Dairy Queen's Refreshing Ice Drink, Mr. Misty

When I was a kid, I loved slushies, but 7-11 Slurpees were not common in my area, so I got my slushies at Dairy Queen, and they were called Mr. Misty. In the 80's I had a Dairy Queen right across the street from my house, and I spent lots of time there watching this little sign spinning on the top of the Mr. Misty machine. I remember asking one day, "if you ever change that sign and are getting rid of it, please put it aside for me as I would love it!". Sure enough, one day they changed the name of their slushies to Arctic Rush and the Mr. Misty sign was gone from the top of the machine. When the girl behind the counter saw me, she quickly started digging around under the counter and pulled out this sign and handed it to me. She wasn't sure why I wanted it, but thankfully she had remembered me asking about it more than a year earlier and saved it for me.

After googling Mr. Misty, I know really want to head to Dairy Queen for an orange Mr. Misty (Arctic Rush) ice cream float! Yum!

RUM... Make America Great Again

Here is a sign I saw today while down in the US. It took me a few seconds to figure out what I was looking at, but when I got it, I giggled so much we had to do a U Turn and drive by again real slow so I could take a photo out the window as we drove by.

New Denny's Location Is Open for Business

I've been wanting a Denny's to open in my neighbourhood for years. Apparently all my wishing has made it happen, as the old Pantry location on King George Boulevard which has been vacant for some time, has now become a Denny's. They opened on May 2nd, 2016, and I was there to enjoy a Super Bird sandwich with seasoned fries and a Cherry Coke. I've been back a few time since and even stopped by last night at midnight for a Grand Slam breakfast (with one modification, mine came with chocolate chip pancakes). I wasn't sure how busy they would be at midnight, but turns out I'm not the only one who was hungry at midnight last night.
Sadly, one of the evenings recently when we stopped by for dinner, they were closed, with a sign saying they were 'closed for filming'. I initially assumed they were filming a Denny's ad, but after thinking about it, I realize that I don't remember seeing ads for Denny's on TV in the last few years. With all the movie productions in the area, it could as easily be filming for a TV show or movie. It's possible I will be seeing Sam and Dean eating at a greasy spoon that looks really familiar on an upcoming episode of Supernatural.
As thrilled as I am with a new Denny's in my neighbourhood, I do wish that this one had the retro look of their older restaurants. Even the sign out front is still in the shape of the old Pantry sign. I guess i will have to go with the old saying that "whats important is whats on the inside", and so far I have been more than happy with what I have had "inside" this Denny's location.

Jonny's CARS Wash

I recently drove by a local car wash that has been in the same location for about 30+ years. I'm not sure what they used to be called, but their brand new signs say "Jonny's Car Wash", and the images and fonts used looked extremely familiar! I had been meaning to stop by and get some pictures for a few weeks but never seemed to remember, until one day a week or so ago I was out driving around town with my wife and son and I happened to mention the car wash. My wife asked if I wanted to stop by to get some photos and I quickly said "Yes!" She parked in the empty parking lot of the next door business and I hopped out of the car with the camera to take some photos. While I was trying to get a good shot of the main sign, I walked over to their drive way and stepped though the open fence to take a photo. I was quickly greeted by a woman working there who told me that I could not take photos. I stepped back onto the sidewalk and continued to take photos. She then came out to where I was now standing and informed me that if I didn't stop taking photos she was going to call the police. Wow, I didn't realize it was illegal to take photos of a business that could be plainly seen from the sidewalk! I made my way back to the car, all the while taking more photos, and all the while listening to her threaten to call the police on me for illegally taking photos. When I finally got into the car, she held up a piece of paper and let me know that she had my licence plate number and was calling the police.
I hadn't thought much about it, but after all of her fuss over me taking photos, I have to wonder... did they get permission to use the Disney/Pixar logos and images on their signs... I think not!

Pizza Hut Pete

On June 15, 1958, brothers Frank and Dan Carney took advantage of the "pizza craze" sweeping the country by opening the first Pizza Hut in Wichita. A year later the first Pizza Hut franchise opened in Topeka, and the move to become a national chain was on.
One of the first symbols of the company was "Pizza Hut Pete," shown here in the form of a plastic sign that was part of Pizza Hut oven toy for children. I found this one at a local thrift shop. Too bad they didn't have the toy oven to go with it. I'm sure my son would have loved it, as we love going to Pizza Hut every Friday afternoon for the "All You Can Eat" pizza buffet. Pizza Hut was one of the first things Kaden learned to say!
"Pete" was used by the company into the mid-1970s, when the familiar red roof logo began to appear. "Pete" might simply have outlived his usefulness, or perhaps he was seen as too much of an Italian stereotype to be an effective image for the company.

Robert's Motors Oldsmobile

Here is a neat sign I found on my Drive In trip to Auburn, WA, back in 1998 when we visited the Auburn 6 Drive In. I love the rocket ship with the tail of lights behind. If it still works, I'm sure the sign looks great in the dark. We didn't get to find out though as we didn't pass by this sign after dark.

Buster's Texas Style Barbecue

If you're looking for a genuine taste of Texas you've found it! Buster's makes the best barbecue this side of the Rio Grande, dry-rubbed with spices and slow cooked for six to twelve hours in Texas style smoke pits stoked with real Hickory. It's a labor and time-intensive process, but you won't find better barbecue anywhere! Made you hungry yet? For some reason I started thinking about Buster's the other day and can't get that mouth watering grub outta my mind!
I have visited the Tigard, Organ location of Buster's Texas Style Barbecue on two separate Drive In mini vacations, and both times I left with a huge smile on my face! I was drawn in the neat old neon sign outside. Once inside, I was surrounded with the great Texas outdoors. That is to say they have done some nice theming to make it look like a chuck wagon line outside, with a camp fire, trees, etc. The kind of thing you would expect to find at a Disney park.
Then there was the food. As their web site into says "we make the best barbecue this side of the Rio Grande" and they aren't kidding!
Now if only they would add a few new locations in Washington State that we could drive to in a few hours, instead of an all day drive to the state of Oregon, then we would be all set!