The good ole root beer stand~

Tonight we went to the root beer stand in town for supper. Fortunately our town has one of the only original root beer stands still left in Indiana. It looks the same now as it did when I was a child.

The wooden building is painted bright orange, as are the picnic tables. The carhops wear orange sweatshirts in the cool weather and orange t-shirts when it's hot. The big heavy glass steins are still used and yes, they still have the "baby root beer" steins too. The hot dogs come in waxed paper wrappers with "Eckrich" printed on the side. There's a few more items on the menu than I remember as a kid and the prices have gone up a bit too... but I'm happy to say that's all that has changed.

My dad (whose been gone 20 years now, God rest his soul) used to know the original owner. At least twice a week, in the evening, my parents and I would take a drive to the root beer stand and have a "cold one" before going back home and retiring for the night. The owner would never fail to come out and stand by the car and talk a spell with my dad. Paul would have his white apron on when he'd walk out to our car, with a wide grin on his face. My dad liked Paul and the feeling was mutual.

Tonight I was happy to see that the current owner (second one since original) maintains that same tradition. When we pulled up, there was John (in his white apron) sitting on a picnic bench drinking a root beer with a patron and his family. He sat there for a good while before going back into the kitchen to resume his duties. I could almost see my Dad and Paul talking at that very moment. Both are in heaven now so maybe they are!

I would often be in my pajamas, after having a bath, when we'd go in the evenings. That way I could get tucked into bed when we got home. I saw a little one there tonight, in her jammies and hoodie sweatshirt, being held by her daddy who was sitting at a picnic table. I'll bet she was sleeping before she ever got home tonight, from all the fresh air and passing around that the carhops were doing with her. :-)

I don't know about you but I seek out the old familiar places of my childhood. I patronize those businesses that are trying to keep tradition alive. We need more of those old traditions in our world and we need to familiarize our children with how things used to be when we were growing up... so those traditions never die.

~Retro Wife