. The wings also come with celery sticks and a side of blue cheese dressing for dipping the wings in. If you don't usually like the blue cheese dressing, you should maybe try it out on the wings anyway, and if you still don't like it, either order some ranch or just eat the wings plain. If you haven't ever tried the wings, or haven't tried them with blue cheese dressing, I would advise you to try it. I don't usually like blue cheese dressing, but I enjoy eating Applebee's wings with it.
     They have an assortment of items to choose from to eat, from steak to salads and soups. They also have some really good desserts. When my waitress found out that I was celebrating the last game of my volleyball career, she went to the kitchen and brought me out a strawberry cheesecake, and congratulated me. It was a very good dessert, and I would recommend it to anyone that enjoys cheesecake.
     A drawback that you may encounter there might be, that you get the same waitress we had. Sometimes it's nice to listen to what others are doing in their lives, but it kind of gets on your nerves when you just want to order and get your food. If you're not as personal as Deborah, you might be annoyed by her. Some of the other waitresses might be the same, but we have had Deborah on several occasions, and she has talked our ears off more than once.
     Other than that one small drawback, Applebee's is a restaurant that has something for everyone. It is the kind of restaurant that you can go to either dressed up, or just in you casual wear. All of its items are priced reasonably, and the food is great. They have delicious desserts and great lemonades. I don't drink so I couldn't tell you much about the alcoholic drinks, but it does have a bar, tables and booths, and it has an enjoyable atmosphere about it. For me, one of my favorite parts about it is, that as you are leaving they have a basket full of peppermint candies. I love them, and they are a nice way to end dinner.