Gone But Not Forgotten in San Antonio! - Part I (Corpus Christi: dentists, helicopter)

[GWhopper]

Originally Posted by hhwolfman

One day and counting. I will be back Cruising, My old Haunts, of The South side and eating the best food in the world. I hear it is getting colder there this week. HHW

Yesterday and today it's been freakin' cold. Just checked and it is 35 where I am right now. Christmas Day, unfortunately, will be closer to 80. Go figure, weather in San Antonio....

[mr mike]

pe I believe was pershing...not pecan

[Willsatx]

Originally Posted by DickZ

Yes, that Whataburger at San Pedro and Basse was the first one I remember, and I still think it was the best there ever was. The hamburgers seemed so huge, but maybe it was because I was so little.

The 'little shopping plaza at San Pedro and Oblate' is North Towne Plaza, which had Handy Andy on one end and Sommers at the other. I think there was also an R&R Clothiers next door to Handy Andy, and a liquor store - maybe Don's and Ben's. I don't remember what else there was.

I remember in the early 80's it was still an enclosed mall on both sides of Handy Andy, always liked that mall.

I think someone said the shopping center at Blanco and west ave with the Handy Andy was the same way.

[Boss Rider]

Originally Posted by DickZ

Y
The 'little shopping plaza at San Pedro and Oblate' is North Towne Plaza, which had Handy Andy on one end and Sommers at the other. I think there was also an R&R Clothiers next door to Handy Andy, and a liquor store - maybe Don's and Ben's. I don't remember what else there was.

I went to the Mount Sacred Heart school on Oblate near San Pedro in the mid 50's and there was almost no commercial building out here then. A few buildings and lots of Mesquite trees.

[gah1114]

As for the Super Slide on San Pedro near Ramsey, I used to go there ALL the time around '78-'79 & remember that when you splashed into the pool, your mat would get sucked under the bridge between the slides. This is the bridge that you had to walk across to go back up to the top of the hill. You would have to reach into the space under the bridget to get your mat. It was very tempting to jump into that space. From what I heard, the kid that was killed did just that and got chopped up into pieces and/or drowned by the powerful suction.

Originally Posted by blabride

Greetings,
I hate to change the subject but in a couple of places through out this thread people have talked about the tragedy at the water slide that used to be on San Pedro north of 410. I remember this place right before I left SA in '83. The thing that has been driving me nuts over the last couple of months since I read about it is I can't for the life of me figure out what this water slide's set up was like that would have caused this. I am very familiar with this type of early water slide from working a little at the one that was up in Waco at the same time. The slides in Waco had a small pool at the bottom of each slide no more than 6 inches deep. There was a small drain return vent at the end of this pool about three to four inches tall and about three feet wide. All water from the three slides were piped under ground to a pumping station that was fenced off and water was then sent uphill be a sealed pipe.
All of the pumping operation was sealed. Is any one here familiar with the type of set up at the San Pedro slide that could explain how the kid could have died so senselessly? I have since discovered that another accident just like the SA one occurred in Georgia or Florida can't remember. Was there another design that someone did not think through?? By the way, if you need a good laugh. Go to Wikepedia and search Action Park, New Jersey. Action Park - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The story of this place is so sick it is hilarious. Here is a link to the other accident. It was in Canada, Tragic accident highlights lack of waterslide regulations
Thanks

[DickZ]

Originally Posted by shoppermom

...
Also, does anyone remember ... The Ize Box ...

Here's a photo of The Ize Box on Broadway.

[Willsatx]

Would anyone have a pic of the super slide? I sort of remember it on San Pedro.

[Cha Ching]

Wow! This thread has been such a flashback! I'm a native Texan but only lived in 3 years, from 82-85. However, we used to go to San Antonio to visit friends there before that. I'm up in Milwaukee now with 18 inches of snow on the ground, so it's been fun reading everything. I went to Madison. Graduated in '84.

Here's some of the stuff I really remember:
* Los Patios. Is this place still here? I went back about '91, and they must have recently had a flood. Lots of stores were either closed or had limited inventory.

* The HEB at O'Connor and Nacogdoches used to be on the southern corner, then they moved to the western one, behind the McDonald's, I think right after we left in 85. We used to hang out a lot at that McDonald's because it was down the street from Madison. I think it was finished in 83 or so?

* I remember Wonderland had a Frost Brothers that looked like it was built on stilts. That was sort of the chi-chi, fu-fu mall when I lived there. Didn't shop there much. Couldn't afford it!

* I hung out constantly at the Chuck E. Cheese's behind Northstar Mall. My friend was dating a guy who worked there and gave us free tokens. I became a master of Crystal Castles with all the practice!

* Loved going to People's. We went to the one at...um...I think it was Blanco and 410? It was on the north side. They had yummy chocolate pudding.

* I hung out at Windsor Park TONS. I LOVED the picture of The Limited! I'm working on some scrapbooks of stuff from youth. That will fit in GREAT.

* We had a teen club that was back up behind the airport somewhere....maybe Starcrest or Thousand Oaks somewhere called Pappy's. Don't know when it might have closed. Couldn't have lasted for long. This was about '84 or so.

* Does anyone remember Artisans Alley? Or is it still there? Same basic area as Pappy's...lots of craftspeople had booths to sell their stuff.

* I always thought Central Park Mall was unusual, because when we lived there, they had that indoor/outdoor carpet on the corridors. It always seemed like the mall my mom wanted to go to, and I (being a teenager), always wanted to go to the new sparkly one (Northstar). I remember the Fox at Central Park had a Hitchcock retrospective about 83 or 84. That was the very first time I saw Vertigo, The Trouble with Harry, The Birds, and one more. I forget. I also saw a couple of foreign films there. I especially remember "The Return of Martin Guerre", which I wrote an English paper on.

* Loved Northstar, and spent way too much time there. I remember the second floor mezzanine thing across from Frost Brothers had a dress shop that was mostly formals. Don't remember the name, though.

Anyone remember the Magic Pan that was in the open area right to the west of Frost Brothers?

The Limited was even a little further to the west of that. The aisles divided and one had the little ramp on it. I spent WAY too much money at that Limited.

There was a menswear store even further west on the way to...was it Foleys that was the far western anchor? I think it was called Elliott's. When the trend was to buy boys' Polo shirts, I was in there a lot.

Used to eat at the Houlihan's a lot. That was the first time I'd ever seen anyone do the fried tortilla bowl thing for their taco salad (with the yummmy guacamole dressing).

* Spent a LOT of time at The Galaxy at 35 and 410. Saw most films of the 80s there. And played video games in the lobby beforehand.

* At the end of senior year, and just after graduation, I worked at the Weiner's on Austin Highway (cheap clothes for all members of the family). Wall to wall motor courts and old motels. Is it still like this?

* One of the first jobs I had was at a little gift store in Alamo Heights the Christmas of 82. I went door to door at all these little stores in this shopping center looking for Christmas work, and they took me on (right near where the current Central Market is- is that Nacogdoches and Broadway?)

The store was called "Flair Gifts Unique", run by two little old lady sisters, Virginia and Lillian Sims. I had a ball working there, gift wrapping and straightening and dusting and helping customers. This shopping center was quite ritzy. There was a Polo shop in it, and across the way was a restaurant called "Raffles." Awesome beef tips!

Anybody have any pictures of the old Northstar before the giant food court renovation? I was so disappointed when I went back in the 90s and it didn't look anything like I remembered.

That's it for now...thanks for the memories, ya'll!

[Cha Ching]

And how could I forget Scrivener's? God I miss that place. All kinds of nifty home doo-dads and fancy ladies' stuff.

And I loved feeling like a very proper lady doing lunch there. They had yummy consomme' with little cheese biscuits, and I always ordered the stuffed tomato with shrimp and remoulade sauce (Shrimp Florence, that's it!)

I was bummed when they made it a Berings, and now it's gone for good.

[majormadmax]

Cha Ching

Los Patios is still around.

As is Artisans Alley, although it had a fire a year ago. Six shops were destroyed, but from that website it appears that they've recovered from it.

Cheers! M2