Nostalgia is a hard-to-describe feeling. Regardless of what one is referring to, remembering the past evokes warm, fond emotions. Whenever we are on a trip and able to be nostalgic, it really enhances the experience of the location. It is odd that as we age, these nostalgic moments seem to occur more frequently.
One thing that brings me a sense of nostalgia is newspapers. For the longest time, these daily pieces of folded paper were the best means of getting the news. As a kid, I had little interest in what there was to read, but instead, I would search out the comic page.
The best newspapers would have an entire page or two devoted to the comic strip; the great papers even had them in colour! There were various strips to offer a quick chuckle. As time went on, and as my tastes in humour matured, I started to find that nearly all comic strips were not very funny at all. I even began to stop searching for the comic page because of the growing disappointment in the meagre humour it offered.
But not when it came to Garfield. This overweight, lasagna-eating cat was always a delight to read. So much so that I would buy the Garfield comic books whenever new editions came out. To this day, I still remember some of my favourite Garfield strips.
There is that thing, nostalgia, again.
Recently, we finished our America the Beautiful summer trip. One of the destinations on this vacation was to the hometown of Jim Davvis, creator of Garfield. As a tribute, the county sponsored a Garfield trail. Throughout the surrounding area, there are various Garfield statues in different poses. I had to include this as part of our trip.
Garfield is known for eating. He loves lasagna. Now we were in the car touring the area, and trying to eat the fat cat’s favourite dish would have been an unnecessarily complicated challenge. Yet alone, very messy. Instead, we visited Uranus Fudge Factory. They certainly packed a lot of fudge in Uranus, and they were very keen on stating and using as many vulgar euphemisms as possible when it came to fudge, anusses from Uranus and anything else that was a play on words. Plus, the staff clearly enjoyed working at this location.
I was browsing their selection of fudge that freshly came out of someone’s Uranus when I was asked if I wanted a sample.
Free food!
Naturally, I said yes.
The next question was which one.
I couldn’t decide, so I spoke off the cuff and said all of them.
The person manning the fudge went silent. At first, I did not realize what he was doing. I eventually noticed that he was counting out the small spoons used for sampling, and he had enough to give me a sample of each item.
Soon, I was presented with the first sampling. I took it and allowed the Uranal fudge to slowly melt in my mouth. It had flavour and was very smooth. A quality serving of fudge. Fresh, too.
I went to speak to Charlene about the fudge when another spoon was placed before me. I popped it in my mouth and allowed the Uranal fudge to slowly melt in my…
Another spoon.
Okay?!
I popped it in my mouth and allowed the Uranal fud…
Another spoon.
Another!
It continued.
Spoon after spoon came at me at an accelerated pace.
Each time, I would pop it into my mouth. I was told what the flavour was, but I had a hard time keeping up and keeping track of all of them.
Then it stopped.
It was rather abrupt. Just seconds ago, spoons with packed fudge were coming at me at a rate of speed that was impressive. And then, done.
It became awkward.
What do I do now?
What were the best flavours?
I couldn’t remember, but I knew there was nothing given to me that was not the best-tasting fudge I had ever had that came from someone and their Uranus. I randomly picked two flavours and Charlene chose two more. This was a great start to our Garfield Trail, and I consumed enough calories that I did not need to eat supper now.
We began our search for the famous cat that entertained my childhood memories, while allowing the fudge that we picked to slowly melt in my mouth.
We did not follow the suggested route in the order specified on the website, as we were coming in from a different direction. At our first stop, we found Garfield in the library, and to our surprise, a community museum was attached to this location. I thought this was an added bonus, finding the cat and learning about the history of this area.
We continued to look for the cat, and at another location, we were surprised to find a small park beautifully decorated with flowers and statues of playful children. I appreciated that we were out touring the area; otherwise, we would have missed this area and the fun statuary.
However, most of the other statues are either located at the entrance to a building or positioned along the street. Still, it was nice seeing the community and those who live there.
I knew we would be too late for the main attraction on the Garfield Trail—a museum dedicated to James Dean and Garfield the Cat. It seemed a bit odd to feature these two legends in the same museum, but they are from this community and have left their mark on society. I will endeavour to try to include a stop at this location the next time we are in the area.
It was a lot of fun driving here and there looking for a large fibreglass representation of a comical cat. Odd, how something that is a part of our past becomes more appreciated when it is made into a tourist attraction, as it inspires nostalgia, especially paired with fudge!
- You can find these, and other nostalgia-inducing locations, on the All The Places We Have Been map.
