Blast from the Past

Today we decided to go out on a little drive to celebrate Nana`s birthday (HAPPY BIRTHDAY 4/24). We went to Seattle to see the giant cowboy hat and boots at the Oxbow Park in Georgetown. It was a great day of sightseeing and reminiscing of the past.

Happy 50th Birthday to the Space Needle. Nana was given a ticket to the Seattle World`s Fair when she was 16 years old. Her dad had bought her a ticket so she could go see Elvis. She decided to go hang out with her friend that day instead of going to the fair. Can you believe that? SHE COULD OF MET ELVIS!!

Nana has alot of good memories of spending time with her Grandma who lived in Georgetown. One of the places that she went to as a little girl was a community park in Georgetown. It was located not to far from this Georgetown sign. She remembers playing there and that it use to have wading pool that she enjoyed in the summer. The park has now been turned into a outdoor soccer field (with fake grass). 

 Nana remembers Hat 'n' Boots being a gas station. The Hat was the station and it shaded the gas pumps and the Boots were the bathrooms (the shorter, light blue boot was the women`s restroom and the taller boot was the men`s restroom).

 The gas station was built in 1954. Its name was "Premium Tex". The Hat is 19 feet tall and 44 feet wide. The men`s boot is 24 feet tall and the women`s boot is 22 feet tall. It is said to be the largest hat and boots in America.  After the gas station closed in 1988, the Hat was vandalized and cracked because skateboarders started riding the brim of it. In 2003, the community raised money to help save the Hat 'n' Boots and it was moved to Oxbow Park. By 2010, the restoration was completed.

 The park has a very cute Community Garden. It is such a beautiful sunny day and we really enjoyed walking through the garden path. After visiting the park, Nana decided to go look for her Grandma`s old house. The park was located only one street over from the street that her Grandma lived on.

 After driving around for awhile, Nana finally found her Grandma`s neighborhood. Growing up, she spent summers visiting her Grandma. Her parents would put her and her brother on the train in Eastern Washington and they would ride it to Seattle. Her Grandma would pick them up at the King St. Train Station and they would ride the city bus to her Grandma`s house on 6631 Carleton Avenue.

Unfortunately the house has been torn down and apartments have been put in its place. We were able to see the store that is located not to far from her Grandma`s old place. The Carleton Store was built 1911. Nana would go to this store on her visits to her Grandma`s. Her Grandma would let Nana and her brother, Uncle Wes, go down to the store and buy a treat and put it on her store credit. Nana said they usually got Corn Nuts that cost 5 cents.

 Across the street from the store was the Georgetown Community Church. Nana attended the Vacation Bible School at this church during her summer visits. She remembers making Japanese shoes and she was so proud of them (she did say that the shoes were very hard to walk on).

 We also drove around the historic area of Georgetown and looked for Grandpa Hackworth`s old upholstery shop. We didn`t find the shop but we did see alot of interesting buildings and the old city hall.

Since we did not find Grandpa`s shop in Georgetown, Nana decided to go see the shop that he had in Ridgecrest. I was little girl when Grandpa Hackworth had this shop. I remember having fun visiting him there. Cheri & I enjoyed playing with his magnet tack hammers. While playing in his shop one day, I climbed a handcart like a ladder and it fell back on me and I broke my wrist in several places. 

 The 7-11 store is next to Grandpa`s shop. Cheri and I loved going over there for slurpees. One day we actually got to meet Spiderman and got our pictures taken with him. SO GREAT!!

We really needed to use a restroom and I wanted to buy a SLURPEE. We walked into the store hearing very loud Mexican Music. After a little dancing to the beat and seeing the yummy NACHOS, we decided to eat lunch at the 7-11 (too fun!). Papa got the SPICY BIG BITE (the Mexican worker warned him that it was hot!) and a bag of LAYS POTATO CHIPS, Nana got the NACHOS, and I got a SLURPEE and NACHOS too.

Nana showed us the neighborhood that her cousins lived in and the street/hill that Grandpa Hackworth made her drive on when she was first learning to drive a standard transmission car. He would not let her get her license unless she could drive a stick shift. Not far from that street, we saw this vehicle- THE MOTHERSHIP. I laughed alot!!

 Nana took us to her family home in Mountlake Terrace. She loved the windows at this house. The front windows were huge and went all the way from the ground to the ceiling. She said that they had ducks at this house and when they were hungry they would peck at the windows and tell her that they were ready to eat.

We also saw the First Baptist Church that Aunt Katherine and Uncle Terry were married at. I love the large trees near the church. It is a pretty place and they had a beautiful wedding.

 Nana also took us to see her old boyfriend`s house, the elementary school that she practiced parallel parking at, and the high school that she graduated from (she said it did not look the same as she remembered it). We walked around the High School and Nana told us how she remembered it. She went to Edmond's High School for the first half of her Senior year and then she spent her last half at Mountlake Terrace High School. On our walk, I almost got stung by a bee and we found a cute welded turtle.

 After a lovely day down MEMORY LANE, we stopped by Cheri`s house then Fred Meyers for ICE CREAM and headed home. WONDERFUL DAY!!