The old home place

In the morning, a few of the gals got together for a walk. Our bed and breakfast, Chestnut Charm was located at the top of Chestnut street, not far from the old home place. So Robyn, Chris, Paula, Julie, Candice and I headed down Ridge Road towards the old neighborhood. We took the curve by the Hayes house, near Mrs. Dutton's.

Ah - the Dutton place. It used to seem so scary. Overgrown front yard. Single old lady owner with a rock in the overgrown back yard that looked a lot like a headstone. That was enough to get us to ring the doorbell and run a few times! Poor old gal!

Note plywood way on left

I hit a lot of tennis balls on the roof of that flat garage

Then it was on to Crombie Place, by Mrs. Brown's, the Reinertson's and the Baxters. The Millers lived next to them. When I was a frosh, my Honors English teacher Jeanie Howarth moved into the duplex across the street with Edith Shank, school board secretary. Then, a few years ago, when the two spinsters were quite elderly, one of them picked the other up from the hospital. When she pulled up to drop her friend...or should we say lover off, she had a massive heart attack and pushed on the accelerator and drove the car into my old bedroom wall. The plywood is still visible!

WTH?!? Can't anyone fix a house in Atlantic? 202 Crombie - once a beautiful home, built by my maternal grandfather, Herbert Morehead (aka Pops), looked tiny and tacky. It was sad to see. And the people built a huge garage in the lot nextdoor that used to be our swingset area in the early years. Though it does look as if they may be considering siding the place soon. I hope so!

We walked on by and down Bullock's Hill by Rechtenbach's at the bottom. Heplers were next door with Youngers (Coach Bob and Marilyn) across the street. Robyn and Sal each dated Greg but he was kind of a jerk as a neighbor. Lee Van Nostrand lived right down the hill from us. Tommy Buck and fam and those nice people who gave our quarters for Halloween. I remember playing Operation at their place - the Crabtrees! Grayson, Smiths, Fausts, Wereshs. Yep, we pretty much knew everybody in that whole neighborhood! Lots of kids. And my grandma's friend evil Mrs. Savery. Kinda mean.

On around the corner was Robyn's house before the D-I-V-O-R-C-E. We could climb up the hill behind the house and catch frogs in the pond. Debbie Thompson, Debbie Grote, Nancy Buckingham - just a few of the others who lived in Fairlawns - that was the name of the neighborhood. I loved riding my bike through there. As we walked through last Saturday we said names I haven't heard for years!

Then we walked up the hill to our old school - Washington Elementary. I peeked in the windows. It looks small too. The clock is still on the floor in the kindergarten room. We reminisced about our teachers - Mrs. Hemphill, Mrs. Kluever, Miss Casey. Ah the memories.

All too soon it was time for our walk down memory lane to be done - Robyn had to get back, and we needed to show up for our breakfast at 10 a.m. or Babs would have our heads! As it was, she chewed me out for taking a book on Cass County history into the eating room (I could spill ya know...). Plus she intimidated all of us into taking leftovers of crappy muffins with us - too afraid to leave 'em. (She was like the Nurse Ratchid of B&B's)