It All Began At In-A-Tub

In-A-Tub.

Ah, sweet, sweet In-A-Tub.

The artery-clogging drive-in of my youth.

The picture shown is actually of the NEW In-A-Tub. You can actually sit down and eat inside this building. It's a far cry from MY In-A-Tub. The one where you had to take your food to the car to eat it.

The In-A-Tub of my youth was a dive. A hole-in-the-wall. A place where it was the custom to drive up and park in one of about 20 or so spots which ran in two rows from the front of the building out to the road. From there you walked up to the building, and if you were lucky, you were able to get inside instead of waiting outside in all kinds of weather for ten minutes or more to place your order due to the crowd. When you finally reached the counter you'd best be ready with your order, and you'd best know the lingo, or suffer the attitude of the sour-faced, beehive-haired, nasal-voiced woman behind the counter. Anyone who entered her domain had to place an order in a timely manner or risk being passed over.

After all, this was a well-oiled machine.

In more ways than one.

In-A-Tub was/is famous for their tacos. But these are not just ANY tacos, my friends. These are DEEP-FRIED TACOS, making them EVER so much more dangerous for your health and well-being. Tacos that were served IN A paper TUB, hence the name.

And since so many of you have been kind enough to share your recipes on the Interweb, I thought I'd share this little tidbit with you; Remember those lovely metal clips like Grandma's beautician used on her hair when she went to get it set at the beauty parlor every week? Before you immerse your tacos into the boiling hot oil that adds All The Nutritional Value, be sure to use those metal clips to close the tacos up tight and keep the filling in. Then, after you have determined they have soaked up enough of that greasy goodness, you take them out, unclip them, spread the shell apart, and add chopped lettuce, powdered cheese, and taco sauce, either hot or mild (mine being the mild because I am the Wimp of All Wimps when it comes to all things spicy).

I'm telling you Interpeeps, it's a taste sensation made in the Heavenly Realms Above. Truly it is. And when you add a deep-fried burrito with melted cheese on the top and a medium Dr. Pepper?

GLORY!!!!!!

In high school we had open lunch, which meant we could go anywhere for lunch we wanted to if (1) we didn't drive or ride in a car and (2) we didn't use any more than our allotted time for lunch. Somehow or another someone frequently had to go to the dentist or doctor or had a sick aunt or dog or job off campus, and so a car load of us ended up at In-A-Tub more often than not.

And today, even though The Girl is attending a Rival School Which Shall Remain Unnamed, it was her turn.

I passed the tradition on.

It was a sweet moment, really. It almost made me shed a tear.

I hadn't been there in years, yet they were still serving up the same old stuff. For old times' sake, I almost asked the girl behind the counter to treat me with disdain and whine with a nasal tone as she called out my order, but I refrained. After all, the place has changed hands a couple of times.

So I got two mild, a burrito with cheese and sauce on the side, and a Dr. Pepper. The Girl got three mild, but had to ask me why I ordered it that way. I had to laugh. You would too, if you'd suffered through the lady with the beehive hairdo that yelled "THU-REEEE MILE-YULD!"

At least she's got someone to show her the ropes.