A New Drink

I met up with a friend at Princeton, BC to catch up. We both drove about 2 hours and 30 minutes to get to the mid-point of where we each started. The drive was amazing! The rental mini-van with the roof rack did well on the twists and turns of highway 3 in BC. The beauty of the mountains and the river flowing alongside the road was worthy of praise – at one point I found myself unable to contain praises to the God who created all this, so I prayed out loud and had to sing hymns of exaltation. We’ve driven through many amazing landscapes on this trip, and here was yet another breath-taking drive!

My friend and I ate at Thomasinas (http://www.thomasinas.ca/). My friend found the place on line and read good reviews – they bake their own bread, for one. Our waitress (pictured above) was a friendly immigrant from UK. She had recently gotten her citizenship, and was very happy about it.

“What would you like to drink?” She asked with a smile.

“I’ll have iced tea, if you have it,” replied my friend.

“Do you have lemonade?” I asked.

“Yes we do!”

“Well, then, could I have an Arnold Palmer?”

She stared at me with a blank look, then asked, “What was that you asked for?”

“An Arnold Palmer is 1/2 iced tea, and 1/2 lemonade. I’m from Florida, and we drink it often. Do you know Arnold Palmer the golfer? He enjoyed his drink like that so they named it after him.” I told her with a mischievous grin.

“Well, I don’t think I’ve ever heard of it, but I’ll bring it.”

My friend also decided to have an Arnold Palmer. Few moments after we received our drinks, our waitress came by and told us with excitement in her voice, “I’ve just sold Arnold Palmer to three other customers!”

The owner came by to check on us – I think he was curious about the people who were creating some what of a sensation in his restaurant. By this time they had put a sign up (see picture above) and made Arnold Palmer a menu item. When I asked for a refill, a younger waitress, who happened to be free to help us, asked, “Do you not like our iced tea or something?” We could tell she wasn’t an “adapter.”

My friend and I couldn’t stop smiling at the thought of having introduced Arnold Palmer to a random restaurant in a mining town tucked away in the mountains in BC. It was interesting to me how an older woman from UK was able not only to provide what we asked for, but to promote it to others, and a younger woman was a bit offended that I did not like their iced tea…

If you are ever going through Princeton, BC, stop by to have a meal at Thomasinas. The food is good. And don’t forget to ask for an Arnold Palmer. They make it well there.

James