Saying goodbye - to landmarks

chic

chic

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U.S.
A local Friendly's ice cream restaurant which has existed since I was a child has bid adieu. They closed like everything else in Mar. 2020 but never did have takeout service during the pandemic like most eateries did. By July 2020 when we reopened more fully, their parking lot remained empty, the restaurant deserted. I drive by this Friendly's frequently and noticed last week a for lease sign on the glass windows. 😥 I remember many good times there as a child and later as a teen.

Worse than this is the oldest Chinese restaurant in my area, which has existed since before I was born, also bit the dust last week. It was the premier, if not the only place, to get Asian cuisine in the 1950's and it was such a treat to go there for Chinese dinners as a special treat when I was a kid. Their take out was superb. In recent years they did go downhill as far as quality is concerned but did a robust business with local workmen, travellers, truckers and local seniors who frequented the all you can eat buffet. Now they are history. I saw a huge for lease sign on their extensive property last week.

This is all so sad. I feel like I've survived a war, or something akin to one, with all the changes that have occurred since the pandemic. Worst of all, I fear what is to come because I know who has been benefiting from all this. That's a world I don't want to see.
 

During my working years, I used to look forward to seeing the Friendly's sign on the Mass. Pike.

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All of the local Friendly's restaurants are gone. I think they had a hard time competing with the cheaper fast-food/drive-in window places.

I enjoyed the Set-Up Burger served on toast with fries and of course, the Happy Ending Sundae with a squirt of hot fudge and a squirt of butterscotch. 🐷

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There isn't enough space to write all the landmarks and small businesses that are gone in my area and that is only since the early 70's. When I travel to the area where I grew up which is about 50 miles away. I hardly recognize it.
The community pool where we spent many happy hours as kids is now a parking lot.
When we moved to the town where we now live there was a quaint little hardware store . During the summer they would put up big signs saying, "get your canning supplies here".
The streets were lined with small stands or trucks where you could get fresh fruits and vegetables. You were able to get baskets of produce to can. Sometimes you could even get the price down a little or get baskets of bruised fruit for nothing.
I remember one year getting enough free peaches to can just because they had a soft spot and wouldn't last another day.
 
Many years ago I wanted to open my own little Cafe at the beach and call it "Monet Cafe" with Monet Paintings hanging on the walls. But shortly after I thought of it I was in Boca Raton and, low and behold, I drove by a Monet Cafe. I know I still could have used that name since I was in another state but wanted it to be unique. The other day I googled it on a whim. This is now posted on their website 😢

 
All the small towns where I grew up had a certain personality by what their main street business store fronts looked like. One in particular that I remember had the whole block leveled to put up a CVS and it's parking lot. Now it could just be part of any generic mall.
 
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There aren’t any Friendly’s in my part if the country, but lots of good memories from the past. A while back when I happened to see half gallon of Friendly’s ice cream in the supermarket freezer I snapped it up!
 

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