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Personal Site Response (Thelma’s Rib Shack)

Posted on by under Site Descriptions, Uncategorized
Side View Of Entrance

Side View Of Entrance

As soon as I approached the once-famous restaurant, I quickly noticed that the shop was strangely looked abandoned and after close inspection, I noticed the place was closed. There seemed to be a patrol police around guarding the area, and he even asked me why I was interested in that old ‘thing.’  But, from what I’ve learned from the old cop lingering around was that Thelma’s Rib Shack was a bustling place of business at one point. He told me that after Thelma’s Rib Shack had failed a health inspection, the place was closed down. Which was weird to me that I place opened so long ago was closed in an instant.

From gleaming in the windows, I could see the place was cleared completely out. Seeing doors in unusual places (like in the above photo) stacked against the windows. I could even see the open-ended cafe.

Back View

Back View

The back of the building kind of gave me a nostalgic type of feel. Making me remember the old movies I use to see on TV shows like “The Jeffersons.” You could even say I was saddened that I wasn’t able to eat there. I could just imagine the customers sitting outside enjoying the southern cuisine. Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to go completely around the building with the police there, but with the damaging building, I was weary of doing so anyway. So… I did the next best thing. I asked the homeless in the area that seemed pretty friendly and maybe knew slightly more information especially if they’d been the area for awhile. After searching for maybe 15-20 minutes or so I found an older looking gentlemen who told me the smell from Thelma’s would light up the whole neighborhood. I asked him “what do you mean by that?”. And, he responded with he would see people from all over even tourist pour into this small shop. People he thought would never step foot in anything but a “SunDial” were there to enjoy the food.  Honestly, I wish I could reverse time to get a sense it was like. If the gentlemen I meant was taken away by just the thought, then the experience must have been truly breathtaking.

 

Thelma’s Rib Shack (FBED)

Posted on by under Site Descriptions, Uncategorized

Around 5 o’clock in the afternoon I started to walk towards the now closed “Thelma’s Rib Shack.” On the way down there you start to see closed down shops and the occasional homeless man sleeping under the bridge. As I began to approach the store and began to observe the surrounding area I noticed there was a lot of “yellow tap.” Symboling to me that either there was unusual amount cut off sections of the neighborhood.

Entrance to Thelma's Shack

Entrance to Thelma’s Shack

The entry of the once known “Thelma’s Rib Shack” is met with a slightly rusted metal screen door. The window to the shack also seems slightly weathered from, but the words are still clearly visualisable. There appears to be some sort of picture that has been scratched off as well on the right side of the image. Maybe, due to weathering from the old age of the building or the lack of care that this place has received from being closed in 2012 unfortunately.

I began to pan around the building (noting the police and closed off streets). I noticed some wood damage and what “seemed” to me to be a grill of some sort. The graffiti on the pole made me pan my eyes towards it in complete curiosity. Most, of the graffiti on the pole, could be more related to playful with things written on it like “ATL” or “Pick up My New Mixtape.”

Another Side View

Another Side View

Side of the building

Side of the building

The further I went to the side of the building I noticed the “keep out” sign on the edge of the building. Which combined to the tape further down must have signed the danger hazard from the slowly crumbling building from abandonment. If you look closely at the photo “Another Side View” you can see the damaged roof starting to slope in the center slightly.

As I began to walk away from the 50-year-old building I took one last glance at Thelma’s Rib Shack and noticed that the color itself of the restaurant was completely different from any all nearby buildings. The color seemed to of popped in comparison to the other now closed shops. Even though the store was closed, it was great to take a step back into history and examine the past.

 

 

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