I Remember

I saw on the news last night that Parkette Drive-In on New Circle and Liberty had reopened after being closed for renovation. Just the mention of the name brings back floods of memories. Those big double-decker Poorboy Sandwiches with fat crinkle French fries and pink lemonade make my mouth water just thinking about them. There were two Parkette’s in Lexington when I was growing up there, but this one was my favorite. We had a lot of fun cruising, eating and talking.

I remember the Saturday daddy let me drive his 1967 Dodge Polara convertible for the first time. My sister, her date, my date and I went “cruising” through Parkette. You can’t just go in and park especially when you are in a yellow convertible with the top down. You have to drive around the circle at least three times to make sure everyone notices you. We finally stopped and ordered into the big silver speaker and waited for our lunch, noses up in the air like we were really special. After we ate and talked awhile, we decided to leave, I turned the key in the ignition and nothing happened – again - nothing happened, by this time the two guys were turning red, which didn’t match the yellow Dodge at all. I turned the key again – still nothing. Both guys slid down in the seat so they couldn’t be seen and it looked as though my sister and I were the only two in the car, she in the back seat and I in the front seat. Needless to say we were both a little red in the face too. Finally I got out and went to the pay phone to call daddy to come and get the car started. This is still one of my most embarrassing moments to this day.