June 20, 2019 (Thursday)
Today is National Ice Cream Soda day. I have written about this special day in previous years. My memory is stirred whenever I hear the words, “Ice Cream Soda,” and I 
immediately visualize the old Kress store in downtown Houston on the southeast corner of Main and Capitol streets. When I was a little fellow I would accompany my mother as she shopped downtown, and her trips there always included a stop at the Kress 5 & 10 department store. The soda fountain was in the basement at the foot of a staircase that led from the main floor of the store. As I recall, the Ice Cream soda cost ten cents. I always asked for strawberry which included whipped cream topping, itself topped with a juicy red cherry.
That was 82 years ago. The store closed long ago. A restaurant now occupies the space. When my grandson, Alex, was married in Houston in October 2017, he took all the men in his wedding party to that restaurant, and included me in his invitation to share a meal with them. I immediately recognized the location, but that is all that was familiar. It looked entirely different outside and inside, and the staircase was gone. I assumed the basement still exists but is serving a different purpose these days. It was hard to focus on the moment and the delicious food as my mind wandered back to the day when I was five years old and got lost right outside the front door. I was quickly rescued by concerned pedestrians on the busy sidewalk. I could not help thinking about the old staircase, now gone, and the ice cream sodas I enjoyed at the foot of those stairs so very 
long ago. Oh, and I think the hitching posts on Main street have been removed, many years after remaining in place even though they were no longer needed.
The soda was one of the treats I would get from time to time. Another was served at the drive-in root beer stand. That place served up frosty, cold root beer in a tall mug that was frothy on top when it reached my eager hands.
My uncle used to buy me malted milk shakes at the ice cream stores that offered easy entry through areas occupied by doors after closing time. One could walk right in from the sidewalk, stand at the tall counter and position his shoe on the brass rail that rose from the floor. He also took me to drug stores that offered that same wonderful drink in a big can and a tall, frosty glass. There was always a little more in the can after consumption of the delicious contents of the glass.
All the drug stores had a soda fountain with revolving stools, and small round tables with chairs. They also had a pharmacist who more than likely would fill your prescription by mixing the elements himself or by pouring a liquid from a large jar into a smaller bottle. One of the last such drug stores in the country existed in Gregory, Texas.
Across the street from the Carroll Library at Baylor University was the famous Baylor Drug. It fit the description i just gave, and also had a kiosk with a real live watch repairman, who also had several new ones for sale. I lost count of all the grilled cheese sandwiches I ate at the fountain, for just twenty-five cents each.
Let’s hear it for National Ice Cream Soda day. It brings back memories of good times.