MEMORIES: Car Memories

As we expected, some of your best memories of Dick's involve a car. Since we received so many great car tales, we decided to make this a category of its own. And you're going to love these parking lot gems-from the 17-year old chauffeur in his boss' Rolls Royce to the '58 Olds that backed out without a driver. So read on, but don't forget to set the parking brake first!

GRAND PRIZE WINNER
Hey, the view's better through the steering wheel!
My favorite memory is also one of my most embarrassing, I think. It was almost summer in 1963 at the Lake City Dick's. I was about 16. I was waiting in my car for a friend who was in a long line as it usually was on a Friday or Saturday night. I was bored and curious to see if my head would fit through the steering wheel. Well, it went in OK but getting it out in a panic wasn't so easy.

Girls in those days used to go around with our hair up in rollers-brush rollers at that. Well, the rollers went through the wheel, but when I turned my head and tried to pull out, my hair got stuck and tangled with the turn indicator lever and the sticks that held my rollers poked into my head.

Ken, the evening manager at the time, heard of my dilemma and was going to call the fire dept., because to add to it all every time I moved, laughed or coughed my chest would bump the horn ring and honk, honk!

An older couple came to my rescue. First the man disconnected my horn and unscrewed and removed my turn indicator. His wife removed a few of my hair rollers. They pushed my seat back a few inches (by now there was quite a crowd) and freedom!!!
Joan Swanberg Garman Age: 46

Runners-Up

John's choice
The Evening Magazine TV show on Dick's Drive-In brought back many memories. I grew up in the Wallingford area and Dick's was the place to hang out during my years at Lincoln High (class of '62).

I spent most of my lunch breaks eating those 19 cent burgers and most Friday and Saturday nights cruising 45th Street to Dick's and several other hot spots.

We had lots of fun on those nights including a number of drag races. One of those started on 45th at I-5, going westbound towards Dick's. My best friend, Jim Adair, and I were in my "50 Ford Coupe next to a new Pontiac Grand Prix driven by a guy we recognized as the new star baseball player signed by the Seattle Pilots. His girlfriend was cuddled up close by his side. We knew that we had no chance of winning but it was just for fun. Just short of Dick's we saw flashing police lights behind us. The Pontiac pulled to the side on 45th but I had a great idea. I pulled into Dick's on this typically busy Friday night and went to the back of the lot. I jumped out and got in the food line only to have the policeman tap me on the shoulder and ask me to join him by my car. He told me I had two choices, get a ticket for racing or read aloud the code on such violations. I chose the latter much to the delight of all the kids in the parking lot. I never did find out if the baseball player got a ticket or not (I sure hope so).

Anyway, that's one of my most memorable experiences at Dick's. There were lots more.
John Elliott

She says "Yes" in an apple green Chevy
My husband, Sid, and I have lots of fond memories of the Dick's Drive-In that used to be in Belleuve about 1/2 mile north of Bel-square on the same road but the opposite side of the street. It's been gone for years... Back in the late 60's though, that is where everyone went after school. I was at Interlake High School and Sid went to Sammamish High School. We'd hang out and get something to eat. It was the only place most of us could afford. Also the guys with muscle cars looked for challenges there, opportunities to race another car. The speed limit was still 70 mph. Sometimes they'd race right out on the road in front of Dick's but mostly they'd head up NE 8th and take it to the freeway. At that time my "boyfriend Sid" had quite the green machine. It was a "58 Chevy Belair, 2-door with a candy apple green paint job and everything in the interior that could be green was, right down to the steering wheel and door locks. Not only was it a sharp looking car at the time but Sid had a 327-350 High Performance engine under the hood and had it running like new all the time. Now I did not like racing at all and knew my parents wouldn't be crazy about the idea either. I was 15 and Sid was 17 when we first started dating. So I had told him if he was going to race someone to let me out of the car first. This worked quite well. Then one Friday afternoon after school we were sitting in Dick's parking lot eating french fries (which were and still are the best) and I had a large orange pop. Sid was watching the cars cruise through. We always backed in. That way you'd be ready to take off if someone challenged you. Well, I don't know how it happened but the next thing I knew we were headed out of the parking lot and Sid jumped on the gas to race another car, which of course he beat. During this whole episode, which took maybe 5 minutes, I had spilled orange pop on my lap and was scared to death. As he pulled off into a side street and stopped the car I started fuming. Finally he turned his head and gave me this sheepish little grin. I smiled back and said between clenched teeth, "Don't you ever race with me in the car again," and I then dumped the rest of my large orange pop on his head. He never raced with me in the car again.

We continued going to Dick's over the next few years because it was a place where we met our friends, talked and for those without a date you could look for one there. I never remember any adult hassling us or making us feel like we didn't belong there. It was a year round thing.

On one particular night in December of 1970 Sid and I were sitting in the parking lot talking. He was already out of school and I had about 6 months until I graduated from Interlake High School. As I remember, we were talking about some of his friends who were in Vietnam and wondering if his draft number was going to come up. All of a sudden he turned to me, took my hands in his and said in the most serious tone, "Nancy, I don't know what the future has in store for me. I don't know if I'm going into the service, or not, and I don't have a lot of money, but if you'll have me I want to marry you." Right there in Dick's Drive-In and I said, "Yes Sid I want to marry you too."

We got married June 27, 1970, two weeks after I graduated. That was 23 years ago last June. We have 4 children, ages 20, 16, 11, and 9. They all love eating at Dick's too, either in Wallingford or on Lake City Way.
So Dick thanks for the memories.
Sid & Nancy Christain

First Kiss In A Car At Dick's

Lost Exhaust
Way back, in 1959-1960, Dick's was "the" place to see, and be seen, by lots of people. This was especially true if you owned a customized car. One of my cars was a lowered, and chopped, 1949 Fastback Oldsmobile. It was so low, a package of long cigarettes could not stand on end under it. The windshield was only 6 inches high (the legal limit). I know this to be true because the Seattle Police Department checked it any number of times at, or near, Dick's on 45th.

On one of my numerous trips to Dick's, something strange happened. I was forced to always enter the lot at an angle because of the limited height. Well I guess I goofed, because this one time more people were pointing behind me than at me. I had scraped half of my exhaust system off of the car, and it was laying in the driveway. It was kind of funny, thinking about it now, but it wasn't back then.

I was a long, slow ride home. It was very, very loud and with the locals always looking for an excuse to cite my car, it was side streets galore. But I did make it home

Just another fond memory of Dick's Drive-Ins. Thanks for remaining "THE BEST" for 40 years!
Leonard Lair Age: 55

The good got to go to Dick's
This car is synonymous with my memories of Dick's Drive-In. Back when Northgate was the only mall, my greatest adventure was to go to the mall with my mother, her two sisters, my little brother and my 10 cousins (between the ages of 2 and 12). We would pile into this car. go shopping at the mall, and, if we were good, our reward was to go into Lake City for a special meal at Dick's Drive-In.

What a treat that was!

Now I am a mother myself. I take my 9 year old daughter all the way into Dick's in Lake City for special meal!

Thanks Dick's for still being there for us!!
Michelle Rian-Sheets Age: 34

Getting there was half the fun
I couldn't believe my ears. My brother actually let me drive his 1950 Dodge! I called my best friend next door to share the news and we decided our first trip would be Dick's on 45th street. We were so excited, we jumped in the car, pulled out of the driveway, put it in gear to drive away and....nothing. I couldn't get it to move forward. We were blocking traffic both ways. Family members and neighbors were watching in horror. We finally got it going and got the heck out of there, taking back streets just in case there was more car trouble.

We pulled into Dick's. I was so nervous I couldn't even think about eating one of my favorites, a cheeseburger, so we settle on a coke. We sat like so many others, eyeballing the other customer, feeling so cool in a vehicle we drove in ourselves.

Soon it was time to head back and turn the car over to my brother. This time we didn't have an audience of family and neighbors, just the entire Dick's parking lot full of cars and walk-ups. After getting it into reverse, pulling back, only to roll forward several times not to mention all the jerking around we did after we did get backed up, a gentleman gave us instructions and we exited the parking lot laughing all the way back home, taking the same route we took getting there.

Dick's is still one of my favorite drive-ins and our grandchildren are always asking to go there. Like us, they know exactly what they want from the menu too.
Sally Ann May Age: 47

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