In Springfield, Illinois there is this place called Charlie Parker's. It looks like a private airplane hangar from the exterior. Inside you'll find an oversized laminated menu with a tiny yellow box. "4 Giant Pancakes - if you can eat them all, we'll pay for them...$5.95". We have now entered a war zone, no cake is safe.
45 minutes later, there are three 16" pancakes in front of me and I am fighting back the vomit. I am soaking a rolled up lump of cake in a giant glass of milk, hoping that the milk will soak in so displacement will occur and this cake becomes more liquid-like (like the Japanese competitive eater Kobayashi) and easy to inhale.
36 hours later I am finishing pancake #2 which, along with #3 and 4 has been strapped down to the trailer since yesterday morning. The pancakes we took home are in a 16" pizza box! See above.
Also in Springfield the local newspaper took our photo and is running a story about the construction on the bike path we took. See below.
