The Secret Sonic Drink (Shhhh...)


Did you know there was such a thing? 

Well, there is. The only thing is that some Sonics don't even know about it. This is secret drink is not in the same category as all of those "secret" items on the In-N-Out Burger menu.

It is even more special.

My hunt for it is sort of like my hunt used to be for the Orange Julius. Does anyone remember that Orange Julius-shaped hole in my heart?

I don't always ask about it when I am at Sonic. (I'm usually asking for the Unsweet Mint Tea. And food for my kids. Food that I end up eating, because have you ever smelled the onion rings?)  If I drank one of them all the time like I'd like, I would have to have a crane lift me in and out of bed.

The other day, though, I wanted one. I neared a Sonic and "I got my taste buds set on one". (My MIL is always getting her taste buds set on things.)

"I wonder if they have my special drink," I thought to myself as I slid my house on wheels into a Sonic slot.

I pressed the button.

I got butterflies.

They answered.

"Can I help you?"

"Yes. Um, do you have the S...Sun...Sunshine Smoothie?"

"The what?"

"The Sunshine Smoothie," I said with a little more confidence and oomph. I needed to own this thing.

"I'm sorry. What is it called?"

"The SUNSHINE SMOOTHIE. You guys used to have this drink that..."

"Yeah, we don't have that."

The heck you don't. 

What had Sonic become?

No Sunshine Smoothie anymore?
 
The heck?

Sure, it wasn't on the menu, but didn't Sonic and I have a special bond? Didn't Sonic have a special place in his heart for me? No Sunshine Smoothie? Heartbreaking.

As I peeled out, all I could think about was where another Sonic was located. I thought about driving to the one where the Sunshine Smoothie experience all began, but that was 20 minutes in the opposite direction from where I was headed. I used to get them when I worked in the Medical Center on my way into town. S.S. really kept me company.

I kept on my path, though.

I was going to give another Sonic a chance. 

"Hi. Do you have anything called a Sunshine Smoothie?"

"Small, medium or large?"

"You have it? You have the Sunshine Smoothie?"

"Yes."

"I'm so excited! Okay, small."

(I should have said large.)

I waited with bated breath as I eyed the Sonic door. Watching it for movement made me feel like a dog watching and waiting for a door to open. 

Out the man came carrying a drink. 

Time felt like slowed down.

His footsteps appeared to move in slow motion. It was almost as if the world around me had blurred. 

He turned a corner and headed my direction.

I became short of breath.

He got closer.

I became light-headed.

He was at my car door.

"I have never seen anyone order one of these. This is my first."

"It's the Sunshine Smoothie, right? Not a Sonic Sunrise? Not an anything else?"

As he handed it to me, I realized it was just what I had been craving.

"That's it, right? Yeah, the lady that works here has been here for four years. She knows her Sonic. I'm going to have her make me one of these when I go back in."

"You don't know how you've made my day. I feel like I have been on an adventure! I just should have said to hold the whipped cream."

"It's a beautiful day! You deserve the whipped cream!"

I figured he was right.

If you want to know what's in the Sunshine Smoothie, I suggest you start inquiring about it at your local Sonic. Maybe we can get it back on the menu!!

(This is NOT a sponsored post. I'm just a bit obsessive about things.)

(And, okay, I'll tell you what's in it: bananas, strawberries, a cup of heaven and I don't know what else.)