Only 80s Kids from Lake Charles Will Remember These Spots

Lake Charles, LA [KNGT-FM] - As I sit here in my office, my mind drifts back to when I was growing up in the 1980s here in Lake Charles and throughout Southwest Louisiana. It’s funny how one small memory can open the floodgates.

You know what I am talking about, right? The stores where we begged our parents to take us, the restaurants where we celebrated birthdays, and the hangouts that felt like the center of our universe.

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New businesses have moved in, old landmarks have disappeared, and entire areas of town look nothing like they once did. Progress has brought growth and opportunity, but it has also quietly erased pieces of the past.

The places that once felt larger than life, where we shopped, ate, played, and spent countless weekends, now live mostly in our memories. For those of us who grew up here, those places weren’t just businesses; they were part of our story, woven into what it meant to grow up in Lake Charles in the 80s.

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Let's go back in time and see if you remember going to these places and doing these things. I bet once you see the list, it will bring you back to the 80s, and the memories will start flooding back.

Growing up in the 80s in Lake Charles, you will remember these places

Skate City -- It was everyone's Friday night hangout in middle school. You were fortunate if you got to stay for both sessions.

Riding Up and Down Ryan Street -- Riding up and down Ryan Street with your friends was a thing that was a must in Lake Charles on a Friday or Saturday night. The route we all took was from McDonald's on Rayns Street and headed North down Ryan to the Lake Charles Civic Center, stopping along the way at spots like the seawall or KMart parking lot to hang out with friends.

The Cover Up on Ryan Street -- It was the store everyone went to to buy those name-brand clothes like Guess, Pepe, and Girbaud brand jeans. Let's not forget the iconic Z Cavarrichi pants and Polo shirts.

The Prien Lake Mall -- We all had our parents drop us off at the mall when we were younger to basically walk up and down the then L-shape mall halls looking for friends and visiting the iconic stores there like Morrow's Nut House, Musicland, Alladin's Castle, and the Orange Bowl pizza.

Harvest Records -- This was the place in the 80s where you went and bought your albums, cassettes, and, when CDs came out. The coolest thing most people loved about the music store was when you bought something from there, they would put a Harvest Records sticker on it and write the date you bought it. Then all your friends knew that you bought your music from a cool place. It's the little things back then.