There was a time when just about every small town had a burger joint.

That was back in Small Town, America, where locals proclaimed, “You can buy the world’s best hamburger here.”

The burgers tasted like home-cooked burgers, and no two burgers looked alike, unlike corporate-cloned iron-flattened burgers.

Classic burger joints gave off tantalizing smoke. Driving up and stepping into the smoky air ratcheted the hunger meter up a good many notches.

I know because we had a classic burger joint in Lincolnton, Georgia.

The Tastee Freeze was a simple affair of concrete blocks painted white.

The hamburgers, french fries, and banana splits tasted great.

You could get breaded onion rings and hot dogs, too.

Also a fish sandwich, lemon sours, corn dogs, milk shakes, and chocolate nut sundaes.

Good food and good times made for great hangouts, and what cars!

You’d see ’57 Chevys, Pontiac GTOs, and Chevelles.

I recall Corvettes, Dodge Chargers, and Thunderbirds, too.

Burgers meant socializing and flirting, but things would change.

Burger chains wouldn’t do mom and pop any favors.

That’s why the past owns the Tastee Freeze now as it does other Mom and Pop burger joints.

I ate my first franchise burger at Kelly’s in Augusta.

We’d order from the car, and girls would bring us our burgers. Cooler than cool. But we got duped.

We were establishing a trend that would doom local burger joints and drive-ins.

Here comes McDonalds, Burger King, and Hardee’s. There go the uniquely delicious burger joints.

Franchises’ “canned” burgers looked remarkably similar, but the taste just wasn’t there.

And as fast food goes, well, today they are slow. Very slow.

We weren’t in a hurry for a burger from the Tastee Freeze.

We waited for the thick, juicy, hot burger, layered with an onion slice, tomato, lettuce, and a thick slab of ground beef smothered in mayo, ketchup, and mustard.

A dill pickle slice topped the bun.

A great burger like that today? Not easy to find.

I travel through many a small town where I see abandoned burger joints.

Ragged, rusty, and falling apart, their distinctive architecture and signage stand as monuments to lucky souls who heaped up great memories there.

Back in Lincolnton, Georgia, they tore down the Tastee Freeze. A Hardee’s sits where the Tastee Freeze stood.

Yes, the Mom and pop burger joints are in full retreat. But folks in North Augusta still have a classic burger place, the SNO-CAP Drive-in.

It’s been in operation since 1964 and has had several owners.

You can order from your car and carhops, girls on roller skates, bring you your food.

Inside, black upholstered stools perch on chrome pedestals.

Your chilidog comes wrapped in black-and-white checkered paper, which complements the black-andwhite checkered tile floor.

Get your shake in a glass mug topped with whipped cream.

Drench your fries with ketchup from a bottle, not those annoying packets.

Don’t be surprised if you see a classic car there.

I plan to go to the SNO-CAP. If you, like me, long for bygone times, you can go, too.

I’ll see you there with a fabulous burger drizzling all over you.

We can watch the roller girls roll by and pretend we’re back in Small Town, America.

And, for an enchanted while, we will be.