It’s Always Gully In British Columbia

Blogsby adminApril 3, 20183 min read

Play episode

What does a man, some pepperoni and three dozen seagulls have in common?

It’s a dreary Tuesday here in Baltimore. I’m sitting at my desk (day jobs suck) reading the news while I wait for a new pile of work to come in when I see the most random title on The Takeout:

If You Read Nothing Else Today, Read How Seagulls and Pepperoni Got A Man Banned From a Hotel

This led me to a CBC link with far more information than Kate Bernot had supplied. Seventeen years ago, a man was staying in British Columbia, at a hotel called The Fairmont Empress for a business meeting. Like all us kindhearted foodies, Nick Burchill brought a suitcase full of Brothers Pepperoni along with him for his friends who don’t get to dine on the cured meat regularly. Thinking that the meats would spoil without refrigeration, Nick placed the pepperoni near an open window in the hopes that the cold air would provide some sort of support. What happened next is like something out of Alfred Hitchcock’s movie ‘The Birds” if it had been directed by Mel Brooks.

Burchill left only to return several hours later to a room full of hungry hungry seagulls, ravaging the Nova Scotian delicacy. The room was destroyed, the gulls were belligerent and at least one member of the cleaning crew went home feeling queasy. Burchill was allowed to stay for the remainder of his trip but his boss received a letter a few days later explaining that his employee would not be allowed to stay at The Empress again.

Now, seventeen years later, after making an in-person apology and a gift of Brothers Pepperoni, the ban has been lifted and Mr. Burchill is allowed to stay at The Empress once more. I imagine the new management made a crack about how many guests he’s allowed to have stay with him.

To read the whole story in all of it’s silly glory, here is the link to the CBC article. What do you think? Personally, I’d rather have gulls in my room than a flock of no good pigeons.

-CCC