The Travelin' Grampa
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The Travelin’ Grampa Touring the U.S.A. without an automobile Focus on safe, fast, convenient, comfortable, cheap travel, via public transit. Vol. 12, No. 9 September 2019 Photo credit: Twitter, Popeyes Chicken. Photo credit: Andrew Horne, Wikipedia. Left: Popeyes new chicken sandwich. Right: MTA light rail train Grampa rode to Popeyes in downtown Baltimore. Transit takes travelers to tasty chicken sandwiches Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen fast food chain introduced a spicy chicken sandwich last month. Either because of unanticipated demand or insufficient supply, more than 3,000 of its restaurants quickly posted a notice saying, “We apologize that this location is out of chicken sandwiches.” What followed was a genuine surge in demand it couldn’t keep up with. It had plenty of chicken. What ran out were its brioche sandwich buns. Weeks later, Popeyes’ HQ tweeted, “Try our new BYOB! … bring your own bun.” Frankly, Grampa prefers Wendy’s crispy chicken sandwich, minus mayo, add tomato, partly because two Wendy’s are a short transit bus ride from his residence. He also enjoys Chick-fil-A sandwiches, too, at the Columbia, Md., shopping mall. It’s close to where #203, #305, #310, #315, #320 and #325 MTA commuter buses stop, as do local Howard Transit #401, #405, #406, #407, #408 and #501 buses. Howard Transit’s #408 bus goes to/from the mall and Trader Joe’s on Lark Brown Road. Here, you can get a delicious breaded chicken tenderloin breast and cool, spicy slaw on a toasted bagel, garnished with sriracha mayo and spicy pickle chips. MTA #320 commuter bus stops not too far away. Let’s also not forget the Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Crispy Colonel Sandwich – and Burger King’s that come in three styles: spicy, crispy, or juicy. Photo credit: Allegheny County Port Authority Transit; Wendy’s; Howard Transit; Chick-fil-A. L to Rt: Pittsburgh #61C bus, that Grampa rode often, stopped near a Wendy’s on Liberty Avenue. Wendy’s spicy fried chicken sandwich. Howard Transit bus stops at Columba Mall in Howard County, Md., where Chick-Fil-A serves a tasty chicken sandwich Grampa enjoys. Chick-fil-A is the original fast food restaurant fried chicken sandwich. 1 . FAST FOOD & PUBLIC TRANSPORTT . Photo credits: Burger King; Kentucky Fried Chicken; Trader Joe’s. Left: Burger King chicken sandwich. Center: Kentucky Fried Chicken’s Crispy Colonel Sandwich. Right: Trader Joe’s breaded chicken tenderloin breast and spicy slaw on a toasted bagel, garnished with sriracha mayo and pickle chips. Popeyes got its start in New Orleans suburb Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen got its start in 1973 in Arabi, a town near New Orleans. Grampa remembers when this fast food chain’s name was Popeyes Mighty Good Chicken and later Popeyes Chicken & Biscuits. Still later, it became Popeyes Famous Fried Chicken & Biscuits. The first Popeyes, on Claiborne Ave., was destroyed during Hurricane Katrina and never rebuilt*. Not far away, however, is a Popeyes at 8450 West Judge Perez Drive in adjacent Chalmette. Arabi and Chalmette are in St. Bernard Parish (county), adjacent to New Orleans. St. Bernard Parish Visitor Center is Old Arabi. So are as a sugar museum, planetarium, children's science center, and the site of a proposed wetlands museum. St. Bernard Urban Rapid Transit, aka SBURT, is the local bus system. New Orleans Regional Transit Authority, aka NORTA, bus route #88 connects with SBURT’s Aycock bus line. NORTA senior fare: 40¢ per ride; SBURT 50¢. * This was founder Al Copeland’s second try at selling fried chicken. First was across the street on Claiborne Ave. Named Chicken on the Run, it was a flop, trying to sell conventional, not spicy, fried chicken. Popeyes didn’t get name from Popeye cartoon character Founder Alvin C. “Big Al” Copeland said he named his first Popeyes restaurant after hearing an exclamatory sentence in a movie. With a sign painter coming the next day and no name yet selected, Copeland was in a theater watching The French Connation, starring Gene Hackman, who, as a New York City detective named Jimmy “Popeye” Doyle, bursts into a barroom shouting, “Everybody hit the wall! Popeye’s here!” Copeland said the fireworks-like excitement of those last two words precisely described his feeling about opening his new restaurant. Years later, because so many people identified Popeyes with Popeye, for 35 years he paid King Features Syndicate for the rights to use the Popeye the Sailor cartoon character in Popeyes’ advertising and promotions. Popeyes stopped doing so in 2006. For more: https://youtu.be/o3qcR5KzMVQ Photo credits: © Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen, Inc., and © King Features Syndicate Inc.; McDonald’s Corp.; Left: For 35 years, Popeyes fast food business paid King Features Syndicate for rights to use Popeye the Sailor cartoon character. It stopped in 2006. Right: McDonald's BBQ Chicken Tenders and new spicy BBQ chicken sandwich. 2 . FAST FOOD & PUBLIC TRANSPORTT . Photo credits: rwcar4; Flickr; Jess D, San Francisco, Yelp!., Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen Inc. Left: Southeastern Pennsylvania Transportation Authority (SEPTA) Route #113 bus stops in front Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen restaurant (center) on 69th Street in Upper Darby, Pa., a Philadelphia suburb. Grampa eats there infrequently. Right: Popeyes’ posted notice says: “We apologize that this location is out of chicken sandwiches.” Wendy’s spicy chicken sandwich claims first place Soon after Chick-fil-A and Popeyes began feuding on Twitter over which has a better chicken sandwich, Wendy’s tweeted, “Y’all out here fighting about which of these fools has the second-best chicken sandwich.” Obviously, Wendy’s was hinting it has first best. “A juicy, lightly breaded chicken breast marinated and breaded in our unique, fiery blend of peppers and spices topped with Applewood smoked bacon, lettuce, tomato, muenster cheese, cool buttermilk ranch and creamy avocado,” is how Wendy’s describes it. “Best thing to happen to the BLT since abbreviations,” its tweet declares. Frankly, Grampa prefers Wendy’s bargain price Value Menu non-spicy crispy chicken sandwich, minus mayo, add tomato. But its spicy ones do have nicer-looking and better tasting buns. Photo credits: Twitter, Dodge City Petro; Jeff Miler Time, FourSquare.com; Bryan M, Yelp! Popeye’s Louisiana Kitchen fast food establishments that are Greyhound bus stops include (left) in Cullman, Alabama, at Highway 157 & St. Joseph Drive, and (center) North Haven, Connecticut, at 177 Washington Ave. At right is Popeyes Louisiana Kitchen fast food restaurant at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Airport. Alabama bus stop Cullman Popeyes apologizes for shortage Last October, Popeyes on Highway 157 in Cullman, Alabama, became a Greyhound Bus stop with much fanfare, including a ribbon cutting by the town’s mayor. Last month, it and parent Petro Dodge City Popeyes, in neighboring Dodge City, were among about 3,000 Popeyes saying they ran out of a newly introduced chicken sandwich. “We at Petro Dodge City and Popeyes in Cullman hate this more than you,” they tweeted: “We will notify all when we are back in stock. …We appreciate your patronage.” Chick-fil-A introduced a fried chicken sandwich in the 1940s Chick-fil-A* claims it invented the fried chicken sandwich in the 1940s. It’s basically a boneless breast of chicken seasoned with a spicy blend of peppers, hand-breaded, pressure cooked in 100% peanut oil and served on a toasted, buttered bun with dill pickle chips. Chick-fil-A offers a half-dozen varieties, including: regular fried, deluxe fried, spicy fried, spicy deluxe fried, grilled, and grilled club. A gluten- free bun or multigrain bun is available at a slightly higher price. * fil-A is fillet spelled as spoken. 3 . FAST FOOD & PUBLIC TRANSPORTT . Photo credit: Baird and Warner via Chicago-L.org. Entrance stairway to Northwestern Elevated Railroad is in foreground left in this picture circa 1908, when its tracks were extended to Evanston. In 1909, famous architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed an Arcade Building here. In 1922, this was torn down, replaced in 1923 by the current Uptown Station structure, aka the Gerber Building. CTA Wilson ‘L’ station now more rider-friendly Chicago Transit Authority (CTA)’s Wilson “L” station has come a long way since opening as “Uptown Station” at Wilson Ave. & Evanston Ave. (now Broadway) in May 1900. The station has undergone a $203-million transformation from dingy, cramped, dimly-lit place into an attractive, modern, well-lit and over-all rider friendly station. Fully accessible to riders with disabilities, it now has senior- friendly escalators, Braille signage, elevators accommodating wheelchairs, security cameras, and even some goofy modernistic artwork. New glass boarding platform canopies better protect against rain and snow, while improving daytime visibility. Additional turnstiles speed entering and exiting. New visual displays provide real-time train and bus arrival information. More than 2,200 feet of century-old tracks were replaced to enable seamless transfer between CTA Red Line and Purple Line Express trains. Boarding platforms were enlarged to eliminate, or at least reduce, crowding, while making easier boarding/deboarding of north- and south-bound trains. Wilson station reconstruction is part of an ambitious CTA $1-billion so-called “Red Ahead” program to modernize and expand the Red Line, Chicago’s most-traveled railway line. The station now has three entrances. Two are on south and north sides of Wilson Avenue. A third is on Sunnyside Ave. For more: https://youtu.be/UNCCRDkfqps CTA also has a new 95th Street-Dan Ryan terminal Under construction since 2014, this is the end of the line for Red Line trains. Plans have been laid to extend the tracks south to 130th Street, adding four more stations. Work might begin in 2022, if CTA can find an estimated $2.3-billion funding.