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Elizabeth Fais

Monthly Archives: July 2018

STAY SWEET ~ Rich in character, satisfying in substance

29 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Books, contemporary, Historical Fiction, Young Adult

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am reading, contemporary, Elizabeth Fais, Epic Read, friendship, Historical Fiction, ice cream, Meade Creamery, Siobhan Vivian, Stay Sweet, Summer, Summer Fun, summer job, summertime, sweet reads, Young Adult

Summer, ice cream, and friendship…

It doesn’t get more quintessentially summer than that. Except this sweet read starts there, and then sweeps you off on an unexpectedly delicious ride.

STAY SWEET, by Siobhan Vivian

Stay Sweet, coverMay 3, 1945…

When the young men of Sand Lake went off to war, Molly Meade started making ice cream to cheer up her heart-broken friends.

What began as a feel-good whim turned into an unexpected success. The small town clamored for the flavors Molly created with her own secret recipes and surplus from her family’s dairy.

Molly started a decades-long tradition. Summer in Sand Lake wasn’t complete without a trip to Meade Creamery—the local ice cream stand she founded in 1944.

From its founding, the Meade Creamery stand was managed exclusively by local girls, who inevitably bonded into a sisterhood of best friends. The summers seventeen-year-old Amelia Triple scoop ice cream coneworked at the stand had been life changing. It’s where she met her best friend Cate and learned the essentials of life: who the best teachers were, how to dodge parental restrictions, and how to make the perfect sundae.

When Amelia is finally chosen as “Head Girl” for the summer—an honor she’s secretly dreamed of since her first day as a Meade Creamery Girl—she expects it to be the best summer of her life. That is, until Amelia finds Molly passed away on the floor of the stand the first day she’s in charge.

The stand is doomed to close, until Molly’s grandnephew, Grady, comes to town for the funeral. He’s inherited Molly’s property, including the stand, and is determined to take over where his great-aunt left off. Grady is the first guy ever to work at Meade Creamery, and he threatens to everything, including Amelia’s heart. Grady depends on Amelia to help save the business, and their budding romance ultimately stresses Amelia’s friendship with Cate and the other girls to the breaking point.

Home Sweet Home for the soul

This story had the same effect on me as Meade Creamery’s secret Home Sweet Home ice cream had on its patrons for decades: deliciously satisfying, mysterious, invigorating, and mesmerizing. What started out as a simple summer best-friend story, turned into a page-turning ride I didn’t want to end.

The intertwining threads from Molly Meade’s World War II era diary entries and the present-day experiences of Amelia, Cate, and Grady, offer a rich comparison of social expectations and mores. This, combined with the universal theme of believing in yourself and finding the confidence to pursue your dreams, is a testament to the indomitable spirit of true passion, no matter the times.

4 ice cream cones


Road trip! ~ Who paved the way for the American tradition?

15 Sunday Jul 2018

Posted by Elizabeth Fais in Adventure, Nonfiction

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Bud, bull-terrier, Elizabeth Fais, Fun Facts, History, Horatio Nelson Jackson, Jack Kerouac, motoring goggles, New York City, Nonfiction, On the Road, road trip, Route 66, San Francisco, Sewall Crocker, Summer, touring car, University Club, Winton

Car on a mapSummer and road trips are synonymous, with millions of Americans taking to the road in the spirit of unbridled adventure. Jack Kerouac’s 1957 novel, On the Road, fueled a generation with the romance of the open road.

But HOW did it all start?

WHO was the first to pave the way for this American tradition, WHEN, and WHY?

A Bet, Two Men, and a Dog in Goggles

On May 19, 1903, a heated debate at the exclusive University Club in San Francisco resulted in a $50.00 wager taken by Horatio Nelson Jackson. Horses and carriages were the main mode of transportation, and many thought the horseless carriage was a passing fancy of the well-to-do. Certainly not reliable enough to withstand a dangerous cross-country journey. Jackson had a grander vision and recruited Sewall Crocker to prove the automobile nay-sayers wrong.

Horatio Nelson Jackson in the VermontOn May 23, 1903 they set out to complete the trip from San Francisco to New York City in less than 90 days. [Horatio Nelson Jackson in the Vermont]

They packed a second-hand 20 horsepower, cherry red, Winton touring car (dubbed the Vermont) with sleeping bags, cooking gear, and supplies, then started on their daring journey. Crocker was a former bicycle racer and gasoline engine mechanic, skills they would need in the days ahead. At the time there were fewer than 150 miles of paved roads nationwide, no road signs, or gas stations. With the rigorous terrain, automobiles often breakdown. The Vermont was no different.

The Winton crossed streams and traversed winding mountain roads better suited for Bud the dog, with gogglesmules than man. They suffered mechanical failures early and often, and had to rely on stagecoaches to ferry new parts and blacksmiths to make repairs. In short, their trip was one obstacle after another, devoid of the amenities we take for granted on cross-country journeys today.

With mechanical fiasco after fiasco, it took 19 days to reach Idaho. There they met a bull-terrier named Bud, fitted him with motoring goggles to protect his eyes from dust, and hoped the new addition to their party would bring them luck. Bud wore his goggles, navigating from the front seat for the rest of the journey, but luck wasn’t quick to follow. [Bud sporting his motoring goggles]

Throughout bad directions that sent them days out of their way, getting stuck in a swamp, then lost in the Wyoming badlands, the team maintained a spirit of optimism. Possibly, due to the tremendous receptions they received along the way. For many, it was their first encounter with an automobile.

Fanfare swelled to a crescendo as they rolled into Chicago on July 17, and then Cleveland a few days later. In spite of the hoopla the adventure ignited along the way, the epic road trip ended as humbly as it began. The Vermont, and its three passengers, quietly rolled down Fifth Avenue in Manhattan on Sunday, July 26, 1903, at 4:30 am. The 4,500-mile journey had taken 63 days, 12 hours, and 30 minutes. Jackson won the $50.00 bet, but it cost him close to $8,000.00—including the price of the Winton, and all its repairs along the way.

Jackson, Crocker, and the adorable Bud in his motoring goggles became celebrities, pictured in newspapers across the country and featured in Winton advertisements for years to come. They proved a cross-country road trip was an attainable American dream, even if (at the time) it was beyond the means of any but the wealthy.

Route 66 became a reality decades later. After World War II, the American highway infrastructure expanded to support cross-country travel and cars became affordable for the average person. The dream of free spirited independence lived on, becoming a cultural ideal and American tradition. Vintage Route 66 poster


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