Have you ever been walking (or riding) in your hometown and noticed one of those shops you remember as a child is suddenly gone? You can’t remember the last time you bought anything there, but come on man, that little place has ALWAYS been there. I’ve seen a bunch of great little spots get snuffed out one by one over the years in my area, mostly because you can drive to a big box store (10 miles or so) and save $1. 
And all too often, the buildings remain, unused and sliding into disrepair. The one pictured above was an ice cream store in my area through my entire childhood. When I was in my teenage years they added a mini golf (putt putt) course but I think they overestimated the appeal of a small golf course at an ice cream shop frequented by the same 25-50 people every week with the occasional tourist stopping by. Whatever the case, I was sad but unsurprised to see this cornerstone of my youth slowly fade away.
A few miles away, in the town I grew up in another place I remember from early childhood as a restaurant sits vacant and for sale. 
This was the A&A A-frame. There was probably a joke in there but if there was I was not in on it. I remember this place as a struggling diner populated by locals along the upper end of Lamoka Lake. It had all these horrible “roadkill cafe” posters in it: 
Which, as an imaginative child, made me not want to eat there ever again. Looking back I can enjoy the humor but the building has been empty most my life, it’s really just more sad no one ever did anything with it.
Directly across the street is another building in the same boat. This one was a General store that some people remember as Kreb’s and others (such as myself) knew as the L and E. 
For the few years this place was open you could get your basic small town general store stuff, and for a year or so subs and pizza! Not bad for our sleepy little patch of land!
And just a mile away, the general store that has lasted from my childhood (and many years before) until present day. 
This is the store that you can get anything from a stick of beef jerky (loose, from a jar for a quarter) to a hot water heater. Tires, assorted bolts, and cutler hammer breakers for your electric panel. Soda, tobacco, and 8 different kinds of cereal are constantly in stock here. But one day, I fear all too soon, we’ll wonder what happened to this place too. We’ll realize that going a little further to save a little was killing our local economy. But then it’ll be too late.
If you have a local spot that you love, or a nostalgic place you don’t want to see swallowed up by the passage of time: Support your small shop owners. Local businesses and artists need your financial support more than huge retail chains and record labels. 
Or it’s all to easy for them to go the way of this greenhouse I bought seedling tomatoes from with my lawn mowing money as a teenager.
Buy local grown produce, attend shows by ameteur actors, buy paintings instead of movie posters. Support your community, if you show pride others will too!
Have you lost any childhood relics or beacons of your past in your hometown? Feel free to post an image or your story in the comments. #growtogether #upvoteplankton
Until tomorrow
— ColdLogic