When it come to my home and creating memories the best memories aren’t planned. They’re the ones where you’re almost asleep, your son walks into the room and says: “Mom, I want a drink.”
And before you know it, you’re hopping up, heading to the car, grabbing that extra pair of shoes Charles keeps in there, turning up the music, and taking off down the road. These are moments I never got to have with Suzzane but they are Charlie & Mom adventures.
Sometimes it’s a quick run to QT. Sometimes it’s Sonic. Sometimes its to Grandma’s to check on Penny her dog. Or to Walmart to look for pink hair dye. Sometimes we’re grabbing food from a restaurant we’ve been wanting to try.
And sometimes we’re just riding around with the music blaring, talking, laughing, and enjoying a little one-on-one time together. Last night was supposed to be a quick trip. We were actually supposed to go to QT to get David a Energy drink for work.
But somehow, between Charlie and me, neither one of us remembered that part of the mission until we got back home. When we was drinking our own drinks. Oops. I guess David didn’t need his drink. LOL
But you know what? Life goes on. and Charlie did offer to cashapp David money so he could purchase a drink in the morning. Because somewhere between getting in the car, turning up the music, deciding what we were hungry for, and heading out for dinner, the important part happened.
I got to go with Charlie. Just Charlie and me. No big plans and no special occasion. Just me and my son spending a little time together. Something I had been dreaming about forever and now it’s happening. Those are Godwink moments and those are the moments I don’t want to take for granted.
We ended up at Cane’s Chicken Fingers for dinner. And since this is a food review, we’re going to talk about the chicken, the fries, the bread, the sauce, and what we thought about the price.
But before we get to the food, I want to remember what these little trips are really about. They’re about the adventure and they’re about getting in the car and going somewhere together.
They’re about the music being too loud and they’re about grabbing something to eat. They’re about Charlie telling me what he thinks about the food and they’re about me telling him he’s wrong about the sauce.
And they’re about having those little conversations that sometimes happen naturally when you’re sitting side by side in the car. I call these our Charlie & Mom adventures a Godwink with my son. And honestly, I hope we have a whole lot more of them.
Because one day, I know I’ll look back and realize that the quick trips to get a drink, the late-night food runs, the music blaring through the car, and the random restaurant adventures weren’t really about the drinks or the food at all.
They were about time together and last night, that time together came with a box of chicken fingers. Now, lets discuss what we got at Canne’s and why we picked those items for dinner.
I ordered the Box Combo, which comes with four chicken fingers, fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, Cane’s Sauce, and a drink. Except I have a little rule when I order at Cane’s: Or any restaurant the coleslaw has to go.
I always substitute the coleslaw for extra bread. And I’m just going to say it: OMG. Their bread will make you slap your mama good! I absolutely love that Texas toast. Charlie doesn’t even eat Bread and he will eat his and mine and want more because that’s how good the Bread it.
It’s one of my favorite parts of the meal, and if you give me the choice between coleslaw and another piece of that bread, I’m taking the bread every single time. Even though it isn’t on my diet.
Cane’s only offers their signature Cane’s Sauce as the sauce that comes with the meal, and that’s where Charlie and I disagree. No, Ranch boo… No gravy defiantly a boo for me because I’m not a sauce kinda gal.
Charlie loves Cane’s Sauce and he says it tastes kind of like the Big Mac sauce from McDonald’s. I don’t really think so. I’ve tasted it, and I’ll admit it’s not bad. It’s just not what I want on my chicken.
I’m one of those people who actually likes chicken strips, chicken wings, and similar foods plain. Every once in a while, I’ll eat them with some good white gravy. But ketchup? Never. Ranch? Never.
The sauce the restaurant gives me? Usually no. Barbecue sauce? Most likely not. Give me the chicken by itself and I’m perfectly happy. If somebody wants to make me some homemade white gravy, I’ll consider it.
If I have to come home and make it, that’s just more work and I’m not going to do it. So most of the time: Plain chicken it is and more times than not that is perfectly find as long as the Chicken is from a restaurant I like like Cannes or Chick Fil A.
Charlie, meanwhile, is perfectly happy dipping his chicken in Cane’s Sauce. And that’s okay. Families don’t have to agree on everything. If we did we would be one boring family and I wouldn’t want that.
Charlie got the Caniac Meal , which comes with six chicken fingers, fries, coleslaw, Texas toast, two Cane’s Sauces, and a drink. And he surprised me. He kept the coleslaw because he doesn’t like to ask the staff to change things out and he wouldn’t let me.
Now, he loves that bread just as much as I do. If it comes with the meal, he usually just takes it the way it comes. So while I’m immediately saying: “Take the coleslaw off and give me more bread!” Charlie is perfectly happy to take his meal as-is.
Because he knows I will have more food than I will eat and he ends up with my extra Bread and Chicken Strips I couldn’t finish. So why change things when he is going to end up with my food. This is why when my sister and I eat here we share this meal.
We each got a drink with our meal. Charlie got Dr Pepper and he didn’t ask me what I wanted and because the waitress said that was a Coke. He got me Coke. And that was fine with me because sometimes when we’re eating out, my stomach gets bothered, and Coke can actually soothe it.
We had our chicken, fries, bread, drinks, and our little dinner adventure. Without my Sweet Tea. Cane’s has those crinkle-cut fries, and those are my all-time favorite. I love a good crinkle-cut fry.
By the time we got home, I had eaten some of my bread, two chicken fingers, and some of my fries and I was done. I didn’t even finish the fries because I was stuffed. So Charlie ended up with the rest of my chicken.
Because that’s what happens when you have a son who is still hungry and a mom who has reached the point where she’s finished eating. Charlie ate almost his entire meal. He only had one chicken finger left, so we put it in the refrigerator.
Which meant he already had breakfast waiting for him this morning. Dinner one night. Breakfast the next morning. That’s how we do roll around here and its why I don’t mind eating out sometimes.
I have to give Cane’s credit. Our chicken fingers were really good. They were cooked perfectly, hey weren’t overdone and they weren’t dry. They were juicy, fresh, and tasted like they had been cooked to order.
That’s important to me. There’s nothing worse than getting chicken that tastes like it has been sitting around forever and a day. Or not cooked all they way. Which these were and they were fresh and hot, and I enjoyed them.
Now let’s talk about the part nobody likes talking about: The price. My meal was around $11. Charlie’s was around $16. So we were looking at roughly $27 for the two of us. And I’ll be honest.
That’s a little more than I like spending on fast food. For that kind of money, I start thinking: “I could go sit down in a restaurant somewhere.” But then again, what do you expect these days?
Everything has gotten more expensive. Groceries. Restaurants. Fast food. Everything. So while I think Cane’s is a little pricey for what you’re getting, I also understand that the cost of doing business — and the cost of eating out — has changed.
But here’s what I really got last night I got something that didn’t cost me $27. Time with my son and that’s worth a whole lot more. I got to ride around with Charlie. We had the music blaring. We went flying down the street looking for dinner.
We talked and we laughed. We ate chicken fingers. We disagreed about Cane’s Sauce. And we forgot David’s drink. But you know what? Life goes on. David survived without his QT Energy drink.
And Charlie and I got another little memory together. That’s what I’m going to remember. Not whether I spent $11 or $16. Not whether I finished my fries and not whether Charlie was right about the Cane’s Sauce tasting like Big Mac sauce.
I’m going to remember that Charlie walked into my room and wanted to go somewhere. And I said yes. I hope we never get too old for these random adventures. The ones where somebody says: “Mom, I want a drink.”
And suddenly we’re in the car. The ones where we have no real plans and the ones where we end up at Sonic instead of QT. The ones where we go grab chicken fingers and the ones where the music is too loud.
The ones where we forget the one thing we were actually supposed to get because those ordinary moments have a funny way of becoming the memories you treasure the most. At least I do.
So yes, we went to Cane’s last night and the chicken was good. The bread was amazing. Charlie loves the sauce and I don’t. I think it’s getting a little expensive. But most importantly: I got to spend some time with Charlie and that’s a pretty good reason to get in the car and go looking for dinner.
Our Cane’s Verdict
Chicken: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Fries: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐
Texas Toast: ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ 😂
Cane’s Sauce: Charlie says ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Mom says it’s good, but I’ll pass.
Value: ⭐⭐⭐⭐ — Good food, but getting pricey for fast food.
Would we go again? Yes!
And if you’re ever eating at Cane’s with me, just remember: Don’t give me the coleslaw. Give me the extra bread! If your still hungry I will have left over food and I don’t mind sharing with you.
Grateful, Thankful, and Blessed
Thann you,
Glenda, Charlie and David Cates
