I can't tell you where this thought progressed from......it was one of those one-thought-leads-to-another-type things, but I started thinking earlier about our after church "routine" when I was younger.
In elementary school and middle school we went to Highland. As best as I can remember, EVERY Sunday I wore a flowery, striped, or polka dotted Leslie Lucks dress (with HUGE shoulder pads) and Sam and Libby flats. And, EVERY Sunday after church we would drive a block and a half down the road and eat lunch at Crystal's. Crystal's brings back lots of memories.......
We would walk into the foyer and my dad would give my brother, sister, and I quarters to go play games. I played Galaga. I was SO good at that game. I remember getting past stage 30! My dad would go order our food and receive his 10% discount for bringing in the church bulletin. Were'nt Crystal's breadsticks THE BEST??? My mom would either go get a table or go socialize with the million other people we knew that were also eating at Crystal's. The first few years, my brother, sister, and I would eat in the cartoon room. It was always "The Little Rascals", "Three Stooges", or some sort of Looney Toon show. My parents ate in the "grown-up" room. At some point, we decided that the Looney Toon's were incredibly annoying and that Wile E Coyote was never going to catch the Roadrunner, so in later years we all sat at the table by the Piano Man. I still to this day have no idea what his name is, but he has played the piano all over Abilene and always wears suspenders. Every week my sister would request "Somewhere Out There", and he would play it. No matter where we sat, though, we always ended up sitting near "Eternal Stirrer". Eternal Stirrer was an older man that was always by himself and always ordered iced tea. He would pour about a cup of sugar in his tea and then stir and stir and stir and stir and stir! No lie....he probably stirred his tea for 10 straight minutes!! To this day, we always laugh when we hear someone in a restuarant excessively stirring.
Just a memory I thought I would share!!
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6 comments:
My "after-church" memories consisted of the Leslie Lucks dresses too but lunch was ALWAYS at the Picadilly cafeteria in the mall with the rest of our church there! It is a happy memory I have from childhood.
What's funny to me is that we don't have a restaurant like that after church now...we usually go home after being exhausted from the church routine on Sunday mornings. We are lucky to get a hot meal and then start napping!
Oh and congrats on the pregnancy! When is your due date? I was about 12 weeks this time last year with my baby Seth (who is close to 6 months now) -- so I am guessing March or April?
oh my goodness...that just made me SOOO hungry for Crystals. next time i'm home can we drive over to Irving (or wherever) and go to the Crystals there??? and i have a few additional thoughts to add to yours: i also remember cinnamon mints being a part of our sunday morning routine...remember that? and when i think of you playing arcade games the only game that comes to mind is Pac-Man---i think you were all-time champion of that one. and while i did request "Somewhere Out There" often, i also remember asking him to play the Sesame Street theme song so many times that he would just automatically start playing it when he saw us approaching our table. And about the excessive stirrer...mom and I ate at Outback the other night and we found him again...only this time he excessively cut his salad...this guy seriously was cutting up his salad (his SALAD!) for a GOOD 5 minutes.
Courtney,
I grew up going to University C of C and going to Crystals was a big part of my growing up.
Did you go there when the entrance was a cave? I was so sad when they took that down.
We also sat in the movie room and watched 3 stooges and looney toones while my parents ate in the grown up area and listened to Mike, the piano man, play the piano!
When were you in Abilene and how old are you? I grew up with Heather Thomasen who I know went to Highland.
Yes, we will definitely go to Crystal's next time you are in town....if it's still open.
Now that you mention it, I do remember him playing Sesame Street...that used to be SOOOOO embarrassing for me!! Ha!
Also, I have a very vivid memory of a many at Wyatt's cafeteria in Abilene who stirred him tea during the entire meal! I often think of that man when my husband stirs his tea for too long. Maybe he was the same guy?
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