Breakfast at Whatchamacallit's

Monday night was rough. I spent the majority of the evening trying to quietly slip away from a big, muscular, heavy beast who is completely and utterly obsessed with me. He demanded my undivided attention and would not keep his adoring yet overly enthusiastic paws off of me. Although I planned to write about my unexpected foray into the world of dim sum, I ultimately coaxed the oversized ball of affection into his cage with a cookie and promptly fell asleep for the night. I wish I were sharing a tale about my exciting love life, but I was just dog-sitting a friend's toddler-aged and behaved Rottweiler.

As I dressed for work Tuesday morning, I began to construct the dim sum story in my head. The thoughts flowed easily as I grabbed my keys, started my car and headed to my office for an hour of uninterrupted writing before starting the work day. I passed Wib's Drive-In and noted a pang of hunger. I pulled into the parking lot of the gas station/convenience store located at 1024 N. High St. in Jackson to grab a morning snack and some coffee to fuel my writing. My eyes were immediately drawn to the foil wrapped items in the hot food case. The labels announced breakfast sandwiches assembled with combinations of typical ingredients: croissants, biscuits, toast, egg, bacon, sausage and cheese. There were even plastic containers filled with scrambled eggs topped with a hashbrown and covered with a heaping helping of country gravy.

Just as I was about to make a random selection, my eyes stopped on the words "chicken egg cheese biscuit" scrawled in black Sharpie across the label. I picked up the lone wrapped sandwich to take a closer look and heard a voice behind me say "I fry those up fresh every morning using my own batter and chicken tenders ..." I am a fan of Chick-fil-A and this sounded like a fresh and convenient substitute. I placed it on the counter and explained I would be right back after grabbing some coffee. The woman belonging to the voice I heard earlier came from behind the counter and personally showed me all of their options — a cappuccino machine, standard pots of fresh brewed coffee and a machine that grinds the beans and brews the coffee to order. The latter even had an iced coffee option with two types of ice to select from. They had "the good ice." If you know, you know. I selected the iced coffee option, mixed in some Irish-cream-flavored creamer, then poured it over the "good ice" in a 32 ounce container.

The helpful angel behind the counter quickly rang up my order. Five dollars and change. Seriously? My breakfast and humongous coffee cost less than a venti salted caramel mocha at Starbuck's. What an unexpected score on an ordinary morning. Needless to say, my dim sum story would have to wait. I needed to share this great discovery with anyone and everyone ... only I could not find the business name. It was nowhere to be found online. The phone numbers listed for the businesses at that location were all disconnected. I reached out to Facebook-land. One person told me it was a Mobile station. A couple of people said the business was formerly known as Jackson Bait and Tackle, or JBT. Another person told me they did not know the name but they frequent the location for the "best chicken gizzards around" if you're into that sort of thing.

So, while I don't have a name to give you today, I do have the address and the proximity to Wib's and the Jackson City Park. I wish you luck finding this economic foodie option and ask that you wish me luck surviving the rest of my week being loved on by Rage the Rottweiler.

The good ice.Submitted by Mary Ann Castillo