I miss the old A&W drive ins. There used to be one my dad would take me to whenever there was an occasion (edit: on the back of his bike in the bright yellow kid carrier.) Like he got back early from a business trip. Or the time I ripped my toenail off on a door. The local one closed when I was fivish. After that, we came to make a point to stop at every A&W for floats between home and the grandparents. There was one in Aztec, NM and another in Lake Champlaign(?) Ill.

I think my parents still have my baby-sized mug.

There was an A&W on the highway going out to our farm when I was a kid. They'd bring the floats and the chili dogs out to our car, and we'd eat off of those trays that they attach to your car window -- orange trays.

I can smell the root beer and feel the thickness of the mug between my lips as I write this. And I can smell the rain-green-dirt smell of the spring coming in through the open window.

Funny, I haven't thought of this in years. That A&W closed in, what? 1979?

The Mama Burger and the Papa Burger and the Teen Burger and the chilly glass mugs. Sigh.

[eDIt becaUSE I CAnnot cAPItalize]

Betsy! I forgot about the Mama and Papa burger!

Oh, my, god, yes!

EDIT: (Could, I, squeeze, another, comma, in?)

That A&W closed in, what? 1979?

There must have been a mass A&W dieoff then. The timing is about the same as mine disappeared. And I think of the smell of hot asphalt and rubber. heh.

Mexican-style

I have a similar memory, Erin, except the one on the way out to my grandfather's farm was actually a Sonic. Only one I've ever been to, and that was at least 20 years ago.

Hmmm. I'm a little bereft now. I never got to go to an A&W diner. I mean, I'd never heard of them and there probably weren't any around when I could have gone. I remember Gino's (not that they were drive-ins). Do other people remember Gino's? I don't even know what kind of food they served, but fast food was a cool concept to me when I was introduced to it, and I was all about Gino's.

To me it's a Jamaican thing, driven in no small part by the repetition of "Jammin" by Bob Marley.

This, ita, did NOT remove the earworm. Instead, one NST and one OB appointment later, it brought it back in full force.

I'd listen to it to remove it, but I know damn well that if I actually listen, it's going to be there for a week. The Disneyland song ain't helpin', either.

Wait -- no, we have scantily clad blondes all over the place too.

In my head, though I know I am wrong, I now see it as the Island of Unclad itas.

BWAH! This brought a visual of ita, a la Mercenaries Monthly, standing in some cut-off camo hot pants and a black sports bra, with a Jamaican flag unfurling from a stick propped on one hip, and an unsheathed sword in the other, dainty foot propped up on a supine, oiled, adoring Legolas.

It's a pretty funny visual, IMO.

Did you guys know that KitKat is developing a coffee flavored candy bar, and that they have given out limited edition samples of it?

Was it good, Perkins?

I ask because I remember thinking the mint kit kats would be an abomination and then I actually sort of thought they were great.