Doll shoes and Nostalgia

When my family moved to Woodmoor, a suburb of Silver Spring, Maryland, I was 5 years old. One of my earliest memories was of shopping at Larry's 5 and dime, a precursor to the modern dollar store. I remember the wooden bins that contained plastic treasures. I selected a bag of doll accessories. The small, rectangular plastic bag contained doll shoes, a hat, and I can't remember what else. It was the shoes and the hat I wanted. I was allowed to get the bag. I took it home, ripped off the stapled paper tag, and spilled the contents. I grabbed the shoes and hat and went looking for my dolls.

I had a Jody doll, a Victorian era beauty who wore a high collared dress with a tiny brooch at the neck. She had long red hair. Her feet were too flat for the shoes. The wide rimmed hat suited her though. I tried the shoes on the Cher doll, but they didn't go with her Bob Mackie wardrobe. Finally, my Barbie doll got to try them on, and like Cinderella and the glass slipper, they fit.

Later childhood memories of the shopping center are of a visit to the Silver Spring Stage. A friend invited me to see a show there. I was surprised that it was beneath the shopping center and accessed by many stairs. I remember I got to touch a snake after the show. I was surprised it wasn't slimy.

My favorite place at the shopping center was the library. I can recall many hours spent there. "Ripley's Believe it or Not," books captured my imagination. Years later, I believe it was replaced with a Weight Watchers store that sold soft serve ice cream.

The upper level of the shopping center was home to my family doctor, Dr. Thibadeaux. I also took a ballet class upstairs. The black and white marble that decorated the outside and inside of this area reminded me of old black and white movies.

I recall buying candy at People's Drug Store, before it was renamed CVS and shopping at Cook's grocery store and being intrigued by the lower level wine section. The Woodmoor Bakery had the most delicious Irish soda bread. I have never had better soda bread. In middle school, the Woodmoor Deli became a hang out place for me and my friends. Many hours, and many quarters were spent playing the arcade game Frogger. My favorite treat from that store was Italian ice. I would let it soften, then flip it over to reveal the icy concentrated sugar at the bottom. It was the best part.

I also remember my Dad, heading out to the Deli and asking if I wanted anything. I always asked for BBQ Fritos, and he always brought them home. My Dad recently passed away so that is a dear memory of a bygone time.

In high school the video store was a place I often went to. When I got glasses in the ninth grade, I got them from the opticians there in the shopping center. I still went upstairs to my Dr., but my world was getting larger. At 17 I graduated from Montgomery Blair High School, when it was still downtown. I started college, and my parents moved out of Woodmoor.

I met up with an old friend some years ago, and we went to the Starbucks that moved in where the hardware store used to be. I remember thinking how much charm the shopping center still has. I hope they never decide to knock it down and start over, but the memories will live on in my mind.