Destination Panera

I’m in Albany, New York this week – which is a story in itself. But, don’t worry, I won’t share it here. Yesterday I had 20 minutes between the ending of my 2nd conference call and the time we had to leave for the newspaper. So, I just have time to quickly grad some lunch. I LOVE Panera Bread:

We are bakers of bread. We are fresh from the oven.
We are a symbol of warmth and welcome. We are a simple pleasure, honest and genuine. We are a life story told over dinner. We are a long lunch with an old friend. We are your weekday morning ritual.We are the kindest gesture of neighbors. We are home. We are family. We are friends.

There are no Panera’s in Utah, so I try to go whenever I’m in a city that has one. So, 20 minutes. I was sure I could drive to the Panera near the hotel, order something, and drive back to pick up Blaine and Patrick. Now, I’d never been to this Panera, but Blaine said it was down Washington by Crossgate Mall (I think it’s called Crossgate). So, I get in the car and drive.

Let me pause here to mention that I am, simply put, directionally challenged.

I see Crossgate Mall, so I turn off Washington. I drive all around the mall, but I don’t see any Panera. Sadly, that wasted all the time I had, so I decided to get back on Washington and drive back to the hotel. Unfortunately, I can’t find a way to get back on to Washington. Now, I turn off Washington to get to the mall, but there’s no way to get back onto Washington? What kind of crazy road system is this?

So, I get on another road driving in the direction (I think) of my hotel. If I can just see which road I’m on, that will help. I see street signs for each cross street, but I can’t find a single sign that tells me what road I’m actually on. How is that possible? I could call my co-worker Ken for directions, except it’s against NY state law to talk on your cell phone while driving, and even if I could call him, I couldn’t tell him what road I’m on NOR in which direction I’m driving. I could pull over and ask for directions, but I don’t think I’m in a very savory part of town. So, I figure that as long as I keep driving toward the hotel I’ll be able to figure out where I am.

Driving, driving, OK, I’m almost late, and I’m no closer to figuring out where I am, so I surreptitiously call Ken on my cell – thank goodness for speakerphones. Ken was trying to be so helpful, but he couldn’t figure out where I was either. Wait, I see an exit for Washington Ave. Whew.

After another 10 minutes, I find the hotel. Somehow, I hadn’t been driving in the correct direction (see, directionally challenged), and was at the opposite end of Washington Ave. Poor Blaine and Patrick were worried about being late so they were in Blaine’s car leaving just as I drove into the hotel parking lot –10 minutes late.

All I wanted was a yummy Panera sandwich instead of the normal Wendy’s, McDonald’s or Subway fare. Not only did I make us late (only a little) for our 2:00 meeting, but I didn’t get any lunch, either. Woe is me.