Thursday, June 02, 2011

Busy, busy, busy lately, and way too hot to be running around. Shot photos of goats at a farm the other day, and it was stifling. But today was gorgeous—not too, too hot or humid—and, after stopping in at the office, I buzzed down to Bellaire. I’d planned to take a different set of photos, but they can wait. The carnival is in town.

I may have mentioned that my parents grew up in Bellaire, and I spent a good deal of time there as a girl. It''s bittersweet to go there now. I do love the town, or maybe the memories of the town. When I was a little girl—and even when I was in college across the River—Bellaire bustled. Paychecks from coal mines and steel mills fueled the mom and pop stores selling whatever one needed from school shoes to horse shoes.

Dankworth’s Pharmacy used to be on the corner where the carousel sits in the photos below. It had a soda fountain. The G.C. Murphy building in one photo housed the five & dime (hence the “5 & 10”) with creaky, wooden plank floors. Or maybe that was the other store, Woolworth’s? There was an Isaley’s Dairy store on that block, also, with the best chipped ham ever. It was there when my parents were growing up after the Depression and during WWII and into the ‘70’s I think. The story of the old Bellaire Bridge behind the Scrambler is a heartbreaker.

This weekend Bellaire puts on its annual All-American Days Festival, so flags are flying, and the rides started tonight. The old buildings will fade into the background. Blinking lights and colorful rides will lift everyone up—literally. There’s going to be a hot rod car show in the park on Saturday afternoon, and the town will party again until the last echo of fireworks on Saturday night.