by senpaidonna » Sat Feb 15, 2014 12:05 am
When Cedar Lanes was torn down, I cried. I ate dinner there almost every week-night of my young life, plus many breakfasts and lunches, too. Cedar Lanes Coffee Shop...that was where I was finally big enough not to sit in a booster seat for the first time...that was where I was finally old enough to order for myself for the first time. I used to sit in the coffee shop and look toward the darkened dining room and couldn't wait until I was old enough to eat in there with all the grown-ups. My favorite waitress there for many, many years was Donna. The hostess, Bev, was always so nice. Sometimes at dinner, my parents would order a cocktail, and the cocktail server, I think her name was Carol, would come bring their drinks from the bar. She had a French ponytail with lots of curls, and she wore a short red dress with ruffles. I thought it was beautiful. Breakfast was always the Spanish omelette, lunch and dinner always a cold turkey sandwich, unless I was feeling fancy, then it was the hamburger steak with mushroom gravy. Dessert? Why, the chocolate cake, of course.
The food was always really good. I loved how they stirred the dressing up in the salad rather than just glopping it on top, though I never liked the one slice of beet that topped the salad. When I got older, I could walk around the place, and I played an ancient video game: a trivia quiz called the General Knowledge Test. I loved it. Once, may parents let me walk over there for lunch by myself. After finishing my turkey sandwich, I ordered a slice of chocolate cake. Bev and Donna conferred about it, then asked if my parents had said it was OK, as I usually did not get cake with my lunch. They ended up calling my Dad to get permission for me to have the cake! Right after I turned 21, I went to Cedar Lanes, to the dining room, FINALLY! I got the amazing prime rib and had a cocktail. Carol gave it to me for free. I continued going to Cedar Lanes until all of the waitresses I knew (and who knew and remembered me) were gone. It just wasn't the same without them.
When Cedar Lanes was torn down, I cried. I ate dinner there almost every week-night of my young life, plus many breakfasts and lunches, too. Cedar Lanes Coffee Shop...that was where I was finally big enough not to sit in a booster seat for the first time...that was where I was finally old enough to order for myself for the first time. I used to sit in the coffee shop and look toward the darkened dining room and couldn't wait until I was old enough to eat in there with all the grown-ups. My favorite waitress there for many, many years was Donna. The hostess, Bev, was always so nice. Sometimes at dinner, my parents would order a cocktail, and the cocktail server, I think her name was Carol, would come bring their drinks from the bar. She had a French ponytail with lots of curls, and she wore a short red dress with ruffles. I thought it was beautiful. Breakfast was always the Spanish omelette, lunch and dinner always a cold turkey sandwich, unless I was feeling fancy, then it was the hamburger steak with mushroom gravy. Dessert? Why, the chocolate cake, of course.
The food was always really good. I loved how they stirred the dressing up in the salad rather than just glopping it on top, though I never liked the one slice of beet that topped the salad. When I got older, I could walk around the place, and I played an ancient video game: a trivia quiz called the General Knowledge Test. I loved it. Once, may parents let me walk over there for lunch by myself. After finishing my turkey sandwich, I ordered a slice of chocolate cake. Bev and Donna conferred about it, then asked if my parents had said it was OK, as I usually did not get cake with my lunch. They ended up calling my Dad to get permission for me to have the cake! Right after I turned 21, I went to Cedar Lanes, to the dining room, FINALLY! I got the amazing prime rib and had a cocktail. Carol gave it to me for free. I continued going to Cedar Lanes until all of the waitresses I knew (and who knew and remembered me) were gone. It just wasn't the same without them.