Thought I would return to a chapter from my ‘Town Kid’ book
of 2013 regarding teen driving of years ago.
I read some comments on Facebook recently of Port Angeles folks having much
the same memories.
My friends and I never tired of “dragging the gut.” This phrase referred to making a loop driving
slowly from Roma Inn (it was near Bayview) through town to the Legion, up
Monroe, left on Lawrence, down to the lagoon, left over to Hetrick’s gas station,
and back around to Roma again. We’d also cruise the side streets downtown to
check out The Palms, Sy’s Grill, and various cafes. Uptown we’d see who was at
the Rec Center, the library, the theatre, and Skip’s Service Station. Somebody
was always there.
On the back page of my 1961 high school yearbook is a list
of several of the places where we hung out ….The Pad (Terry Dickerson’s party
apartment), Adelma Beach, North Beach, the Railroad Y, Memorial Field, the
quarter-strip (out Hastings Avenue where drag races were held), the Rec Center,
A&W Root Beer Stand, Beckett’s Point, Chetzemoka Park, Oak Bay, Buddy
Glen’s Shack (on Cedar and Hayden in Hadlock), the drive-in, the gravel pit,
Nightmare Square, Hobo Park, Humpy’s, Hudson Point, the Flats, and Fernando
Hideaway. I’m not real sure I could find
all these places now as the landscape has changed everywhere with new homes
being built. I do recall, however, that the woods around Arcadia Inn were
popular for some of our party gatherings.
I liked to hang out with anybody who had their own car, or
who had loud pipes and could “burn rubber.” Lewie Morello used to leave very
impressive black strips while performing this talent for us girls.
One of my favorite movie scenes in American Graffiti shows
teens cruising up and down the main street visiting and talking to each other
in side-by-side lanes. One night in 1963, Sharon Sofie and I were dragging
Broadway in Portland, Oregon, when an old Chimacum pal pulled up alongside us. Susie Bishop was in her white ’55 Chevy and
we were very excited to see a familiar face. Susie always made me laugh – and
still does! I chuckle every time I think
of when we saw her on Broadway that night.
She’s not the shy and retiring type.
She yelled across the lane: “BLANKENSHIP! WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING IN
PORTLAND?!” She eventually moved in with
Sharon and me to our $85-a-month apartment on 22nd & NW Glisan. Susie slept on a pull-down Murphy
bed in the living room, and she had a job in the Smoke Shop at Meier &
Frank downtown. Sharon was secretary for Mitchell Brother’s Truck Lines, and I
worked in the policy service department for Standard Insurance Company. Good
times. Good memories.
Comment by Les Walden:
I too remember the times during
those high school years. I was taking my driver’s test from Mr. Ecker. We came
down to the bottom of Lawrence St. by Kai Tai to the stop sign, when a lady
pulled up around us, did a "California Stop" and turned left. Mr. Ecker uttered, "Where in the hell
did she get her license?" I replied, "Probably from you." That
night I had my first "Rat Race." That was a race where one car tried
to lose the following car going through the residential districts. Don't
remember who won. One night a bunch of us were going to Sequim in Dick
Bumgarner’s car. I was in the back seat when were just about to the road to the
John Wayne Marina. All I heard was "Look out Bumgarner!" This was
followed by a very sick voice of Dick's saying "Oh No!" There was a
thump, thump on the bottom of the car and the windows started coming down. Dick
had hit a skunk.
Another time we were going a little
fast over Eagle Mount in a '54 Olds convertible (I think it was Denny
Blankenship's car) and he said, "Guess what, I don't have any
brakes." That Olds never even leaned as we whistled down the hill. We also
used to race side by side to and from Port Angeles and Sequim at night.
One time I was driving through
uptown with my Mom. Mike Castellano was coming the other way. At about the
Uptown Theater, we both moved over to where we were coming head-on. At the last
moment we switched to the opposite lanes we were supposed to be in. Mom was
more than a little excited, but all she said was, "You guys are going to
miss your timing one of these days."
I rode "Shot Gun" with
Herb Evanson on quite a few illegal races. He was one of the coolest drivers
I've ever ridden with. No matter how tight the situation was, he was as cool as
a cucumber. I always thought he should have been a race car driver. There are a
lot more stories. It was a great time. The only way we survived was because
there was so little traffic on the roads, particularly at night. The biggest
worry was hitting a deer or elk.
Some recent comments generated on Facebook include:
Karen Currie: Uptown to downtown, turn around at The Roma,
then park at the old Safeway. The cops finally got wise and told us we could
not park there any longer
Linda Johnson: Well I drove the loop but most times part of
loop?! Working at Aldrich s I could wave to all of you driving by or if not
busy, even chat a moment. Loved being a part (me and Steve Sofie) of the
uptown/downtown route!! We had our own corner of heaven.
Fred Camfield: I remember driving around with the late night
crowd. We would see someone trying to sneak in his house after staying out
late, and lean on the horn. Our loop was a bit more than uptown, downtown. That
was when the road at North Beach ran along the top of the bank where you could
easily climb down to the beach (back before the bank caved in and they moved
the road back about a block).
Chuck Boggs: We drove the loop for hours, it seemed, then
parked at Skip’s 76 uptown and then in later years parked downtown at the Sea
Wall.
Jan Boutilier: We called it dragging the gut and would
usually turn around at Harper's Shell downtown and go back through town again
and up Lawrence through uptown before heading back through downtown again -
over and over again.
Cheri Hoglund Mitton: I remember my dad and brother standing
in the drug store and watching my sister cruise, up and down....back and forth.
Sharon Sofie: 1959-1961 when gas was 50 cents a gallon, we
repeatedly drove through uptown and downtown before we parked at North Beach to
watch the Submarine races
Joy Bland: We kids in Poulsbo used to cruise in
Bremerton...told our parents we were going to the library.
Gail Lindseth: Uptown, Downtown, Uptown, Downtown. Then the
sea wall, then, Downtown, Uptown, ...
Lois Venarcheck: I only remember Pacific Avenue in
Bremerton.
Facebook comments from Port Angeles folks:
--I just had a memory of cruising the loop with my friends
in High School.
--We used to drive from PA to Bremerton to participate in
theirs because it was bigger.
--We cruised 1st Street and the Spit
--We cruised town and through A&W parking lot
--Frugals and speedway and the loop
--Yep, we cruised the loop every chance we got. Down Front
to Lincoln/Peabody to First then Arctic Circle, A&W, Pizza Pete's then back
down to Front St. Good old days
--I used to hide in the back seat of my sister’s car
--Every time I come back to town, I cruise it
--Friday and Saturday nights.
--Cruise town then through Birneys
The Cupboard, a favorite hangout in Portland, OR
HAPPY 4th OF JULY!
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