Ey! It's beer and wings...

Monday night was beer and wings at Anchor Bar in Buffalo, NY., and the birthplace of wings as we all know and love today.

I cheated and went boneless, but I compensated by having the mild sauce - which still burned a hole in my gut. I washed it all down with an ice cold Canadian Molson Light. I was in beverage heaven. Having the Canadian beer was the highlight of the trip.



A big group of us made the trip downtown in the gigantic hotel van. When we arrived at the bar we had a small wait of about 30 minutes and then were taken back to a table. We were surprised that the place was not absolutely packed, but for a Monday night it was hopping. It took us about 20 minutes just to read the menu because it was a little overwhelming. So many choices! About half of our group went all out and ordered traditional wings, while the other half (me included) ordered boneless "bites" because I don't want to have to work that hard for just a little bit of chicken.


When they brought the food out all of our eyes went wide. There was so much of it. Two or three people could have easily shared what I ordered. Then of course everybody had to try other sauce flavors, and a few of them were HOT! The blue cheese was really good, and was probably my favorite part of the entire meal. These wings were great.

We all sat around and enjoyed our meal before splitting up the checks and heading back out the door to see our shuttle van from the hotel (which, we'd called to come get us) speed around the corner. He took off without us! So, we loitered a little and waited for the next pickup and 12 of us (we had gained a few people) packed back in the van to head back.

It was early yet, too early to call it a night - so we decided to see if we could find a bar for a drink. The hotel staff recommended we take a short walk, and while walking we stumbled across SoHo - a little burger joint with spiked milkshakes. We stopped in to drink a little dessert.

It was here we met two strange rangers. Two guys who just stopped by a table of eight women to say hello. The bad news was they were weird. The good news was we changed one guys life.

"Ethanol is bad," he said. "Why would we use up all of our food for fuel!"

He'd come to the right table for an argument about ethanol, or agriculture. Seeing as we all work in the industry and are experts in the field. Even better? A gal from Texas Corn was in our group, as well as the Sorghum Checkoff gals. Great resources for the alternative fuel argument.

"Who told you that?" We asked, nearly in unison.

"The news man!" He said.

This is when we proceeded to explain the difference between sweet corn and field corn. He had absolutely no idea that there were two different types of corn. Let alone dozens more.

That's a huge challenge, and we met our challenge face to face. "You've changed my life!" He said. "Everything I've ever thought I knew is now bullshit."

Yep. Pretty much.

It's interesting to run in to folks like that. It was completely random, but at least we got facts to someone in a metro setting with no clue. I'll give the guy credit. He listened and asked questions, and those are the best kind.

The best kind of wings, however, is still up in the air.