My Teen Hangouts: Then and Now

I moved around a few times as a kid, getting to live in such exciting places as central Massachusetts, north Georgia and the gulf coast of Florida.  My parents seemed to have an affection for the poorer semi-rural areas of the country.  I spent my high school years in Hudson, Florida, which is located in lovely Pasco County...a very special place that has frequently been featured on COPS.  Hudson is a small, weird town, a sort of fishing village/trailer park/retirement community mixture.  Shockingly, there was not much to do there when I was in high school.  Fortunately I was (and still am) able to squeeze fun out of most situations and locations as I'm easily amused.

So I traveled to Florida on September 11th, which was a bit disconcerting.  And it seemed that Hurricane Isabel might be traveling to Florida as well.  Nothing like a little danger to add to the fun of travel!  But no threat or hurricane...or delays from Southwest Airlines (does anyone else find them to be the Greyhound of the skies, or is this just me?) could keep me from my destination.  I spent the bulk of my Florida time in Ft. Lauderdale and Miami...two very nice places.  Lovely beaches, nice people and fun stuff to do.  Like get drunk with my mom and sister and read books on the beach. Those are memories that last a lifetime, people.  Then we drove across Alligator Alley and headed home to Shitsville...uh, Pasco...to stay at my mom's house.  My mom has cable and makes a mean pina colada.  She also has several funny/hideous photos of me all around the house, like this classic of me in my prom dress.  Yeah, I look bratty.  I was bratty.  Hey, you'd probably be moody like that if you had to carry all that big hair around.

Seeing my old pictures made me feel a little nostalgic and I found myself wondering what had happened to some of my old haunts.  So I called Biff and asked him to pick me up in his Big Pimpin' Caddy and join me for a tour of our teen hangouts.

The McDonald's

Then: The Hudson McDonald's was built in my junior year of high school.  Everyone who was anyone in Hudson ate there.  I even saw Elvis there once.  An old guy dressed as Elvis, anyway.  The best thing about this place was the automatic faucets in the bathroom.  Those were cutting edge for Hudson.

Now: The automatic faucets still work, but they are somehow less exciting now that I've seen them in airports and such.  I am just so worldly now...  Still, the hot apple pies are pretty good.


Megafucks

Then: This was a video store (and not even that kind of video store!) called Megaflicks, but the sign is in some crazy font that makes it look like Megafucks. hahahahaha.

Now: Hee. They haven't changed the sign in 15 years!  I am so immature, as it still cracks me up.  As a bonus, a few of the letters had burned out on side of the building, so it said "Me fucks"!!  hahahahahahahahahahahahaha

The Truckstop

Then: No better hangout in all of Hudson what with the Florida souvenirs and tasty nachos.  Sometimes I would score wine coolers from nice be-mulleted men.  I think they liked my big hair.

Now: It's pretty much the same, right down to the mullet men, only nobody offered to buy me wine coolers this time.  Cheap be-mulleted bastards.

The Ice Cream Shop 1/2

Then: Biff worked here.  The owner was mean but the ice cream was good.

Now: Jesus, it looks exactly the same right down to the sad teenage employees.  The ice cream looks kind of freezer burned, though.  Yuck.

The Dirt Roads

Then: We used to play "car tag" here.  I was such a badass in my Chevette.

Now: They are all paved.  Shit.  Let's go drink.

The Beach

Then: Hudson Beach was like a lake with a boardwalk around it.  We used to play on the playground there and get chased off the beach by fat cops.

Now: The beach looks about the same, but it is way better than it was before because we are now old enough to drink at the beach bar!! Time to waste away in Margaritaville.  Woo-hoo!  Tour over.

-Gigi 10.15.03