Kristin's Top 10 Reasons to LOVE the Cracker Barrel
- The Checkers Game. Yes, I put this in capital letters. It's a requirement when talking about a game with playing pieces the size of your head. A good old fashioned game of checkers on an outrageously over-sized scale. Perfect for anyone between 4 and 400 years of age. When we go to the Cracker Barrel we never make it inside without stopping to play a game of checkers on the front porch first.
- The Peg Game. This one is capitalized too, but not because of size. Oh, no. This one deserves capital letters because of the sly hook printed on the top of the game board that calls you an ignoramus if you can't get it right. Strangely, people all over this country can't resist besting a piece of wood with golf tees that calls you stupid. And I'm one of 'em.
- The rocking chairs. The rocking chairs that adorn the front porch of Cracker Barrel restaurants all over the country really should come with a warning. They should be obligated to tell you that if you make the mistake of sitting down in one, it will hypnotize your a**. You might also find yourself making small talk with someone from several states away and actually enjoying yourself.
- The candy. Yep. I admit it. When I go into the Cracker Barrel store, I'm immediately 8 years old again. They have all of the sugary sweets that were popular decades ago and they are wrapped in the wrappers from back then too! 1 pound Hershey bars, Frisbee-sized old fashioned lollipops, peppermint sticks, horehound candy, Moon Pies, Cracker Jacks, Red Hot Atomic Fireballs in Mason jars and lemon drops. I admit I don't partake as freely as when I was 8, but oh, the memories!
- The toys. Same song, second verse. Everything I said about the candy? True about the toys section. Slinky toys, Silly Putty, the checkers game, Raggedy Ann and Andy, sock monkeys and Etch-a-Sketch. Sweet stuff.
- The decor. Retro kitsch at its best. Old time advertising for un-PC things like cigarettes, cigars and loose leaf tobacco is combined with those labels we all know and love. Campbell's Soup, Oxydol detergent and Palmolive dish soap. Remember the commercials for Palmolive with Madge the waitress? Permanently burned on my brain, just like the commercials for Clorox 2--'ancient Chinese seeeeeecret!'.
- The fireplace. Whenever we go to Cracker Barrel, Taylor wants to sit in front of the fireplace and read a story or two. Go ahead. It's okay. Say a great big heartfelt "Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww"!
- The audio books collection for travelers. LOVE IT! I started taking Taylor on road trips back to South Dakota to visit family when she was 2 years old. Just the two of us on an 11-hours-each-way kind of road trip. John would stay at home (someone has to pay the bills) while Tay and I discovered the little known by-ways of Wyoming, Nebraska and South Dakota on the way to Grandma Lou's house. Cracker Barrel has saved my life on these road trips and turned my daughter into a fairly well-read (well-audioed?) kid.
- The deals to be found in the Country Store. Taylor and I went to the Cracker Barrel last Thursday and squealed with delight over their new Halloween displays. Taylor found these colorful glass spiders made from beads and glass balls and attached to a stretch spring. She was in love. In lust. I wasn't going to get out of the store without a verbal confrontation of some magnitude. I sighed and asked, "Well, how much are they?" She looked at the tag and said, "One dollar and nine cents." I said, "Get outta here! Give me that!" Sure enough. These oh-so-cool spiders were just over a buck apiece. We bought every one they had. :)
- The food. Yeah. You knew with me typing this was going to top the list. And you were RIGHT! The food served at the Cracker Barrel is delicious, diverse and dangerous. They use the meal equation I grew up with. Fried + starch + starch + sugar + saturated fat = fine eatin'. A meal isn't a meal without four different breads being served, meat on the plate and sugar on everything else (vegetables, dessert, in your tea or coffee). Oh and don't forget to use a shovel to serve it all up! (Check out their menu and see if you don't agree with me.) It completely takes me back to my childhood. Sunday dinners at grandma's house. Mom making meat and potatoes for supper. Driving into town for a treat at the local cafe. Oh yeah, those were the days.
Taylor loves the mac and cheese. John loves the fact that meat is the center of attention. I love the hash brown casserole. I'm pretty sure there is a petrifying amount of salt in it and that they use a stick of butter per serving. Still, I get it every time I go and when I've eaten every single shred of potato I secretly wish there was more on my plate. I sigh, then flag down my server to request the insulin drip I need before tackling my dessert. :)
So there you have it. 10 reasons why I love the Cracker Barrel. We don't go to the Cracker Barrel on a regular basis. I would have even more explaining to do at my yearly checkups than I already do! Still, we do go at least 2 or 3 times a year and every time we go back, it's like we never left.
Kristin