Evening Shade's Finest

Sunday night after church Tom and I "went to town." The car needed gas and we were both a bit hungry. I expected to grab a soda, a Little Debbie, and something fried, and on a stick. Was I in for a surprise!

For those of you who have never been in in a "little country store," my condolences. I grew up in a small town where the streets were lined with small, family-owned stores. Every store had its own flavor and warmth. The proprietors not only knew you by name, they oftentimes knew what you had been up to, who you had been with, and who your parents were. And they were not timid about reporting all the information to your parents, either.

Hookrum's, or now called "the Flash Market," remains such a gathering place for not only the immediate community, but surrounding communities as well. Many of the employees there have been there for a number of years and greet "frequent fliers" with, "Oh, lord, look what the cat's drug up...," or, "What trouble are you stirring up now?"

Visiting this place is, for many, a daily routine stop. For some, it is for breakfast consisting of homemade biscuits and gravy, sausage, and freshly brewed coffee. For yet others, it is the alternative to making one's own sack lunch. With many bulk lunch meats and cheeses to choose from behind the glass showcase, I would dare say many order, "the usual."

For one's dining pleasure there are seating choices of a booth, a table, or, and the one I chose, the very tall (for a shorter person such as myself) pedestal table flanked by two very tall, heavy metal cafe' chairs. This little dining setting was gaily designed with brightly cover round table top and seat covers. Just the ticket for a real dining experience as far as I was concerned.

With my seat facing the front door, my adventure was experienced from an enviable viewpoint. Since Tom had eaten here many times before, he was not nearly as excited about the whole thing as I was. Thankfully, however, he delights in my being easily impressed by such "common" encounters.

The food prepared there is fresh and the choices are endless. Not only are there the usual stand-by's such as cheeseburgers, corn dogs, and potato logs, but fried farm raised catfish, fried chicken livers, egg rolls, and Philly Cheese Steak sandwiches. Offered, too, are sides such as baked beans, coleslaw, and french fries. There is always a fresh batch of fried chicken and chicken tenders as well as hot dogs and Polish sausage.

Flash Market, too, is the home of Pizza Pro, which is, in my opinion, better than Pizza Hut, hands down. But, since it hadn't been that long since I had savored that delight, I chose the two-piece catfish dinner; Tom chose....not surprisingly....the Philly cheese steak sandwich--loaded. For those of you who are unaware of what "loaded" is when it comes to this particular delicacy, it is grilled onions, green peppers, and mushrooms beneath melted pepper Jack cheese. Whew!

Since everything from the billboard menu is cooked at the time of the ordering, Tom and I had the opportunity and a little time to enjoy a quiet (for the most part) conversation. As usual, I talked, he listened, or at least lent the appearance of listening.

I drank in the whole of the surrounding ambiance. Our lofty table was the only one of its kind there and I relished in its relative position in the store. Directly to my left was the refrigerated glass case which housed the loaf lunch meat and various cheeses. Among the choices proudly displayed were Holly bologna, Bryan pickle loaf, liver cheese, honey ham, smoked turkey, salami, pepper loaf, olive loaf, and ham and cheese loaf. There was just as wide a variety of cheeses. Among them were: pepper Jack, Colby Jack, white American, Swiss, baby Swiss, and a number of half-moon cheddars.

Up, or down, depending upon your viewpoint, from the meat and cheese case--toward the door--was "the" counter. This is where orders are placed and countless friendly conversations are held. Stacked in a neat arrangement were individual brown paper bags filled with 5 pounds of peanuts, each marked $2.48.

In front of me, behind Tom, was a turn-tower glove display. Proudly showcased were Cordova gloves. A few of the styles included camo, leather palm, and several others.

I noticed that along the ceiling several feet from the entrance was a video camera with a bright hot pink star-shaped paper with the word, "SMILE" written on it taped to the camera mount.
I wondered if one would see a likeness to this in New York City or in Chicago. A quaint, personal touch, I thought.

Directly to my right, Frito Lay chip and Little Debbie snack display racks. I took nothing from the Frito Lay display who's contributions were Munchos, Doritos, Cheetos, salted cashews, sunflower seeds, and peanuts, not to mention the myriad of numerous filled crackers.

However, plucking from the Little Debbie display my dessert--a lemon fried pie--I felt my meal would be complete. There would be other opportunities to savor the flavors of the Swiss Rolls, oatmeal cakes, many-flavored square and round snack cakes, I'm sure.

Rows and rows of candies of every size, shape, amount and era were available and neatly arranged appropriately at eye level....no matter what age buyer. Kit-Kat's, M&M's, Chick-A-Sticks, Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, Mars, Milky Way, Baby Ruth, and Jolly Ranchers soundlessly called to me from their side-by-side boxes.

The far wall, the wall furthest from the entrance, was lined with shelves supporting numerous items. I thought the items were grouped together in a rather odd way in some areas. Strangely, I thought, were visible together Drano and Head And Shoulders shampoo, Decon and sink scrubbers, Suave hairspray and photo hangers.

It is certainly understandable that "stop-and-robs" as some call them, attempt to stock those items which are most commonly sought out by both the passing through traveler, and the native Evening Shader who doesn't want to travel far from home when something such as a light bulb is needed. Inevitably one has everything but one little, though essential, ingredient for a specific recipe. Those are the items one would expect to find in such an establishment, and, I might add, are seldom disappointed.

Before too long, two plates filled with piping hot food were set in front of us. Holding hands in our usual fashion, we asked the blessing and began to enjoy our meals. I realized that my camera was home, and before me was a photo just aching to be taken. And the smell was even more inviting than the appearance. That's saying a lot!

The plates were glass, and the cutlery, to my pleasure, was metal. Practically like eating at home except for the fact that the food was hot---and good. ;-)

Upon seeing the heaped-up plate of food before me, I was happy I had only ordered the two-piece fish plate. The portions where huge! There were three large hush puppies, a mound of crinkle cut french fries, a Styrofoam container of coleslaw, and several packets of ketchup (Heinz, no less! Yay!) and tartar sauce.

Just a random thought...do you put your ketchup on your fries, or beside them for dipping? OK, guess I need to take my Strattera.... I am a dipper. I do not like limp fries, and besides, if you salt the pile of ketchup, each bite of fry will have enough salt on it.....yes, indeed, I am a professed saltaholic.

Moving right along....for $5.69, that was a heck of a deal! My selection of drink was an A&W cream soda; again, something someone not brought up in the south may be unfamiliar with, but should, if at all possible, try at least once.

Tom's plate was no less apealing. And just as heavily filled with mouth party favors. He, too, had ordered crinkle cut fries. He's not a dipper, though--he's a ketchup on the fry kind of guy. Oh well, I love him despite his wrong choices. teehee And because of some of his choices!

We chatted about the day's happenings and items of interest as we munched on this delectable meal. Thankfully, napkins were abundant and readily available in their nearby stainless steel upright holders. Just one more item reminiscent of "the good old days," where soda fountains were equipped with these very same repositories.

Although we were both stuffed to the brim, food remained on both of our plates. How nice it is to experience that phenomenon from time-to-time! So full I had to take my lemon pie home with me, I knew, even then, that I had had the pleasure of an event that so many locals take for granted.

I have been to many eateries considered ritzy, fancy, or "up-town." And while they were nice, none held a candle to sitting accross the stilted table from the man I love watching him as he wiped the juice dripping from his sandwich from his precious face.

I love my life.....

A Little Off........