Saturday, December 24, 2005

Traveling to Texas: Part 1------ Sonic

T and I have made our way to a large patch of land just outside of Denton, TX, in one way or another home to Norah Jones, Rocky Horror, and the University of North Texas. We’re visiting the family and, as Texans tend to do, eating quite well, thank you very much.

After arriving at the airport, we were both pretty dehydrated and, together with my dad and brother, sought out a Sonic. Have you been to Sonic? My oh my how I love me some Sonic. Think drive up burger joint with lots of treats for the kiddies and the adults.
Corndogs, swirl soft serve ice cream, grilled cheese on Texas Toast served in a stay-warm foil pouch, and one of the best cherry limeades known to humankind.

When I was growing up we would drive up and my sister and I would fight to see who got to push the call button that would summon the disembodied voice to welcome us to Sonic and take our orders. The call button was either knobby and black or round and red and was encased in a tiny metal box with a speaker.

Shortly thereafter someone would roll up with our order, balance the tray on the driver’s side window and collect payment. Oh, and when I say roll, I mean on roller skates. I’m not sure how they felt about it, but to us, it was thrilling.

A few years later, I knew the bad girl who lived across from my friend Steve worked there. She was probably sixteen, could work the eyeliner better than Robert Smith or Naomi Campbell and smoked. This is how I knew she was bad. I dream now that she left Texas and joined the Runaways or some other girl band. Her name was Shauna or Tammy.

So it is always nostalgic for me to see that Sonic has taken over this part of Texas. It wasn’t too long before we pulled up and my brother pushed the call button to dictate our carefully constructed order.

For me, the decision at a Sonic is always a battle of the beverages. Growing up, I would get the “natural” lime slush. See, Sonic makes no pretensions about its stellar drinks being “unnatural.” So I could have a slush made with the juice of fresh fruit, or one made with artificially flavored syrup. I opted for the “fresh fruit” lime slush after realizing this was probably the same as the “natural” from my youth. And it was delicious. The ice is crushed just perfectly in tiny little slurpable cubelets. Sharp lime flavors are tempered by the sugary goodness of the simple syrup combining for a sweet and refreshing treat.

T had a cherry limeade which I am certain hit the spot, “fresh” or not. I also had popcorn chicken, which was not as greasy as I would have expected and T had a corndog and some tater tots. The food was just what you want from one of these places, piping hot, flavorful, served fresh and just divey enough.

When we arrived home, the holiday fun was just beginning . . .(to be continued)

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