Walk and Click Wednesday ~ March 20, 2013

Happy first day of spring!

 

It's been feeling and looking like spring here for a couple of weeks. Our temperatures are like a roller coaster though, up to the low 80's and then down to the mid 30's. We may see sleet tomorrow!  One big plus, the sun has been out more than it has rained! It's been a great time for walking and clicking!

 

Last week for Walk and Click Wednesday, Sarah at Paisley Rain Boots went home to the place where she grew up. You can read about it here if you'd like. I'm sure she'd enjoy your visit. Returning to capture images of her home, got me to thinking about where I grew up.  So, inspired by Sarah I decided to stay close to home and capture what it looks like now. I've lived in this community for over 45 years. My family moved here when I was eleven. Mr. H and I lived in another small town  for the first four years of our marriage and then returned and bought our first home.

 

 I live in the small town of Mabelvale that was been incorporated into Little Rock the capital city of Arkansas. We still have our own post office, zip code,  and "town proper". It's like we really don't belong to the big city, they just get our taxes and hmmmmm...oh we do get city trash pick up and sewer now. I guess we have benefited a little!!  Anyway, Mabelvale covers a lot of territory, but I'll just show you the main area. Main Street is only four blocks long. The entire center of town covers about ten blocks.

 

 

Mabelvale was established as small train station town.  I live about two miles from "downtown" and have driven across these tracks bazillions of times!

 

 

It's like any old town. There are some very old homes that have been refurbished and, of course, there are some that are falling down and rotting away.

 

 

The house below was in pretty bad shape before they restored it. It's the prettiest house in town now!

 

 

Many years ago this house was turned into a community center where meetings were held and where the local quilters all came together to quilt and gossip visit. It's since been abandoned and the quilters meet at the Methodist Church.

 

 

I know this building looks like a shack and that's what it is, a barbecue shack with delicious barbecue sandwiches. See the smoke coming out of the smoke stake. Oh my, our town smells good!! If you want to eat in town, this is your only choice! I will tell you that the inside is much nicer than the outside!

 

 

Our "town proper" has a car repair shop, a paint and body shop, a church, a model train store, a Masonic lodge, a car wash, a gas station, a couple of small businesses, a beauty shop, and a few more homes. Oh, and we can't leave out the  ball field. Not in real good shape, not big, but it's still the hub of the neighborhood during the summer.

I hope you enjoyed the tour through small town Arkansas!

 

Joining up with Lissa

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