Dumpster Diving Through My Past

[susandennis]

beadyeyedbeth graciously offered to photograph the cottage I lived in when I lived in Aiken, SC.  It was an adorable cottage and while I only lived there a couple of years, they were extremely significant years for me.  The problem is, they were long, long ago - early 70's and I haven't a clue what my address was. I remember the house was very near the intersection of Whiskey Road and Easy Street.  Seriously.  Google maps is giving me too many trees to get it it pinpointed any more closely than that.

I'd love to see that little cottage again. So many things happened there. I was lying in bed one night when a bolt of lightening went in one window of my bedroom and out another.  No shit.  I felt my first earthquake while playing Yatzee on the floor of the living room.  I gave up journalism in that house. I had my first orgasm in that house. I loved that house.

I have a lot of shit but I would have a lot more if I was not so vigilant at throwing stuff out. I have only two file folders of old papers. Very little has survived here.  What didn't get tossed is a very odd assortment of stuff.

The bank book from the mortgage on my first house. Purchase price (furnished!) $22,500.00 - October 29, 1976. That was another sweet little house, too.  I found a campaign postcard from when my friend, Mary Hopper ran for City Council in Charlotte. That had to be early 80's.  The booklet that my grandmother had to carry around that showed the government had revoked her citizenship during World War II because my grandfather was German born.  My kindergarten report card. Library cards from North Carolina, New York, Connecticut, Minnesota, and 3 from California.  Some old drivers license (but none from South Carolina) and a very odd assortment of business cards from various jobs.  Oh and about 20 copies of my mother's dead certificate.

Yep, I spent more than an hour in memory lane but no go on the Aiken address. Fun hour remembering, though!

Comments

[kayre]

If it's worth it to you, a phone call to the library in Aiken might get results-- they may well have old phone books in history/geneaology.

[susandennis]

What a fun idea. I might just do that. Thanks!!

Aiken, Easy Street and AIken Standard

[beadyeyedbeth.livejournal.com]

Hey! I've been incredibly busy and only now finally found time to let you know about my Easy St. house search. I drove up and down Easy St, but found no sign of a yellow cottage-type house. Now, that doesn't mean it's not there, but almost all of the properties there now are behind tall brick walls. When I was there a cleanup crew was working out in the road removing downed tree branches from the terrible ice storm we had last month. So, not being able to get a decent photo for you I at least got some video footage. Maybe when you see the video something will jog your memory and you can direct me to where the house was and when I'm there in Aiken again next week I can get some better photos or video. I took a LOT of video and photos of Aiken for you and will need to edit it and upload it to YouTube. I got the Aiken Standard building, Hotel Aiken, the mall, parts of Whiskey road and downtown. If I can find time in the next day or two I'll get it all on YouTube and send you the link. I'm current in WV at a convention and am just going nonstop. Yesterday morning I had a meeting with a woman who sells advertising space in the Aiken Standard and she was telling me to ask you if you remembered the two movie theaters downtown, and the drive-in theater on Whiskey. One of the downtown theaters, on Newberry, is now the Aiken Playhouse where live plays are performed.

Re: Aiken, Easy Street and AIken Standard

[susandennis]

I DO remember the drive in and the movie theaters!! I don't remember the insides of the downtown theaters but at one point I had a boyfriend with a station wagon and we spent a summer at that damn drive in!

That's so nice of you to take the videos! I'll be ready to watch whenever you can get them loaded. No worries.

That yellow house was NOT new when I was living in it and it would not surprise me one bit if it had been torn down.

It just dawned on me to google me in Aiken and I got three fun hits (I grabbed the screen - search terms "susan schubert" aiken, SC



Those first two were reports of the years I rode in the annual mule race (I think it was held the morning of the steeplechase). That was the only time in my life I ever rode anything. I actually had forgotten that I did it twice. As I recall it wasn't even that much fun. Wonder why the hell I did it twice???