Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part II (Alamo: child, square)

[webmeist]

My family moved from PA to San Antonio in 1968.
Best times of my life.
My dad worked at Kelly, and at first we lived in one of those
"suites" type rooms at the Siesta motel right down from
the North Loop VW and Jim's amd Luby's there at 410 and Fredericksburg.
Across the street from the old Wonderland Mall.
So that area was my first SA home.

Eventually my dad bought a brand new baby blue 69 bug from North Loop.
The Whopper Burger on the back side of the mall, Shakeys on
Fredericksburg. They had the best pepperoni pizza, and the
music and all...
I understand that Burger Boy in town now is still run by the old owners
of Whopper Burger and they use the original recipes, I can't wait to come to town next weekend and get one.
We got a house on Fallen Leaf Lane in a development called the Foothills off
of Callaghan and I-10, and all of you talking about racing and cars brings back so much. I think the highest I ever saw gas at the Mr. M's on Callaghan was like .28 per gallon. My parents wouldn't allow me to have a motorcycle even when all my friends had them, so I bought a used mini bike from someone and hid it in the attic over the garage till i could get it repaired, carb kit, etc. I remember riding my bicycle all the way south on Callaghan miles and miles, so it seemed, to a motorcycle shop that sold mini bike parts. All this on the QT. My parents were right, when I got that thing going I almost killed myself, already had many times on bicycles alone.
Out west of Wurzbach, near where the train tracks cross it and I believe Saint Matthews Church now has a new athletic field (I played baseball on the old one when it was new), you used to be able to ride back west of Wurzbach and there was a motorcycle track someone had made by hand I guess. There was an old abandoned Spanish style estate there, now I think it's certainly been refurbished, maybe even apts., but back there the older guys would tell us stories of the Donkey Lady and how she had left hoof prints in the back trunks of people's cars.
I remember there was this guy who sometimes in the middle of the night would come out and drag, by himself I think just for kicks, on Callaghan with his Kawasaki, that was reported to be a 750 and way overbored. But that thing would scream and could be heard for miles around I'm sure.
Good times. CARtoon and MAD magazines. Wonderful. Hemisfair.
A lot of it's changed. FedMart. The CarQuest right behind it on Mossrock I was in the first few days it opened; I just loved the SMELL in that place. Those old burgers they made at Jack In The Box with the old sauce. Handy Dan, First Mate, Colonies North, I saw the original Willy Wonka at the old movie theatre there, and the HEB on Wurzbach, man, it's like 5 times bigger now than it used to be. I like to go to those places and look at the outside or inside of the structure and remember my mom walking in there. She was the happiest of her life, me too, in that time.
Thanks for reading.

[LilyLady]

So much has changed. Last time I went home was in 2010 for a memorial service. It was so different, I felt like a tourist. I drove by the house where I grew up (off of West Avenue near Basse Road) and I was shocked. How did that house get so small????!!!! It seemed so big when I lived there.

Time goes on, I guess....

[TexasRedneck]

Originally Posted by webmeist

I remember there was this guy who sometimes in the middle of the night would come out and drag, by himself I think just for kicks, on Callaghan with his Kawasaki, that was reported to be a 750 and way overbored. But that thing would scream and could be heard for miles around I'm sure.

I *think* I know who you're talking about - if it's the same one I'm thinking of, he killed himself on that thing in the early 70's being "bulletproof". We went to Marshall together, Class of '73. I was already overseas trying for a "duck" medal by then - our family moved to Bandera, and I went into the Canoe Club.

[webmeist]

Thanks for writing back.
Yes, a lot has changed, but to be honest, to me it's amazing that I can
even go back there and reconnect, my family went through so many
truly harsh times after we moved back up north in about 73/74, that
it's inspiring and nice for me to be able to just go to a store, like the old
Rhodes location at Wonderland, the downstairs/outside door to the elevator
in the lower basement lot, and touch the same door that my mom did.
It was there she bought me my first ever Adidas running shoes, I think
for 12 or 14 dollars, those white ones with the red stripes, and I watched
that movie the other day "Ali" with Will Smith and sure enough he had the
same style ones only with the high boxer tops. I had forgotten about Ali
wearing them, it's probably why I wanted them.

I could imagine that guy killing himself. There was the feeling about it of out
of control, when he was running. There was a lot of out of control feeling in
those times, and activity. It's too bad.

What is the Canoe Club?

[TexasRedneck]

Canoe Club = US Navy. Kinda like Marines, but smarter AND better looking!

[webmeist]

Originally Posted by HillCountryHotRodMan

I've been here since '79 (minus time overseas in the military). Huebner road was considered rural back then. If you went to Marshall High school, you were considered a "kicker" (I didn't attend Marshall but dated a girl who did). The very first Martha's mexican restaurant was in a shack off of Huebner road and they were always busy because their food was most excellent.

I was looking for info on Martha's, so I'll resurrect this old post by HCHRM.
I used to live near Colonies North and attended Marshall for my 9th grade year before we moved, but yes, Martha's (back then) was the best Mexican food, so authentic. And that place on Huebner! Do you remember every room was on a different level? It was like it had been a little house that people added room after room and didn't mind whether the floors were even or not.

But I always thought they also had a location downtown somewhere, maybe it was another restaurant, and I thought that was their original location?
I'm probably wrong, I was young.

[TexasRedneck]

Martha's on Huebner was THE original - and yes, it was a converted house that they just kind of expanded as they could afford to.

Dated a gal that lived in Colonies North area that moved after her freshman year....man, was I bummed!

[webmeist]

Originally Posted by BudB

Here by the way is the 13th Floor Elevators poster I managed to save from once upon a time in Austin.Attachment 40075 Click on the thumbnail for a bigger version.

BudB thanks for the poster from the Elevators. Beautiful.
Believe it or not on facebook I have friends from Amsterdam, and THEY told me about the Elevators. I have lived most of my life since the early 70s in the cold north, and didn't know of them.

Thanks again.

Dan

[johnrex62]

Originally Posted by TexasRedneck

Back in the 60's/early 70's, you had T&L Ice House (El Verde @ Bandera), Paula's Cafe & Mandry General Hardware & Supply (next door to each other, across from Poss @ Bandera), Meiske's/Bradford/Someone Else Esso/Exxon (Sawyer @ Bandera), Oasis Liquor Store (Linkwood @ Bandera), a burger place (Eckerd @ Bandera), Texas Star Inn (just down from the burger place on the other side of Bandera), Sigmor Shamrock (on Bandera, just past the creek), and KBAT radio across from the Sigmor.....not much else. I can remember when they developed Seneca Estates and Grass Valley......kids used to have fun "renaming" that subdivision by removing some of the letters!

You bring back lots of good memories. I grew up on the southside, on Gillette between Pleasanton and Zarzamora, but spent many summers working for my dad in Braun Station.

I remember going up and down Bandera rd to and from work. My Dad's partner used to stop at T&L on the way home every day and grab a couple beers to drink on the way home. We used to eat at that burger place on the corner of Eckerd rd...had really good smoky flavor. Wish I could remember the name of the place, but it was gone in the early 80s. We used to fill up the trucks at the Sigmor. Spent lots of money at that station, at least until one of the clerks during it early Valero days stole the company credit card and treated his friends to free gas on us.

Ate at the Texas Star a few times, but the burgers were a bit too small for a hungry teenager. Got a better meal at Jims Frontier. Chili Chopped Steaks! Yumm!

Got my first hunting rifle from Mursch's and remember when Verde Hills, Seneca Estates and Grass Valley were almost empty. Braun Station East was only just opening and there was a huge empty area between East and West and no other subdivisions anywhere around. The radio station, I thought it was KKYX, but it could have housed both, closed a few years after I was old enough to have to work full time summers, but I remember the trenches cut across the property to discourage the dirt bikers at the time. I had forgotten all about Mandys, but I had to go there a couple times to pick up some saw blades or specialty fasteners when we ran out or broke something. I was sent to Handy Dan's more often due to prices, but sometimes time was of the essence.

I always wanted to go to the drive in, but it closed before I got my license and so I missed my chance.

[TexasRedneck]

Hey, we LOVED Handy Dan's - we posted their "Grand Opening" sale flier in the store....they were higher on everything they advertised than what we sold things for every day.

Before it was KKYX, it was KBAT - so we're both right! IIRC, "Frency" left Sigmor when Valero took over....he was a character!

Yeah - for the life of me, I can't remember the name of that burger joint....

Mursch - they first opened right there at the old construction company offices there at Eckert/Bandera, later moving further towards Loop 410. I took a .22 there once for some trigger work - their "gunsmith" botched the job (it'd go "full-auto" half the time), requiring me to buy another trigger and do it myself. Never went back to 'em...