A Story of Baseball Cards and Gas Station Pizza

For those of you that saw my tweets earlier tonight you may or may not be aware of the dinner I enjoyed. A dinner of pizza that is made inside a gas station. And for those outside the Midwest, it may have looked a bit odd, and based on your preferences possibly a bit disgusting.

It's a taco pizza from Casey's General Store. Casey's is a chain of Midwest gas station/convenience stores. They look like this.

Someone I follow on twitter last week posted something about starving before eating gas station pizza, and it immediately gave me cravings for Casey's pizza. Their taco pizza is my favorite, followed by their barbecue pizza.

I opted for the taco pizza tonight. Included on this pie: refried beans, cheddar and mozzarella cheese, lettuce, tomatoes, and Doritos. It had been at least ten years since eating a Casey's pizza. As I drove to pick it up I considered the likelihood it would not taste like I remembered. I was wrong. It was just as good, if not better.

It took me back to my childhood. I grew up in a rural Illinois town that did not have a stoplight, let alone a pizza place, and kids drove tractors to school. There was a Casey's in the next town over (about 5 miles), so it was a bit quicker than the nearest Pizza Hut 15 miles away.

Friday nights were usually pizza night at my house. It was either a Casey's pizza, or an actual visit to Pizza Hut using my Book-It coupon. 

If it was a night in I would sort my baseball cards and watch the TGIF lineup. Full House was my favorite, along with Perfect Strangers. Just the Ten of Us was another early favorite, while Step by Step and Boy Meets World were my jams in the later TGIF years. So of course tonight as I'm eating Casey's pizza I was sorting baseball cards (well, I ate first and then washed my hands - taco pizza is messy).

I'm just beginning to sort through the 25 monster boxes I picked up last Sunday. There has already been some nice additions for the Cubs collection. There was a partial set of 1980 Baseball Immortals. A few are new to my collection. The King Kelly card shows him in a Boston uniform, but lists it as Chicago Cubs on the back.

A couple of 1999 SP Prospect including a pair of Todd Noel Rockford Cubbies cards.

And how about this. Eight Alex Arias rookie cards. Or as most people in the hobby consider it: Chipper Jones rookies.

I'm still looking for trades this weekend. Would prefer team trades, but will consider other trades as well. Tweet me or email me.