Back in the 80s, this building on Virginia Beach Blvd housed a chain meat shop called Murry's. Murry's was a regional chain.. Maryland, Virginia, DC.. I think mostly Mid-Atlantic and upper South.

The building is at 4135 - 4143 Virginia Beach Blvd, and is now occupied by a cabinet showroom and a cake shop.. the building has a subtle second story. Back in the mid-80s, the second story had some apartment units. There was a cool kid (Amanda) who used to live over the meat shop..

Behind the Murry's during the 80s & 90s, was a small, well hidden collection of shacks. They looked like they may have once been temporary housing for long-gone migrant workers. They seemed really out of place in late 20th Century Virginia Beach. But, who knows..

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

Godspeed Pembroke Mall

For people who didn't hear (or basically don't care), and the Hampton Roads diaspora who haven't thought about Pembroke Mall for a long time.. It is being transformed in to assisted living & hotel space. The reporting is that the anchor stores that surround the mall will remain (Target, Kohl's etc), while the smaller stores that made up the guts of Pembroke will be gone & replaced with housing. 

It's a strange transformation.. but regrettably makes sense in an era where large retail space is becoming obsolete..

The abandoned Sears in it's last days..

Bit of England in it's last hours..

All the good memories of Space Port, Mother's Records, Pizza Delight, Orange Julius, Fine's, the old Waldenbooks (vital before Barnes & Noble & Borders). Laughing at(or with) Pembroke's experiment in mall carpeting. This place meant a lot.

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

 

With the imminent transformation of Pembroke Mall, effectively from retail to residential space (a senior living facility and a hotel.) Thought I'd post some old mall floor plans & images.

I noticed the creator of this map accidentally misspelled Jeanne street.

This one was undated, or at least I didn't see a date, but from first-hand memories, I think it's circa 1992. 

One of my first memories of Pembroke was when the Orange Julius was in front of Sears' interior entrance (before moving to the center of the mall). It had the old template, with the glass counter, filled with plastic oranges.

(not Pembroke, but you can see the orange-filled counter, and the acid-washed jeans)

An earlier post on the old exterior Pembroke theaters- https://lostvirginiabeach.blogspot.com/2019/12/ultra-vision-theatre-that-once.html

Contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

 

The evolution, death, and resurrection of Hugh Mongous.

An old postcard I have, featuring the earliest Hugh Mongous (the mascot). At the time he was standing guard over Jungle Falls.

In his seminal late '7os, early '8os days. Hugh was pantless, and a pretty realistic recreation of a gorilla.

But at some point, Hugh was partially clothed, and the park name was changed to Wildwater Rapids. During this era, Hugh was inexplicably torched, and then replaced with a full-on anthropomorphic character..

Even after the park went thru a second rebranding (as Ocean Breeze), I was still unawarely referring to the park as Jungle Falls. But I was reminded of it in a surprisingly random Zippy comic (property of Bill Griffith) I saw (I think in the LA Weekly, or LA Times). It was a cool reference to Virginia Beach..

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com (send me old Jungle Falls photos if you got 'em.)

 

Cool, but long forgotten promotional campaign for ODU basketball.. The Big Blue Beast.

The mascot was some kinda' non-descript, barely contained ghoul, that (by implication) bit fans. The catch line was, I got bit by the Big Blue Beast.. and I loved it.

The Beast was escorted around (a half empty) Scope by cheerleaders & Monarch mascot.

Honestly, it looked like something that would've been picked up and resold by Jawas.

A unique ad campaign, from Old Dominion's Sun Belt days.

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

Abandoned McDonald's at the intersection of Lynnhaven Parkway & South Lynnhaven Road.. (South Lynnhaven runs like an arc, so it intersects Lynnhaven Parkway twice. This is the intersection directly across from Potters Rd.) 

Not sure when it closed, but remember well from it's 80s/90s prime..

 

(the facade remodeled)

At some point it was remodeled and now houses an animal eye doctor. Seems like a noble, necessary field, but who knew animals had optometrists..

contact- nat.rain@gmail.com

Beach's bygone zine culture..

Samples of old Virginia Beach skate zines,

Page from Speed Wobble zine, explaining what skaters from WW (Windsor Woods neighborhood) were about. You used to see that referenced logo (with the Ws & fork in between) around Trashmore, etc.

From Soul Skate zine, really great photo.. and the old '8os 17th logo (that has been resurrected.)

Unrelated to the skate culture, this was my favorite Beach zine, circulating in the mid 9os. And this ad was (presciently) published years before Cosby's scandals. John A. & Loose Screws had a good staff of contributors..

If anyone has some vintage zine pages, send 'em to me. I appreciate them- nat.rain@gmail.com