Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Splendid China (Chipotle Essay Constest)

Submit a short, original (and amazing) essay about a time when food created a memory. 



Have you ever had a time when you were craving something so badly that you would do anything to obtain it? Well that was me last thanksgiving. My brother and I were visiting Florida to go see our family for the holidays when we got the bright idea to make the night a little more interesting. Our friend at UCF had been talking about this abandoned amusement park, known as Splendid China, near him that he had been dying to see. So my brother and I packed our gear and headed off into the darkness to begin, what would be, one of the most memorable nights of my life.

After a 3 hour drive we made it to UCF and picked up our friend; from there it was only another hour of driving. As we approached our destination we took note of the ominous clouds in the night’s sky and we knew that this adventure was about to get much more interesting. All of a sudden it hit us, overwhelming gusts of wind followed by a torrential downpour of rain. It was a tropical storm! Just our luck... but we were not going to let the weather hold us back, so with spirits still high, we trekked onward into the night.


Finally we made it. To gain entrance into the park, however, we had to cut through thick overgrown vegetation that engulfed the park with only the brief flashes of lightning to illuminate our path. As we immerged from the foliage we entered a whole other world. Crumbling replicas of China’s iconic landmarks stood abandoned in the raging storm, slowly being reclaimed by nature. We wandered the park for a few hours, taking pictures as we pleased to capture the surreal land that we entered. Before long it was time to leave. Drenched by the rain, we piled into the car and started making our way back to UCF.

After such this long journey, we were wet, tired, and STARVING. We all had one thing in mind though… Chinese food. When we left Splendid China it was around 1 o’clock in the morning leaving most restaurants closed. Lucky for us, college town restaurants stay open much later. Time was not on our side but we were determined to get what we wanted. We floored it back into town and made it in the nick of time. I savored every bite as it completed a truly memorable journey. It truly is the simplest things in life that bring us the most joy.

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