Lunch At The Blue Circle

In high school, we'd leave campus for lunch and drive to the Blue Circle, the local 24-hour diner. Using most of my lunch money for cigarettes, I'd have just enough left over for french fries. The short,fat, crinkly ones served up in a small cardboard tray. A quick dash of salt, a squirt of catsup, and I had enough fuel to get through the day.

Hazel brought over the fries if you sat in a booth. "Here you go, sweetheart," she'd say to everyone. She was 70-ish, with dyed blue-black hair teased up higher than her meringue pies. I never saw her without her face on. Fake eyelashes, cherry red nail polish, and if you had a mind to, you could certainly carve out your initials in her makeup.

This establishment holds so many wonderful memories and is sacred ground for so many people. It was one of the top cruising spots in town. You drove down Elk Avenue and turned into the Blue Circle, and then drove around it to see who you could see, And let yourself be seen, too.

Besides being an all night diner, it was also a drive-in restaurant. You talked into a speaker box to order and your food was delivered on a tray that hooked onto your rolled-down car window.

I'm smiling now as I'm reminded of the first double date I had. We'd gone to a movie and stopped by the Blue Circle Drive-In for a late snack. I was with Earl something or other. Oh, what's his name? Very cute and played basketball? And the other couple with us was Cathy something and...

Well, it was a long time ago and as long as it still makes me smile, right?