RETURN TO WHITE CASTLE

We have talked and dreamed and planned this moment for a long time. We have perused maps and locations and driving directions. We have altered routes and changed times and amounts of breakfasts eaten. but the moment finally arrived!!! In Cincinnati!!!

All the workers knew we had come all the way from Tucson to eat here and that we grew up in Chicago devouring these sliders as often as we could and that my sister would kindly drive me to a White Castle after picking me up at the airport when i would fly in for a visit and my first date with Bill ended with chomping down on White Castle's.

I only ate 4 and 1/2; the rest of the boxes were Bill's and 1 held fries. (as lackadaisal as ever.) But the boxes are a little more corporate looking and the to-go bags are no longer white. The waitress said the company has gone green. Boo!! Also their menu has a lot of chicken stuff on it; including a breakfast sandwich of a fried piece of chicken smothered with country gravy sprinkled with bacon bits and stuffed between two grilled waffles. Oh no; back "in the day" you got your grease and saturated fat and grilled and oiled onion fix from the burgers; not all this extra 'fancy' stuff.

The restaurant we ate at wasn't quite dingy enough and there were no shady characters and you didn't get to watch the cook spatula up your order from the vast grill table with all those sizzling patties with the 4 holes and the onions below it.

But the taste and smell was the same and bill and i were very very happy.

P.S. Later on we both confessed to each other that our stomachs were upset. Bill kept burping the lunch and i had to take a Tagamet and some Gaviscon. Now i'm not saying i wouldn't forgo the discomfort for another slider experience but i need to let this senior GI system calm down.

It was a lot of fun though and the colonic churning was worth it.