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You might be a native Charlottean if you remember Le Chateau and thought it was haute cuisine.
... if you went to Andersen's for pie after church.
... if you got all gussied up for your husband on Valentine's Day by wearing something from Thompson's Bootery and Bloomery on Independence Boulevard.
... as above and you thought you were hot.
... if you got all gussied up for your husband on Valentine's Day by wearing something from Thompson's Bootery and Bloomery and were afraid someone you knew saw you go in or go out.
I was born in '86, so I'll see what I can remember...
- Belk's, Ivy (vaguely remember) and Peebles department stores stood alone and not just in malls
- Revco and Eckerds
- Movie theatre in South Park Mall
- Winn-Dixie
- "Gus The Bus" coming to your elementary school
- The circus that came before "The Soul Circus"... B&B?
- Monster truck events in the old coliseum off Tyvola
- Krispy Kreme doughnut aroma on Wilkinson Blvd
- "The Square" was like "the hang out" place downtown
- Pre-bussing for K12
- Pre-four block schedules for K12
- K-Mart was "Wal-Mart" before Wal-Mart was "Wal-Mart"
- Quincy's restaurant
- More Shoney's and Hardee's
- Independence Blvd had "life"
- Not many Hispanic or Asian people around
- Andy Griffith came on on WSOC (Channel 9) at 5pm; "Covering the Carolina's" was the WSOC news slogan
- Jeff Johnson was a huge on-air personality
- FOX 18 had that white guy, who was really "out there", who wore those bright colors and would jump and kick his legs out, during those commercial segments... between Power Rangers and Beetle Borgs!!!
- Parking on the side of the street (anywhere) and having multiple vehicles on your front lawn was legal
- Silver metal trash cans before the grey and dark green, plastic roller
- Red recycle container before the green, plastic roller
- Freedom Mall and Eastland Mall were the spots
- Remember when those white paper bag school lunches began
-Fairview Rd was the borderline between city and country.
-The River Rat was the only upscale restaurant in South Meck and it wasn't even in the state.
-Pineville, Matthews, and Mint Hill were three separate country bumpkin towns.
-There was a huge country western bar on Ablemarle Rd. that almost everyone went to because there were only a couple bars (maybe 5 at the most) in the entire city.
-West and NW Charlotte were considered "the slums" so you only went there for the music or airport.
-The Scoreboard was "way out" on Independence but always packed.
-Trailers and old cabins surrounded Lake Norman except for one development by the marina.
-Nobody went to Carolina Place Mall because it was so far out in the country. The mall held promotions to get people there when it first opened.
-White Castle was one of the few places open late at night besides Athens & Knife and Fork.
-Dilworth was the only yuppie/trendy neighborhood.
-Charlotte Checkers on Independence
-There was an ongoing joke/fact about Charlotte being a ghost town after Fridays. Almost everyone went away on the weekends because there was nothing to do in the city.
-Famous bands of all genres would play small bars because there weren't a lot of options. The music scene was the best in the early 90s. Cheap covers in small settings. All the time people were discussing what band they saw the night before.
-The Independence area was the hot spot.
-Uptown was a dead zone.
-The sky was the most beautiful shade of blue and so clear! Everyone understood where the phrase Carolina Blue came from.
To repeat the sentiments of another poster, I hate to go back because the city (and NC) has changed so much.
Doug Mayes WBTV
Lake Wylie was "The river"
Joyners ( the bar on the NC side of the Buster Boyd bridge )
The Hungry Fisherman
Big Star markets
Two Guys Supermarket
Carolina Cougars ( ABA )
Uptown was downtown
Murphy in the Morning
The Ranch House
The Peddler
The Paper Doll
Great trip down memory lane
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