Graham Central Station

One of the bigger perks of living in the Midwest is having access to an ice cream store called Whitey’s. They offer smoothies, milkshakes, and sundaes, but I think those are offered because they needed to fill up space on the menu board. I can’t see any compelling reason to order anything other than a simple scoop of delicious ice cream. The folks at Whitey’s are happy to give samples of any flavor. I always know exactly what I want, but I taste another option first for the simple pleasure of variety.

Variety in ice cream is a fairly new concept for me. I remember going to Baskin-Robbins with my brothers as children. We’d carefully examine each of the 32 flavors, even pausing to voice our observations. “Bubble gum ice cream? I wonder how they got it to be so pink!” “Wow, that’s a lot of chocolate in that one. Look at the brownie pieces!” After thoughtful consideration, the three of us would come to the same conclusion: French vanilla (because it’s clearly more sophisticated than plain vanilla).

I don’t think Whitey’s offers French vanilla and I wouldn’t choose it if they did. My new fixation is a masterpiece called Graham Central Station. The fact that someone created an ice cream that tastes like graham crackers blesses me to no end, but it doesn’t stop there. They added a personal touch (shout out, if you will) for those of us who eat with texture in mind: sweet, slightly crunchy chunks of graham cracker mixed throughout. Jeremie and I fondly refer to these scoop sections as “bits” and he says the word with a slight lisp that makes me laugh. If I offer him a bite, I make sure it’s got some “bit action” in it.

Someday, when I move away from the Midwest, I will miss my Whitey’s treat. I am glad you can’t get it everywhere; exclusivity enhances its preciousness. I mean, having Whitey’s available all over the country would be like having a scoop of Graham Central with every bite containing a “bit”. Hmmm….that sounds pretty nice, actually.