The A&A Coffee Shop
I have been going the Indy 500 since 1961. My dad, my uncle and my
cousin and I would all go together for my first ten 500's. We would
leave Crown Point, Indiana at 5:00 AM and always stop at the A&A
Coffee Shop in Lebanon for breakfast and a pit stop. I always
remember my dad ordering a short stack of pancakes and I of course
would want to get what he ordered.
One particular year we left unusually early and arrived in Indy before
daylight and decided to get a little sleep in the car before going to the
track. My dad and uncle slept in the car and my cousin slept in the
trunk with the lid down. I lay down next to the car in someone's yard.
The next thing I know I was rudely awakened when someone dropped
an ice chest on the ground and cold water splashed in my face! Not a
good way to wake up.
I stood up and stretched and by then my dad and uncle were getting
out of the car. My dad unlocked the trunk and my cousin was still
sleeping. There were already many people making there way toward
the track. My cousin, still in the trunk started to rise like a dead body
coming back to life. You should have seen the look on the faces of some
of the people passing by when they saw him "rise from the dead". We
all started to laugh and talked about that moment for many years.
I still look forward to going to Indy every year just like it is my first
race. I am the only one left of the original four. I love the 500 and
traditions are a big part of going to Indy every year. My wife Beth
goes with me every year now and she realizes how important the 500
is in my life and always will.
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