Grinnell: Revisited

My last post about Grinnell has gotten some great reviews- both from friends and from my Mom's family who grew up here.

We were graced again today with another beautiful day- sunny and warm, just a little cooler than the previous. I had some more errands to do around town, so I decided to make a few detours and get some more pictures.

This picture may be inscrutable to most viewers, but the Taylor's will know it immediately as their childhood home on 608 10th Ave. I am happy to report it is still very handsome.

I stopped next by Hansen's, where I was immdeiately recognized by the propeitor as a Taylor. According to him, I look just like my Uncles and Grandpa. We chatted for a while, during which time he mentioned their handsome size (in my previous post but reproduced below) may be getting renovated as part of downtown beautification.

As part of the renovation, its faded neon would once more return to its full luminescent glory.

Before I left, I just had to tell Bill the long history the Gordon kids (and Taylor's before us) have had with Danish Maid baked goods.

When I was a little kid, every time we came to visit for the summer we would grab some of their hamburger buns on the way to visit my Grandparents. Once there, the delicious, petite buns (only about 2 inches in diameter) would be dressed with a thick slice of summer sausage, or else with some very chunky Skippy peanut butter. We would have these childhood snacks always with milk and some of my grandma's cookies.

Another childhood destination of ours was the Dari Barn, where you can get a variety of frozen treats on hot and muggy Iowa evenings. Just a few blocks away from my grandparents, we would amble down with my Mom to get double scoop chocolate dipped cones, which never failed but to drip down our chins.

They also had delicious malts, as I would discover when I came here in college. They are closed, alas, for the winter.

The Dari Barn is also next to a tractor retailer. During our visits, we would clamber among the tremendous wheels, climbing up the treads and generally scaring my mom.

Finally, the Made Rite. Well, when I was a kid it was the Made Rite; famed for their loose meat sandwich and pork tenderloin. Recently, however, they have un-franchised (de-franchised?) and returned to their original name: Montgomery's. I go their every so often, always getting a pork tenderloin sandwich (below). My mom believes that the girls who work there are descended from the founders.

I hope you enjoyed this post!