ANOTHER PART OF HISTORY GONE BY THE WAYSIDE

It's always sad to hear that another classic piece of our history is going away. Although I've never been to the Tampa restaurant Goody Goody, I've heard quite a bit about it and how it has been a part of the area for decades. But after 70-plus years, it is closing at the end of this month to likely become a high rise condo development.

The story takes me back to my childhood in South Mississippi's Pine Belt, where one of my favourite trips would be to the Frostop, a drive-in restaurant well known for their delicious hamburgers, french fried, and root beer served in a frosted mug (thus the name). At the time I didn't realize that it was a nationwide chain (here's a pic of one in Bradenton from the 1950s), but the local franchisee would offer a free burger for those making the honor roll in school. Needless to say, that in itself was an incentive!

The restaurants disappeared, and their place in the market was taken by Ward's, which has many of the same or similar items topped by the homemade root beer served in that traditional frosted mug. I'm getting hungry just thinking about this!