Ah...Carvel... :)

If you grew up on Long Island in the 70's, 80's or I'm sure even today, one thing you had to have experienced was Carvel Ice cream. Summer wasn't summer unless some time was spent making a trip or two to the Carvel Ice cream store. Carvel and Mister Softee (..more on him in another post ) were the two main sources of ice cream on Long Island during the summertime (.. At least in our house anyway ) The Carvel location that we used to frequent was located on route 112 and I believe Peconic Road in Medford. There was a Honda motorcycle place located next door. I remember it's where my aunt Mary bought her Honda moped. It was the same moped that my cousin Mike and I would take out and joy ride when her and my mother would go to out bingo. Like I've probably mentioned before in a couple of my other posts, the things we remember as children aren't necessarily the same as adults. This would hold true with my memory of this particular Carvel location. I remember it being low in the back and being of high in the front. It had glass all around, and was angular. I guess you could say it appeared "postmodern" to me.

Since summers are always humid on Long Island, walking into one of these Carvel was like an immediate oasis. I remember the blast of cold air hitting you as you opened the door to go inside , and a smell in the air that could only be described as "clean". When I went to Google Maps and then to Street View, I made a point of finding the location of my childhood Carvel store. Although the images on here are aren't of that particular location, they are more of a "truer" reflection of what I thought it looked like in my mind as a child.

On Google Maps, I was greeted with a pale reflection of that memory...literally.Gone was the swirl cones that rotated on top and the red glowing neon "Carvel" sign in the front. The angular lines of the building were there, but the entire exterior was painted a stark white. The only signage on the building were some pink banners saying "Carvel" on them. I was a little sad with the results, but not too sad since the building was still standing. Even so it's still kind of depressing to look for things and places you knew as a child and to see them either modified or completely eradicated all together. At least that's the good thing about having memories, right?