Biggest Little City
I miss Reno like an old friend. I miss walking along the river with the mountains in the background, getting a not-that-great coffee at Java Jungle, eating a crab cake bennie at Peg's, the rows of sad Lincoln Highway motels with their awesome neon signs and the Porno Pool, walking the streets of downtown and remembering where we found the cisterns or the subway kiosk or the secret Mason room or where the old homeless lady followed me down the street screaming "I'm gonna kill you motherfucker!"
I walked those streets while it was still a little scary, before all the hip new places opened, when the second Silver Peak was just another vacant storefront and then an art gallery and then an empty space again before Silver Peak moved in. It was fun to keep walking and watching as new businesses moved in and then other people started coming to downtown, and I wasn't always just walking around by myself anymore. I wasn't super sad to see Fitzgerald's turn into the Whitney Peak, but I do admit I kind of miss the Rainbow Bridge. It was sad to see some of the cool old motor-court era motels close or get torn down, and don't get me started on the monstrosity of a bus station that caused an entire block to get razed, including a fantastic old Basque hotel. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see the new distillery open in the NCO depot. I always liked that building and it was depressing to see it vacant all those years.
I never understood why Grandmother pined for Mobile no matter how long she'd been away. They moved back as soon as they could after Grandpa retired, and it was like she never left. Suburban Oklahoma City didn't instill in me much of a sense of place or belonging, so I didn't understand. But now I do.
I walked those streets while it was still a little scary, before all the hip new places opened, when the second Silver Peak was just another vacant storefront and then an art gallery and then an empty space again before Silver Peak moved in. It was fun to keep walking and watching as new businesses moved in and then other people started coming to downtown, and I wasn't always just walking around by myself anymore. I wasn't super sad to see Fitzgerald's turn into the Whitney Peak, but I do admit I kind of miss the Rainbow Bridge. It was sad to see some of the cool old motor-court era motels close or get torn down, and don't get me started on the monstrosity of a bus station that caused an entire block to get razed, including a fantastic old Basque hotel. I'm sorry I wasn't there to see the new distillery open in the NCO depot. I always liked that building and it was depressing to see it vacant all those years.
I never understood why Grandmother pined for Mobile no matter how long she'd been away. They moved back as soon as they could after Grandpa retired, and it was like she never left. Suburban Oklahoma City didn't instill in me much of a sense of place or belonging, so I didn't understand. But now I do.