When he found out we were heading to St. Augustine on Easter, my 8-year-old immediately started talking about fish. He’s always loved fish and chips, and lately he’s been getting more and more excited about trying different kinds of foods.

To him, St. Augustine meant the perfect opportunity to both enjoy fish and try something new.

Unfortunately, the only fish in the restaurant had was grilled.  He’s not a big fan of plain old grilled fish. I suggested the shrimp, but that was fried with coconut. Again, not something he really wanted.

Given the choices left, he decided on macaroni and cheese.

When the waitress arrived, he asked her his standard question: “what kind of root beer do you have?”

“It’s okay,” I interjected. “It’s early enough. Even if it has caffeine, you can have it.”

“Hooray!”

“Sorry,” the waitress said. “We’re out of root beer.”

Oof. He slumped back in his chair.

“What about a Shirley Temple?” she asked.

The big guy looked at me, but I didn’t have an answer. I didn’t know what a Shirley Temple is.

“It’s like cherry syrup in Sprite,” the waitress said.

His eyes lit up. “Okay,” he said. “That sounds good.”

Nothing like a Shirley Temple to brighten your day.