Let's step back in time for a moment, shall we? Maybe somewhere between 1998 and 2005?... Think of yourself and how the world was:

Slap bracelets, light up sneakers, the original time period of when chokers were all the rage, overalls, before the Internet and photography were at our finger tips, and when social outings meant actually leaving your room, whereas today Netflix would be streaming and you're snap chatting friends and texting instead of being at the movies and taking pictures with a disposable camera and then IM-ing everyone when you got home. Ahhh... I can almost hear the candy in my nestle chocolate wonder ball rattling around now... Sound like your teens or early childhood yet?
Get ready, because I'm about to provide you with all the best blasts from the past spots of Monroe, LA from a decade ago, give or take...

1. The Monroe Moccasins Hockey Team

Y'all, this is so throwback, I saw a jersey in an ANTIQUE shop a few months ago! For those of you who aren't familiar with our once home team, "The Monroe Moccasins were a professional ice hockey team that played in the Western Professional Hockey League. Based in Monroe, Louisiana from 1997 until the end of the 2001 season, the team played its home games at the Monroe Civic Center" (Wikipedia). My memories of this are small because, well, I was 3 years old and hooked on the famous purple dinosaur at this era, but through pre-k & early elementary school I remember kids discussing the games and talking about how they enjoyed getting to catch plastic snakes and then eat at Johnny's pizza afterwards or how awesome in general it was that Monroe had a hockey team! I also recall my older sister going to a few games with our cousin and Papaw. It was an awesome local attraction that I wish we could still have obtained, but who knows? Maybe one day they'll make a comeback!

2. The Evolution of the Pecanland Mall

For those of you unaware, the mall didn't open up till around late 80's when my mother was about to start college. Flash forward a decade and some years to '96 and '97 when I was beginning to walk around and process memories. This is when I was introduced to the mall.

Our mall for a toddler back then was a fantastical almost fairytale-like wonder, which sounds crazy when you think about the mall as an adult, but in the late 90's the mall was really geared towards the younger goers. We didn't have a carousel or silly furry motorized animals to ride on, but we did have some pretty cool other stuff:

• The Disney Store
This place was basically the equivalent to Disney World/Land for me in that it was always playing different Disney films on a big screen, had a giant pit of assorted Disney stuffed animals, and let's not forget that was the #1 spot to purchase your Halloween costume from! I was literately a Disney princess at least 4 or 5 years in a row.

• KB Toys

• Walden Books

• Pond outside where you could feed ducks (Applebee's stands here now)

• RJ Gators (where Ronin is now)

• El Chico's

• The CandyLand Store: this one still remains but has moved spots in the mall many times since I've lived here; when I was a kid I swear it was so much bigger though and they had these giant crayon things filled with candy! Kids begged their parents to go in that place! I even remember my older sister coming back from there with these HUGE pretty-colored jaw breakers.

• The food court/main entrance to the mall:
Okay. Sure, the modern Asian architecture-inspired theme we have going now is kinda cool but I really miss the old design. The old one featured a fountain in the middle that I recall throwing pennies in for "good luck." We had a McDonald's, a Taco Bell, the Yummy Japan, Chick-fil-a, Corn dog 7, Great American Cookie and that may have been it, but most importantly, we had THE CEILING UMBRELLAS. I can see some of y'all laughing at this, but for kids this was so incredible to look up and stare at; they even had lights attached making them seem dreamy almost.

I spent a lot of time at the mall as a young child mostly because I had parents employed there but ever since a young age, no matter what anyone else thinks of our mall, I've loved it. It's always been a pinnacle of happiness for me and others.

3. The Children's Museum

I was pleased to hear recently my favorite attractions still remain there. Also, I really don't remember what else had been there but this is what was there at the time:
The Cafe, the ambulance/dental health station, the famous giant mouth you could walk in and scrub with a big toothbrush, and the bubble station! I forgot what the admission was/is but it's the best money you can spend to entertain some kids for a while and help them develop educational skills and psychological aspects (I learned in some of my college psychology classes that make-believe play is very essential to a child's development).

4. The Fun Factory/Jungle Gym

Both of these unfortunately didn't stand the test of time with the jungle gym closing maybe 5 or 6 years ago? These were both well, fun, but had drawbacks which led them to close: if memory serves right, I think they shut down due to injuries and I remember talk of some virus getting spread at the fun factory. Kids are little and germy and it's important to recognize these conditions when opening a place to run around in and go through obstacle course-like play spots.

5. Forsythe Park

While it still looks the same as it did when I was much younger (with the exception of dulled and chipped paint in areas), one special piece is missing: "The metal dragonfly."

After doing some research I also learned that this was actually an interactive-sculpture that was constructed by the same artist who did the metal flowers and nature-like scenes in downtown Monroe and west Monroe-antique alley! The dragonfly was my and almost every other kid's favorite thing about Forsythe Park; I can remember being so small I had to have help to climb on it.

6. Old location of Dairy Queen on 165 where Daily Press now stands

You can ask almost everyone close to me and they'll tell you how EXCITED I was about Monroe getting DQ back after almost like 12 years of it being shut down! My favorite memories include going through the drive-thru and getting hot fudge sundaes in my pajamas with my grandmother when I'd sleepover, and getting themed blizzards in the summer!

7. Books-A-Million

Books-a-million was pretty awesome as a kid too; you could sit on this enclosed bench thing and watch movies, play with a Thomas the Train track set, and sometimes have to weave your way through hoards of older kids who seemed to agree upon as BAM being the best spot to have Yu-Gi-Oh duels and trade Pokemon cards.

8. When ULM were still the Indians

Before 2006, our university mascot was the Indians, which is why if you attend the football games sometimes you can hear the faint Indian chant from the home side during brief moments of the event, as the University of Louisiana at Monroe was once Northeast Louisiana University and were the Indians for about 75 years. That being said, if you have any old ULM gear from before 2006, it's probably an antique now.

9. Blockbuster in the north gate shopping center on Forsythe Avenue:

YES. I love Netflix but I'd trade it to get Blockbuster back; renting movies was not only a social event but you could rent older stuff that unfortunately Netflix just doesn't house. This was a lot of fun as a kid to go there and pick out fun movies for sleepovers or even with your family and stock up on candy and magazines too.
However, if you do want to rent movies in Monroe, you can make a drive to National Video store in West Monroe out by Albritton's Bakery and the old Mac's and all that.

10. Bayou Gymnastics/ River city gymnastics

River city didn't last long but what stood out to me from there was the big foam cube pit (like we have at Altitude) and an awesome zipline.

Bayou Gym still remains even with "play land" fully intact I believe; even if you didn't take gymnastics from there, there's a good chance you went on field trips there, played on the Tumble Bus, or went to after-school or summer daycare like I did! Summer daycare ("Kiddy Kamp") there was the best because they gave you a cool T-shirt for signing up, you got to go on field trips, play outside and inside. Once we played an all lights-out except for a strobe light hide-and-seek; it was SO AWESOME!

-Other random spots/attractions:

TCBY frozen yogurt, "All Fired Up" ceramics studio, Lazer tag place by OIB bank, Jack Hayes School Fall Festival, Paintball, The Monroe Zoo, Skatetown on 165 (hot birthday party spot), The Ouachita Parish library book mobile.

This article was very dear and close to my heart as it allowed me to reminisce on my early childhood in my hometown and I hope I achieved an understanding of the history to those who aren't from here or moved to Monroe in between this time frame and now. Special thank you to all my friends and family who contributed to this article! #90sBabies