There is a chain of convenience stores that exists only in the upper parts of NYS and apparently parts of Vermont called Stewarts.
It is like a 7-11, but better. In addition to serving the typical convenience store fare, they have an ice cream section. A real ice cream station where someone scoops the ice cream for you. Also, you can get shakes, bannana splits and the like. The reason it is better than 7-11, is that the quality is universally better. If you get a hot dog from 7-11 it will typically have a stale bun, the toppings station will look like a bunch of 3 year olds ransacked it etc. If you get a hot dog from Stewarts, the bun will be fresh, the topping station will be immaculate and you will get a kind smile from the person behind the counter. Also, unlike a 7-11, you can have a seat in Stewarts and enjoy your tasty treats. Even though it is not a particularly big chain, they produce a bunch of their own brands. They have their own soda, cakes, ice cream etc. For a little while they sold soda in 1.5 liter glass bottles. To encourage recycling, they gave you 25 cents back for each bottle. One guy I worked with swore that if you bought enough you simply had to make money. I tried to explain to him that each bottle cost something like $1.25, and you only got a quarter back for each bottle. He tried to convince me that I was missing the big picture. He went on that if you are talking hundreds of thousands of bottles you could get a ton of money back. Not the brightest guy in the world.
Load here. Okay, ice cream, store brand root-beer, cheap cheap beer, chewing tobacco, porn, camping knick-knacks, deli style sandwiches, gas and malteds. Want to change your chocolate milkshake (which was already yummy and cheap) into a malted? 50 cents extra and you get the thickest, sweetest, maltiest shake ever. Simply sublime.
The Stewart's near camp got a lot of activity. It was the closest gas station, unless you count the camp gas pump, and also sold beer. Additionally they had a very old school ATM. I have never seen another like it, but you put in your necessary information and then it spits out a receipt that you take to the counter and then the cashier gives you your money. It was more of an electronic middleman than a bona fide ATM. However, you still had to pay a fee to use it.
Over the course of a summer you would likely visit Stewarts a half dozen times or so. One particular trip I remember quite well.
The load was driving. The load, more than anyone else I know, really supported the 4-6 cylinder late 80s american car market. I think at the time he had a Buick Regal. It was an interesting vehicle. It burned about a quart of oil every other fill-up, so essentially it was a 2-stroke engine. The trunk was enormous, but the cylinder that holds it open had gone bad so the load had a trusty ski pole that he used to keep it open. At some point, I think the heat went, but that was not a problem in the summer. Being the generous man that he was/is, the load was always up for a good trip to Stewarts and would lend his car. On this particular trip, we had 6 or 7 people in the car. It was pretty good and loaded (pun) down.
Very early into the journey it became apparent that the muffler was loose and dragging along the road. The Weebs and someone else did a bang-up job patching it back together with only twine and baling wire. It was particularly impressive because the muffler was quite hot at this time too. We made it to Stewart's, probably a 12 mile drive, without any further incident. Once at Stewart's we all partook in some yummy treats. I am not sure if we headed back to camp after that or went somewhere else. While at Stewarts, the load had availed himself to their sampling of pornography. Specifically, Penthouse Letters. This is a collection of erotic letters sent in by the public. Each one starts out with some mundane fact pattern and quickly morphs into a tale worthy of Caligula. A young lady that had accompanied us, far from being offended, was actually very excited about this reading material. She proceeded to read various tales aloud to us on the ride home. Somewhat bizzare, but memorable nonetheless! I think we had to interrupt it to make another muffler repair though. All in all, another solid visit to Stewarts!
I remember the muffler issue and the porn recital as two separate incidents! Funny how memory plays. I do recall one year arriving up at Stewarts late on a Friday night in early June. I went in, bought some beer and snacks, got in the car, turned around in the parking lot and drove over one of those asphalt bumps at the edge of the parking lot that are sometimes used in place of concrete stops or metal barriers. My car had bottomed out. Had to call Ranger Bob. He came, he pulled me out with his truck. I was mortified. Good times!
No comments:
Post a Comment