Not all that long ago, someone had commented on my previous blog entry from about one year ago, reminiscing about the Red Apple Rest, and the lamentable state that it is in now.
That person wanted to know what the Red Apple Rest looked like now, if it had changed. I had heard some rumors, unsubstantiated though they might have been, that something was on it's way in that location, but nothing was quite solid just yet.
Plus, I had passed by the place myself once or twice since that blog entry, but had not bothered taking pictures.
But I decided to take another trip there, and for specific reasons that might seem silly or excessively sentimental to some.
You see, when I was a child, one of the times that we went to the Red Apple Rest as a family was on a return trip from my grandparents place in Liberty, New York, back to New Jersey. This would have been either in January of 1982 or 1985.
How do I remember that? Well, because I found out during my visit to Red Apple Rest that the New York Giants had been knocked out of the playoffs by the San Francisco 49ers, and remember feeling quite a bit down at that point. It was cold, and getting dark, and the weekend was growing late, almost to the point of being over. So, there was an all around depressing feeling for me at the time, knowing that I had to drag myself back to school the next day and, as usual, I probably had not done my homework, to boot!
Here's the thing, though: those problems seem rather quaint now. And the Giants and 49ers rivalry, which I wrote quite a bit about recently, as they met this past Sunday. Lately, when those two teams have a meeting against one another, I seem to make a point of going to Red Apple Rest for just a little while shortly after the game, just to reminisce a little bit. I used it as an excuse this time around to check on the condition of the place, although it really has not changed all that radically since the last time that I was there, a little over a year and a month ago.
That had been for a concert that my brother and I were heading to (from New Jersey) to Bethelwoods, the site of the old Woodstock concert. This latest trip was just for the hell of it, simply because the Giants and 49ers had met again, and I wanted to revisit one old haunt that always particularly reminds me of that storied NFL rivalry.
It was a frigid day, one of those kinds of November days where you can feel the early approach of winter. Also, the day was growing late. As I was walking around outside, my fingers actually began to hurt by how cold it was, as I took a whole bunch of pictures on the cell phone.
Yes, it's very cold outside. Still, at least we're not in Buffalo, right? Some suburbs got six feet of snow, and they are expecting another two to three feet between now and Friday! That's crazy!
Possibly the worst part of it is that the Buffalo area is expecting very mild, even warm weather with quite a bit of rain for this upcoming weekend. Massive amount of flooding following historic levels of snow! Not a good start to the cold weather season!
Still, the pictures reveal a less than thrilling scene. It still makes me sad to see such a landmark place of my childhood days having deteriorated so badly. It is still there, but it is in such poor condition now. The world has passed the Red Apple Rest by, although I wish it still was open, and I could have gone in and ordered a bite to eat.
Alas, it was not meant to be. But for anyone wondering if there have been any changes at the place, here are the most recent pictures that I took of the place. As I write this now, comfortable and warm as yet another evening is setting in, I look at these pictures with some measure of sadness at what once was, but is no longer. If they rebuilt this place, if they made another iconic institution at this location, would it work?
Maybe. Or, maybe not. It went out of business for a reason, I guess. But when I see the endless line of identical fastfood chains on long trips, and how these almost never seem to go out of business, it seems somehow a bit unfair that such a distinctive place as the Red Apple Rest should have gone under, apparently never to rise again.
http://www.stopattheredapple.com/submit-your-red-apple-story/
I thought that this was telling. A sign in the front door reminds potential patrons from years ago that shit and shoes are required for service.
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