Back In The Day

This is my first column for West Of and I would like to thank those folks for the opportunity. Although I was born across the river at Roper Hospital, after two or three days (my memory is kinda fuzzy), I had the good sense to come and grow up over here. I had planned to write on a specific serious topic this week, but the person who was supposed to get back to me with answers to my questions has not yet discovered that her phone dials out. Perhaps next week.
In the meantime, let us meander down memory lane. West Ashley was a fun place to grow up in the 60s and 70s. There were miles and miles of undisturbed woods and marshfronts to explore. Many empty soda bottles were redeemed at Barrineau’s Piggly Wiggly and the proceeds spent on such important items as Whoopie Cushions at the nearby Rexall drug store. When we secured our trusty two-wheeled transports in the bike racks at Stono Park, we were certain that in just a few years we would be hitching up our jet packs at St. Andrew High. ( So much for putting too much faith in “Lost in Space”).
On occasion we would go camping way down Savannah Highway at Oak Plantation Campground and believe that the Georgia state line was about half a mile or so away. I recall watching a crane lift up one of the steeples at Blessed Sacrament and seeing the same spire on the ground the day after Hugo. My buddies and I were real excited when a new exotic restaurant opened its doors a few miles up the road from our homes. Does anyone recall if Taco Bell’s basic fare started off at .25 or .35 cents? Somewhere in my attic I expect that autographed photo of Roman Gabriel acquired at the St. Andrew’s Burger King still resides..
I would cite a recollection of sneaking in the exit at Magnolia Drive-In with the car’s lights off, but I can’t spell “statute of limitations” to look it up to see if I would be liable for an overdue admission fine. Even though I am now an adult, I doubt my present day feet would have covered Santa’s footprints in the breezeway behind Kerrisons behind the Coburg Cow. Would you look at the time! I had better wrap this up to catch a rerun of “Happy Raine.” I hope I have entertained, stirred a few memories, and made younger readers and newcomers go “huh?. See you next time.
 
James David Altman is a local writer who lives in West Ashley and has been a contributing columnist for The James Island Journal, The Free Times, and several other publications. He is the son of the late former S.C. Republican House of Representative of John Graham Altman III.