Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Austin: racist, nurse)

[Primo]

Originally Posted by 1313

I Several people mentioned Ringo's hamburgers- believe it or not my grandfather was Ringo himself. Technically, he was my step-father's father but my mother and step-father have been married since I was 2 years old so he was a real grandfather to me. I remember there were at least two different locations and maybe three (but maybe not at the same time). One was on West Ave across from the Dairy Queen and the second was on Jackson Keller across from Nimitz Middle School. Unless I'm mistaken I seem to recall another one in the parking lot of a grocery store (can't recall the name) on Blanco south of West Ave in the little building which was later a Fishin' Pier. I don't know why it was called Ringo's because his name was Harry. Both Harry and his wife Louise died several years ago but I will always have memories of spending Christmas Eve at their little rock house on W. Mandalay. Someone else mentioned Tom Eng's on West Ave- I will always remember that on the night of the big city-wide power blackout I was all alone at home because my parents had went to Tom Eng's to pick up supper. It seemed like hours before they came home but I'm sure it was just because the house was all dark. I hope this thread continues for hundreds of more pages...

I can remember eatting the hot dogs at Ringos on Blanco when I was a kid, because my grandmother worked at Lee. The last time I ate at the Ringos on West Ave was in the early 90's. Interesting enough...my other grandmothers neighbor owned the property the West Ave Ringos was on.

Of course nothing beats the Foot Long Frankfurter from GW Jr.'s! I can still remember slowly sliding it out, because the chili would be all stuck to the orange baggie that cover the foot long hot dog tray it came in.

[Primo]

Originally Posted by 1313

I I will always remember that on the night of the big city-wide power blackout I was all alone at home because my parents had went to Tom Eng's to pick up supper. It seemed like hours before they came home but I'm sure it was just because the house was all dark. I hope this thread continues for hundreds of more pages...

Speaking of...does anyone remember where they were for the black-out of 1977. I can still remember being in my parents car and we were getting donuts at the Orignal Donut shop on Fredricksburg...and the lights started going out as my parents were picking out out the donuts (they were buying them for the next morning).

[Primo]

I totally forgot about Jeepers:

Jeeper's: Church's upscale burger bid - fast food restaurants
Moderator cut: copyright issues

[940]

Originally Posted by Primo

Of course nothing beats the Foot Long Frankfurter from GW Jr.'s! I can still remember slowly sliding it out, because the chili would be all stuck to the orange baggie that cover the foot long hot dog tray it came in.

I loved their chili-cheese hamburgers...GW Jr.'s was a major senior lunch destination back in the day...

I also remember their Jeeper's incarnation...I believe that came about after GW Jr.'s were closed in the mid 80s...I remember Carl's Jr. was around town then also but I didn't like them nearly as much.

I happened to be home during the Black-Out in 77...I remember my parents were outside talking to the neighbor's and I was inside the air-conditioned house finishing up some homework and watching WKRP in Cincinnati...how's that for a memory...LOL...the TV went off and the worse part was that the a/c went off and it was still warm outside at that time of year. I remember being miserable warm in the house later that evening and having candles and kerosene lamps lit up all around.

[1313]

Originally Posted by Primo

I can remember eatting the hot dogs at Ringos on Blanco when I was a kid, because my grandmother worked at Lee. The last time I ate at the Ringos on West Ave was in the early 90's. Interesting enough...my other grandmothers neighbor owned the property the West Ave Ringos was on.

Wow.. I didn't know Ringo's was around that long since my grandparents sold it way back when I was young. I actually remember them working at the Jackson Keller store if memory serves me correct. I think you would order at a little sliding window that had a screen door type metal mesh on it and eat outside on tables. I want to drive by the locations and see what they look like now.

Speaking of that general area.. right next to Nimitz Middle school there used to be a large farm with an electric gate direct across from where Dresden ended at Blanco. This was before the apartment complex and the Kroger strip mall were built. Does anybody know the history of this farm? You could see old horse stables which ran along the south perimeter fence of the Nimitz football fields. Also, right across the street behind the old Weight Watchers building there used to be an old windmill.. I bet it was part of the same original farmland. I had heard that it belonged to the Schmeltzer family farm. This would make sense since a nearby street is named Schmeltzer. My other grandparents lived on that street and I spent a majority of my childhood there. Moving ahead a few years there was a "Flying Hamburger" place in that same area.. it was a little kiosk type drive through building.

[OneManOnBass]

Originally Posted by 1313

Wow.. I didn't know Ringo's was around that long since my grandparents sold it way back when I was young. I actually remember them working at the Jackson Keller store if memory serves me correct. I think you would order at a little sliding window that had a screen door type metal mesh on it and eat outside on tables. I want to drive by the locations and see what they look like now.

Speaking of that general area.. right next to Nimitz Middle school there used to be a large farm with an electric gate direct across from where Dresden ended at Blanco. This was before the apartment complex and the Kroger strip mall were built. Does anybody know the history of this farm? You could see old horse stables which ran along the south perimeter fence of the Nimitz football fields. Also, right across the street behind the old Weight Watchers building there used to be an old windmill.. I bet it was part of the same original farmland. I had heard that it belonged to the Schmeltzer family farm. This would make sense since a nearby street is named Schmeltzer. My other grandparents lived on that street and I spent a majority of my childhood there. Moving ahead a few years there was a "Flying Hamburger" place in that same area.. it was a little kiosk type drive through building.

I went to Nimitz and Lee. I ate a lot of burgers at the Jackson-Keller Ringos in the early 70s. When Lee had "open campus" during exams, we would always walk up to Ringos for lunch, or maybe a late breakfast. Sometimes, during the regular school schedule when you were NOT supposed to leave the campus, we would sneak away to Ringos. No one at Ringos ever bothered us about "not being in school". You just had to watch out for Mr. Barro, the vice principal who used to cruise the neighborhood on his motorcycle looking for skippers.

I remember the farm across on Blanco across from Dresden, but I never knew anything about it. I'd be interested to know the story about the farm. I never heard it being called the Schmeltzer farm. I do remember many streets in that neighborhood are German names.... Locknere, Craigmont, Dresden, Schmeltzer, Gilbert, Dryden, Marchmont.

[Primo]

Originally Posted by 1313

Moving ahead a few years there was a "Flying Hamburger" place in that same area.. it was a little kiosk type drive through building.

I remember that burger place....It had 2 drive-thrus...but they were called Runway #1 and Runway #2.

[Primo]

West Ave and Basse area....across from the old Whopper Burger (now a Murf's)...there was the shopping center with a little Handy Andy and a Winn's. My grandmother lives off Gilbert Lane in that area...and we used to practically live at that shopping center when I was a kid. I remember there was a Aqurium shop called "The Blue Buda"...it was all dark with lite up fish tanks. I also remember on the far end was a nightclub, probably a disco...that was suppose to be very popular. Anyone remember the name?

[munerider]

Primo!

We had a GW Jr's on Pat Booker in UC and I remember loving it back in 76-77, but didn't remember any specifics about the place, other than the location and lay-out. I just read your reference to the Foot-long chili dogs and my mouth just salivated like Pavlov's dog...WHAT a blast! Thanks my friend!

[texscot]

Originally Posted by sapphire

Remember when Kelly AFB was up and running? That was like the premier place to work in San Antonio. I remember too when USAA was like Ft Knox as far as getting on there--you had to know someone who knew someone. I got a call out of the blue from them last month calling ME for an interview. They got my resume off Monster.

Remember when Windcrest was considered "uppity"? They did have the coolest Christmas displays, though. Do they still do that?

Does anyone remember when American Airlines announced they were coming here--it turned out to be a call center and they paid their people like $6 an hour or something. Everyone was so excited at first!

Remember Henry Cisneros singing about the Alamodome? Dome, dome, dome, dome, dome, Al-a-mo-dome??? Remember the big scare when his son was born with the defective heart? Remember the Linda Medlar thing?

Remember when the pope visited?

Going to check out Windcrest this week end. Have heard its still lighted up.
We went to see the Pope. Got sunstroke. It was so hot.