Remember McLean when the Giant was still a farm? Remember the Big Blue House in the center of town that was a Real Estate Office? Remember when McDonald's was only a walk-up; hamburgers were 15 cents and french fries were a dime? Remember the bowling alley, Eleanor's Town and Country, Highs and the Teen Club?
McLean, Virginia was a GREAT place to grow up!! Some might say that any place you called "home" was a great place to grow up...but McLean really was great!!! Millions know it today as an international suburb of Washington DC, home of the CIA. Well, when I grew up there, the population was about 10,000, the CIA was hidden behind a little sign that read "Bureau of Public Roads," and life was simple through the eyes of a child. There was a blacksmith, a hobby store, and the sweetest corn I've ever tasted.
There are a few images in life we'll keep forever, and waiting for that corn to come in from the field is one of them for me. Taste is largely driven by smell, and smell is closely associated with memory, so, maybe that is why we remember the corn so well. We'd get a dozen ears and an extra was stuffed in the bag for good measure. Shucking made my hands so sticky from the sweet corn sugar that they were covered with silks when I finished. From field to mouth was less than an hour. It doesn't get any better than that.
I purposefully left out the name of the family and the location of the corn fields on their McLean farm. Do you remember? How good is your Memory of McLean? Let me know.
To lots of you, I must sound ancient....blacksmiths and farms in McLean....right!! But whatever you live today, will be your memories tomorrow. And I love my Memories of McLean.
So, join me on a nostalgic trip down McLean Lane. I'd love to hear from you!
McLean, Virginia was a GREAT place to grow up!! Some might say that any place you called "home" was a great place to grow up...but McLean really was great!!! Millions know it today as an international suburb of Washington DC, home of the CIA. Well, when I grew up there, the population was about 10,000, the CIA was hidden behind a little sign that read "Bureau of Public Roads," and life was simple through the eyes of a child. There was a blacksmith, a hobby store, and the sweetest corn I've ever tasted.
There are a few images in life we'll keep forever, and waiting for that corn to come in from the field is one of them for me. Taste is largely driven by smell, and smell is closely associated with memory, so, maybe that is why we remember the corn so well. We'd get a dozen ears and an extra was stuffed in the bag for good measure. Shucking made my hands so sticky from the sweet corn sugar that they were covered with silks when I finished. From field to mouth was less than an hour. It doesn't get any better than that.
I purposefully left out the name of the family and the location of the corn fields on their McLean farm. Do you remember? How good is your Memory of McLean? Let me know.
To lots of you, I must sound ancient....blacksmiths and farms in McLean....right!! But whatever you live today, will be your memories tomorrow. And I love my Memories of McLean.
So, join me on a nostalgic trip down McLean Lane. I'd love to hear from you!
16 comments:
Sounds like a great childhood, and one very similar to mine in Rockville, MD, also a suburb of DC. Life was so simple then, but maybe to a kid life always seems simple. No computers, no cell phones, a handful of channels to watch on TV ... all DC or Baltimore stations that we picked up by rabbit ears or a roof antenna. Playtime meant OUTSIDE unless it was raining, a time to let your imagination run wild and explore the neighborhood as long as you were home before dinner time.
We also had Giants, and Safeways, and A & P, a Highs ice cream store, and lots of "mom & pop" stores too. You're right about smells so closely linked to memory. To this day I love the smell of a hardware store .... not Home Depot, a real hardward store. And for a quarter you could get a soda pop and enough penny candy to make you sick. And we had one of those McDonald's too. There was a little screen window where you placed your order and got burgers, fries, and a coke for next to nothing. Too bad life can't be like this again.
P.S. nice blog site, hope to see it continue to grow.
carol:
loved your trip down memory lane. are you talking about beale's produce stand? it seems like it was there the longest. we lived in mclean from 1961 to 1976 (with 2 years in london 1970-72). our dad was with the cia and we lived behind salona village along with a lot of other cia'ers.
we used to go up to salona village and go to the variety store and buy candy. we went to franklin sherman elementary. recreation in the summer was so much fun and free! although it was a little hot walking to the school, home for lunch, and back for more fun. go you chicken fat go. hahaha do you remember the old building? it was one of the scariest buildings i've ever seen. i think it burned down while we were in london. and then there was the house they cut in half when they built dolley madison, leaving half of it standing for quite some time.
my parents used to take us kids (there were 7 of us) to things that didn't cost a lot to do, in other words, free things. we walked along the dulles toll road when it was being built. we toured the new homes (townhomes) in reston when it was first built. i thought a townhouse was the neatest thing since sliced bread.
mclean was a delightful place to grow up. it's fun to reminisce about how it was. i hope lots of people find this blog and leave comments. i'm sure i'll be back to leave more memories.
This is Nancy's older sister--here to correct some of her memories! HA
To date ourselves even more--it was 495, the Beltway, not the Dulles toll road that we walked on before it opened.
And we moved there in 1960--my parents bought their house for $25,000--houses in that neighborhood sell for $800K +. Can't imagine!!
Our oldest sister was a member of the first class to attend Langley High School for all 4 years--graduating in 1969.
The candy we bought was 5 cents each--one day my friend and i bought one dollar's worth, and got caught by my father while we were walking home--i believe we threw it in the bushes!! We weren't allowed to eat a lot of candy.
I had my first accident in the McDonald's parking lot--got run into by another car coming around the back side.
Along with Reston, we also used to go to McLean Hamlet to see those model homes--a house with 5 real bedrooms (not 2 made by hand down in the basement) was a real luxury to a family with 7 kids and everyone but the baby sharing a room with a sibling!
Some stores and restaurants I remember--Mesmeralda's, Chase and Collier, Mort's Bootery up in the Salona Village shopping Center.
Steak in a Sack around the corner from the Super Giant store.
Michael Rose, a clothing store next door to the Drug Fair, which had a restaurant in it--a friend and I used to buy a cheeseburger, fries and a cherry coke and split them.
Also, HIgh's used to be in the Salona Village shopping center before it moved down next to the Gulf Gas station next to the fire house. We used to get single scoop ice cream cones ( lime sherbet) for 5 cents!!
Also, remember the Public Library used to be in that little brick building on Elm Street across from McDonalds?? I loved that little building. I wonder if it's still there?
The next time my sister comes to town, we are going to go do a grand tour and walk around our old haunts!
I miss it, and saw in the paper yesterday that they are trying to revitalize downtown McLean--I think they should leave it alone.
Sorry, I wasn't finished! I remember the Variety Store as well, I think it was just called that!? I can remember on the left, they sold clothing and I got a bathing suit there once.
Do you remember Fabric Garden down at Chesterbrook Shopping Center? We used to buy material there to make all of our clothes!
My brothers recently went to Three Pigs and they say that it is not as good as it used to be and very expensive now!
I think I was always a little bit afraid of Mort. I too had small feet, and usually ended up getting some sort of HARD shoe to wear. Blisters, anyone?
Another favorite memory speaking of dance lessons. Junior Assembly--in 7th and 8th grade--held at St. John's Episcopal Church on Georgetown Pike. It was ballroom dancing, cha-cha, "swing" and freestyle dance, etc. taught by the Lawyers--they were so beautiful when they danced. It was of course a totally humiliating and stressful time for me--i have no rhythm, but the memories are fun anyway! We had punch and cookies as well--had to wear gloves, etc. I think it was a little bit of manners education as well.
More later!
Ok, here goes,
OTR Field... OTR stood for "off the rim." The ultimate place for a huge and illegal beer party or to dump an old car. Located where Marshall HS now stands. The old two story ESSO station and general store that stood on the left of the intersection of old 123 and old 193.
Swinks Mill Road. Black Pond.
The old wooden "lodge" at Great Falls with the slide top Coke box on the porch.
Making it from MHS to either Gormets or Dixie and back during 5th period study hall. The old Masonic Lodge.
The Dullas access road being opened.
The "pits" at Tysons. MHS "BEAT" signs. The group of stores that stood on the right of Old Dominion just before Tuthills Texaco and the old 123 stoplight. Their raised platform out front was for the W&OD trolleys that originally ran to Great Falls along old dominion Drive. Miss Dexter, the librarian at MHS. Chesterbrook Pool.
BTW, McDonalds advertised, "47¢ for a three course meal," that consisted of a Cheeseburger, Fries, and a Medium drink. The slot car place. Spring Hill Auto Parts. The "big rock."
Wow!! That was a rush!! Thanks for all the brain snapshots.
I can't locate the intersection of "Old 123" and "Old 193" in my head. Can you help?
Was the "lodge" in Great Falls also known as the Great Falls Grange?
We had part of our LHS 20th reunion in 1990 at the GF Grange.
I think I still have some of the old LHS "Beat" signs and am looking for some things to post as images - maybe I can find a "Beat McLean."
Remember Tuckahoe Swin Club with the miniature golf in the back? It was on Great Falls Street.
I had forgotten the slot car place...not one of my hangouts, but I remember it now that you mention it.
Thanks for the great memories!!
Want to weigh in on what people from Mclean should be called?
Do you remember the Guidance Counselor at McLean that I'm looking for? Her married name was Peggy Parker. I'd like to know a maiden name and locate her. Have any idea what happened to her?
Did you have a favorite Pizza from Pizza Supreme?
Check out today's post - Let us know what you remember.
Memory is a fickle thing. I said Marshall HS in a previous note, but I meant Langley HS.
The Crystal Pistol was a real "bucket of blood." Diagonally across Rt. 7 was an old gas station and welding shop that sat on an angle. This was when Rt. 7 was TWO lane. Just to the west and back across 7 was the Meat Bus, a meat packing place. They used an old bus as a store front.
The "Lodge" at Great Falls was the original GF&OD/W&OD Ry terminal. The trolleys made a loop around it. The building was gone by 1965.
My mother was a pharmacist at the old People's, now the CVS next to the Giant in mcLean. She would always bring me the latest magazines about The Beatles and the other British Invasion Bands.
My parents drove my sister and me to Baltimore to see The Beatles perform. That is such a great memory! I always drove my red Kharmann Ghia to high school, even though it wasn't allowed, and Mr. Lyons was always on the prowl.
I remember the mixers at St. Dunstan's on Kirby Road, and of course, The Organic Cavemen.
Wow, well, let's see....My parents, me, my sister and brother, moved to McLean in 1953, to the house on Carol Raye St., the st. was named after Mr Carper's Daughter, A Bright Carper, I think, as there were about three Carpers living in McLean at that time. McLean didn't even have a McDonald's then, the High School wasn't there, and I attended the OLD, Franklin-Sherman school. As time goes on, and I kick my memory into gear, I'll remember more, but for now, and the short time I have, this will have to do. Yep, our childhood, and I was 13 at the time, was totally great, and I enjoyed every moment of it, as the '50's was a great time to be growing up. As time moves on, I'll return and put more of those 'old' memories down here, to remember a place that no longer exists. Now I know, the old adage of 'You can never go home again', is oh so true. A time lost, with only memories to keep it alive.
lived there in 1959 then 1962-1966...took guitar lessons in the blue house across from Highs...bought models and records at Giant food the peoples drug and McLean sport and hobby across the street from drug fair [bought a parakeet there]...Westmoreland the main drag...went to McLean elementary and St. Johns on Chain Bridge road...football games friday nights at McLean high and the swimming pool right behind it...dad would drive down the Dulles toll road as far as it would go about once a week...the produce stand across from Giant...the firehouse siren at noon made all the dogs moan...played in the woods around McLean high...in the medical building there was an unattended cigarette machine in the lobby...all the kids knew about it...the barber shop and hardware across from McDonalds...wasn't burger king right after as i remember it was charcoal grilled...those brownies at the Peoples drug lunch counter and great fountain cokes...steak in a sack...baskin robbins...Honeycutt savings n loan...Routh Robbins realty next to the ball field...post office across from McDonalds next to library with the recruiting posters...the slot car track...Safeway...the American and Sinclair station ...Bobby Kennedys house you could drive right up to it...going to the Tops in Falls Church for a sirloiner or col. sanders chicken long before KFC...was it Capitol records...the Glebe theater...a beautifully innocent time that will never come again
Used to live on Shipman Lane then Great Falls Drive and the McDonalds was the great new thing. I remember riding my little dirt bike where Tysons and Dulles is now. There were so many farms back then that are all gone - so sad. Creeks, fields and cool places to explore. Churchill Road Elementary then Longfellow (instead of Cooper where all my friends were)- big trauma at the time! LOL. All of the Civil War history - riding bikes everywhere. What a great place at the time - soooo developed now!
The corn! I have never found the likes of it and I’ve lived in every region of this country. I especially have fond memories of the Three Pigs, working at Evans Farm Inn and riding horses across the fields that are now Tyson’s Corner. There’s so much more, but those are some favorite memories from my growing up in McLean in the 60s and 70s.
Lets not forget Jack the Barber. My dad took me there in the early 60's. I would sit down in the barber chair and he and my dad would go in the back room and do a shot. Then he would come over to me and ask.." Do you want a surfboard or a hair cut?" I'll never forget that..I was going to St. Johns at the time. I would also go up to the record shop on my bike and pick up 45 records of the new releases of bands..Rolling Stones, Mothers Little Helper, Get off of my cloud, etc. My older brothers would pay me to go get them. About a 3-4 mile distance through the woods at the end of Bynes Drive that cut across Pimmit Run and below Kent Gardens, across Old Chesterbrook and up behind the A&P. How about the Byrnes drive riot. That's where I lived. I have alot of stories about that night. I worked at the American Station on the corner of Chain Bridge and Old Dominion for a few years. Many more stories to come.
Black Pond behind Madeira school for girls in Great Falls. I finally found it ! Cool place to go . A formation of upcropping rocks fo to form a pond. It was Black. Later on, a murder took place near there. One of the girls was raped and
murdered. You can still find the story if you try.
The Pits across from Tysons Corner. We use to ride our mini-bikes there.
Tysons Corner Shopping Center, Aviary Court. Giant Cage filled with exotic birds....until some people started throwing things in there to make them sick....pot, LSD, they removed it after that.
The merry-go-round at Great Falls Park. It would go round and you would reach out and try to grab these rings out of a dispenser. I guess to get a free ride. My mom told me a story that I will never forget. A child was riding it and every time it went around, the child would yell out to her mom, "Momma, something is biting me". This went on for several times and the mother simply replied to calm down. At the end, the child was ready to fall off and when they helped her off , they saw that she was bitten by a copperhead snake. A den of copperheads was nested under the seat. Terrible.
Hensons Pond at the end of Kirby Rd. & 123
Man had a house there with alot of artsy stuff. He would let us go fishing there. Me and my friend, Joey Courtney walked all the way from Brynes Drive and had a great time. I still have a photo of our catch that day. Some lady was driving by when we were walking home and saw the fish on our stringers and took our picture and sent it to us. Nice lady
I have many the same memories. We came to Tucker Avenue in 1958. Heard about the Black pond rape, not the murder. Must have been hushed up. I was also in the first First Grade at St. John's in 1954, Mother Albert. Hunted snakes and snapping turtles along Pimmit Run every summer. Also spent almost every summer's day at Kent Gardens Swimming pool. Hope you get this so much time since your last entry.
Wonderful to run across these posts about McLean! We lived on Kurtz Road when I was young. We had a large area for a backyard, backed up to unoccupied land. I was about 4 years old at the time. I'd been playing in the backyard and was going to go back into the house, but I heard my mother scream, "Don't come in!" There was a giant black snake at the bottom of the stairs. My father wasn't home, so my mother called our neighbor to come over. He took a shovel and scooped the snake into an empty Tide box, then took it out into the field in back to let it loose. I was scared it would return to our yard, but fortunately, it didn't return.
We had great neighbors on Kurtz Road and there were a few children my age to play with.
I also vaguely remember a store with a soda fountain where my mother and I went for an ice cream sundae. I am trying to know the name of the store.
I had a chance to revisit the area a few years back. A lot had changed, but our old house was still there. I didn't recognize it at first because it had been remodeled.
I remember a few frigid and snowy winters when the electricity went out and my Dad cooked us hot dogs over the fireplace. One morning, after a freshly fallen snow, when the electricity was out again, my mother sent my brother and me outside to scoop up some of the fresh snow in a bowl, and we had "slushies" with maple syrup.
Then, when I was five, I remember seeing a sign in the front yard and asking my mother what it was. She explained we were selling our house so we could move to another state where my father was taking a new job.
I cried so hard the day we pulled out of the driveway in the station wagon, to head across the country to a new home.
After we moved when I was 5, my mother told me that some very expensive homes were being built nearby. Things were beginning to change, even then, but I'll always treasure the memory of living in McLean and growing up on Kurtz Road!
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