This was always a "Special Time" each Tuesday during the summer or on school Holidays.
My dad had a grocery store and a Furniture and Appliance Store and he would go to Atlanta each week to buy new stock for the stores.
We would go to the Farmers Market to get bushels and pecks of fresh fruits and vegetables for the grocery store. And we would got to Westinghouse, Norge, Crosley, Hotpoint, Beck and Gregg, Lee Products, and Charles Martin to get furniture and appliances for the Furniture and Appliance Store.
It was always like an adventure whenever we went because dad would make it seem like one. He would get us involved with the trip, that we were looking for items along the route, that we forgot the time it took to get there. We never asked how much farther because we didn't want the trip to end. He would take us along as he made his purchases and we would learn how to negotiate a deal. Or shop for quality over quantity, how to buy the best deals and to look for the latest new thing for our customers.
We would either stop at Zesto's for a huge hamburger or go to Davis Bros. Cafeteria when we went to the Farmers Market. If it was a pretty day and we were eating at Zesto's we would sit under a picnic table around the building. There was a drive thru car wash next to Zesto's and you could watch as the 1950's cars pulled in dirty and soon see them come out sparkling clean and shiny as good looking as new cars all over again. I think that this is when I fell in love with cars.
Whenever we would go to Davis Bros Cafeteria it was "Special" as well. We went through a cafeteria line and got to choose the food that we wanted. It all looked so good and delicious and you wanted to try some of it all but you just picked out what you could eat. When it came to deserts they had some of every pie or cake that you had ever heard of and you got a a scoop of ice cream of your choice with it.
My dad would stack the items onto the truck as high as possible and if he thought that it was going to rain we would cover it with a canvas. But the most fun of all was that he would let us ride on the back home from Atlanta with all of our cargo. You got to sit up high and see in every ones car as you rode by and you felt like you were the "King of the Road."
Palmer Waters
