Anyone ready for Ice Cream? The Baraga Drive-In is Open for the Season

Photo courtesy of Michael Babcock of Houghton

A reliable source (ie. my mom) passed on some news from the booming metropolis of Baraga today.

Despite being about -19 degrees Monday morning the Baraga Drive-In decided to open it’s doors for the season on just the second day of March. However, this is the Upper Peninsula, and no single-digit temperatures were going to stop the waitresses from serving the customers outdoors. Just like every other day of the year, whether it’s 80 degrees in the summer or 5 degrees in March, people still roll into the Drive-In for lunch.

I have a hunch there aren’t many old school drive-in restaurants across the country that open in those kind of temperatures. But here in the Upper Peninsula, that’s how we roll. Temperature doesn’t slow us down.

Excluding national chains like Sonic and A&W there just aren’t many drive-in restaurants in existence anymore.

Does anyone recall the Drive-In ever opening this early before? For those of you not from Baraga, my hometown, the Baraga Drive-In is a pretty big deal. It is one of the highlights of the tiny town of 1,200 and it didn’t hurt that it was just a few hundred feet from my front door.

Personally, it doesn’t matter what temperature it is, it’s never too cold for ice cream or a root beer float. Here’s to ice cream season! As a little spring-time tease all of the ice cream shops will be open in just another couple months.

Photo by kumquatgirl on Flickr