Forgettable places you will never forget

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Discussion Overview

The thread invites participants to share personal stories about places that hold special significance to them, regardless of their aesthetic appeal. The discussion encompasses a range of memories tied to various locations, including markets, restaurants, and coffee houses, highlighting the emotional connections people have with these sites.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Personal anecdotes
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • One participant recalls a childhood market where they bought ice cream sandwiches and experienced embarrassment while purchasing tampons for their mother.
  • Another mentions a beautiful place they cannot remember, prompting speculation about its identity.
  • A participant describes their hiking experience in Glacier National Park as magical and unforgettable.
  • Several participants discuss the significance of ordinary or "ugly" places, contrasting them with previously discussed beautiful locations.
  • A participant shares fond memories of a coffee house from high school, emphasizing the connections made there despite its rundown appearance.
  • Another participant reminisces about Pat's Pizza in Orono, ME, describing it as a gathering place for students and locals, with a welcoming atmosphere created by the owners.
  • There is a humorous exchange about Fresno, with one participant jokingly attributing food poisoning to a recent visit there.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a mix of agreement and disagreement regarding the nature of memorable places, with some focusing on beauty while others highlight the significance of ordinary or unattractive locations. The discussion remains unresolved as participants share differing perspectives and experiences.

Contextual Notes

Some participants reference specific locations and personal experiences that may not be universally relatable, and there are varying interpretations of what constitutes a "forgettable" yet memorable place.

Ivan Seeking
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Share your stories about, and if possible, post images of those places that were or are special to you and only you [and perhaps a small group of friends, family, etc].

This is one that I still think about every summer; esp around the 4th of July. It was a small market that was old even when I was a kid. It was a relic from the days when the local general store was where people did their shopping - long before supermarkets came to be. When I was very young, they even had a butcher and meat counter.

The two things I remember most: One is the horrifying experiences of being asked to go there and buy tampons for my mother! There are few things in life as embarrassing for a young boy. At least it was for me. I remember feeling compelled to explain that they were for my mother. :biggrin:

But the reason I think about it each summer was that this was where we went to buy our snow cones and ice cream sandwiches while on summer vacation. I cannot think of those summer days as a child without thinking about the old Townsend Market.

I got the image below from the Google street view.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/1923/townsendmarketsm.jpg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
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There was one place that I knew I'd NEVER forget. It was beautiful, I never wanted to leave. I forgot what it was though.
 
Pengwuino said:
There was one place that I knew I'd NEVER forget. It was beautiful, I never wanted to leave. I forgot what it was though.

Fresno?
 
Hiking in the Glacier national park was the most mind blowing experience. The place is a paradise, so pristine, animated, and sacred. I had goose bumps 24/7, and my heart was pounding the entire time I was there. It's absolutely a magical park, and will never forget.
 
Ivan Seeking said:
Fresno?

Ahem, I said beautiful :smile:
 
Ivan Seeking said:
Share your stories about, and if possible, post images of those places that were or are special to you and only you [and perhaps a small group of friends, family, etc].

This is one that I still think about every summer; esp around the 4th of July. It was a small market that was old even when I was a kid. It was a relic from the days when the local general store was where people did their shopping - long before supermarkets came to be. When I was very young, they even had a butcher and meat counter.

The two things I remember most: One is the horrifying experiences of being asked to go there and buy tampons for my mother! There are few things in life as embarrassing for a young boy. At least it was for me. I remember feeling compelled to explain that they were for my mother. :biggrin:

But the reason I think about it each summer was that this was where we went to buy our snow cones and ice cream sandwiches while on summer vacation. I cannot think of those summer days as a child without thinking about the old Townsend Market.

I got the image below from the Google street view.

http://img78.imageshack.us/img78/1923/townsendmarketsm.jpg


Do you live in California?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
FireSky86 said:
Do you live in California?

I know huh! That is pretty much 1 out of every 2 buildings any small town in central california.
 
FireSky86 said:
Do you live in California?

I did. That is in Long Beach.

When I was very young it was still a fairly nice area. But by the time I hit high school it was crazy! Every day at school was a thrill-seeking adventure.
 
Pengwuino said:
Ahem, I said beautiful :smile:

I knew you would appreciate the humor. :biggrin:
 
  • #10
Btw, we have had a ton of threads about beautiful places. I was going for those plain, ordinary, or even ugly places [as in my example] that were special to you for some reason.
 
  • #11
Ivan Seeking said:
Btw, we have had a ton of threads about beautiful places. I was going for those plain, ordinary, or even ugly places [as in my example] that were special to you for some reason.

Do you know you have a place you eat every night taht you hard to forget ? :smile:
If you could take a picture of it, we would definitely love it much :smile:

Many students like me did enjoy KFC and Mr. Donuts next to my school almost every late afternoon. It's forgettable but actally I can't forget them
 
  • #12
Ivan Seeking said:
Btw, we have had a ton of threads about beautiful places. I was going for those plain, ordinary, or even ugly places [as in my example] that were special to you for some reason.

I don't really have a special "ugly" place.
 
  • #13
The coffee house that I used to go to when I was in high school is the only place I can think of. It was just a run down little hole in the wall in a strip mall off the main strip. I met several amazing people there. Some I have remained in contact with ever since.
The place is gone now though.
 
  • #14
Pat's Pizza in Orono, ME. It was a run-down hole-in-the-wall pizza joint in the 60s and 70s (I think it is still in operation) with really good pizzas and cold draft beer. The place had booths (with jukebox modules) on the ground floor and tables in the cellar, and about any time after-hours, you could find undergrads, grad students, and profs wrangling about one thing or another. It was a place where the college people and the townies mixed, and it was a really good business.

Another good place (for me, especially) was the Oronoko restaurant, south of town. John ran the kitchen and his wife ran the register and the wait-staff. If you went there in the evenings, and were drinking in the upstairs bar or the downstairs tavern, John would make up trays of snacks from left-overs and bring them down. If he didn't have left-overs, he would show up and ask what everybody wanted for snacks, and people would advocate for their favorites. Often, it was potato pancakes with applesauce dip. He'd hustle up to the kitchen, and come back with something to keep us all happy, and in the meantime his wife would drop in with brined cucumber pickles and other stuff to keep us snacking. The tavern in the cellar had a nice movie-theater-sized popcorn machine with oil, corn salt, etc, and all of us regulars knew how to keep it going when the popcorn got low. When I'd show up, John's wife would hug me and tell me what he was planning to put out next. She'd say something like "he's bringing out seafood newburg with toast for the steam table, so don't go downstairs just yet". There was always fresh seafood in the evening, because he wouldn't serve any seafood that was a day old, so if he didn't sell out of clams, haddock, etc during the day, we would get it free at night.
 
  • #15
turbo-1 said:
Pat's Pizza in Orono, ME. It was a run-down hole-in-the-wall pizza joint in the 60s and 70s (I think it is still in operation) with really good pizzas and cold draft beer. The place had booths (with jukebox modules) on the ground floor and tables in the cellar, and about any time after-hours, you could find undergrads, grad students, and profs wrangling about one thing or another. It was a place where the college people and the townies mixed, and it was a really good business.

Was this it?
http://img9.imageshack.us/img9/1038/turbok.jpg
 
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  • #16
Ivan Seeking said:
No. Pat's was a run-down place in a built-up block in downtown Orono. Pat Farnsworth was a very hard-working restaurateur that spent his life in his business. A nice guy, IMO.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
  • #17
turbo-1 said:
No. Pat's was a run-down place in a built-up block in downtown Orono. Pat Farnsworth was a very hard-working restaurateur that spent his life in his business. A nice guy, IMO.

It came up as 11 Mill St. I just couldn't be sure of the addresses on the buildings. That building should be very close.
 
  • #18
Probably not even in the same town, IS. Orono is a really old run-down college town (think Rudee Valley) with few prospects.
 
  • #19
I took the image from the google street view on Mill St. in Orono, Maine. The address for Pat's Pizza in Orono, Maine, is 11 Mill St.
 
  • #20
Ivan Seeking said:
Fresno?

I went to a Burger King in Fresno earlier today and I got mild food poisoning. Thanks Fresno. I'm glad to be back in Tucson. Oh wait, no I'm not. I want to go back to SF :-(
 
  • #21
The little pier down by the dock basin.
3172035932_f1c01a3282.jpg


In my mid teens I'd spend hours sat down there with a couple of friends, just watching the boats go by, talking about nothing of importance. There's some regeneration in the area now, but at the time there was nothing much to bring people down there so it was quite a calm and peaceful place.
 
  • #22
moose said:
I went to a Burger King in Fresno earlier today and I got mild food poisoning. Thanks Fresno.

Your welcome.
 
  • #23
The streets of slum houses and bomb sites of the 1950s East End of London.They were magical playgrounds for us ragamuffin kids.
 
  • #24
Jura Wielka on the shore of Tałty lake, my vacations place in mid-seventies. Pure magic.
 
  • #25
matthyaouw said:
The little pier down by the dock basin.
3172035932_f1c01a3282.jpg


In my mid teens I'd spend hours sat down there with a couple of friends, just watching the boats go by, talking about nothing of importance. There's some regeneration in the area now, but at the time there was nothing much to bring people down there so it was quite a calm and peaceful place.

Beautiful and serene.
 
  • #26
Here is a small pic of Pat's Pizza. A haven of neon, formica, hot pizzas and cold beer.

pats.jpg
 
  • #27
matthyaouw said:
The little pier down by the dock basin.
3172035932_f1c01a3282.jpg


In my mid teens I'd spend hours sat down there with a couple of friends, just watching the boats go by, talking about nothing of importance. There's some regeneration in the area now, but at the time there was nothing much to bring people down there so it was quite a calm and peaceful place.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UCmUhYSr-e4
 

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