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My good friend, Dee Congleton, gave me the recipe for Mrs. Carver’s chili. Dee said that I write about Mrs. Carver’s chili so much that I deserved the recipe.

The Radio View Grill was off limits to me as a kid, as were the pool rooms uptown.  Mrs. Carver’s was not open at night.  The only night drive-in I could go to was Hardee’s-soon to be McDonalds. Charlie Bell’s also closed at night as was Mel’s so that left Hardee’s for the boys to go to.

I recently rode by there and it is still in the same place, beside Carolina 76 and the U-Haul storage space and it still has the paved driveway in a circle.  It was the site of the 15-cent charcoal hamburger and 10-cent french fries.  It was the scene of many patrolling boys looking to find a girlfriend.  The boys sat on the hood of their cars trying to attract a young lady and possibly buy her a hamburger.

It was also the scene during Jr. / Sr. week that there might be an egg fight.  It was only in jest, but there could be altercations at Hardees between the two classes.  Especially, the senior class trying to find out the theme to the Jr/Sr that year.

Highway 17 ran right by Hardee’s and you could find the late Tommy Langley and Lee Drake riding in a back-firing Edsel that scared everyone to death.  They would ride north on 17 laughing the whole way while eating a Hardee’s burger and French fries.

Eventually Hardee’s turned into McDonald’s and they still served the charcoal burgers for 15 cents and the fries for 10 cents.  Now, they have moved down the road north to their present location across the highway from the mall in front of Wal-Mart.

The fair grounds were not there at that time or it would be located straight across the street from it.  Now, it is only a vacant lot but memories still abound, as well as The U-Haul trucks but still smells like charcoal grilled hamburgers as of today.

I would like to thank Coach Bartow Houston for the kind words he used in last article about coaching.  You see, he was my coach and I feel the same way about him! Thanks Coach!

They were the best of times with the best of friends and in the best of places, Washington, N.C. The Original Washington!

Harold Jr.