“Do you want to go for a drive today?” I asked my partner/wife
“Yes, where to?” she responded.
I didn’t know and was surprised at her suggestion: “Let’s go to Weyburn for Kentucky Fried Chicken.’’
There is a story behind my surprise.
Friends of ours often do a Sunday drive to Weyburn for the colonel’s best served in a buffet.
That surprised us but it’s their business and their dollar. When I questioned him about it he said the Weyburn KFC is like the old recipe that made the colonel famous for that finger-lickin’ taste.
We were going to put his claim to the test.
It was early afternoon when we arrived and ordered at the busy store.
The Weyburn store has the only all-day, all-you-can-eat KFC buffet in Canada. Six years ago when the head honchos at KFC wanted to close the buffet, the community protested and even rallied the premier behind it until KFC relented.
The buffet looked interesting … tossed salad, jello, pickles, coleslaw, pasta salad, mashed or deep fried potatoes, biscuits and gravy and, of course, chicken.
I took a wing and drum stick. My partner glared at the back pieces left but the smiling attendant asked what she wanted.
“Drumsticks.”
She got them.
We immediately realized our friends were right. This chicken wasn’t greasy and was cooked just right. We went back for more and were offered drumsticks — no extra cost like in Moose Jaw.
The chicken reminded me of my bachelor days when I’d sleep in on a winter Saturday and order a bucket of KFC for my weekend dining.
And we noticed the second a customer left a table, someone was there with a mop and cloth to clean up. No food left on the floor like some places.
We were quite happy with the decision to try the KFC at Weyburn.
Most grain crops along the way looked fine although the green pasture hills were turning brown — a sign of summer’s end.
On the way back we saw the passenger train on the tracks near Ogema. We took Highway 36 through Crane Valley, hoping to see wildlife.
All we saw were lots of gophers and two hawks.
South of the Gomersall Ranch three vehicles blitzed by us – a car, motorbike and another car from Alberta — all close together.
Just ahead of us the lead car served suddenly to avoid hitting a deer crossing the road. The other two hit the brakes sharply. It was a near accident.
The deer hopped into the steep ditch and parked itself butt end facing us, head angled just enough to see if we were giving chase.
We stopped and played peek-a-boo with it for about five minutes, then headed home.
Ron Walter can be reached at [email protected]
The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author, and do not necessarily reflect the position of this publication.
