Growing up in Gainesville is basically like growing up in an episode of "Friday Night Lights," complete with small town gossip, rich traditions, and lots of fried food. It wasn't perfect and you probably spent high school itching to get out and move on to bigger and better things, but it was an awesome place to grow up. If you don't live there anymore, you might find yourself homesick from time to time. In the event that this happens, don't panic. Instead, pour yourself a glass of sweet tea and scroll through this list of 11 things you definitely did during your childhood there:
1. Skate Country
Don’t act like you don’t remember it. Everybody went to and/or had a birthday party here at some point. When you were little there was nothing cooler than the spinning disco lights, arcade games, and glow-in-the-dark carpet. As soon as you turned 12, though, you realized that the place was actually a janky, dimly-lit crime scene waiting to happen—you still have the fond memories, though.
2. Lake Lanier
Whether you spent your summers at Lake Lanier Islands, in someone’s boat, or simply splashing around on the shore—the lake was a big part of your childhood. Remember the rumor about the alligator that got loose that one summer? Or the 10,000 times you tried to swim to the bottom to find the flooded town and then chickened out as soon as you went under?...Yeah…me neither…
3. Elachee Nature Center
It didn’t matter which elementary school you went to, Elachee Nature Center was the field trip everyone took. Nature person or not, you definitely have memories of tromping along the trails on a sunny day, and probably of a poison ivy scare or two also.
4. Mule Camp
Even the name brings back memories of the massive sugar rush you got year after year. There’s almost no way you didn’t have a great time here. After all, there was face painting and funnel cake! You almost definitely spent your time cruising the booths with the five dollar bill your parents gave you, looking for trouble.
5. Longstreet Cafe
The epitome of Southern food, Longstreet was your go-to place for chicken biscuits and sweet tea growing up. You never walked in the door without seeing someone you knew (for better or worse). If you were brave, you faced the crowds on Friday mornings during football season and came out still standing.
6. Solar System Walking Tour
Another field trip that everyone took. If your class did this on a nice day you probably had a great time, but if the weather was even a little off, you were more likely to end up one of 20 miserable second graders trekking across town in the heat or the cold to look at another, slightly larger metal sphere. At least the walk ended with a trip to Pluto, though (*sob*).
7. GHS Football Games
Even if you went to Lakeview, or one of the other private schools in town, you probably still went to a couple of these. In elementary school, they meant running around like a maniac with your friends and begging your parents for snack money. In middle school they were all about hanging out with your friends in the shadow lands off behind the end zone and enduring the endless drama that was always going on. When you got to high school you finally got to spent the game standing in the student section and cheering on your team. (There was also probably still some drama there, just not as much).
8. Green Street Pool
Days that weren’t spent at the lake were spent here, swimming with friends and trying to avoid eagle-eyed lifeguards and your mom with the sunscreen. (RIP Green Street Pool, you'll be forever missed).
9. Building a dam at Wilshire Park
Everyone I’ve ever known from Gainesville did this at some point. You couldn’t help it! Playing in the water was way more fun than playing on the swings for the millionth time (even if it was unsanitary). And there was always a chance you’d run up against creepy insects like water spiders while you built. You probably got all your friends in on this and built the best dam ever only to be disappointed when it had been torn down by the next day.
10. Christmas on Green Street
The lights! The hot chocolate! The carols! Christmas on Green Street was made for warm fuzzies during the holiday season. You might’ve ditched your parents and run off with friends, or stuck around and ended up having a conversation with your third grade teacher over hot chocolate. Whatever happened it really was the greatest time of year.
11. Painting the Rock
This probably looked like a really cool, grown-up thing to do when you were little. But then you got to high school and realized that it’s less of a super fun art project and more of a long, sweaty ordeal that leaves you with sore, spray-painted fingers. Seeing your friends' reactions was always fun though, especially if you got to go for food after it was done.
