I was one of the lucky ones to have had a happy childhood. Not every moment was sunshine and rainbows, but when I look back I can say to myself, “Self, you had a pretty happy upbringing.” And while I’m looking back at that rolodex of memories, we can stop at one of the happiest of that happy childhood—a younger version of me walking down the street with my brother and parents to Bobo’s Drive In, sitting down at the booth just inside the door and ordering a root beer float.

It’s not embellishment, hyperbole or overstatement of any kind to say that you won’t get a root beer float like Bobo’s anywhere else in the world. The root beer is made at the restaurant, the ice cream is produced on-site, and it wouldn’t surprise me one bit to hear about elves in the very back crafting the tall, frosty glasses they’re served in. It is, quite literally, the only place you can find this particular float.

Its uniqueness wouldn’t matter one bit if the float didn’t taste like the nectar of heaven itself. The ice cream, which you’d normally find coupled with their famously amazing apple pie, provides just the right smoothness to complement the bite of the spices in the root beer. I actually often find myself ordering the root beer alone, sans ice cream, when I stop in for a burger, as it’s a very sweet and refreshing version of the drink. But when that old Topeka heat and humidity start climbing higher and higher through the summer months, reminding me of the extra pounds and body aches that have shuffled in over the years, I start to crave that cool, creamy counter concoction and wander on inside. It tastes like summer, like childhood, like happiness.

[ seveneightfive June 15 - July 31 | Lyle Vaughn | photo by Lyle Vaughn ]
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