Ashikaga

It looks like a lot of people remember that candy. A quick search found some recipes in food forums:

Monterey House candy

This one is interesting. They have a Texas restaurant topic area.

Another Monterey House candy topic

Subdude can come up with just about anything. Here he came up with the recipe for the piece of candy that came with the tortilla chips at the Monterey House. To me, it really tasted just like you were putting a whole tablespoon of sugar into your mouth.

The Ale House

2425 West Alabama, Houston, TX

The structure was once a farm house back when the area known as "River Oaks" was in the boonies. Now it's practically in downtown Houston. According to local legend the house was also a brothel, but no evidence can be found to support that theory. The current owners have a pretty good history on the house and land. They have 2 spirits, one male and one female. Activity reported has included moving candles, pinched guests and such. Most of the activity is reported on the second and third floors.

Was The Ale House part of Steak & Ale? Years ago there was a Steak & Ale in Beaumont, but it also fell victim to the wrecking ball.

Just right click it, then click save image (or something similar depending on browser). That will save it to your harddrive.

One of these days I hope to get over to Houston and see it myself for the first time in 42 years.

Exactly. Look at Central Market and Whole Foods !!

I truly believe that in due time that only Wal-Mart Supercenters will exist. Fiesta, Randall's, and even H.E.B. will be only memories.

No, it's been gone a long time now. It was very nice when it existed, though. You really should come back to Houston, you seem to miss it here an awful lot...

I remember that it had a big pond with huge goldfish in it, between 6" and one-foot long. (I read that the bigger the environment goldfish live in, the bigger they'll grow).

I also remember a free beer center. My dad got a plastic cup of Busch.

You've hit on one big reason why HoJo's is now only a shadow of its former self: trying to please everyone (from little kids to expense-account businessmen), and getting nothing right in the process.

Is there a bartender on this forum? Maybe he/she can tell us if there is some kind of a mixed drink that contains ice cream. Then HoJo could have pleased everyone if they had served such a drink.

this site has a lot of neat pictures:

http://www.agilitynut.com/eateries/8a.html

What a contrast! Ice cream & cocktails!

Yup. The spirit is the same: give the traveling family a good deal for their money. And, make sure it's a place the kids like, too.

I ate at a Cracker Barrel the other night--nothing but kids and old folks as far as the eye could see. The kids are, of course, the new generation of customers, and the elderly are the ones who used to frequent HoJo's back in their glory days.

I just looked on Stuckeys.Com and I was surprised. There are only three Stuckey's on IH-10 in Texas: the one between Houston & Winnie in Anahuac and two in El Paso.

Back in the peak expansion years of Stuckey's (1950's-60's), the chain's founder, Bill Stuckey, had an uncanny knack for locating his stores at just the right places. Rumor had it that he would be driving down the road, and wherever he'd have to stop to go to the bathroom, that's where he'd locate a new store.

Well, if it were me doing that, there would be a Stuckey's at every mile marker.

Yup. The spirit is the same: give the traveling family a good deal for their money. And, make sure it's a place the kids like, too.

I ate at a Cracker Barrel the other night--nothing but kids and old folks as far as the eye could see. The kids are, of course, the new generation of customers, and the elderly are the ones who used to frequent HoJo's back in their glory days.

I just looked on Cracker Barrel's website. In addition to the one that I mentioned in Baytown, there's one in Houston, one in West Houston (I think that they meant Katy), one in League City, one in Conroe. I was wrong about there being one between Houston & San Antonio, there's not one even in the Alamo City. There's one in Buda, outside of Austin.

I have heard that too. I am not really sure. I went to private school and Freshman played on the team.

I know you are correct about the past, but I am not sure how it is done today ??

That's what I said, back in the 1970s. In Beaumont (where I graduated from high school) back then there were two school districts each having three high schools (back then the biggest was 4A). That all changed in the 1980s. Since then it has been one district, and for several years the students were crammed into two big high schools (Westbrook and Central). A few years ago they opened up Ozen. I think that Westbrook and Central are 5A and that Ozen is 4A.

Naturally, I liked it better back when I was there.

Right -- Outdoor is a branding medium, not a direct response one. So, the answer to the question, "how many people see a board and drive to a liquor store?" is "very few". They do see the brand and perhaps get a feel for the lifestyle, however, which is reinforced in other media that do, perhaps, have a greater capacity to push or pull sales.

I guess that some people see a billboard of a certain product and they "keep it in mind" for the next time they're in a store that sells it (in this case, liquor). Other products on billboards such as fast food are for immediate buyers to take the appropriate upcoming exit and break out their wallet/purse.

My dad used to take me on trips with him sometimes to Louisiana for his work. We'd always stay at an old HoJo because they still had the ice cream shop and what he claimed were the best hot dogs around!

I've also noticed that some of the chains are downsizing/economizing by not having full service restaurants and giving continental breakfasts. You now have Ramada Limited and Holiday Inn Express, etc. It sounds logical because if you think about it most travellers pull into one of those places late at night. They simply want to go to sleep, get up and leave in the morning, and maybe grab a donut/grapefruit and a cup of coffee and hit the road. Not too many people are there during the day or even in the early evening using a restaurant.

Really, the only places that should have all of those amenities are big hotels (Radisson, Sheraton, etc.) for travellers with money and bellhops to take their luggage to their rooms. One day on KTRH radio, they called up the Four Seasons hotel in downtown Houston and asked how much a basic room cost for one night: $200.

I think that it was Subdude who posted some good photos of a big Sheraton Hotel in downtown Houston.

My guess is that 9th graders at the Alief / Hastings 9th grade school are able to play varsity football if their talent allows. I would think that school would be included in their size. Since Elsik and Hastings are in the biggest 5A bracket often enough I would think this would be the case.

I am not 100% positive though.

Back when I was in high school in the 1970s, no freshmen, no matter how good they were, were allowed to play on the varsity or even the junior varsity teams. The 9th grade had their own teams/leagues. And I also remember that very few sophomores could get on the varsity team, most of them were on the junior varsity team.

Back in the peak expansion years of Stuckey's (1950's-60's), the chain's founder, Bill Stuckey, had an uncanny knack for locating his stores at just the right places. Rumor had it that he would be driving down the road, and wherever he'd have to stop to go to the bathroom, that's where he'd locate a new store.

That sounds plausible. Would you say that the present-day Cracker Barrel restaurants are replacing yesterday's Stuckey's/Horne's/Howard Johnson's, etc.?

That sounds plausible. Would you say that the present-day Cracker Barrel restaurants are replacing yesterday's Stuckey's/Horne's/Howard Johnson's, etc.?

I personally know of three Cracker Barrel's on IH-10: Sulphur, Louisiana, Beaumont, Texas and Baytown, Texas. I would think that if there aren't any on IH-10 in Houston, then there should be at least one between Houston and San Antonio.

You are considered in HS in the 9th grade. There are a few schools that have seperate facilities for 9th grade. Elsik and Hastings come to mind.

The reason why I'm asking that is that, the way that I understand it, the number of students in a high school is what determines if it is a 4A or a 5A school. Is it based on 9th or 10th grade up? I mean, say, that one school that high school starts in the 10th grade has 2,000 students and another high school that starts in the 9th grade also has 2,000 students, then shouldn't the former be 5A and the latter be 4A?

I am pretty sure that most 5A - 4A schools play there games on Friday nights. I used to watch the higlights in the news and it seems that all those schools play Friday nights.

I was wondering, do the high schools in Houston start in the 9th or the 10th Grade?

Isn't there a Stuckeys on I-10 close to San Antonio on the south side of the road?

Oh, there's a few still around. I think their website lists the ones that are still remaining. There also used to be another roadside chain called "Horne's", but I don't know if any were in Texas or not. Stuckey's had a trademark blue roof, Horne's had a trademark yellow roof, and Howard Johnson's had a trademark orange roof. I guess they all did that to catch people's eyes from a distance.

ok, i remember a FedMart as well. When was that there?

[/quote

Last week I met a guy that was in my Kindergarten class at Park Place Elementary School. I knew that Gulfgate was renovated and converted into a mall, but he said that it was "ironic" that it was turned into a "strip" mall. I've heard the term "strip" mall before, but I don't understand exactly what it is. Could someone explain to me in layman's language what the difference is between a "regular" mall and a "strip" mall?

Is the Hermann Park Zoo located in Midtown? I went there as a kid. Is it still open?

Now if only they start planting trees between every freeway's mainlanes and feeders.

If and when I come to Houston and I drive down the freeway, I want to see an occasional "Old Charter", "Cutty Sark", or some other kind of booze billboard. To me, those signs would really beautify the freeways.

They probably play a few "away" games at Dyer...

Over here, almost all high school football games are played on Friday nights. If two schools use the same stadium for there home games, then one of them will hold its home game on Saturday night if the other school played in the stadium the night before.

Now that I've learned that HISDs football stadiums are shared by two or more schools, does that mean that about half of HISDs school play their "home" games on Friday nights and the other half play their "home" games on Saturday nights?

Yup. Forgot about those.

Or, how about Stuckey's? There's only a few original locations left, and you folks in Houston are lucky to have one of the last holdouts nearby--on I-10 near Winnie.

Oh, yes, I remember Stuckey's very well. When I lived in Houston, we would ocassionally drive to Port Arthur to visit my grandparents. There was a Stuckey's on IH 10 between Houston and Winnie (I think it's still there; someone correct me if I'm wrong). I remember all of the billboards that would let you know what exit to get off at (Pecan Pralines, Gas, Souvenirs, etc.). One time I remember getting a cup of coconut milk that actually had shreads of coconut in it. I also looked forward to my dad buying me one of the Adams brand magic tricks and novelties (fly in an ice cube, disappearing balls, etc.).

Yes, Lone Star Rooster, I feel the same way that you do. All of those billboards, hotel and restaurant logos were things that I looked forward to seeing when we would go on trips ("Are we there, yet?"). I always preferred chain hotels and restaurants to privately-owned ones. Now even International House of Pancakes has a simple-worded logo on its signs.

Try these: stuckeys.com & stuckonstuckeys.com

I don't think anyone could kill themselves from a bridge of that height...

I meant that kids could fall into the bayou and drown.

Are they still or did they ever officially use the term HoJo as a nickname for their company. I seem to remember calling them that and I thought I remember them advertising as HoJo. howard johnson sounds much more elegant

And I guess you could also say that Howard Johnson sound more "American". The names "Howard" and "Johnson" are full Anglo-Saxon names.

They probably play a few "away" games at Dyer...

I guess that, technically, even if two high schools play their "home" games in the same stadium, if they play each other for a game in that stadium, one of them has to be designated as the "home" team and one as the "visitor".

Funny you should mention that, we lost to Odessa in the state championship in 1972. I wan't playing for Sterling then however, but I'm sure I was there with my oldman.

I found out that I would have gone to Milby High School had I stayed in Houston. I did a Google search and the article I read said that it was the biggest high school in Houston. I assume that that meant how many students that it had, not its football stadium. I haven't heard any of you mention that stadium as one of the big ones.

The article said that Milby opened back in 1926. In the span of those 80 years, did its football team ever win state championship? If not state, how many times did it make the playoffs? Was it ever a powerhouse like Cashmere or Aldine? I assume that it has always been 4A/5A.