About a hundred years ago, the last Whale Oil store closed its doors. Today, Men’s Shops are likewise disappearing. In Charlottesville, where fine men’s’ clothing was once a religion, there used to be Ed Michtom’s, the Young Men’s Shop, Page Foster, Eljo’s and the Men and Boy’s Shop. Now, they are all gone except for the Men and Boy’s Shop on the Downtown Mall. A recent attempt to sell … [Read more...]

What do you do with an old hot tub that is no longer in workable condition? You can’t put it out on the curb for trash pick-up on Monday mornings. You don’t have enough friends to help drag it to a truck if you could find one big enough to hold a huge six-seater. I had such a hot tub and it looked like we were stuck with it. Then Nancy called an outfit known as Rubbish Works Junk Removal. No … [Read more...]

Meadowbrook Hardware For 53 years, Meadowbrook Hardware kept Charlottesville do-it-yourselfers in nuts and bolts. Originally located in the Meadowbrook Shopping Center at the intersection of Emmett Street and Barracks Road, the store was founded by Ronnie Kite, an entrepreneur with no degrees and no experience in hardware. He did business the old-fashioned way and he did it well. It’s said … [Read more...]

A Reueben Sandwich from Lord Hardwicke's It opened in 1970. It opened at a time when there weren’t that many restaurants in Charlottesville. There were no McDonald’s, no Hardy’s, no Burger Kings, no Domino’s. But Lord Hardwicke’s was now open, and our good friends, Joe and Theresa Davis, went with us to check it out. The place had an English theme. Their signature dish was Fish & … [Read more...]

There are only a handful of stores where I know I will be greeted and welcomed and that what ensues will always be a good experience. The Corner Store Garden Center in Ruckersville is such a place. Garden Stores are super busy this time of the year and most don’t have the time or take time to stop and chat with customers and offer advice. When I need a little advice, I know the store owners, … [Read more...]

The first Bojangles in Charlottesville opened in the late 1970’s, as memory serves. They set up shop below Hardees which was well established at the corner of Hydraulic Road and Rt. 29. They had their work cut out for them. Staffing was difficult, they spent little on advertising, folks weren’t used to so much spice on their chicken and Hardees was booming. But the little restaurant held its own, … [Read more...]

Rose’s and the Crawling Derby Rose’s was one of the first Five and Dimes, originally called Rose’s 5c 10c 15c. It began in tiny little Henderson, NC in 1915. At the start of WWII, Rose’s had 118 stores. Charlottesville opened its first store at the Barrack’s Road Shopping Center, and all was well until the arrival of Walmart. Then it was arrivederci  and last week Rose’s announced it would … [Read more...]

Rio Road Gulf In the 1960s’, Charlottesville had no mega-gasoline stations – Wawa, Sheetz, Liberty and such. There were only mom-and-pop stations that sold Amoco, Esso, Pure or Gulf gasoline. Most had 2 garage doors where they did mechanical work. Our gas station of choice was Rio Road Gulf at the corner of Rio Road and Rt. 29 N. The station was located in what is now the upper corner of … [Read more...]

The Spudnut Coffee Shop The Spudnut Coffee Shop was a Charlottesville institution, at least as famous as Monticello. People of all walks of life flocked to the small cinderblock building on Avon Street each morning to satisfy a craving which only a Spudnut could satisfy. Not long after I moved to Charlottesville, I noticed the new shop and the interesting name. What’s a Spudnut?  I … [Read more...]

Anderson’s Seafood They were some of the nicest people in the world. The Anderson family, and they brought fresh seafood to Charlottesville. I remember way back, when Mr. and Mrs. Anderson and occasionally a few of their children would set up a tent on a Friday afternoon beside what was Hardy’s at the intersection of Rt. 29 and Rio Road. I often stopped by to poke around in one of his … [Read more...]