Nut Tree Remembered | TheReporter.Com

"Everyone has their own perception of the place firmly embedded in their minds and that won't be replaced," said Roy Moehrke, a Nut Tree employee for more than three decades. "There is no other place like it."

The Nut Tree, remembered.

If you never drove through Vacaville while it was around, you just won't understand. Once upon a time, the Nut Tree was the only point of interest, other than the rest stop/scenic overlook in Vallejo, in between San Francisco and the Central Valley along I-80. For a Northern California kid with low expectations, the Nut Tree was the place you always begged your parents to make a stop, so you could look at yourself in the funhouse mirrors, or rock in the giant rocking horses, or check out the toy store or candy shop, or -- if you were really lucky -- ride the miniature railroad out to the Nut Tree Airport and back.

The thing I remember best about the Nut Tree isn't the train, or the colorful lollipops, or the airplane-themed souvenirs, or even the aviary surrounding the restaurant. None of these (except possibly the candy) can compare to the overall 1950's It's-A-Small-World design of the place. If you know what I mean.

I guess you had to be there.

In the meantime, won't you please have a pumpkin muffin? Or some marshmallow sauce?