Thursday, June 20, 2013

On The Road with Nancy: Dippin' Dots

Nancy and I are driving up to Iowa City to celebrate my sister Nettie's completion of her PhD.  With typical Martin timing we left at the height of rush hour, so after a couple of hours and a couple of dozen miles on the road, we stopped for dinner.  (Not to worry, Nancy and I are low-pressure travelers and don't sweat delays.  The only thing that makes us crazy is going without food.)

So anyway, we stopped in this sub shop where one of the dessert choics was Dippin Dots.  Remember Dippin Dots, those little ice cream bee-bees you used to get at Six Flags or wherever?  Do you remember their slogan?  "Ice Cream of the Future."  That was always their slogan.  I remember the first time I had it back around 1976 - I think it was at the World of Sid and Mary Croft (don't ask).  "Ice Cream of the Future," it said.  My only two mental images of the future were George Jetson and Dr. Cornelius from Planet of the Apes, but I couldn't imagine either of them eating Dippin Dots.

I saw Dippin Dots intermittently over the years, but their slogan "Ice Cream of the Future!" never changed.  When I had daughters - I believe there was Dippin Dots at Stone Mountain, the sales pitch was still the same.  The twenty-first century rolled around and Dippin Dots was still the ice cream of the future.

But.  Here's the thing.  In the restaurant last night.  Dippin Dots.  No longer touts itself as the ice cream of the future.  I checked their website and confirmed it.  No mention of the future.
Nancy and I are heading to St Louis next, where we'll stop on our way to Iowa.  We better enjoy it while we can.  I don't want to alarm her, but surely the Apocalypse is on the way.  I've seen the signs.  Dippin Dots is the ice cream of the recent past.
Nancy and I