Wrapping Up 2018 on "Meat Mountain"

Click to view Arby's Meat Mountain and Arby's Secret Menu

Not as elegant as the commercial photograph, but add a little of Arby's horsey sauce and it's memorable.

Sidebar: It only seems fair that I'd finish the year with Sunday Morning Reflections hitting the wrong button last night and posting a half-finished blog post. But since I always like to make a point on Sunday mornings, here's a good one - never work on writing something when you're tired - or at the very least take the time to review what you're doing before shutting down the computer.

We're on a mini-vacation with our son and daughter-in-law. Between Sheila and all of you I'm trained not to miss Sunday mornings and brought my laptop...so, after a great dinner last night, I decided to start laying out my post for this morning early. I knew the fun I wanted to write about and drafted something before bed, never realizing I'd posted it rather than just saved it!  My apologies to those of you who might have had a "what-the-hell?" moment.

Moving right along, here's the memory-maker I wanted to write about...

I always close my Reflections posts wishing you a day of memory-making moments. But, great memories don't always have to be big productions. Sometimes they come out of simple, silly things that just happen in our lives.

The other night our son Brian was telling me about Arby's secret menu. I had heard about it once before, but I thought it was merely an urban myth and something foodies like me dream about. Well, lunchtime rolled around on Friday and even though we had a monster dinner with ribs already cooking "low and slow," off to Arby's he and I went.

We walked into Arby's in search of Meat Mountain. It's a ten dollar extravaganza in an artery clogging, never suggested by your cardiologist sandwich! 

The biggest sandwich Arby’s has ever sold. Stacked ridiculously high with almost all the meats. Two chicken tenders, slices of roast turkey, pit-smoked ham, corned beef, 13-hour smoked brisket, USDA-choice Angus steak, roast beef, and pepper bacon. There’s also cheddar and swiss cheese somewhere in there. (From Arby's website)

Note: Last Sunday, after publishing this post, my buddy Christopher Becker commented on Facebook - "Meat doesn’t clog your arteries. Take the bread off that sucker and it’s a perfectly healthy meal." So whether it's healthy or not, it's fun to order and "fun" is one of those too often lost experiences in our everyday lives!  If you love fast food here's a sandwich to put on your bucket list.

But half the fun of anticipating the culinary delight is the expression on whoever's working the counter when you order it. "Bridget" had never heard of it, but Brian was a pro, as she looked through the menu thinking we were describing other big sandwiches rather than a legitmate item. It was one of those proud Dad moments when he said with authority, "Keep scrolling down - It's on the third page."

And that brings me full circle to a reminder about memory-makers.

While some events in our lives are genuinely life-changing, some of our favorites involve stepping away from life's routines. Before deciding to check out the secret menu we discussed all the practical reasons we shouldn't do it. From the timing that close to dinner to healthy eating - we chose to bypass all logic and like Nike's slogan, "Just do it." Going to Arby's for lunch wasn't earth-shaking - but laughing over a sandwich, and now being a member of a very exclusive club, complete with our own fist-bump handshake is!

---

Gas to drive to Arby's: Three dollars
Time to get there: Fifteen minutes
Meat Mountain Sandwich:Ten dollars
Spending an OMG moment with your son...Priceless

Wishing all of you a day of memory-makers and those special moments in life when laughter with somebody important in your life becomes a priority. Remember that memories come in small packages too, and don't miss those moments being practical. Now and then throw logic to the wind. Remember my mantra which I've shared numerous times before:

I do it because I can.
I can because I want to.
I want to because you said I couldn't!
Unknown Author

It's the last Sunday of 2018...go for those eleven-second hugs I always talk about and pack the day full of smiles, so you start out the new year with a stash of chuckles to look back on.

​Happy Sunday and Happy New Year!