Remember Back When?

We shut down the decade and closed out the twentieth century.  Here are some nuggets to take you back..

Remembering Newport News Back When
You Know You Grew Up in the 90s If..
When We Were Younger

Remembering Newport News Back When:
(from http://www.angelfire.com/va2/phunhowse/nature.html)

  • When there was no Wal-Mart on Jefferson. It was just a field with old trucks and rusted farm equipment.
  • When the Yoder Dairy Barn actually sat where Target and Circuit City now stand, and the grassy hill in front of the farm land where the Yoder cows would walk up and sit down 30 feet away from Jefferson.
  • When the World Market Shopping Center was a Farm Fresh and then after that it was the Newport News Shipbuilding offices.
  • When Colony Pines was a forest and Red Oak Circle was a dead end.
  • When there was a Captain D's next to Shoney's on Denbigh Blvd. Now the sign is the only remaining hint of it.
  • When the Matress Discounters on Warwick Blvd. in Denbigh was Blockbuster Music and before that it was the Wherehouse.
  • When you could drive down Shields Road behind Windsor Great Park from Green Acres to Denbigh Blvd.
  • When the Crown gas station on the corner of Jefferson and Rickneck was a Jet Mart and the DMV was next door.
  • When the Red Baron was there next to Rock-Ola, then it was Oldies Cafe—with the old Munsters hearse out front that would come to your house and pick you up. Then it was the Old Virginia Brewery and then the Atlanta Beer Garden before it finally became the Langely Federal Credit Union.
  • When the Hop-In gas station on Jefferson was by Steve and John's, which used to be Saxby's. Ah yes, Saxby's.
  • When you could see a movie in one of the two Beechmont Twin theaters.
  • When the McDonald's Nursery was on Warwick Blvd., next to Dr. Darth, the dentist. 
  • When the billboard on the Denbigh Blvd. overpass said "Fun Lovers, For Those Who Love To Have Fun" - and it had an arrow pointing down below the bridge.
  • When there was a Hot-N-Now by Taco Bell in Denbigh, before it became a Greyhound station.
  • When you bought Chrismas trees at the Greenhouse nursery on Jefferson, where the Saturn Dealer and Haynes furniture store are now.
  • When the ABZ Rentals on the corner of Rickneck and Jefferson was the Peebles Bathtub showroom.
  • When there was a Race Trak gas station right before the Interstate 64 exit on Jefferson across the street from Wal-Mart.
  • When the McDonald's in Denbigh had the playground with the giant Police Hamburger guy's head that you could climb into.
  • When Quincy's, now Carpet Gallery, and Zero's (before that Carvel) were in Denbigh.
  • When Patrick Henry Mall first opened, and it had the Cinnamon Bun, Mother's Music, the ivy covered dirt unicorn, and the fountain in the center of the mall.
  • When the Newport News/Williamsburg Int. Airport was just Patrick Henry Airport and the terminal was the old terminal.
  • When the entrance to Kiln Creek had the golfer guy standing in the sandpit and people kept stealing him.
  • When there was a Drive-In movie theater where the new Wal-Mart in York County is now.
  • When there were Revco Pharmacies.
  • When there was a Peter Piper Pizza in Hidenwood.
  • When there was no Monitor Merrimac Bridge tunnel.
  • When Industrial Park Drive connected to Jefferson right by 84 Lumber and the railroad tracks.
  • When you could go inside the Lee Hall train station and see all of the model train villages they had set up.
  • When there was a trash incinerator plant behind the old HQ on Jefferson, which is now Best Buy.
  • When Bland Blvd. didn't connect Warwick Blvd. and Jefferson.
  • When Pop-Eyes was Po-Folks, and the Old Post Office on Warwick was the only post office. 
  • When there were Fotomat booths in the parking lots of all the shopping centers.
  • When every kid had his birthday party at Championship Video USA.
  • When the Hampton Roads Center Parkway opened.
  • When the tree that was in the Interstate 64 median between Magruder and the Coliseum was mysteriously decorated every holiday.
  • When Wendy's in Denbigh had a salad bar, and Burger King sold personal pizzas.
  • When the MCI building on Warwick was Ames, and Rose's was there too.
  • When the Newport Crossing shopping center on Oriana Road was a trailer park.
  • When there were no big buildings in Oyster Point, just the lone fountain with a road circling it and it seemed as if it was an anomaly in the middle of nowhere.
  • When Plaza Azteca was Carlos O'Kelly's.
  • When Jefferson Lab was Cebaf.
  • When the Virginia Living Museum had woods around it and you couldn't see it from J Clyde.
  • When there weren't Sonic Drive-Ins everywhere.
  • When the Celebration In Lights at the park during the holidays was cheap.
  • When the 1950's McDonald's in Yorktown was a fun place to go.
  • When garbage trucks had two men hang off the back of the truck to manually dump cans into the back.
  • When there was a farm off of Yorktown Road next to Lee Hall Mansion by Interstate 64.
  • When Arby's had the 5 for $5.00 deal. Now that was a deal.

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You Know You Grew Up in the 90s If:

  • You ever ended a sentence with the word 'SIKE!'
  • You can sing the opening rap to 'The Fresh Prince of Bel Air'
  • You know that 'WOAH' comes from Joey from Blossom and that 'How Rude' comes from Stephanie from 'Full House'
  • You remember when it was actually worth getting up early on a Saturday to watch cartoons
  • You got super excited when it was Oregon Trail day in computer class at school
  • You know the profound meaning of 'Wax on, Wax off'
  • You have pondered why Smurfette was the only female smurf
  • You took plastic cartoon lunch boxes to school.
  • You still get the urge to say 'NOT' after (almost) every sentence... Not...
  • You remember 'I've fallen and I can't get up'
  • You remember boom boxes vs. cd players
  • You knew all the characters' names and their life stories on Saved By The Bell
  • You watched the original Care Bears, My Little Pony, and Ninja Turtles
  • 'Talk to the hand' ... enough said

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When We Were Younger:

  • Before MySpace and Facebook
  • Before the Internet & Instant Messenger
  • When you rented VHS tapes, not DVDs.
  • When gas was $0.95 a gallon & Caller ID was a new thing.
  • When we recorded stuff on VCRs & paid $3.50 for a movie.
  • When we called the radio station to request songs to hear off our walkmans.
  • When 2Pac and Biggie where alive.
  • When the Chicago Bulls were the best team ever.

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