Florida Sandwiches

When Buddy got out of the Navy in 1960, he wanted to visit friends he'd made while stationed in Jacksonville.  He told his friend and mentor, my granddaddy, about his plans.

"Let's all go!"  Granddaddy said with his trademark bounce. Granny, in her own trademark move, expressed concern regarding the logistics, mainly their lack of money.

Granddaddy convinced her to take a week's salary ($100) and go.  The six of them--Buddy, my grandparents, my pre-teen mother and aunt, and a four-year old Uncle Jess--piled into my grandparents old Dodge station wagon and headed south on 301.

Granny packed a cooler, but six people confined to a car on an old Interstate made short work of it. In those days, 301 wasn't very populated.  There were few stores and they hadn't much money for those stores they did pass.

When they got to Florida, they were hungry.

Granddaddy stopped at a gas station and went into the general store attached to it.  He came back with a loaf of fresh bread and a pound of bologna.  Granny put a slice of bologna on a slice of plain bread and folded it in half. To six hungry bellies, the soft bread and bologna were heaven.

They were dubbed Florida Sandwiches and 50 years later are still a family road trip staple.