Thursday, September 5, 2013

Memory Lane.......Happy Birthday


I saw the above photo on Facebook, it is down town Bradenton, FL in 1909 when my grandmother was a child. Not the Bradenton I live in now or as I have known it since 1944

Today is my 69th birthday and it caused a flash back in time.

As I sat and remembered how this town has changed, I remembered Window Shopping on Sundays with my parents in Savannah GA,

 Daddy parked the car in front of these same windows and we either sat and watched the people strolling or joined them. Stopping to stare in each window.


Who says we can't go home again and back to the past, thanks to Google Earth, I can show you what the stores looked like in the 50's because they still look the same.


the cars have changed, ours was an old Desoto, then a 53 Pontiac. 


two of the theaters have been re purposed but are still in use. 50 cents is all I paid on Saturdays.




Above is Kress dime store, now known as The Kress Building. Inside that front door by the cars, I turned left to the counter to buy mothers Evening In Paradise, which is what she got for birthday and Christmas. Down the stairs into the basement was the wonderland of toys, a whole basement full of toys..

Visit Jazzd Tapas Bar to see the under ground bar.


Now that basement is the bar above, and the upstairs are turned into lofts and sold as condos, and the table where I bought the Evening in Paradise is now The Gap.... I am glad they kept the buildings and made them into multi-use to restore them.
 it was a little odd on my google trip to see my old dress store is now a McDonalds...but the building remains the same .

40 comments:

Anonymous said...

Happy Birthday Sandra! I enjoyed your memories and the photos. I'm happy the buildings are still in use. I hope you have a very nice day!

crafty cat corner said...

Were things so much simpler then or am I a dreamer?
We seemed to be satified with less then didn't we.
I love this post Sandra and a Happy Birthday to you.
69 years young..
Lots of Hugs from afar.
Briony
xxx

jp@A Green Ridge said...

Happy Birthday, you whipper-"snapper" you! Thanks for bringing your childhood to us!...:)JP

S. Etole said...

Wishing you the happiest of birthdays. I enjoyed seeing these photos reflecting your memories. It's always good when they can find new purposes for existing buildings.

Deb said...

Happy happy Birthday Sandra!!! Hope your day is amazing just like you! I love memory lane

GOOSE said...

What a great stroll. Thanks for taking us. Oh and HAPPY BIRTHDAY. Don't forget to eat cake.
Blessings,
Goose

RoeH said...

It always saddens me to see progress in my life's little towns. This one looks like it was a beauty. The movie places should never go away. People in the small towns would still use them. But....too much technology today I suppose. Phoenix still has the Orpheum Theatre. It had slummed down to just crap living there and in the 90's it was summoned from death by a group and saved. Now it's in use all the time. They should all be in use.

http://www.phoenixconventioncenter.com/venues/orpheum-theatre/photo-gallery.php

Ruth Hiebert said...

Happy Birthday to you my dear friend. I wish for you all the best in the year ahead.My life is richer because of having you as my friend.

Chatty Crone said...

Happy Birthday to you Sandra - 69 years young. I hope you have a great birthday. And that you have many m any more. It was fun how you used Google Earth to go back. It was an interesting trip. I don't know how you remember all the details - I sure don't.

Love, sandie

From the Kitchen said...

Love the nostalgic postcards. Happy birthday! Celebrate long and well.

Best,
Bonnie

Karen said...

Enjoyed your pics and memories. I wish you a very happy birthday. Thanks for visiting me!

Muffy's Marks said...

Have a wonderful birthday!!! I enjoyed your trip down memory lane.

Cheryl @ TFD said...

Happy Happy Birthday to you!! Hope you have a wonderful day and many, many more great years of Mad Snapping!

TexWisGirl said...

sweet memories! and a very happy birthday wished to you, sandra!

DawnTreader said...

Happy Birthday Sandra!♥

Susannah said...

Sweet Lady!!!!!!!! I hope and pray it is a wonderful day for you with lots of relaxation and maybe a little fun!!!!! I love the memories you have of years ago with your father. It is especially interesting to know what the stores are now compared to when you were a young girl.

I hope your day is a good one!
Susannah

Marie said...

Really neat post Sandra. Happy Birthday to you! Hope you enjoy the beach and birthday lunch!!
Hugs to you from me!!

photowannabe said...

Happy, Happy, Happy Birthday dear blogging friend.
I hope you have an extra special day today.
I love your pictures and memories from the past. Really nice small town feel. So glad they kept the old facades to keep the character.

Betty Manousos said...

have a very, very HAPPY birthday my dear friend!! such sweet memories!
i love your photos and memories from the past.

hope you enjoy your special day/ birthday lunch!
xoxo

Unknown said...

Thanks for the memories. Happy Birthday Madsnapper.

My Mind's Eye said...

HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDRA. I'M SORRY TO BE LATE WE MET WITH A REALTOR AT MY PARENT'S HOME TODAY...TOOK UP MOST OF THE AFTERNOON. MADI AND I SEND YOUR LOTS OF HUGS AND KITTY KISSES
CECILIA

My Mind's Eye said...

YESTERDAY WOULD HAVE BEEN MY DADDY'S 84TH BDAY....

Ann said...

Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday to you
Happy Birthday dear Sandra
Happy Birthday to you.

I should have made you a cake today.
What a fun trip back in time. I like driving through towns that still have all the old buildings. They have so much more character

Miss Debbie said...

Happy Birthday, dear Sandra! I hope you are having a wonderful day. Thank you for sharing the pictures and your story. Those are some sweet memories.We had a Kress in Americus, where I grew up. And I remember Evening in Paradise, too. It came in the prettiest blue bottle, right? Haven't thought of that in a long time.Thanks for reminding me!

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Happy Birthday Sandra and sure glad I did some blog reading so I would not be late. Wishing you a wonderful last year in the 6th decade, where I will be in the middle soon. This post was very interesting as trips down memory lane can be even if someone else's memory. Thanks for sharing.

Betsy Banks Adams said...

I'm off this week --but just wanted to stop by and say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to you.... Love the old photos... Aren't memories just wonderful????? Hope you had a good day...

Hugs,
Betsy

Rose said...

Oh, Happy Birthday! Of all days to be late visiting...but better late than never. I did enjoy the post, and don't you love google earth!

Dee said...

HaPpY BiRtHdAy... 69 ~ wow :) what a lovely town to grow up in. You have so many happy memories and I love it when you share them.

Dee said...

Good thing you found it before ants did...men :) I have a glass canister with sugar in it but we seldom use any sugar. I use to like sugar cubes. Do they even still use them ?

Debby@Just Breathe said...

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday dear Sandra, Happy Birthday to you!!!! Love the walk down memory lane. You have a great memory too. Wishing you a great year ahead and many, many more to come.

Ginny Hartzler said...

Happy Happy birthday, Sis!!! I have been thinking abut you all week, and you should have gotten my card by now...maybe today! I love your trip down memory lane, but it is meaningful with your stories and makes the pictures come to life! Was Kress the same thing that we had, Kresage? The word does not look right, I am sure I misspelled it! It is even ad to me to remember your memories and they are all gone except the theaters, but GOOD the building are all still there and being used.

LC said...

You are something else, birthday girl, giving us a gift of memories. Happy Birthday and a wonderful new year!

Tammy@Simple Southern Happiness said...

Happy birthday to you and many more!
YES, we thank Google so we can go back in time. I googled our old stomping grounds and found old pictues of it.

Did you get cake?

Linda P said...

Happy belated birthday Sandra! Sorry I missed it yesterday as I was so tired yesterday I didn't get to visiting my blog friends. Trust you had a good day.
What a good way to look back at times past by using google. I would never have thought of that. That street in your home town is fascinating and glad to see it hasn't changed much architecturally and some buildings still retain the original use. Many of our old cinemas were turned into general leisure centres here or are abandoned until some enterprise can find the money to restore them. I like the ice cream parlour next to the cinema. Many of our UK town centres are no-go areas for cars, buses and other traffic. Your town streets still look like what I imagine them to look like which is good.

EG CameraGirl said...

I hope you had a wonderful birthday, Sandra. For sure I enjoyed going down memory lane with you. :)

Declan said...

Just stopped by to say hello. A very happy birthday for yesterday! Deccy x

Mersad said...

HAPPY BIRTHDAY SANDRA! Thank you for taking us down memory lane. It was really fun for me to look at these images, and they even created a sense of nostalgia, even though I have never been there. All the best!

Mersad
Mersad Donko Photography

Inger said...

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY! I'M SORRY I MISSED THIS WHEN YOU FIRST POSTED IT.

Unknown said...

Happy Belated Birthday my friend, I'm sorry being a bit late. The years pass by so quick don't they. Nice pictures of your town.

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