Old Fashioned and Delicious

WHEN? Friday · July 31

WHERE? Foley, Alabama · find us on the map

Established in 1929, Stacey's Rexall Drugs and Olde Tyme Soda Fountain is the oldest drugstore in Baldwin County. This café was featured in the Pelican's May 1, 2009 issue. The article was displayed near the table where we ate our ice cream.

Wendell had butter pecan - I had a hot fudge sundae

Let me backtrack. The first time I went into this drugstore from the Fifties, I was trying to find some place to buy some cosmetics. They didn't have any. What they do have is a place that has some good ice cream and even a menu with foods listed that you might have expected to order in an old fashioned soda fountain.

We only snapped a few photos while we were enjoying our ice cream. You can view them on Flickr at Stacey's Rexall Drugs and Olde Tyme Soda Fountain.

Brockles in Dallas

WHEN? Late 50's & early 60's

WHERE? Dallas, Texas · find us on the map

Just the name of this blog, The Perpetual Vacationers, leads one to believe that it's about places we have been and things we have seen. Please forgive me for using a poet’s license to include a trip into the past. Not one about where we went or what we saw, but about something we ate.

Back in the late 50's and early 60's when we lived in the Dallas area, there was a restaurant on Ervay Street, just off downtown, named Brockles Restaurant. It opened in 1929 under the name of Brockles' Club Cafe. Andrew Brockles, Sr., went into the restaurant business in 1919. In the Brockles Restaurant on Ervay, they made and served a special dressing on their salads. The salads were nothing more than a quarter of a head of iceberg lettuce covered with this special dressing. There was also a bottle of the dressing on each table and an ample supply of saltines to nibble on until the food was served. The dressing was so good, and in such demand that they started selling it in some of the grocery stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth area. Actually, their special dressing began being produced and sold commercially in 1942.

The first time I ever tasted the dressing was at the Texas State Fair. They had a booth there, and were passing out crackers with this special dressing spread on it. It was Soooo Gooood! Needless to say our house was never without Brockles Special Dressing as long as we lived in Texas. My job, however, took us other places and the dressing was not to be found.

I admit that I thought about the dressing from time to time, but after three or four decades, I had about forgotten about it. Luckily, Mae Dean had not. You see, she had worked with a lady who’s father-in-law was either the owner or one of the owners of the business, and had thought about them from time to time. Eight or ten days ago she made an internet search to see it she might find something about the restaurant and it’s dressing and got a BIG HIT. A member of the Brockles family had a web site on The Brockles Family, Brockles Restaurant and Special Dressing. Not only that, but since neither the restaurant nor the dressing business are still around the whole Brockles family agreed to include the recipe for that great tasting Special Dressing on their web site.

BROCKLE’S SPECIAL DRESSING

1 Pint Jar of Mayonnaise (16 oz)
4 Tablespoons Sweet Pickle Relish, drained
2 Teaspoons Paprika
1½ Ounce Blue Cheese, crumbled
1 Tablespoon Garlic Powder

Place Mayonnaise in a mixing bowl. Add remaining ingredients one at a time stirring to mix after each item is added. Continue stirring by hand until it is an even color and texture. Place sauce back into the mayonnaise jar that has been washed. Refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before using.

Note: There should be a little left after filling the jar. Just spread on a saltine and enjoy your effort. This sauce is good as a salad dressing or just eaten on a saltine cracker.

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I made my first batch today. I can assure you that our house will never be without Brockles Special Dressing again.

~ Wendell Smith

Second Visit to Pensacola Air Show

WHEN? Saturday · July 11

WHERE? Pensacola Beach, Florida · find us on the map

The photo at the top of this blog post came from the Pensacola Beach Website. We were way too far away to get a photo like this. This photo must have been made from the air anyway. We weren't in the air.

Organizers of the annual Pensacola Beach Air Show have had many years of experience and definitely know how to plan for a crowd, and a crowd of folks coming by foot, boat and various kinds of motor vehicles was there. The traffic jam was not what we expected and we even considered just going back home, but we drove all the way to Navarre and picked up some snacks and headed back where we came from until we found a place to park and access the far eastern side of Pensacola Beach. One of the requirements for where we parked was that it have at least one portapotty. With that having been found, we brought our beach gear out on a very beautiful, uncrowded beach and spent two or three hours mostly under our newest and best beach umbrella we have ever owned. It put all the others to shame, even if I do say so myself — and I just did.

The difference between this year's and last year's air show is hard to say because our vantage point was way far away from where the show was staged. The good side was we sat on a beach some people dream of. It was likely as uncrowded as it was because so many tourists had crammed into the areas of Pensacola Beach where the air show took place. We can only guess that the show was very similar to the show last year.

Since our photos are not all that good and just prove we were there, we are referring you to a website that has some great photos of the Blue Angels:

Blue Angels at Bent Bay

Our own photos are located on Flickr:

Blue Angels Air Show at Pensacola Beach in 2009

Here's the Blue Angels 60th Anniversary show in 2006:

Happy Birthday America!

I wanted to save this for myself so I could look at it from time to time.

Just click here and enjoy My Beautiful America.



Happy 4th of July!