"I Went Back To Ohio

but my city was gone" - The Pretenders, My City Was Gone

I've been back to Ohio since I left in 1992 a few times. First time was in 2004, when we were looking for a different place to go for our anniversary weekend. We returned to Youngstown, and while we were happy to see that the city is trying very hard to rebound, the upper end of Belmont Ave, usually lively and bustling, has been reduced to a ghost town of boarded up hotels and businesses.

Second time was in 2005. We went out to Dan Marino's induction in to the Pro Football Hall Of Fame. Something I promised Nelson we'd do for as long as I've known him. We went to Canton, then down to below Columbus to spend a few days with a family friend, then back up to Canton for the induction ceremony. After that, we went back to......Youngstown for the evening (we couldn't have stayed in Canton if we wanted to - stuff was booked up a year in advance, but we didn't want to then run all the way home). We stayed on the upper end of Belmont Ave, and it was depressing. The hotel was rundown (despite all the information I found online) and they had lost our reservation, then accused me of making it for the wrong day. She chose to make an issue of it, despite the fact that they were largely empty and getting a room was no problem.

We swung by in 2006. We were on our way to Chicago, and we stopped for gas, and hot dogs at Jay's Famous. We also tried swapping out our horrible rental car, but that's a long and frustrating story. Which brings us to the current trip, which we started on April 13.

Let me slide, for a moment, back to the title of this post. I had been familiar with this song for years, but it never had much meaning for me personally until recently. I'd always heard the phrase "you can't go home again" and never really got it. Youngstown Ohio was my home, for 2 years. I left it, largely due to crime and some changes in structure at my university (Youngstown State - GO PENGUINS!!). They had discontinued my chosen program, so that was the final nudge I needed to pack up and go back home. See? I did go home again, and I haven't left this area (in tems of living here) since. But it's not really that simple, and it took me a while to get that.

I'll let Chrissy give me a hand in this. The song starts:

I went back to Ohio
But my city was gone
There was no train station
There was no downtown
South Howard had disappeared
All my favorite places
My city had been pulled down
Reduced to parking spaces
A, o, way to go Ohio

The first time I really listened to this and "got" it, was after my visit in 2004. I immediately thought of the upper end of Belmont. The Ramada? Boarded up. The Motel 6? Gone. Days Inn? Boarded up. Econo Lodge? Boarded up. K-Mart? Boarded up. Giant Eagle? Moved to Boardman. Pretty much the entire Liberty Plaza? Empty - out of business and boarded up. Starvin' Marvin? Still there, but is now just Speedway.

I remember the times when I went out there before I started college. The times when my parents (and later my husband) would come and visit me. We stayed in every one of those hotels. They were easy access off Route 80, which exits at Belmont. The first stop for my dad was Starvin' Marvin, for gas. Then Giant Eagle, to hit their imported beer aisle. Mom and I frequented the Liberty Plaza and the K-Mart across the street a lot. When I moved out there, I continued shopping there. There were nice stores, and the prices were good. Giant Eagle was always a place to get good snacks and stuff for the dorm. To see it all gone just blew my mind.

Well I went back to Ohio
But my family was gone
I stood on the back porch
There was nobody home
I was stunned and amazed
My childhood memories
Slowly swirled past
Like the wind through the trees
A, o, oh way to go Ohio

On that visit, I swung over to YSU - my old home. I didn't recognize it. While it has changed for the better, it was still a shock. The University has purchased a lot of the blighted surrounding areas and turned them in to new facilities, dorms, and whatnot. I walked around campus, and while some things were the same, some were so different. I don't know why I expected to pass people I knew - they're now long gone, having moved away and started their lives as I did. However, in the back of my mind I still expected to see at least one person I knew. It didn't happen. Life out there moved on without me, and as irrational as it sounds, I was a tad disappointed for a brief time.

I went back to Ohio
But my pretty countryside
Had been paved down the middle
By a government that had no pride
The farms of Ohio
Had been replaced by shopping malls
And muzak filled the air
From Seneca to Cuyahoga falls
Said, a, o, oh way to go Ohio

Which brings us to the trip I just returned from. It's well known amongst mall rats and junkies like myself that Ohio is rife with shopping malls - many now dead or dying. It's one thing that I absolutely loved about it. Many people don't understand my somewhat odd affinity for malls both healthy and dead. I'm not alone, but most of my immediate circle of family and friends just don't get it. I went to the Cleveland area to meet up with a friend (incidentally, a friend who loves malls as I do) who lives in California but is looking to relocate to Cleveland. We decided to take a day to hit up two dead mall gems we were aware of in the area. I may have been to the one at one time, but I couldn't be sure. The other one was one I had spent a lot of time at. It was a huge beautiful mall. Great architecture, great stores, and a fantastic sculpture that hung from the ceiling at center court. When I first met my husband, neither he nor I had much money. We spent a lot of time over there, just hanging out, people watching, and hitting up the penny candy store (how I miss The Candy Tree). The first thing he ever bought me came from that mall - a gold bracelet with my name on the front, and his on the back - and yes, I still have it. What I saw upon arrival just broke my heart.

I'd heard the horror stories about how bad it had gotten, but nothing prepared me for what I saw. The operative phrase for the day was "What happened?". Nelson will accompany me on my mall junkets, ususally just to get out of the house, but even he was saddened to see it. He just kept shaking his head, and looking at my friend and saying "We used to fight for parking spaces here. It was unusual to see an empty storefront, and it ususally filled back up again soon. Some stores had locations on the first and second floors." We did our part in keeping it open another day by buying a few things. In some ways, it would be better to just demolish the place, but the place hasn't been updated since it was built in 1976, and it has some fantastic architecture, and it would be a crime to tear it down (and this is an issue I have with the demolition or extensive remodeling of a lot of malls).

So I get it now. You really can't go home again. Not to the times that you remember, anyway. When I reflect on it, the area here has changed drastically as well in some terms, but stays the same in others. They can take my city and my malls, but at least they can't take my memories. I get it, but I don't have to like it.

There's a great video on Youtube that I have linked to here that shows the sad state of both of the aforementioned malls, and an additional mall that I've not been to (and the person who posted it has some other great videos as well). Coincidentally, they chose "My City Was Gone" to illustrate this. The first mall, Rolling Acres, is one I know about but have never visited. The second one, Randall Park, is the one the just crushed me. The third, Euclid Square, was the other one we visited, which gives new meaning to the term "Dead Mall". There's a Montgomery Ward sandwiched in there - I'm not sure where that one was located, and it doesn't say. Watch, and "enjoy", and ignore the comments left that are a bit rude..........

Bring On April!

**I started this on April 2nd and saved it as a draft. I finally published it almost 2 weeks later, so sorry for the confusing date conflicts**

March was craptacular at best for so many reasons that I'm glad to see it gone.

April hasn't started the best. I had a reaction to a medication I was prescribed. Despite being a fuller figured person, I've been lucky with my health. All of a sudden on April Fool's Day, of all days, I started in with chest pain and heartburn. As the day went on, it didn't go away. I rarely have heartburn. This was not normal. All indicators appeared to be a gastro problem, common with this medication, but everything also said to go to the hospital to rule out a heart attack.

I spent several hours in the Geisinger Emergency Room. It was worth it for the peace of mind of knowing that not only was it NOT a heart attack, my heart and cardiovascular system is excellent right now. My blood pressure is also good. I've been working out, and recently hit a 10% reduction of my overall body weight, and I've now surpassed it. My doctor adjusted the dosage, and although it took the better part of 10 days, I now feel better in that regard.

I spent Good Friday in Connecticut, at the Mohegan Sun. My first experience with a full-scale casino. My mom has been hitting them for years (although not this one), and after a day there, I can honestly say that I have absolutely no idea how people can spend hour after hour locked in there. Seriously. It's dark, and cold, and smoky. I was there to see a concert, and had a good time, and the casino itself is aesthetically beautiful, but gambling is not my forte.

Ray (Nelson's step-dad) came up from Allentown and went out to eat with us on Easter Sunday (Me, Nelson, Mom, and Dad). He found some of Nelson's dad's paperwork and brought it along. It was enlightening to say the least. We had no idea of any of the stuff associated with that. We found out his dad was a sharpshooter in the marines, had bunch of step-brothers and step-sisters, and was a "Jr". We also found out the name of his parents, and the search is on to try and finally get the family tree traced - hopefully. Turns out his dad's unusual name is a lot more common than we thought.

Hopefully with feeling better, I can get my butt back on track to updating this more often. I often groan when I go to a blog I enjoy and see that it hasn't been updated in ages. Pot calling kettle, line 2.......