My Town Monday: In-N-Out Burger

My local In-N-Out Burger

In-N-Out Burger was California's first drive-thru burger joint. It opened on October 22, 1948 in the LA suburb of Baldwin Park, CA. The owners were a husband-wife team: Harry and Esther Snyder. It's still a family-run business with no plans for franchising.

The Snyder's two sons, Guy and Rich, learned the ropes from the ground up. When Harry died in 1976, there were 18 drive-thru locations. Rich, age 24 years, took over as pres and expanded to 93 locations before dying in a plane crash in 1993. Guy, as pres, expanded the company to 104 locations before dying in 1999 from an overdose of painkillers (sorry. I hated to add that sad detail to a pretty upbeat post). Then, in 2002, the mother and co-founder, Esther, became president. Now, there are about 202 restaurants with locations in California (by far the bulk of them are still here), Arizona, Nevada and even one in Utah.

How does In-N-Out do it? Well, this is their business philosophy: "Give customers the freshest, highest quality foods you can buy and provide them with friendly service in a sparkling clean environment." (from the In-N-Out Burger website)

Guess which two items you'll never find at an In-N-Out Burger restaurant? A freezer and a microwave.

Also, In-N-Out historically pays their employees more than minimum wage. It was up to $10/hour in California as of Jan. 2008.

Lousy angle. Sorry. But the drive-thru, as usual, was busy. There were only so many cars I felt comfortable hopping in front of to get the shot.

In-N-Out still has the same menu that they started with in 1948: hamburger, cheeseburger, double-double (double meat, double cheese), fries (from fresh potatoes), shakes (from real ice cream) and fountain drinks.

AND AND AND... there is also a SECRET MENU. No kidding. It's common knowledge here in SoCal. You can order from the secret menu, and no one will even blink an eye. And, because I want my blogger friends to be in the know in case they're ever in our great golden state, here's the secret menu.

Busy bee In-N-Out Burger workers who are, no doubt, wondering about the nutcase with the camera!

And now for another bit of In-N-Out Burger trivia: Wrappers, cups and antenna toppers all....contain the book, chapter and verse numbers to bible references!

I have eaten at In-N- Out Burgers at least a bajillion times. How have I never noticed this? I was forced IN THE NAME OF RESEARCH to go to In 'n Out today. And guess what was on the bottom of my fountain drink cup? John 3:16. Who knew?

Please visit Travis Erwin, the guy who spearheads My Town Mondays. He'll have a list of links to other Mondayers.

Sources:
http://www.in-n-out.com/
http://findarticles.com/p/articles/mi_qa5293/is_/ai_n24309899
wikipedia


AND IN HUGELY EXCITING BREAKING NEWS: Child #3 and his team won a very very important water polo game today. So, they're off to Ann Arbor, Michigan to compete in the annual Speedo Cup for eighth grade and unders. It'll be the 12 top water polo teams from across the nation. Congratulations to Child #3 and the rest of his team. And can I just say...that was one incredible goal, kid!

My Town Monday: Balboa Park, San Diego

National Historic Landmark House of Hospitality (with the Visitors Center inside)


How Balboa Park describes itself: "the nation's largest urban cultural park."

Just minutes from downtown San Diego, Balboa Park is made up of about 1200 acres. It's home to fifteen museums, the world-famous San Diego Zoo, the Old Gobe Theatre, a junior theatre, a puppet theatre, the Spreckels Organ Pavilion outdoor stage, eight amazing gardens, the Spanish Village Art Center(35 art studios and over 50 artists working on site), picnic areas, canyon hiking trails, three leash-free dog parks, a golf course, restaurants. And more.

California Tower


Admittance to Balboa Park is free. So is parking. El Prado is the main road through the park. It's pedestrian only. Admission to the various museums and the zoo can kind of add up. So, you might want to check out the seven-day Passport and the Zoo/Passport Combo. There's also Free Tuesdays where a different museum is free each Tuesday. Although, um, forget about this in the summer; Free Tuesdays are way crowded. You might want to contact the Balboa Park Visitors' Center:
(619) 239-0512, 1549 El Prado, Balboa Park, San Diego, California, 92101.

What else can I tell you? Wear comfortable shoes. LOTS of walking. Basically, Balboa Park is pretty much on every visitors' to-do list. It's an experience, a urban cultural park.

Child #4 and I were at Balboa Park this weekend for the Brownie bridging ceremony. This is when Brownies from all over the county come to walk across the bridge, which symbolizes their advancement from one level of Brownies to the next. My little Brownie has been promoted from a brown to a green vest. Congrats to Child #4. And congrats to me for FINALLY getting all those badges sewn on.



They close the bridge to traffic for an hour to let HORDES of brownies, their leaders, their families hoof it across the bridge.

What was on the other side of the bridge, you ask? Live music, arts & crafts, face painting AND SAN DIEGO GAS & ELECTRIC! What was SDG&E doing at the other side of a Brownie bridge, you ask? They had a booth where you could trade in your light bulbs for their energy-efficient cousins. How very Californian.

And here's a particularly special troop.


(From: http://www.balboapark.org, http://www.sandiego.gov/park-and-recreation/parks/balboa)


My Town Monday comes to us via Travis Erwin. Thanks, Travis! Click on his site to read his post about, uh, deep-fried calf personal parts. AND to find links to the other participants.

AND I STARTED THIS BLOG ONE YEAR + ONE DAY AGO!