Local Exploration Leads to the Hot Wing Challenge

One thing I have always noticed about myself was that I don't explore neighboring cities enough.I wanted to change this so I drove about an hour and a half to Sarasota, Florida. A friend recommended a restaurant he mentioned was on Man vs Food called Munchies 420. I gave it a try and witnessed quite the unique menu with the biggest sandwiches I have ever seen.

When I returned to work everyone asked if I did the The Hot Wing Challenge. The challenge is to eat 10 hot wings in 20 minutes of their hottest sauce. Didn't really sound that hard. They then told me that Man vs Food only was able to eat 2 of the wings!

I told everyone I did not do the challenge but how it could not be so bad that I couldn't finish all 10 in 20 minutes. My coworkers didn't believe me and the conversation didn't just die as I expected. A coworker jumped up from his desk and said "Nick you can do it right? Why don't we go to Sarasota tonight? I'll Drive". Someone else popped up and said I'll even buy the wings! Then another coworker said I'll buy the beer after! I was trapped, I couldn't say no at that point.I did not want to do this challenge but I had to back what I said.

I believed I could do conquer the challenge but at no point was I looking forward to it. After we got off work, I went to the drug store to load up on all the meds; Tums, gas x, calmoseptine cream, metamucil, and a half gallon of milk. Then we were off to Sarasota to eat ten wings that Man vs Food could only eat two of and on a Monday....

On the way there we had a packed car of five people and we were jamming to some music. My team was replacing the lyrics and freestyling to the my nickname Iceman (a throwback to one of my old boxing videos which I was called "Iceman"). While again I still did not want to do this challenge it was impossible not to get excited through the energy in the car.

An hour and a half later we arrived at Munchies 420. We had to argue with the staff for them to serve these wings as they did not want to make them. Four separate people came up to the table to try and talk me out of eating the wings. One came over and described how they cooked the wings. They covered the wings in their "fire in your hole" sauce then added about a quarter of an inch of dry rub seasoning that was a mix of ghost and red pepper. Then in order to get the powder to stick on, they then cover the wings in a ghost pepper extract paste. Finally they inject the wings with the ghost pepper extract.

The wings were ready, a crowd gathered. The time started and I dove into my first wing quickly. I could hear the crowd cheering and could see people snapping the experience. I ate my first wing and at this point my mouth, throat, lips, and hands were torched. My nose was a fountain and I was my eyes were watering. Then my throat began to swell and my hands were shaking. I started my third wing and I heard he beat Man vs Food! Then the coughing began. I finished my third wing and called it quits. Chugged my first pint of milk stepped outside a began throwing up. The intense burning lasted about 25 minutes before settling down to just a very bad burning sensation. It was a terrible mistake to enter this challenge.

We carried the rest of the night out having a few drinks before returning home around 1am. I woke up about 5:30 am covered in sweat and the absolute worst stomach pain of my life, it felt like someone was twisting my insides. I could not bear to lie down, stand, walk or much of anything. After about 20 minutes of this I started to throw up again for about an hour before the pain subdued. I went back to sleep and took the day off of work.The worst was over.

The lesson here is don't bullshit with your friends and if you hear someone doing so then call them out on it. Despite the wings and the pain I did have a great night with some incredible people. Sometimes the best exploration is nearby