Trip to Crystal City by Casey Stauber

Going to Crystal with my daughter was an incredible experience. It was nice to be able to point things out to her that I had related in earlier tales of my and my sisters' childhoods. We didn't make it to the Grammar School, though.

She loved it, and vowed to buy a house there so that we can have a place to stay whenever we want to go visit. It was kind of an eye opener for her, too. I don't believe she'd ever realized that I was once her age (or younger, even!) It was nice to create a memory with her. We also agreed to go visit more often - we might be able to swing the spinach festival every other year. Now Justin wants to come also, so we will have to add that equation into the scheduling mix - he works for Home Depot and goes to college, so scheduling time off is always a challenge.

It was also kind of an eye opener for me, too, as I remember my childhood friends the way I left them. It was a shocker to me to realize that, wait, they've aged just like I have!! Whoa!

In some ways it looked the same, and in other ways, the passage of time was evident. Where did all those huge trees come from, in front of our old house on Crockett Street? In my memory, the house and the driveway was much larger, as were the drugstore, the high school and the junior high. As we drove through town, I drove past Fly Jr High, and a memory of me and some friends (Mike Cantu and who else?) standing on the stairway on the back (west) part of the building having a quick smoke between classes flashed through my head. My daughter's laughter and shocked, "Mom!!! You smoked on school property??" alerted me to the fact that I had reminisced out loud!! (Doh!)

It was sad to see the Tavern closed down, though not surprising. I really wanted some Portuguese Tortillas, and had promised Serena that we would eat there if it was still open. The same with the Oasis drive in - I loved their chalupas! We did not get to do as much driving around as I wanted, but if we are planning on going back, I guess that's good. I still need to take her by Canela's and to the west side of town where the old grammar school is, and both places where I went to kindergarten (if I can find them), oh and there's the swimming pool, and Espantosa….

Yup - we'll definitely have to return another time - soon, I hope!