Rockingham Remembered
Whistle Me Up A Memory
Carolina Food
by Joe Pruitt
Joel has a wonderful website in Rockingham Remembered.  
Since he has brought back so many wonderful memories for
me, I thought I could answer some of his requests to
comment on things I remembered from Rockingham or my
childhood there.  This one is mostly about Carolina food.

I remember putting $5 (at what, $.47 cents a gallon?,
enough for the whole weekend) worth of “pushmoline�
in one of the gas guzzling Chryslers or Plymouths and
heading out to Tom and Sarahs.  I would always order 2
foot long hotdogs “all the way� with a “ZIP�
drink.  Food better than a king could have.  I have eaten
fried rice in Taiwan, schnitzel and Berliners in Germany,
frog legs and éclairs in France, paella in Panama and
Spain, and now goulash in Kosovo, Bosnia, Croatia and
Hungary, but my tastebuds were dealt a serious blow many
years ago to find out Tom & Sarah’s had changed
management.

Recently I was dealt another blow because Bradshaw’s in
Hamlet had gone into history, also.  They made a good
hamburger all the way with chili.  My father used to take us
to a dirt parking lot beside a service station, in front of
the old Safie Mill, on Hot Dog Special night.  The whole
family would go, 5 kids and 2 adults, just for the ride.  I
think the name of the place was the Chicken Box.   I think
he could get like 10 hot dogs for about $2.00.  With 5
kids, he needed probably $4 worth.  I traveled our local
area, Cheraw, SC to Biscoe, Mt. Gilead and Troy, and even
to Wilmington, helping my father in his Southern Pest
Control exterminating work.  We ate in restaurants beside
the road, in textile mill cafeterias, and truck stops.  I
never had a bad meal, whether it was fast food, restaurant
or cafeteria style.  Bring back the old hot dogs and
hamburgers, ALL THE WAY!