Today's Flashback Friday is brought to us courtesy of guest writer and my best friend in the world, Diva Stacy.
I love the movie "Fast Times At Ridgemont High". It accurately portrays all the different types of teenagers that roamed the U.S. in 1981. The other night I was reminiscing about a place you could go back in the day and actually see all these subcultures of teens interacting; Malibu Grand Prix.
There were Malibu Grand Prix locations all over the country; a few still exist today. You could drive Gran Prix style go carts around a track. There was also a huge arcade filled with all the great video games of the day; Pac-Man, Asteroids, Donkey Kong, and Centipede. Of course you could fill up on sodas, popcorn, and other snacks.
The Malibu Grand Prix in our town was located right off the Expressway and you could see the race track as you drove by. I always looked over to see if I saw anyone I knew walking around. My boyfriend at the time loved video games so we would go there on the weekends to hang out. He played games and I watched all the Jeff Spicolis and Mike Demones of the world work their magic. My parents hated when we went there. They thought my boyfriend should be taking me on more appropriate, "traditional" dates, but I loved going to Malibu Grand Prix. Watching my best boyfriend conquer Missle Command in his tight, straight legged jeans and Nike Cortez with the smell of high calorie, low nutrition food lingering in the air, the ding of the arcade, and the roar of the little race cars. In 1981 that was a darned good time!
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2 comments:
I honestly do not remember Malibu Grand Prix. I guess it's because for starters, I never went there, not being one that liked arcade games. But the real reason is while other teenagers were looking at Malibu Grand Prix as they were on the Watterson, my attention was focussed on the trotter race track, Louisville Downs. I guess everything else paled by comparison.
Everytime we passed it on the Watterson, I made a point of looking out for it and gaze longingly at the people old enough to drive them. I was determined that I would go out there the day I turned 16 to try them out myself. Of course, the place closed before I turned 16.
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