Pesto on...

[HopeHoops]

37. Yeah, I know where that is. My driver's ed teacher owned the house they demolished...

... to put in the N.E. loop of the 29/108 cloverleaf. They forced her out. When I first moved into Columbia (1968), we had the fourth house up on Thunder Hill Rd. (5047). Everything in front of the house was open field. I could see the pyramids on the Columbia Mall from my front porch. Things changed, and very rapidly. Rouse created the perfect environment for people of all ages, but he made one mistake - he forgot the 13-19 year old range. There was NOTHING to do, so of course we got into whatever trouble we could find. Reston (sister Rouse city) suffered the same fate.

When we moved there (house was built and we watched the progress), 108 was a windy, twisty, two-lane (barely) back road. The Allview Inn (just north of you on the other side of 108) was our "score some beer" store. I remember when people would dive off of the tower at lake (starts with a "Q" and nobody can pronounce it, but it's actual pronunciation is "Kit-a-ma-cundy" with no accent syllable) into relatively clean water. By the time I left the area, not only was swimming prohibited, but they'd begun to cut out paddle boats. It got really gross. And to think I used to fish in that artificially-created lake. The people tree was still cool, and I remember running around under the fountain.

I also remember when Hobbit's Glenn was only partially developed. One of the cul-de-sacs was our high school beer-drinking hang out. The cops mostly left us alone. And then there's Merriweather. I got season tickets every year - about $8/ticket (imagine that now). I saw some fucking good shows there. It was walking distance. I met Phil Collins at the Hilton there the day after my girlfriend died in a car accident on Cedar Lane (near the hospital). "Afterglow" was our song.

I still have trouble going back to that area. Good memories, yes. Bad ones, more.