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The Online Magazine FOR and ABOUT Southside Virginia

3/27/2023

"On The Funside"

Waiting for the good things in Rocky Mount

  By Amy Hanek

   Just over two years ago, my family and I were living in Florida. On our first visit to Rocky Mount we checked into the Holiday Inn Express and made plans to eat across the street, at Applebee�s.

   Pulling our truck into the restaurant parking lot, we quickly realized the flaw in our plan. It was a Saturday evening, around 7 pm and there was a line out the door. Everyone else in town must have had the same plan as ours.

   So, we drove down 40 West to the largely unpopulated and definitely understated, Pizza Hut. There, we enjoyed meeting our first local � related to half the county. Indulging in beer with our deep dish pizza, we drank the restaurant dry after the second round. Despite this minor flaw, we had fallen in love with the area and made plans to move.

   Just a year later, that Pizza Hut burnt down.

   I read the story in the paper. One of the closing staff members left a candle lit. I guess that�s all the place needed to ignite and burst into flames.

   Also in the newspaper story I read were vague plans for a new Pizza Hut. My husband and I were thrilled.

   In Florida, it wouldn�t take long for something, like a restaurant to rebuild. I�m not sure why. It could be the recent real estate boom or six-month Hurricane season, but construction materials were always available down there. Six months later, maybe nine, and you�ve got yourself a new building. Give yourself a year, and you probably forgot what the old building even looked like.

   So, I was a little surprised, and a little disappointed, when the new Pizza Hut didn�t just pop up over the next 12 months. During the summer, I finally gave up. Deciding the project had been dropped, I even explored other great Pizza joints.

   Then, two weeks ago, I saw a familiar picture in the paper. It was of a pile of dirt in the middle of an empty parking lot. I knew right away it was the old Pizza Hut. The paper informed very little, but did say that the new building will be built soon.

   The entire town is buzzing in anticipation. And the stories all speculate the same.

   �Did you hear that this Pizza Hut will have a drive-thru? I did.�

   �I heard this Pizza Hut will also have a Taco Bell.�

   These are just some of the rumors I�ve heard.

   I�ve also heard a Cracker Barrel, Winn Dixie and maybe a Long John Silvers are slated to go up along 40 West.

   So, I�m holding out hope. And despite the competition slated for Rocky Mount, Pizza Hut can count on me. I will be first in line to order a greasy deep dish pizza and even an ice-cold beer. Good things are always worth waiting for.

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 Amy Hanek lives near Smith Mountain Lake with her husband, three kids, and two cats.

 An experienced freelance writer, her articles appear in area publications including "Prime Living ". Her column "Just Add Water" runs in the the "Laker Weekly".

 Amy is also working on a regional ghost book covering the areas of Lynchburg, Roanoke and Blacksburg. It is expected out by the end of 2009. Schiffer publishing is the publisher.

 You can read more of her stories at
www.houseonthegladehill.blogspot.com

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Questions or comments about "On The Funside"
E-Mail amyh@discoversouthside.com

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