Originally posted by Racer X 69 There it is.
The mussels.
While driving Monstro I often found myself near Sturbridge, Massachusetts (a short drive West of Boston). There was a small village where I would bobtail to and do a load of laundry, and then stop at a neat little restaurant, have a nice dinner and a beer, then go and crash in the sleeper in the restaurant parking lot. The food was always great.
The last time I passed through that way was to pick up a load of ground support for Boeing at Logan. The night before I had dinner at what had become my favorite place there. They had a special on steamer clams. So I had a bucket of steamer clams, a salad, bread, and one beer. After dinner I went to the truck, crawled in back and went to sleep. My alarm was set for around 3 am so I would have time to get back to the truckstop, hook to my wagon, grab a shower and fix breakfast.
I woke up about 2 hours after falling asleep.
And spent the next 3 or 4 hours heaving in the bushes by the truck. I puked so much I swear I spit up dinner from a week before. Finally it was time to get rolling, so I drove the few miles to the trailer, puked, went in and showered, puked, went to the truck to fix breakfast (which I didn't), puked, made some coffee, puked, did my pretrip, puked, stopped and fueld up as I left, puked, and got on the tollway headed for Boston. Stopped at every service plaza and puked. Got to Logan, and got in line at the security gate. Puked one last time.
I was very dehydrated after all that.
Got loaded, and headed out.
At the first service plaza on the tollway I found a place to park and went back to bed.
Later that day I called the restaurant and complained and they acted like it wasn't the clams. I know better.
And I will never eat at that place ever again.
Shellfish... Nature's cruel little joke; so delicious, but Heaven help you if you eat a bad 'un
On two occasions they got me badly...
1) Fried clam strips for lunch in Newport RI. I started feeling "off" just a few hours later. By the time we reached Cape Cod, around 9 or 10pm, I was already properly ill - cramps, fever, dizziness etc. and violently expelled everything in my gut and bowels. By midnight, or thereabouts, I was dry-retching and delirious. It took me a a day and a half to be semi-normal again, and I didn't feel so hot for a couple of days after that.
2) A large portion of raw rock oysters (something I really love), which I ate at a management Christmas lunch with the brokerage firm I worked for. Exact same symptoms as with the clam strips, but worsened by an over-indulgence in Champagne. Thankfully, the lunch was on a Friday, and I had the weekend to recover - which I fully needed, and how. After that, I told myself I'd never touch another raw oyster. By Christmas the following year, I'd broken my promise...