Memorial Day respects

For Memorial Day, I headed south to pay respects to some of my deceased relatives. 

Colonial Flag Company

There wasn't much to see at first. 

Point of the mountain

But once I got passed the point of the mountain, the sky went crazy.

My first stop was Spanish Fork.   I was going to the cemetery to pay respects to my grandpa who passsed away a few years ago.

Downtown Spanish Fork

First I needed to have lunch.  I hadn't eaten anything before leaving West Jordan and I preferred visiting my grandpa on a full stomach.  I went to one of my favorite eateries in Spanish Fork - Barry's Park View Drive-in. 

I got my usual - a steak sandwich, an order of fries and a regular size soft drink. 

Good stuff.  I then went to the cemetery to pay respects to Grandpa Peterson.  

After paying my respects, I went back to Main Street.  I noticed a small shaved ice establishment with two long lines of people.  I'm not a big fan of shaved ice but with lines like this, that's telling me that they must have a pretty decent product.  I decided to give it a try.  

I didn't know what to get.   I kept looking at what other people were ordering, trying to find some inspiration but nothing was coming to me.  When I got close, I had a look at some of there specialty items and noticed they had something called an American Flag.  It was Memorial Day so and I was already feeling patriotic so that became my choice. 

Here it is!

I've never had such a patriotic looking dessert.  This was only 2.50$ which I thought was reasonable.  It would have been 2.00$ but I opted for a small scoop of ice cream on the bottom which added 50 cents.

The establishment is  a franchise called Lani's Hawaiian Shaved Ice.  I retrieved the following information about Lani's from their website.


Auntie Lani would have never dreamed her little shave ice shack on the beach would have turned into something so big! We're honored to spread her legacy of sharing awesome shave ice and her Aloha Spirit with the world.

We're committed to serving only the best shave ice with a smile and a friendly visit. We want you to feel like you're on a mini-vacation with our 'ohana at Lani's shack on the beach in Hawaii.

Come check us out at our stands in Lindon, Spanish Fork, Orem, and West Jordan.

.

After my snack, it was on to Salem to pay respects to my deceased maternal relatives.  The way to get to Salem is through Spanish Fork or Payson.  There is no freeway exit. Salem is one of those cities that is nicely tucked away from modern civilization.

The trip to Salem was another scenic and enjoyable drive.

 The next two photos were taken of my drive through Salem to the Cemetery

The Skies were beautiful at the Salem Cemetery as well.  

 

On the way back, I stopped at Stokes, a supermarket on the road going into Salem. 

While outside the store, I took a few photos of the surrounding landscape.

A shot of an open field to the northwest of the store.

Directly North of the store, a Hari Krishna temple can be seen in the distance.  This is one of the most unusual sights to be seen in rural Utah.

Stokes is a very different kind of supermarkets.  Half of it is a grocery store. 

The other half is Ace Hardware.

An aisle on the Ace Hardware side.  You can see all the home repair stuff in the aisle and the  Dairy case at the end.

They carry a number of unusual products at Stokes, including some hard-to-find soda pops.

The one that jumped out at me was the Cheerwine in the middle.  I thought it might be something fun to try another time.  I had already had an adventure with the Hawaiian shaved ice cream.   Did I really need another adventure?

Sure, why not?  As I walked around the store, something about the Cheerwine kept calling me.  What if I had a hard time finding it somewhere else?  I went back and got me a bottle.

The label touts that the the company has been making this soda pop since 1917, almost a hundred years.  I pulled the following information from Wikipedia about the company.

Cheerwine is a cherry-flavored soft drink produced by the Carolina Beverage Corporation of Salisbury, North Carolina. It has been produced since 1917 by "the oldest continuing soft drink company still run by the same family" (Wikipedia)

Cherry soda pop is not as popular as it used to be, probably because it reminds people of cold medicine.  It's been ages since I've even had cherry soda myself.  But one does not drink a beverage like this because they are looking for an great taste.  They want something that can take them back in time like the Delorean in Back the the Future.  That's what I was  looking for with Cheerwine.

After leaving Stokes, I hopped in my car and headed for home.   

Coming into Spanish Fork from Salem.

Pleasant Grove/American Fork.

Approx. 12300 South in Salt Lake.

I began sipping on my Cheerwine while I drove home and had it finished by the time I got to Orem.  I got what I was hoping for.  The actual taste of it was nothing out of the ordinary but there was something in that bottle of Cheerwine that brought me back in time just like hopping into a Delorean time machine. If I had to rate the taste alone, I'd give it a C+ but the overall experience gets an A.