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Vintage roadside

Ghostsoldier

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,410
Location
Starke, Florida, USA
⇧ Nice story about your wife. We had a Dairy Queen - of a similar vintage to Gary's - not that far from where I grew up and my Mom would occasionally take me there for ice-cream as a treat. To this day, I get a little jolt of happiness just seeing places like that. Shame that someone isn't trying to revive Gary's - if that building sat in that condition in NYC, a Millennial / Hipster would be restoring it as we speak getting it ready to be reopened.
Agreed. The building is still in good shape, and there was a "coming soon" sign out in front when I was by there last, so maybe there's some hope for it, yet. :)

Rob
 
Messages
17,190
Location
New York City
Agreed. The building is still in good shape, and there was a "coming soon" sign out in front when I was by there last, so maybe there's some hope for it, yet. :)

Rob

That would be fantastic - please update (if not too much of a pain) if it does re-open.

I have no idea if kids today - who seem to have so much more stuff like all the digital things they have or so much more (and better) sports equipment than most did when I was a kid - still think of going to get ice-cream as a big deal. If not, maybe it's good 'cause it means they have a more engaging childhood or, maybe not, as some of the best things in life are the simple ones. Even at the age of 53, Gary's brought a smile to my face as it immediately reminded me of driving wth my mom to that silly Dairy Queen and being really excited to order an ice-cream cone.
 

Ghostsoldier

Call Me a Cab
Messages
2,410
Location
Starke, Florida, USA
That would be fantastic - please update (if not too much of a pain) if it does re-open.

I have no idea if kids today - who seem to have so much more stuff like all the digital things they have or so much more (and better) sports equipment than most did when I was a kid - still think of going to get ice-cream as a big deal. If not, maybe it's good 'cause it means they have a more engaging childhood or, maybe not, as some of the best things in life are the simple ones. Even at the age of 53, Gary's brought a smile to my face as it immediately reminded me of driving wth my mom to that silly Dairy Queen and being really excited to order an ice-cream cone.
I'll keep you updated, as we go to Jacksonville quite frequently (she has family there).

At 53 myself (going on 54 next month, and I can feel it, lol), I can sympathize with your reminiscing.

We do, however, still get together for ice cream as a family, every Friday night...been doing it for years now, as a tradition. Me, the wife, our two sons and my parents usually grab a cone or sundae at either the local McDonald's, or our own 50's-era drive-in, Powell's Dairy Freeze.

No matter what we're all doing in our busy lives, we never let anything interfere with our ice cream night. :)

Rob
 
Messages
17,190
Location
New York City
I'll keep you updated, as we go to Jacksonville quite frequently (she has family there).

At 53 myself (going on 54 next month, and I can feel it, lol), I can sympathize with your reminiscing.

We do, however, still get together for ice cream as a family, every Friday night...been doing it for years now, as a tradition. Me, the wife, our two sons and my parents usually grab a cone or sundae at either the local McDonald's, or our own 50's-era drive-in, Powell's Dairy Freeze.

No matter what we're all doing in our busy lives, we never let anything interfere with our ice cream night. :)

Rob

That you keep that tradition going is fantastic.

It's just the girlfriend and me (my mom lives in AZ, her parents in MI), but we always go to the ice-cream truck in our neighborhood the first day (or close to it) that it arrives in the spring and commit to several visits to Shake Shack (posted picture a page back) every summer just to keep the "going out for ice-cream" fun and tradition alive.

But our favorite ice-cream moments are on vacation where we will always try to visit a local (and, ideally, very old) ice-cream place wherever we are. Counterintuitively, Maine (where we love to go) consumes more ice-cream per-capita than any other state in the Union and has an incredible number of these classic stands extant. This is one of our favorites from Maine and a perfect "vintage roadside" being right off an old-stye two-lane "highway."

opening-day-snow-or-shine.jpg
 
Messages
12,005
Location
Southern California
That's awesome...we do the same, while on road trips; we pick the oldest diner/restaurant in the area we're traveling to and try to eat there. Trust me, some of them are true dives and dumps, but the food always seems to be exemplary.

Rob
Old truck driver's tip: If the parking lot is full, it's probably worth stopping to eat. If the parking lot's empty, keep looking.
 

Bugguy

Practically Family
Messages
570
Location
Nashville, TN
Anyone who grew up in Chicago and fished for perch and smelt on the Lake will remember Rocky's Bait Shop on the lake at Streeter Dr. just south of Navy Pier. Gone for a long time, but the best fried shrimp. Boats would tie up and families would pack the narrow aisle between the minnow tanks and the counter.


Rocky's - Chicago.jpg
 

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Messages
17,190
Location
New York City
Thought about where to put this and decided it came closest to "vintage roadside" as the store faces a major avenue in NYC and has been in the same store / location since 1935. It's one of our favorite bakeries in NYC.

It still does a lot of old-fashioned recipes and since it isn't "fashionable," "touristy" or "artisanal -" it's a neighborhood bakery in a regular people's neighborhood - the prices are reasonable for the city. And, yes, I love the guy out front.

(Also, note, first snow flurries of the season yesterday :).)

IMG_4594.JPG


And in sepia for a little time-travel feel
IMG_4595.jpg
 
Last edited:
Messages
15,259
Location
Arlington, Virginia
Thought about where to put this and decided it came closest to "vintage roadside" as the store faces a major avenue in NYC and has been in the same store / location since 1935. It's one of our favorite bakeries in NYC.

It still does a lot of old-fashion recipes and since it isn't "fashionable," "touristy" or "artisanal -" it's a neighborhood bakery in a regular people's neighborhood - the prices are reasonable for the city. And, yes, I love the guy out front.

(Also, note, first snow flurries of the season yesterday :).)

View attachment 97385

And in sepia for a little time-travel feel
View attachment 97386
I like the looks of that place!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk
 
Messages
17,190
Location
New York City
I like the looks of that place!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G930A using Tapatalk

It's awesome in a very real Fedora Lounge way: it's old, worn and wonderful. The baking is dated in a good way - some things work, some don't, but they aren't trying to stay "up to date," they do what they do their way.

They pump out a lot - a whole lot - of reasonable-for-the-city priced cakes, cookies, pastries, etc., which, over time, you learn which are your favorites but every so often you "discover" something you missed before.

This time of year, I'm a big fan of their rum balls.
 

3fingers

One Too Many
Messages
1,797
Location
Illinois
My wife and I have visiting the city on our list. Beyond my short list of obvious must see things, I would prefer visiting the everyday real places over the touristy places. I need to start compiling a list of where to go.
 

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