Sometimes I am not a bright person!
My wife and I were married several years ago in May, and par for the course, we opted to honeymoon in the beautiful state of Hawaii. We spent time on Oahu and Maui, and I can’t say enough about how gorgeous these islands were. It is fair to say that each day was better than the preceding one, and I could go on, but this article revolves around a food challenge.
Having landed in Oahu early in the morning, my wife and I arrived with insatiable appetites. I remember the two of us having checked into our hotel and quickly jetting out on a search for a nearby breakfast. Luckily, a nearby pedestrian happened to be an oft-visiting flight attendant. She happened to catch our discussion about finding breakfast, and she recommended a location called the M.A.C 24/7, located relatively close. As the name suggested, they were open all the time. She recommended their pancakes as they were “known for them.” We thanked her for her recommendation, and off we went.
Upon our arrival, I quickly blurted out we had arrived for the pancakes, and I had to try them. Our server then asked if I wanted to partake in the “pancake challenge.” Having no idea what she was referring to and not being someone to back down from a challenge, I accepted! The challenge was simple; you had to eat these monster 14" pancakes, 3 of them, and signature toppings. If I remember correctly, there were around five different offerings. There was some sort of Elvis special: peanut butter and bananas, a macadamia nut topping option, and other unappealing options.
I am not fond of blueberries, but this was the only option I found acceptable. So what does a dish of this magnitude weigh? The three pancakes, the butter, the blueberries, and the whip cream account for 5 lbs of unneeded food to weigh you down. Your task is to finish these manhole size pancakes within 90 minutes without leaving the table. You can drink as much as you like and add anything to the pancakes, like syrup.
You get pretty sick of pancakes after about 10 minutes, and I had serious doubts about taking on this challenge 20 minutes in. Not only did I have to eat pancakes, but I needed to choke down a couple of pounds of blueberries. Not even this guy was able to complete the challenge.
So did I finish? The simple answer is yes but it took me 45 minutes to do it. I was lucky number 15 and here is my proof.
Conclusion: Maybe don’t accept a food challenge on your honeymoon. My prize for this completed challenge was a spot in the website hall of fame. Today you receive a free T-Shirt, but this wasn’t available then. I believe the pancakes were free but so was the stomach ache! If nothing else, it makes for an entertaining story.