Random But Fond Memories

Today while sitting at my desk, I started having all sorts of random memories. I started to tweet some of them, but then realized that twitter couldn't contain the detail and number of memories I was enjoying. So, if you read my blog (even thought I haven't posted in like...forever) hopefully you'll be someone that is a part of one of these memories. In no particular order:

1. Dry Lake Swimming Pool during the Summers. My mom finally started buying me a summer pass for this public pool. Needless to say, the Indian in my genes definately showed up those summers. I remember hearing songs like "Electric Avenue" and "Too Shy" while swimming and running around the pool. I also remember putting 50 cents in a drink machine to buy a can of Coke and winning a can that had a free "Coke Is It" T-shirt in it. Dry Lake Pool...I miss the days with you.

2. Mazzios Pizza. I remember going there after church on Sundays and playing Yei Ar Kung Fu while the parents talked..and talked...and talked...and talked. It was a pretty rare game in arcade form. Although, you can find it now on Xbox Live Arcade. As I got a little older, it became the hangout for me and my friends on the weekends. The movie theater was right behind it, so parents would drop us off for pizza and video games; then we could go to the movies (memory number 3) at Parkway Cinemas. As mentioned in my tweet today, I can still remember the smell of their nachos and the way things smelled from the arcade area. LOTS of memories. When I was old enough to drive I used to hang out there after closing with my friend that worked there. We'd play Mortal Combat and drink Mr. Pibb all night long. LOLOL. Boneheads; we would spend almost all of our tip money from delivering pizza on the games. NBA Jams was the other game we'd waste our brains and coins on.

3. Parkway Cinemas. I had a very vivid memory today of going to see Back to the Future with my Uncle Clyde and my sister Regina at Parkway. Cherry Coke was brand new at the time and you could get it from the snack counter at Parkway. What a classic movie! To this day, whenever I drink Cherry Coke I'm immediately transported back to that night. I also remember seeing Karate Kid 2 there.

4. Pirates Cove and the Theater in Kentucky where my Mammaw and Grandaddy lived. Me and my cousin Steve and My Dad and Uncle Ed would go and play games like Tempest, Galaga, Omega Race, Space Duel and Asteroids. What fun memories! I remember going to see The Empire Strikes Back at the theater one year. I had not seen Star Wars, but I distinctly remember Steve telling me before we went in the theater that we would be finding out that Darth Vader was Luke's father. LOL...talk about a spoiler. I also saw Uncle Buck at that theater with some other cousins and my friend Nick Kline.

5. The Barrel of Fun. My dad, me, and my sister Tiffany would visit The Barrell every so often. Another arcade, The Barrell was one of my favorite things to do with my dad. I remember seeing Dragon's Lair for the first time there. And afterwards, we would almost ALWAYS go to Orange Julius and have a hot dog (usually a pizza dog) and an orange or peach julius. What great times!

6. Playing baseball with my Mom. I remember like it was yesterday standing on the sidewalk in front of the duplex on 24 mile road. I was probably 3 or 4 years old. My mom pitched a plastic ball to me, I swung the short little fat green bat I had, and smacked the ball clear over her head. I remember playing with my cousins and sisters in the yard there. The corner of the duplex was first base. Something was put in the grass for second. The corner of the porch of the Farm House was third. And back home to the sidewalk. I miss you mom. I'm still swinging for the fence! Sometimes I strike out. But when the bat connects it's out of the park!

7. Grandaddy's 80th birthday. It was just..."Epic". As a kid, it seemed like there were 200 people there. All the old dudes stayed up all night watching the whole pig Barbecue in the pit they dug, drinking beer and smoking cigarettes. Us kids all enjoyed the pool at the hotel and breakfast at Grandma's Kitchen next door to the hotel. French toast. Yep, that's what I had for breakfast. What a great reunion of family and friends.

8. The Air Force Base Bowling Alley Grill. I remember mom and dad bowling fairly frequently at the Base Alley. And they had the ABSOLUTE best hamburgers and french fries. Nothing has ever matched up to the memory I have of their burger and fries combo.

9. Freedom Lanes. What a stinky place! It always smelled like an ash tray. I remember finding a 5 dollar bill on the floor and taking it to my parents. When my mom told me how many quarters were in a 5 dollar bill...I was blown away at how many video games I could play!!! Of course, then someone came around looking for their money. They did reward me with a couple of quarters though so I could play some video games.

10. I miss the smell of my baseball mitt, freshly oiled and broken in. I LOVED playing baseball as a kid. I remember telling my dad that I wanted to play for the Braves one day. Yea, that didn't happen. LOL. Coach McKinney was my first coach. He coached me for several years before they started splitting up all the kids.

Of course I could go on and on and on. These are just the thoughts that came to me today. There are so many fun times and "staples of life" from growing up that I'm sure I'll be posting soon.

If you read this, I hope you enjoy it. Otherwise, I'm glad I captured some of this today while it was fresh.