Episode 8: Fast Food for the Ages

Today’s topic brought back some fond family memories.

My family (my parents, my sister and myself) lived in Florida in the early 1970s.  I have a few scattered memories of our time in Miami: eating fresh coconuts from the trees in our backyard, finding rose quartz in the rock gardens, visiting Parrot Jungle.  I also remember that there was a Burger King about a block away from our house and it was my favorite place to eat.  In fact, when my parents told us that we would be moving back to Iowa, my biggest disappointment was that there was no Burger King in Iowa City at that time.

But there was a Maid-Rite and it was even better!  Maid-Rite actually began in Muscatine, Iowa, in 1926.  Years later, Iowa City was the location of the first Pancheros, which is one of our family’s favorite restaurants today.  There are more than 70 locations, with one of them less than five minutes away from our Des Moines area location.

I’ll share one more memory from raising my own family:  When Sam (our middle son) was at the pediatrician’s office for his one-year checkup (about 29 years ago), the doctor asked if he had any words yet.  

I said, “Sam, do you want to go to McDonald’s?”

He sat up straight on the table, looked at me expectantly and said, “Donnos?”

The doctor was impressed with his cognitive skills, even if she might have been judging my parenting choices.  In those days there was still a Play Place and it was a favorite of all three boys.

That’s it for today!  Thanks for joining us and we hope you come back for more Trivia for the Ages!

Jami