One of the best memories of my youth involves a corner drug store, a soda fountain, and an obscure soft drink. It is funny how many of my fond memories of life boil down to simple pleasures. Things that once were, but seem now to be lost forever. Well, sometimes what was once lost can be found again.
A hot summer day in Evanston, WY is about 85 degrees. That is just about hot enough to require some refreshment on occasion. So, as a young boy on a hot day, I would often make the 4 block trek down the hill from my home to the corner drug store called City Drug. It was a small store, where I suppose, people filled prescriptions and bought band-aids. But that wasn't what sent me there on any given day.
City Drug had a soda fountain where you could buy Cherry Cokes, Fresh Limes, Chocolate Malts, and Ironport. I'm sure there were other things you could buy there, but as far as I was concerned, those were the most important. All but one of those drinks are fairly easy to find today.
Ironport is a drink so rare that Wikipedia lists all the places where you can actually buy one. It is a syrupy sweet drink with some very unique flavors. Some have compared it to root beer or sarsaparilla, but it really is different. City Drug was the only place I knew where you could get one, but the soda fountain at City Drug had been closed for many, many years. Until recently.
Yesterday, I took the family to my home town to celebrate the graduation of two of my nephews and one niece. We had the regular pot-luck dinner and B.S. sessions at the pavilion by the old ice ponds. During one of those sessions, someone mentioned that City Drug had recently re-opened its soda fountain. And, apparently, you can get an Ironport!
I wasn't able to go there that day, but on my next trip I plan to revisit City Drug and try an Ironport again. Ah, the simple pleasures of life! What seems so commonplace and ordinary, sometimes turns out to be precious and rare.
