Photo Friday: Childhood Memories

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I were in the Finger Lakes district of New York State, where we relaxed at a resort, hiked, visited a brewery, and relaxed some more.

I'm hoping that my kids look back on this mini vacation with fond memories.

Speaking of childhood memories, on our first night of that trip, as we were looking for a drug store in Cortland, we drove past an A&W restaurant and I did a double-take. It was an old-style, drive-in A&W: one, where you drove up to a parking spot, ordered your meal from an intercom system, and a server would bring your meal to your car.

We had one of those in my old neighbourhood in Nepean.

I remembered my dad would take us there once and a while for a treat. My favourite: a Whistle Dog, hold the relish, and a big, frosted, glass mug of root beer. We would sit in the car, excited, waiting for the server—a woman on roller skates—to roll up and prop the customized tray onto my dad's window. The server wore a coin dispenser on a belt to provide change.

Great memories.

The restaurant in my old neighbourhood is long-gone. No such A&Ws exist in Ottawa; perhaps not even in Canada.

When I saw this one in Cortland, it harkened to those happy times, and I had to pull over and take a picture.

Shot on my iPhone, retouched with Camera+ and PaintShop Pro X5

The customers still order their meals from the car. A server still brings the meals out, though on foot. Roller skates, it seems, are gone.

Do you have memories of going to one of these drive-in restaurants? Do you still go? Please share your memories by leaving a comment.

Happy Friday!