Stickin' It To The Man!

Most of us who grew up on Looney Toons and Merrie Melodies recognize that picture... A classic moment where Bugs Bunny refused to give up his home to the developer who wanted to build a skyscraper in the same spot. As hilarity ensued, Bugs prevailed and the skyskraper was built as you see above, with a little indent for his humble rabbit hole.

Well, there's a similar situation playing out just down the street from us right now... Until today I only had a hunch that it was truly happening, but it's now been confirmed in the business section of our local paper!

The business in question is the Little Holland Drive In. It's an old fashioned burger stand, and an institution in the Tacoma area. In fact, their signature burger, the Mikie Burger, has been voted as the Best Burger in Seattle. For ANY Seattle list to even acknowledge that Tacoma has redeeming qualities is amazing, for it to take the top prize is unheard of. The burger is that good.

The Little Holland sat in an area that was greatly in need of renovation. Across the street, remodels greatly improved the visual appeal, and new tenants moved in. Down the street a recent remodel had similar results. The LH itself has a certain charm to it, and has recently been painted, so it looks quaint. But its immediate neighbors were truly an eyesore... There was a run down sleazy-mart on one side, and various dumpy offices on the other side. A few months ago, a sign went up in front of the sleazy-mart with a beautiful artist's rendering of what that corner will look like soon. Within weeks, the sleazy-mart had its going out of business sale, followed quickly by the other businesses. But the Little Holland kept pluggin' along, selling burgers (and frozen custard!) Wednesdays through Saturdays, as if nothing was going on.

A few weeks ago as Cindy and I drove by, I mentioned how strange it was that they weren't making any moves to close up shop, and jokingly referenced the Bugs Bunny cartoon pictured above. In the artist's rendering, you could ALMOST make out a similar indent in the new structure, but upon closer examination we decided it was just a shadow.

Last week the sleazy-mart came crumbling down... Then the offices on the other side were reduced to rubble. On Saturday I was buying gas across the street, and there was an excavator breaking up concrete from the offices, clearing the ground. The Little Holland stood amidst the dust and noise, not open for business, but its lights were still on, and the windows were filled with the same signs and posters as always. No big "GOODBYE!" notice. My curiosity was really tweaked!



This is what it looked like yesterday... Surrounded by rubble, blissfully unaware that time is marching on without it. And for the next 12-18 months, time will march on without impacting it! The story in the newspaper is that the owners have negotiated a deal to stay open during construction of the new business center - I'm really not sure how that will work, since the external structure is generally built fairly early in the construction process. I can't wait to see how this all develops!



I also can't wait to enjoy at least one more Mikie Burger before they're gone for good!