April 16, 2008: Hippy Ice Cream…
So, yesterday while I was out with Jack and Sue, they decided to stop by Makanda, Illinois. For those of you who are not familiar with Makanda, it is a small town located near Carbondale, Illinois. It has been a few years since I have been there. I actually used to have a friend that lived there. Most people wouldn’t know anything about Makanda except for the fact that the late Senator Paul Simon is from that area. So they are famous for that! The water tower, which Sue has a photo of (perhaps she can send me) has a smiley face on it with a bow tie. The bow tie is significant because Senator Paul Simon used to wear one – all the time.
Anyway, we stopped by Makanda yesterday for ice cream. Now, Jack and Sue had both been telling me stories about their experiences in Makanda. They described it as a little town that was stuck in the 60s. I guess I had forgotten just how "hip" Makanda was! We drove up to the "boardwalk" – that is all Makanda is made of – a small boardwalk of stores. Now, as soon as we stepped out of the car you could smell incense in the air. For those who are not familiar with the hippy movement – incense is a sure sign that one is nearby. But just to shed any little doubt on whether or not there were actually hippies around…it wasn’t long before we saw a few long haired folk roaming around. Then there were the tie dye shirts hanging in the window – and a sign for the upcoming hippy ‘fest. No doubt the main attraction for Makanda. And did I mention the picnic table covered with painted flowers? Or the trash can that someone had turned into a frog? More evidence of "happy" people.
So, we headed into the ice cream store. Once inside we noticed the aroma of coffee beans. Sure enough, right there in front of us, was a wall of coffee. Bags of imported coffee, local coffee, bags of special tea brew, all sorts of fine coffee drinking ingredients. I am not a coffee drinker myself so I couldn’t go into any more detail than that. Then there was another wall of hot sauce. ALL sorts of hot sauce. But we weren’t there for the hot sauce or coffee – we were there for the ice cream. So, we loaded up on ice cream cones, I had a double dip of strawberry for myself. Joey had vanilla. I told him that was boring. He needed to live a little…move a little closer to the edge. The ice cream was great. I would highly recommend a stop in to the Makanda Ice Cream Parlor. Now I wish I had taken a photograph of the strip there in Makanda, but I didn’t. I think I was having a lazy photography day.
We walked around for a little while. Jack, Joey, and myself ended up in one of the "progressive" stores. Jack seemed to get lost as he was the last one out. I am pretty sure he was taking a big wiff of that incense. Can’t be sure though. He was smiling upon exit. He didn’t buy a tie dye shirt though…so, at least for now, I think Sue shouldn’t worry – at least not too much.
It was a fun day. The weather was great, the company was great, the memories are great. An A+ kind of day!
Dandoline photograph that I took today…
