Not a blog more like another pier banyan tree, a place to come & sit for a little while & wait for something fun to happen. A place for all the greezers, candyasses, Halloween egg throwers, former Publix bagboys & dirt bike riders to kill a little time until Halloween. Just like the good old days, wait around for a couple hours until you could find some geezer to buy you beer...
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Golden Gate City Of The Future?
And to think back then I thought Brookside was considered the outskirts of town.
This picture is the corner of Golden Gate Pkwy and CR 951. I remember when it looked this way. I have seen some of the oringal sales brocheres from the early days of GG showing what a beautiful city it would become some day. If what they had planned on had actually happened Golden Gate would be probably be a very different place today.
I remember driving around GG city back in the 70's when there were hardly anything there. A bunch of streets that ran around through the weeds. The only homes were in the NE portion of the development and what became known as the "old" neighborhood. The only other things around then were the motel and a hand full of businesses along CR 951. There were a couple of gas stations, Benson's grocery, and the Golden Gate Hardware store.
This picture looks so much better then a gas station and a run down flop house hotel on the corner. I remember it still to this day like the above picture.
When we were living on Kelly Rd and Brookside as a kid, we used to have our Boy-Scout meetings (1967-69) at the Golden Gate Inn, or what is now the Quality Inn.
Immokalee Rd or Davis Blvd was the only way to get there. And our Boy-Scout jamboree camp was where the new Livingston Regional Park is now. Trust me when I say "that was the boonies"
Snipe hunting anyone? If you ask, I'll explain in case you don't know what snipe hunting is.
What troop were you in Scott? I was in 165, led by a man I still greatly respect for how good a man he was, and for his sense of humor, John R. Wood. ---Stinson
Golden Gate Troop 169 Led by Mike Schmelings dad and Tom Brewer was scoutmaster. Man, did he love his Budweiser. Nothin' better than a drunk scoutmaster. (kidding)
Gulf American Land Corporation was busy selling land to the "snow-birds" in the mid/late 60s. Unfortunately some of the land they were selling was further east of G.G. and still under water. (Remuda Ranch?)
They had their own stable of aircraft and their own concrete landing strip that either paralleled or became Green Blvd.
After the "Land Rush" was halted, there was not much activity in “Golden Gate” but the then unused landing strip was a great pace to "drag race".
Sunday afternoons were a fun time out there:
"Ernie the pin-striper" from Bonita had a yellow '65 SS 396 Chevelle Z16/L37 sporting 375 horsepower; it was so "bad" that it arrived on a trailer. Burk and Roger were out there with their GTO's. Ellis from R and R Robinson would run either his burgundy 65 GTO or his Ram-Air '68 4-4-2. Sonny would trailer down from Ft. Myers and give everyone a good run 'cept I can't remember what he raced. The late David Gallman even showed up from Ft. Myers a few times, and ran his Ram-Air '68 GTO. Frank (from Toms' Standard station across from Dog'N'Suds) would come out with his '32 Ford coupe and blow away just about everyone.
Me...? Yeah, I ran the Barracuda against the 289 Mustangs and a few 327 Camaros and did OK, but for the most part, I was the idiot flagman (powered by Budweiser) that stood between the two cars as they launched . . . Yeah, Sundays at Golden Gate were a lot of fun back in the day . . . .
All the time that landing strip what would become Green Blvd was being used as a drag strip all those abandoned roads out in the Estates were being used as make shift landing strips for shall we say the "import" business.
I was in the Junior Optimist Club at Naples High School. It was mostly dorks who couldn't get into Key Club or a decent Boy Scout Troop. Our first and last annual camping trip was in a tract of sandspurs they were just beginning to develop in Golden Gate. Our sponsor, who lived in Gold Gate proper, forgot to get us tents, but dropped us off anyway, then went home. We spent the night sleeping under a bulldozer. --Vic and Gill
Green's still a racetrack, I live on Green, its amazingly similar! We used to cruise the roads and occasionally have a plane go right over our heads in the middle of the night. We'd go the other way. Importers usually didn't care for anybody watching.
I lived on 2200 41st Terrace across the empty field from "Benny's" conveinence store. At the time it was all empty fields looking out to Rt. 951. Randy Hopkins and I would race his stripped down Honda 350 running straight pipes across the fields north to the abandoned airstrip. There were sand berms running accross the fields that we would hit at speed with both of us on the bike. Got a lot of airtime! We would spend hours racing motorcycles, cars, jeeps, etc. through what is now Golden Gate Estates. Brian Dustin and I took his VW bus "scrambling" down a trail that was partially under water. We almost made until we hit a water hole that stalled out the engine. Mike Schmelings dad had to pull us out with his jeep. Other times we would go looking for "Bigfoot", an excuse to go camping and drinking. The rule was pitch the tent before cracking the seal.
This picture is the corner of Golden Gate Pkwy and CR 951. I remember when it looked this way. I have seen some of the oringal sales brocheres from the early days of GG showing what a beautiful city it would become some day. If what they had planned on had actually happened Golden Gate would be probably be a very different place today.
ReplyDeleteI remember driving around GG city back in the 70's when there were hardly anything there. A bunch of streets that ran around through the weeds. The only homes were in the NE portion of the development and what became known as the "old" neighborhood. The only other things around then were the motel and a hand full of businesses along CR 951. There were a couple of gas stations, Benson's grocery, and the Golden Gate Hardware store.
This picture looks so much better then a gas station and a run down flop house hotel on the corner. I remember it still to this day like the above picture.
ReplyDeleteWhen we were living on Kelly Rd and Brookside as a kid, we used to have our Boy-Scout meetings (1967-69) at the Golden Gate Inn, or what is now the Quality Inn.
Immokalee Rd or Davis Blvd was the only way to get there. And our Boy-Scout jamboree camp was where the new Livingston Regional Park is now.
Trust me when I say "that was the boonies"
Snipe hunting anyone?
If you ask, I'll explain in case you don't know what snipe hunting is.
C3R
What troop were you in Scott? I was in 165, led by a man I still greatly respect for how good a man he was, and for his sense of humor, John R. Wood.
ReplyDelete---Stinson
Golden Gate Troop 169 Led by Mike Schmelings dad and Tom Brewer was scoutmaster. Man, did he love his Budweiser. Nothin' better than a drunk scoutmaster. (kidding)
ReplyDeleteC3R
Gulf American Land Corporation was busy selling land to the "snow-birds" in the mid/late 60s. Unfortunately some of the land they were selling was further east of G.G. and still under water. (Remuda Ranch?)
ReplyDeleteThey had their own stable of aircraft and their own concrete landing strip that either paralleled or became Green Blvd.
After the "Land Rush" was halted, there was not much activity in “Golden Gate” but the then unused landing strip was a great pace to "drag race".
Sunday afternoons were a fun time out there:
"Ernie the pin-striper" from Bonita had a yellow '65 SS 396 Chevelle Z16/L37 sporting 375 horsepower; it was so "bad" that it arrived on a trailer. Burk and Roger were out there with their GTO's. Ellis from R and R Robinson would run either his burgundy 65 GTO or his Ram-Air '68 4-4-2. Sonny would trailer down from Ft. Myers and give everyone a good run 'cept I can't remember what he raced. The late David Gallman even showed up from Ft. Myers a few times, and ran his Ram-Air '68 GTO. Frank (from Toms' Standard station across from Dog'N'Suds) would come out with his '32 Ford coupe and blow away just about everyone.
Me...? Yeah, I ran the Barracuda against the 289 Mustangs and a few 327 Camaros and did OK, but for the most part, I was the idiot flagman (powered by Budweiser) that stood between the two cars as they launched . . . Yeah, Sundays at Golden Gate were a lot of fun back in the day . . . .
Seagate Homeboy
NHS Class of '67
2:24 p.m. PST
All the time that landing strip what would become Green Blvd was being used as a drag strip all those abandoned roads out in the Estates were being used as make shift landing strips for shall we say the "import" business.
ReplyDeleteYes - and quite an import business it was!!
ReplyDeleteI was in the Junior Optimist Club at Naples High School. It was mostly dorks who couldn't get into Key Club or a decent Boy Scout Troop. Our first and last annual camping trip was in a tract of sandspurs they were just beginning to develop in Golden Gate. Our sponsor, who lived in Gold Gate proper, forgot to get us tents, but dropped us off anyway, then went home. We spent the night sleeping under a bulldozer.
ReplyDelete--Vic and Gill
Green's still a racetrack, I live on Green, its amazingly similar! We used to cruise the roads and occasionally have a plane go right over our heads in the middle of the night. We'd go the other way. Importers usually didn't care for anybody watching.
ReplyDeleteI lived on 2200 41st Terrace across the empty field from "Benny's" conveinence store. At the time it was all empty fields looking out to Rt. 951. Randy Hopkins and I would race his stripped down Honda 350 running straight pipes across the fields north to the abandoned airstrip. There were sand berms running accross the fields that we would hit at speed with both of us on the bike. Got a lot of airtime! We would spend hours racing motorcycles, cars, jeeps, etc. through what is now Golden Gate Estates. Brian Dustin and I took his VW bus "scrambling" down a trail that was partially under water. We almost made until we hit a water hole that stalled out the engine. Mike Schmelings dad had to pull us out with his jeep. Other times we would go looking for "Bigfoot", an excuse to go camping and drinking. The rule was pitch the tent before cracking the seal.
ReplyDelete