Beaten by a Roy's Chocolate Shake

When you throw a post out into the blogosphere, you never know how it will resonate.

Some posts are hot for a day or a week or, with a controversial one, even months (the one about EatingRichmond will seemingly never die).

And sometimes I have to think that it's the subject that makes it a perennial favorite. Two of my most consistently popular pages are the one about Roy's Big Burger, here, and the one about the Grill at Patterson and Libbie, here. Months after they were written, readers continue to find them and sometimes even comment on them.

Such was the case recently with the Roy's post and the reader must have liked what he read because he became a follower.

In fact, reading his tribute to Roy's got me in the mood for grease-soaked parchment paper with a cheeseburger inside enjoyed from within the confines of my car. You know, the true Roy's experience.

It wasn't hard to find a willing partner for a late afternoon burger, at least not once I mentioned it would be at Roy's.

Turns out my friend had had many a childhood burger there, although never a milkshake. Once I described the shakes to him, he was all about a 3:00 "snack."

At the point when the cashier asked him whether he wanted a large or small shake, he looked confused. The cook in the back held up the small cup for reference's sake and Friend at least had the sense to guffaw.

"Large, please," he said with the false authority of someone who had never tasted their milkshakes. He was sure he could conquer a large.

Once I had come up for air after inhaling my cheeseburger and half the large fries, he glanced over at me. "Ketchup on your lip," he told me, crumpling his paper.

"Milkshake only half-gone," I reminded him, knowing his issue was less easily solved than mine.

Handing him the milkshake's still-plentiful remains when I dropped him off, he looked beaten. "Can't do it," he admitted.

Many can start, but not all can finish. Roy's milkshakes. Yea, that's what I was talking about.