When I was a kid, we went on long road trips to our grandparent’s house several times a year. This was before cell phones so we were bored – no iPads for watching movies, and no portable video games.
This Dollar Tree Dining blog post is dedicated to those long road trips!
At the end of the drive, as we were about to go through the Fort Pitt tunnel, to emerge with a spectacular view of the river and downtown Pittsburgh, mom would give each of us a Tootsie Roll Pop as our reward for being “not terrible.”
Grandma always bought so many groceries in anticipation of our arrival. She always got multi-packs of cereals. I loved them when I was a kid, but they weren’t as exciting once I became a teenager. She got mad at me when I didn’t eat them. “These are going to waste.”
Cocoa Balls! I like how 4 of the 5 cereals in this multi-pack are “Now, Even Better Tasting.” They were grreat!
I can’t post about visiting our grandparents without including old-fashioned grandma candy. Grandma used to carry candy in her purse — her “hard tacks.” I always thought that sounded like “heart attack,” and I found that funny. Grandma, mom and I went to Kaufman’s (now Macy’s) in downtown Pittsburgh to buy clothes. Mom and grandma loved shopping. I didn’t enjoy it, but I liked going to lunch afterwards!
Grandma has been gone for about 13 years, now. It seems like just yesterday that she asked me about my boyfriend — she didn’t like him, but they never actually met! She was right about him — he was not right for me. Her views were often old-fashioned (not very gay-friendly, and she probably wouldn’t be an ally to a transgendered friend). But she was the matriarch of the family, and she is still very fondly remembered by all of us.
Good memories