Growing up, I never understood Dad’s fascination with the Moon Pie. Soft cakes filled with marshmallow cream and covered in chocolate, they are a Southern tradition that tasted like cardboard to me. Still, Dad ate boxes and boxes of the things.
I never knew the Moon Pie originated close to where Dad grew up. Chattanooga, Tennessee. As soon as we drove into the city yesterday, he started pining.
Golly. I sure would love to get me a Moon Pie and an RC Cola.
Riding up Lookout Mountain on the Incline Train……
A Moon Pie sure would be good with this view.
Eating lunch…..
I’m not hungry for much…..Can we get a Moon Pie?
At the Moon Pie place……
A double decker. Make sure you get me one of them double deckers.
I got one, too, and shared a Moon Pie with my father. It was the best thing I’ve tasted on this trip.
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Ah, the mysterious power of the Moon Pie …. I, too, have fallen victim to it’s charms, the stale mix of preservatives and flour and sugar and chocolate … it really is quite awful, yet whenever I see one, I am strangely compelled to indulge myself – I am the tide controlled by the magnetic pull of the moon pie – and an RC Cola to boot! What a wondeful thing to share with your dad!
The power of the moment does negate the taste of the Moon Pie. To me, they really taste like nothing. But, Dad LOVED it. They are magnetic. You are right.
I’ve never heard of moon pie before! Sounds like they are best sampled on location.
I would send you a box, Kate, but you would curse me for bothering once you tasted one.
Your father and mine! Honestly, I really do not like the things. And the banana ones are really nasty. But, my dad, like yours, pines for them. And they must be accompanied by RC Colas.
Now, since you are in Chattanooga, go to the Chattanooga Choo Choo!
They had orange in the store. Ick. Orange Moon Pie??
I have pictures of the Choo Choo for you.
I’m covering very new ground on this road trip. I remember a similar chocolate covered confection from my youth, but I’m not pining for it:)
Roger, when you can get such great pastry where you are, the Moon Pie would taste like road kill to you.
My grandfather used to drive a Frito Lay truck. I loved when he brought the truck home. I went straight to the Moon Pies, and I’d have one with him today if I could. As I recall, they do taste like cardboard, but there’s just something about them. How was the RC? It’s been decades since I’ve had one of those, too. They still make it?
Dad drank the whole RC and did not share. Not one swig. They do still make it. They had Blenheim, too.
If there is chocolate involved, I’m in.
http://youtu.be/VRyCFnnbsYQ
I doubt whether the Moon Pie is actually covered in real chocolate, Lou……..
Mmmm, I love me some Moon Pie and RC Cola…too bad they don’t really sale the RC Cola, nor the Moon Pie up here…I’m going to go looking for some though and see how lovely my memory tastebuds are.
You can order both of them online, Lori, though the shipping for glass bottles is expensive. I sent Cooper a collection of Southern beverages last year for Christmas, and the shipping cost more than the drinks.
I think I had one or two as a child. I don’t remember being too impressed, but I do understand the power of nostalgia! I’m so glad your dad had the opportunity and on home turf! Sharing it with you must have been a delight. Did you take pictures? 🙂 And I know how private your mother is, but I must ask…is she enjoying the quiet? oxo
I have tons and tons of pictures, Debra. Dad has been pretty cooperative in that department.
The only report I’ve heard from Mom is that she took Dad’s truck to get it cleaned, because it stank inside. 🙂
Lou has inspired me! There is the concept of a Moon Pie with rich, dark chocolate! A restaurant I represented for a while (for their PR) had a type of deconstructed Moon Pie on their menu. (see photo here: http://charlestonpr.com/cpradwp/wp-content/gallery/four-moons-publicity/north-america-fall-cover-2008-small.jpg). The people who make the Moon Pie jealously guard it’s brand. Back in the mid-to late 1990s when I was heading up PR for a restaurant development company, our chef received a letter asking him to name his “Moon Pie” something else…so Lunar Pie it became.
A pastry chef made Moon Pie would have to be something. I’m sure the Moon Pie people wouldn’t want much of that, because it would stomp the real thing in the ground. 🙂
Back in the day, my mom used to feed my sister and I moon pies and graham crackers. Man, I loved those things. Now I have to stay away from those treats. I can walk past one of them and gain 10 lbs without getting to taste them. LOL
I’ve probably gained 10 pounds on this trip, James, so I understand.
If you’re really in the sticks, it’s referred to as a “dope and a moon pie”, but the dope must always be an RC Cola . Hmm, how would I know that?
I love that, Ruth. “Dope and a Moon Pie.” That would’ve been the title of this post, had I known. Thanks for sharing it.
The said dope does not refer to a person. And yet, what a poetic thought…
When I was a child growing up in East TN, I was sure that I was adopted.
It must run with the territory, Ruth. I have often wondered the same thing.
My grandmother always referred to soft drinks as “dopes”. Maybe because Coca Cola used to contain cocaine? http://www.snopes.com/cokelore/cocaine.asp
And to say Coca-Cola right, you had to say it like “Co-Cola”, kind of dropping the last syllable of the first word.
And finally, who among you put peanuts in their RC? Or Coke or Pepsi? My father used to do that. Would empty the salty little bag of peanuts into the bottle then drink and eat kinda at the same time.
Isn’t the inclined railway AWESOME? Moon pies turn my stomach, I confess, but I can see how the company would change your appetite!
We had a blast. Dad hadn’t ridden it since high school.
Tee hee – they do taste like cardboard. I suspect they were much tastier once upon a time, Andra. The important thing is that you and Roy have this memory of eating Moon Pies. Loved this post.
When I was little, I remember them being a lot more marshmallowy.
The Moon Pie..I had a cousin who when I first went to the states insisted that we have a moonpie! With a cherry coke slurpee…never having one of those before, I got instant brain freeze and the moon pie? I ate that in headache misery! 🙂
Ah, the cherry coke slurpee. I had many of those growing up, Susan, headache and all. 🙂
My cousin never warned me, and I took a big big gulp! Wow….learned that lesson!
I still get the brain-freeze. Can’t drink frozen margaritas with a straw for that reason. Tried to drink some cold concoction at Sonic this past summer because the weather was so hot. It immediately froze my sinuses, and I almost wrecked the car.
I wonder if they are the long lost cousin of Whoopie Pies?
http://www.yodersmart.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=56&Itemid=61
There’s a photo of a Peanut Butter Whoopie Pie here . . . oddly enough, also at a Yoder’s:
http://home.earthlink.net/~mennonite/Yoders_Sandwich_Shoppe.htm
Now I am hungry again.
I love whoopie pies, Nancy. Love them.
WHEN you and MTM make it down this way . . . we shall take you to Yoder’s in Sarasota. They have every flavor of Whoopie Pie known to man. Our favorite . . . chocolate chip cookies sandwiched around sweet icing.
That sounds like heaven, Nancy.
My Dad loved pecan swirls. I hated them as a kid but since he’s no longer with me and I’m older…I buy them when I see them as a memory of him. Thank you…
So glad this brought back a good memory for you, Bonita. 🙂
Can’t say I’ve ever understood the appeal of Moon Pie. Glad you enjoyed yours. Tell ya what, if I could eat anything with my dad again, I’d do it in a second. Eat all the Moon Pies you can with him while you can, my friend.
Hugs,
Kathy
I still don’t understand the appeal of the moon pie, but I totally get wanting to share things with people we love, simply because they love them.
One day I am going to have to find and try a moon pie. I have been hearing about them for years but I don’t think I’ve ever actually had an opportunity to eat one.
You live in one of the biggest cities in the world. And yet, in a google search, I cannot find a place for you to buy a Moon Pie……….
I’m guessing it’s a regional issue? I wonder if they have them in Texas…
Give me a whoopie pie any day. And I suppose if I am regionally loyal, a Moxie. Or pretty much anything on a roadtrip with my dad. This series rocks.
I love whoopie pie. Much better than a moon pie.
Loved your last line.
I’ve had an RC, but never a Moon Pie. In fact, I’ve never even heard of them.
However, I had something in your honor the other day. I can’t remember if I told you… I had a few hours to kill in Bellingham, waiting for my car to be serviced, and stopped into a Starbucks to check in on the Cootchie Mama, among others, and First Thing on the menu was… Salted Carmel Mocha. I never get anything but coffee… I got one and it was Ab Fab!!! Thanks…
p.s. I think I’ve caught up on all your marvelous writings now…
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