My first and last meals in California (2008 - 2009)

...were at In-N-Out Burger.  I just finished reading a review by Kari Barbic of the book In-N-Out Burger: A Behind-the-Counter Look at the Fast-Food Chain That Breaks All the Rules by Stacy Perman that appeared in The Weekly Standard (I accessed it online here) and it made me fondly remember my own visits to the restaurant.  There's just something about a simple, good burger, well-executed, that appeals to me very much.

My first recent visit was on the day we arrived in California after moving from Hawaii.  We flew into San Francisco and then started driving south to Monterey.  About halfway to our destination, there it was, off to the right of the road: store 198 in Morgan Hill.  We came to know this location well, and essentially every time we made a trip to San Francisco over the next year, we stopped along the way for some delicious burgers and freshly cut fries.

My last visit was on the final day that I was in California.  I was road-tripping from Monterey with a good friend back to Nebraska to put my car in storage while we live overseas.  Around dinner time, we stopped for gas just past Sacramento, and spied an In-N-Out location nearby.  I can think of no better way to "bookend" our time in California than with the fine fast-food meals that I enjoyed at In-N-Out Burger.

I even had occasion to "indoctrinate" many members of my family who do not live in or near the areas where In-N-Out Burger has locations to the delights of their food.  My younger brother got married in Las Vegas in 2007, and sure enough, the hotel my family was staying at was across the road from store 86.  I remember the restaurant being quite busy when we went, leading to some questioning of our choice to go there.  The grumbling ended once the food came out.

GJS