Nothing stays the same

Growing up, my family had a cabin in a small town. The town had only two traffic lights and a couple of restaurants. The movie theaters, of which there were two, had one screen each. McDonald's had yet to reach the town, but there was a great burger place to which we rarely went but when we did it was a special treat. Lots of the fun we had at the cabin itself. We played games (Scrabble was a favorite), watched movies (our only VCR was up there), built things with wood in the shop, hunted for insects, pet the horses, played games around the chicken coop. It was a fun place to go. We'd go out sometimes too and do things like shoot clay pigeons at the gun club, go to car shows, play at the park, hike the gravel pit, swim at Mountain Spaa, to name a few. I have a lot of memories of this great place and so I like to take my kids up there to do similar things. 

But things sure have changed. There are several traffic lights. The restaurant choices have expanded to include a McDonald's, a Wendy's, an Arby's, and a Subway. Heck, there's even a Cafe Rio now. The same movie theaters are there though! Ha! We have a DVD player up at the cabin and cable too. The gun club is still there but it's much more exclusive now and the gravel pit is difficult to hike because lots of the rock is gone. And Mountain Spaa is just just remnants of days past. A few years ago I went there to take my kids swimming. The place was closed. And this is what it looks like today. 

I remember going down that slide and sitting on that very nice blue concrete bench! To see it in this form was a bit shocking, surreal, and it made me very aware that time keeps on ticking. Here's a shot of the indoor pool. 

Roof collapsed and everything. This place was a hot springs spa and it looks like the springs still fill the pool. 

And here's the entry way. Now the place is just empty and abandoned and new houses are being built around it. The road used to be called Mountain Spaa Road, now it's just 200 East or something. 

I told my dad I visited the place. He asked me how the swimming was. I felt bad telling him the place was out of business and left to the forces of nature. "Nothing stays the same, does it?" he responded.  And that is so very true. 

Here I am being all sentimental about the Mountain Spaa sign in the background. Such memories here! Are there any places like this that do this to you?