When we moved here from DC in the summer of 1998, I was 8 months pregnant and promptly got lost for 2 hours walking the booty loop on Queens Rd | Queens Rd W | Queens Rd E. It was very hot and I was very huge and the Queen City and I got off to a rocky start.
I loved our neighborhood though, with the Giant Genie grill counter (best ice in your drinks) and Kerr Drug around the corner. And the Myers Park Hardware store on Providence Road, with its post office window inside and great gifts plus the best grass seed bins in town. Things have certainly changed in the 20 years we’ve lived here.
Which got me thinking, I’m not even from here and I am astonished by the changes and progress in the last 20 years. What do Charlotte natives think? I asked a few native CLTeans for their memories of Old Charlotte. I can’t guarantee their memory for details is 100% though!
Here are some places the natives miss:
Talleys Green Grocer on East Blvd (where Freshmarket is now)
Andersons restaurant (at least you can still order the pecan pie)
The S & W Cafeterias
Meadowbrook Farms Horseback Riding Facility across from Arboretum. Moved to Indian Trail in 1979
Spoons Ice Cream on Hawthorne Lane.
The Ice Skating rink on McAlway.
A Roller skating rink where the Big Chill is on Morehead
Wad’s on East where Kid Cashew is now
Slug’s and the Barclay’s Cafeteria plus all the other “Hall of Fame Eateries” in this blog —>Charlotte Eats.
Butler’s Seafood in CLT
Park Place Pharmacy on Providence Rd in Myers Park where Polished and the Deejai are now, for the best hot dogs and orangeades in town.
Red Barron on Carmel (now a cleaners) was a place all the CCDS kids went to get candy and drinks during school.
The Charlottetown movie theater where the midtown Target and Bj’s are.
The Tweed Shop for Women’s Clothing also at Charlottetown, along with a 2 story Ivey’s.
The movie theater at Southpark Mall where Reid’s and the Container Store are now.
Browns full service gas station on Providence Road
When Fairview Road didn’t go all the way through. It ended about where the entrance to Phillips Place is.
For a fun visual walk down memory lane, check out the now defunct (jeez that too) twitter feed Retro Charlotte at @ObserverArchive.
What are some of your favorite by-gones in the Charlotte area? Comment with them below so we can all enjoy.
