A Yummy Summer Treat!

Those special Sunday afternoons are deeply imbedded in my heart and my mind.  That front porch swing - Bertie's front porch swing - was a place where a blonde chubby girl was able to dream of her future.  I could swing high in the air, listening to Bertie's AM/FM transistor radio, sing to the top of my lungs and believe I could be anything I wanted to be - even a world famous country singer.  Back then, there were no limits to what I could do, who I could become, or even who I'd marry!  (ahhh, the dreams of a naive little girl!)

Growing up in the 1970s in a small town like Mount Pleasant, North Carolina, I was able to learn the value of the simpler things in life.  Like having a local drug store within a lazy Sunday afternoon's walking distance.  A drug store that had a sweet slightly fluffy old lady like Miss Maude working behind the ice cream counter, serving up delicious Cabarrus Creamery ice cream.

One of the people who was a mainstay at Bertie's on weekends was my great-aunt, Rose.  She was always cool to me.  She would laugh at my not-so-silly jokes.  She would ask about my week at school.  She'd even come outside on the front porch and swing with me, listening to me sing. Oh how she loved her country music...she even, at her age, had a little crush on Kix Brooks from Brooks & Dunn!

Rose loved ice cream just as much as I did.  As a child, and honestly still to this day, I'm not very appreciative of a flavor called Butter Pecan, but it was a definite favorite in my family.  I was a kid...gimme some chocolate!! 

On certain special Sundays, Rose and I would take off walking from Bertie's front porch.  We'd walk down to Moose Drugs and go visit Miss Maude and her ice cream.  I don't really remember how many flavors they sold, but I remember Miss Maude could make a mean ice cream cone! 

There were old fashioned soda fountain tables and chairs to sit at.  We'd sit and enjoy our tasty treats and welcome in all the locals that would come in for a snack after lunch or to purchase their prescriptions.  We would laugh and share stories about family members or people in the town.  Those days were pure bliss...and seemingly endless!  Don't you love how as a child the days seemed to go on forever?  Hot, muggy summers seemed as if they would never end.  Those special days with Rose at Miss Maude's counter at Moose Drug Store are emblazoned in my memory just as surely as all those hours spent dreaming away on her front porch swing.

I can remember this time.....