I can’t believe the mall doesn’t exist anymore. It’s so sad. I have so many wonderful memories there throughout my lifetime. Growing up, weekends were about going to the mall. I remember Dad and Mom taking us to Pizza Hut for dinner, then going to JCPenney to get my brother Luke and me new sneakers. This was a big deal back then because we didn’t go out tons. Mom loved JCPenney. From clothes, underwear, curtains, bedding, shoes, and pantyhose, it came from JCPenney. If she could have gotten toothpaste and toilet paper there, she would have. I mean, I even had my own special changing room for butt whoopings, so you know that it had a really special place on my butt. Oops! I mean, in my heart! *cheesy smile* Ahhhh, good ole’ JCPenney. How my butt will miss you and the good ol’ days.
The mall was a special place for my grammy, Margaret Perry, and me. My gram couldn’t drive, so we would have to ask Pap, Dwain Perry, to take us during my younger adolescence. All I would have to do is go over and rub his bald head, give it a kiss, look at him, smile, then say, “Please, Pap!! I want to go to the mall! So does Grammy!” He would make some remark saying he was out of gas so that we couldn’t go, or the famous one, “the mall is closed.” (That’s no joke now!) I told him he was full of mud, then begged and pleaded until he would tell us to grab our coats with a big smile on his face. The whole time he knew he was going to take us, but if you know my pap, you know how much he loved to kid around.
When we got to the mall, usually we would go in through Value City and look around for some deals. One time I found a pair of Chicago Bulls socks for ninety-nine cents. I didn’t watch basketball nor did I care about it, but these were some high-quality socks for ninety-nine cents. I wore these babies for years. In fact, I wore them so much that they started to get thin. My cousin, Lindsay Clark, always teased me about my Chicago Bulls socks. Hahaha! They were high socks, and I wore them pretty often. (Dear God, what was I thinking?) That whole time she was probably trying to tell me something, and here I thought she was jealous of those bad boys. ESPECIALLY for ninety-nine cents. Nope, I probably just looked like a doofus. No wonder they were in the clearance aisle.
We would walk around from store to store while Pap sat on the benches watching folks walk by. Hallmark was one of Gram’s favorite stores. She loved that place, and so did I. That’s where my Enesco Rudolph collection first started. Gram and Pap both bought me my first two. I’ll cherish them forever.
Gram would also take me clothes shopping at Rue 21, and Pap would take me to Boardwalk Boulevard before we would leave the mall. Man, I love going there and throwing the balls in Big Bertha’s mouth and winning tons of tickets on the Cyclone. Dad and Mom would take my brother and me there too sometimes, and we would get the pizza in there or Dino’s we enjoyed too. Their pizza was always so good, but then it just got stupidly expensive.
Friendly’s was my son Tyler’s very first public outing as a newborn at the beginning of August. There he sat in his little car seat as Chris and I ordered our BBQ Chicken Melt Sandwich with a Peanut Butter Sundae. This was right around when Target opened, which is hard to believe. Friendly’s was my husband’s favorite place to eat. He hated it when it closed.
I remember my first Black Friday at the mall with my dad. I could hardly believe how packed the mall was at 5 a.m. It was madness! Sears was always our first stop. I loved going to Bath and Body Works for their deals, and of course, getting an Auntie Anne’s pretzel at 9 a.m. after hours of shopping was something I looked forward to. Losing Auntie Anne’s is a tough one. Not gonna lie; I loved that place!
Does anyone remember the store Munchkins??? I’m pretty sure that’s what it was called, but it was a big candy store! Oh man, I could spend forever in that store picking out my favorite candies. They even sold penny candy. Those were the days.
I want the mall back in its prime years. Back when they had fountains, you could throw money in. Back when you could smell the Christmas sugared pecans being made right in the middle of the mall. Back when Radio Shack, FYE, Payless, and PacSun all still existed. Back when the movies used to be in the mall. Back when you would run into a bunch of people, you knew walking through the mall. Back when Sears took portrait pictures.
The mall gave us all so many memories. It’s so sad to see it go, but always fun to look back on all the good times it gave us. Even when I got in trouble and spent some precious moments in that JCPenney changing room with my momma, I’d do it all over again for those days. These were the good old days. Thanks, Lycoming Mall, for all the memories you gave us.
Hot Ham and Cheese on a Pretzel Roll
Soft Pretzels are my weakness. Hence why I loved Auntie Anne’s so much. Diamond Square in Newberry has some pretty incredible soft pretzels. Their breakfast logs are top notch filled with eggs, sausage and cheese. They have pretzel wrapped hot dogs and pizza logs, along with pretzel nuggets and sticks. But did you know they also make homemade pretzel rolls that you can purchase? They make them in the morning, so you need to put in your order early, but they make the best hot ham and cheese samiches!
I fried baked ham with a little butter until golden. (Baked ham is also from Diamond Square.)
While my ham was frying, I buttered the pretzel rolls with butter and placed them on a cookie sheet to toast in the oven. When rolls were toasted, and ham was fried, I placed them together on a cookie sheet, and topped with Cooper cheese. Placed it back in the oven to melt cheese, and we ate every last bite. Doesn’t get much easier than that. Enjoy!
