Welcome back, it’s day 11 of my Christmas vacation trip and quite a few things happened today. First of all I got to have something I haven’t had in a long time, a burger from Whataburger. Now some of you that know me know that I mentioned Whataburger a few times before in the past, and now you get to learn a little more about it as it really is kind of a Texas fast food icon really. The story of the chain is actually routed in Texas. In 1950, during the Texas oil boom, A young businessman named Harmon Dobson partnered with fellow entrepreneur Paul Burton to open a small burger stand in Corpus Christi, Texas realizing the need to feed the population. Dobson’s goal was simple, make a burger that took two hands to hold and tasted so good that when you took a bite you would say 'What a burger! Which as you can imagine also happens to be how the chain got its name.
Founder Harmon Dobson in 1950
The burger was a massive quarter pound of 100% beef on a 5-inch bun with lettuce, three slices of tomato, four dill pickles, chopped onions, ketchup, and mustard, all fresh and cooked exactly the way the customer wanted it. They wouldn’t put the patty on the grill until the customer ordered. The first Whataburger opened on 2609 Ayers Street, across from Del Mar College on August 8th 1950. They sold their burgers for 25 cents with drinks and chips as side items, the chain later expaned to include fries and shakes and it’s been a Lone Star favorite ever since.
The first Whataburger stand (1950)
Today Whataburger has expanded to more than 670 locations in Texas alone, and it’s menu includes everything from chicken strips to fajitas to breakfast items. The first thing that you notice when you pull up to a Whataburger is it’s unique architecture, from 1961 to 2020, each restaurant has a A-frame Structure with an orange and white color scheme. Apparently the idea came from Dobson’s love for flying airplanes. He realized the importance of eye-catching architecture and signage as well as liking the idea of being able to see his stores from the air, and the orange and white color scheme was picked since orange and white are traditionally the colors used on many airport structures. The Whataburger location in Del Rio is one of the older locations with the A-frame in tact.
The Whataburger in Del Rio
Another thing about Whataburger that’s unique is actually ordering your food. When you place an order you are given a small place tent with your order number on it, and when they call out that number you go up to the counter to receive your order in my case, my number was 88.
My Whataburger number tent and my medium Coke
The number tents have also become iconic as some fans go out of their way to steal and collect them. They’ve even been used by police officers as makeshift evidence markers. Now that’s funny!
A crime scene with Whataburger number tents
For my order, I simply got a burger with medium fries and medium drink (A Coke as previously mentioned). I was going to go with a triple actually but changed it. Unfortunately my order ended up with the classic fast food curse of a wrong order as I asked for ketchup and mustard only, and ended up getting the works. As the order was listed correctly on the receipt, we assume the cashier just hit the wrong button when placing the order. I was ok with it though, as we just took it off.
My Whataburger meal
Me and my brother took my meal to meet with the rest of my family at a bar called Mesquite Creek in the old part of town. I actually remember the place as it used to be an old school soda fountain called the emporium, where you could get ice cream and milk shakes and things. Apparently they didn’t do well financially and the bar took its place. We order some beers, two orders of pretzels bites with cheese, and a cracker cheese and sausage platter. I then went along with Cody to AutoZone and also did a drive by of my old neighborhood where I got to my old elementary school (of which I stayed for a very brief period of time) my old middle school, my old high school buildings and my old house, which I’m happy to say hasn’t changed at all since I left.
My old school buildings and house still the way it was
After that, we went to Walmart to get some beer and Wii sports for the Switch before going home. Cody’s friend Chad came over for dinner where we ate fried turkey, rolls, mashed potatoes, and bacon Mac and cheese. After dinner me, Cody, Chad, Maci and Nana played a quick, no score round of Uno Attack which lasted 3 rounds. The day ended with me and Maci finally playing the Switch together playing my Super Mario Maker 2 levels which didn’t go as well as I hoped because instead of getting 4 players as a imagined I only ended up with 2 and it ended with a level that we were unable to beat. I did end up tweaking the level afterwards, so hopefully we can try again tomorrow. Anyway that’s all the major events that happened today a lot compared to previous days on this trip, but that about it for today, thank you for reading and I’ll see you tomorrow.
Bonus videos
Heres some videos i recorded driving through these parts of town
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1vcqH_qwbhRsr5IyQH8ShjxtNU9NAk_Uv?usp=share_link
