Burgers and Comics

On the way to drop my truck off for an oil change today, I saw a Bob's Big Boy restaurant and I had to smile. The restaurants, even without their iconic fiberglass statues, still make me smile. They bring back good memories.

At the age of six, we moved from Kansas City to Flagstaff, Arizona. It was such an abrupt change, brown surroundings instead of the green landscape I was used to. Cacti, pine trees, lizards and gravel, instead of tall green deciduous trees and flowers everywhere.

I didn't know anyone, and I felt completely uprooted and out of place. But there in Flagstaff was one familiar thing... a Bob's Big Boy restaurant. I have a memory, possibly false, of my parents making a beeline for it upon our arrival in that strange new town. Somewhere there is a photo of a little six year old me hugging the statue. I had been so damn happy to see one recognizable place in all of the sea of change!

As we drove away from the repair shop, my husband said, "We should go to that Bob's Big Boy sometime. I went there when I was six or so, and really liked it."

And that felt rather serendipitous. It also sparked a conversation on their comic books. Having learned to read at three, I was deeply excited to go to Bob's Big Boy so I could get their monthly comic book. I recall a specific one, where Big Boy and his girl (who I now know was Polly) in Roman times fighting a lion in a gladiator amphitheater. It might have been Big Boy having a dream, or time travel, not sure. And at six, while I could read, sometimes I didn't get context very well, so who knows.

In any case, while my husband did NOT remember the comic, I looked it up and learned that the man and legend himself, Stan Lee, had been heavily involved in creating the comics. The Adventures of Big Boy was a comic series that everyone loved working on, parents approved of, and children loved. I read an article about it - to think that it was the longest running comic series as well - 1956 to 1997!

In any case, we decided then and there that we would stop and have lunch later today at Bob's Big Boy. Beautiful memories, and hopefully, a bit of tasty food will follow.