#3 Breakfast Near a Bus Stop, and a Bomb Threat

 May 2, 2023

First, no cause for alarm.  There was more drama and confusion than danger.  Old Sacramento, where the train station is, is a very charming town with a western/gold mining flavor.  The old downtown area is a reasonable walk from the station, but a bit much with bags, and last time I was there, I found it to be a bit sketchy. 

As I got down from the train, a trolley driver grabbed my bag and threw it in the back of her cart for a ride to the station.  On the way, she showed us the station bathroom codes.  She said that they have to keep them locked because the homeless steal everything.  She said that they even unbolted toilets and stole them!  

With all these things in mind, I got an uber ride to the Denny’s where I breakfasted on a previous trip.  As I wheeled my luggage through the door, and my ride cruised out of the lot, I was met by a server who brusquely told me that they were closed.  I was confused, as there were a few tables full of people happily eating.  Through her thick black mask, she said something about the cook being gone.  Back out on the steps, after no success in waving my ride down, I started to look on my phone for other restaurants.  Then the server popped out and said that I could sit and have coffee and wait for the cook to return.  I asked her when that might be, and she said thirty minutes.  So, I found a semi-clean booth and accepted her coffee “on the house”.

A half hour (and several refills) later, there was no cook, so she offered me a plate of fruit, stating that of course she’d have to charge me.  I accepted.  

While I was eating it, an elderly man parked in the handicap space out front and made his slow way in.  She stopped him in the foyer and told him what she told me, that they were closed.  He looked so confused but went on his way.  In the meantime, all along I could hear food on the grill, see a cook back there, and watch “to-go” orders being picked up. 

When one of the tables near me emptied, I called one of the guys to my table and asked him if he knew what was going on.  He said that prior to my coming, two guys came in, one carrying a bucket.  When the manager asked what was in it, he said it was a bomb.  He escorted them out.  I’m conjecturing that the manager was actually the missing “cook”.  When they were gone, I asked the server to please clarify if I was going to get to order any cooked food or not.  She said that of course I could.  She would take my order, and as soon as the cook arrived, he’d make it.  And sure enough, I did get food.  All the time I was there, many people came and went in the foyer and parking lot, who were obviously homeless.

On my uber ride to the waterfront area where I’d be staying, my driver explained that the bus stop was just around the corner from the Denny’s so that’s why the atmosphere.  It’s not super likely I’ll ever return to Sacramento to stay, but if I’m there even for a meal, it will be a different restaurant.