Dreaming of Friendly's

The year was 2002 and I had never heard of Friendly's before.

This particular hot summer I was in Stamford, Connecticut for a few days on business. It was around lunch time and we were looking for a place to eat.

Driving through Stamford, nothing seemed good until we drove past a Friendly's. Not knowing what the heck a Friendly's even was, I asked the people in our car...they called me a fool for not ever going to Friendly's and then explained that they have some of the best ice cream on earth.

Since we were all salivating from talking about Friendly's we decided to pull in and grab lunch there.....little did I know this lunch would forever change my entire life.

After reading over the menu I chose the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae. (You're reading that correctly...I had a sundae for lunch with no other food).

Never has peanut butter, ice cream and hot fudge been so flippin satisfying. In that moment, my taste buds were forever changed - the Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae was my new food idol.

Upon returning back home to the Tampa area after my trip I searched far and wide to find my nearest Friendly's. Much to my dismay the nearest location was 90 minutes away in Orlando.

About two months after I got back I couldn't resist it any longer so I convinced my brother to drive with me to Orlando to go eat at Friendly's. (Yes, I drove an hour and a half for an ice cream sundae).

This wouldn't be my last journey to Orlando just to eat Friendly's. Later in the year I was dating this girl (not my future wife) who I talked to on a regular basis about Friendly's....probably to the point that it drove her insane. One weekend she blind folded me, told me to get in her car and an hour and a half later I was in the Friendly's parking lot in Orlando.

To most of you, this probably sounds completely ridiculous. However, if you have ever tasted a Reese's Peanut Butter Cup Sundae from Friendly's you might feel differently. To this very day, I still love Friendly's and I wish there was one closer to me...unfortunately my nearest location is still 90 minutes away.

Since I can't have Friendly's I figured the next best thing would be to share it with all of you. In celebration of Friendly's and their amazing ice cream, I'm giving away one $10 Gift Card to Friendly's to the first person who comments on this post and writes about their favorite Friendly's sundae. After you comment, please send me an email so I can get your contact info to mail you the gift card (danielrholm@gmail.com).