Childhood Stuff
I was searching for some semi-related information tonight, and I ran across a site commemorating Burger Chef. Wow. Talk about places I'd completely forgotten about! There used to be a Burger Chef in Pine Bluff that we would eat at sometimes, and now it seems that there's quite a subculture devoted to it.
That brought back all sorts of Pine Bluff-related memories back to me. When I was little, Pine Bluff was the city we went to most often, and to a pre-10-year-old, it seemed like the biggest place in the world. That impression was apparently helped by unfamiliarity with the parts of the city we seldom visited and a poor mental map, which combined to make it seem much bigger than it really was, at least judging by Google Maps.
Regardless of the reality, there were some great places there. In addition to the aforementioned Burger Chef, there was the Big Banjo (a banjo-shaped pizzeria -- I kid thee not), Pickwick Books (one of the last of the independent booksellers), Big Top Pizza (think a low-end Showbiz/Chuck E. Cheese), and an Alco, not to mention all the stuff at Jefferson Square. Later on there was the Pines Mall, which was pretty nice at the time; dunno what it's like now.
Overall, I have a lot of found memories of Pine Bluff, which may sound strange to those people who aren't familiar with it...and perhaps stranger to those who are. Anyway, I just had to indulge in a big of reminiscing.
That brought back all sorts of Pine Bluff-related memories back to me. When I was little, Pine Bluff was the city we went to most often, and to a pre-10-year-old, it seemed like the biggest place in the world. That impression was apparently helped by unfamiliarity with the parts of the city we seldom visited and a poor mental map, which combined to make it seem much bigger than it really was, at least judging by Google Maps.
Regardless of the reality, there were some great places there. In addition to the aforementioned Burger Chef, there was the Big Banjo (a banjo-shaped pizzeria -- I kid thee not), Pickwick Books (one of the last of the independent booksellers), Big Top Pizza (think a low-end Showbiz/Chuck E. Cheese), and an Alco, not to mention all the stuff at Jefferson Square. Later on there was the Pines Mall, which was pretty nice at the time; dunno what it's like now.
Overall, I have a lot of found memories of Pine Bluff, which may sound strange to those people who aren't familiar with it...and perhaps stranger to those who are. Anyway, I just had to indulge in a big of reminiscing.
5 Comments:
I'm in Tucson now, but as a child my family went to Pine Bluff a few times and I know we ate at Burger Chef when we did.. though mainly for us we went to Little Rock most of the time.. and just a question for your mind.. do you remember minute man?
Doesn't ring a bell. Sorry.
I remember Minute Man well. Pine Bluff had at least one, it was on Olive Street, and they were all over Arkansas in the 70's. MM had great food & really good fish sandwiches.
Hey Ryan...I enjoyed reading your Pine Bluff memories. I've got a lot of Pine Bluff-related nostalgia on the web. First, go to pinebluffpostcards.com to see over 500 picture postcards from there and then to Facebook, where I have about 400 photos of old PB-related memorabilia. Just search for Paul Perdue of Dallas, TX & add me as a friend. Or try using these links:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=25354&id=1524426216
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=34369&id=1524426216
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=26139&id=1524426216
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/album.php?aid=34219&id=1524426216
I felt a little twinge of nostalgia this afternoon and thought I'd Google "Big Top Pizza." Growing up in Dumas & Monticello, Pine Bluff was the place to go back in the day... I attended more than one birthday part at Big Top. Wish I could find some photos of the old place.
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