Kid Stuff (???)

Hey Folks -

Here's a fun story. It tells of the kind of place my aunt always drove BY. She'd never stop anywhere except her destination. It took me fifty-two years to finally find out first-hand exactly what a Stuckey's "Pecan Log" was; and that was an accident when I stumbled upon perhaps the one remaining northern Stuckey's hunkered down in the forsaken plains of Indiana.

I've still to see the alligator or viper farms, Echo Hill, The Crooked House, etc.

The story linked below tells of just one such magical tourist trap, a place where children are amazed. I've been to its home, Santa Cruz, but was unaware of its existence at the time. It's just as well; I'm not a kid any more. It probably would have been a disappointment, just as were the half-dozen "Pecan Logs" I bought at my Twilight Zone Stuckey's.

Actually I was surprised to learn that such a place still existed, and I was more surprised by how the story was laid out, with adults attesting to the reality of its "magical" qualities. At first I thought it must be tongue in cheek, but after that evening's televised fantasy regarding the election campaign, I wasn't so sure.

You can decide for yourself.

- Uke Man

http://www.npr.org/templates/player/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=92584362&m=92584348