Tappahanock and Jim Dandy

I remember as a kid growing up, when my Mom was first dating Mike, we would go out to dinner every night. From Perkins to McDonald's, having dinner out was a nightly ritual as we got to know this man I call my Dad. And some of the best memories were at Friendly's. Known for it's ice cream, I loved going to this all american restaurant. I, of course, had to pick the biggest sundae on the menu for dessert every time we went there. The Jim Dandy. And oh was it dandy. 5 scoops of ice cream with marshmallow, strawberry, and chocolate toppings, covered in whipped cream with nuts, a banana, and a cherry. It was really a meal in and of itself.

I have been a lot of places for my job. We travel the country and world to be there when disaster strikes. I always get that "here comes the calvary" feeling when I am on a plane or in my truck headed to where ever the next project is. But this time, I stopped in my tracks when they said Tappahanock, Virginia. Bless you, I replied, now where am I going?

Nestled against the western shore of a Chesapeake Bay inlet, Tappahanock is a tiny town that was spared the brunt of Irene's fury. Lots of homes without power, but structurally the buildings survived. North of the jobsite, towards Fredericksburg, downed trees and missing roofs tell the story of how lucky this little town was. That is, until a temporary power company was trying to get electric to the area's largest retailer. And set fire to the joint in the process. So we were called in. That's right ladies and gentleman, I went to the hurricane zone to work a large loss fire.

I drove down yesterday after a morning meeting in Columbus. A ten hour trek down I-77 to 64 east, I remember this drive from Virginia Beach two years ago. I thanked my lucky stars that I would be avoiding that peninsula this time, as the traffic there was enough to cause Ghandi to have road rage. I got to the hotel about 10 pm and settled in. Plenty of time to explore later, I thought. After a long drive and with a 5 am wake up call coming, it was bedtime. This morning, we were up and out early. A long shift later I headed back to the room.

As I pulled into the hotel tonight I was much more aware of my surroundings. And there, right next door, was a Friendly's. I couldn't remember the last time I had a Jim Dandy. But I certainly can now. It was about an hour ago, near a small town called Tappahanock, Virginia.

Good Night All.....................

Comments

  1. Awesome cuz. I love jim dandy's too. Friendly's is the BOMB!!!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

My son, the Bully

A Roller Coaster of a Christmas Miracle

The Finger of God