— Daily Journal Entry 034 —
That’s a saying that unfortunately seems more relevant every time I go back home. I’m currently living in Missouri; however, home for me will always be in Spartanburg, South Carolina. I try to visit family and a few friends at least two times a year for two weeks (or so) each visit. I try to visit once during the summer and also around Christmas.
It seems that every time I visit, there’s a new establishment in place of an older one that I used to frequent. But even the old neighborhoods that I’m most familiar with have changed so much over the years. It’s kind of sad driving by an old house that I used to live in, or that my grandparents used to live in, seeing how much has changed. Granted, noticing these changes is probably part of just growing older. When you’re much younger, you probably just don’t notice or care as much about the changes that are taking place all around you. I find that now that I’m over fifty, I prefer most things to stay exactly as they are, and that’s just not going to happen.
When it comes to the music side of things, many of the older live music venues are no longer in existence. Take Dawgone, for example. Dawgone’s of Spartanburg, SC, is now the Hickory Tavern, which is a great restaurant. But I still just miss Dawgone a bit. Who knows, at my age now, maybe I wouldn’t really ever go there again in its former setting. But I would, at least, like to know it’s still there. In actuality, The Hickory Tavern is probably better for the town, but Spartanburg still needs a Dawgone…
You might like this post of mine: Lessons Learned from Local Jam Nights
Other places that have closed up shop: Wild Ace Pizza & Pub… Absolutely loved going there for the pizza and other food, the flights, and just the overall atmosphere. There’s Brick Oven Pizza as well. Rumor has it that these places were (almost) forced out due to higher lease payments, but again, I do not know the entire story, nor who has taken over their spaces in town.
There’s another place called………… I can’t remember the name of it. I guess it was just a regular, normal (non-pizza “joint”) that was located on East Main Street in the Hillcrest area of Spartanburg, where I played a few acoustic guitar sets with a friend of mine. I was supposed to play a second acoustic gig and had to cancel because I was too scared due to the fact that my friend had canceled. The establishment was not pleased. They had even put our names on their sign outside, which was a big deal for me at the time. I just couldn’t get over the pressure of doing the gig by myself. Rather unfortunate. Who knows where just one simple gig could take you…
I got it, things change, and you (I) just have to move on…
To be continued (I hope to eventually turn this into a “Back Stories” post)…
Until Next Time,
Featured Image: Downtown Spartanburg, South Carolina
Note: These “Daily Journal Entries” are part of a mini blog within the main blog where I make every effort to publish a 250+ word post per day on top of the regular, longer posts. The idea is to just create a daily habit of publishing written content. And also, to try and become a better overall writer… We’ll see…
