The Children's Bordello

Sometimes I have an urge to recreate a childhood memory for one my offspring. Sometimes it is almost magical and I get to see one of them (there are 2 but one barely still qualifies as a child) giddy with the sheer novelty of experiencing something from another time. To them, these excursions in Mom's Forester may as well be a trip in Doc Brown's Delorean. Today, the time machine took us all the way back to 1985.

The actual Crystal's I frequented as a child closed down years ago. Fortunately, they all seem to have the same innards. They even have the same layout from what I remember.

Almost immediately, we were greeted by these light fixtures.

The parlour boasts a theater that plays nonstop old Warner Brother cartoons on a loop. It is virtually impossible to not be reminded of the Twilight Zone movie.

Decrepit games and old movie posters add to the general sense of something being terrifically off.

The you realize the ceiling over the large dining area has been decorated with playing cards. Some have names written on them.

In retrospect, they probably have something to do with this magician.

My son was most interested in the library room so that's where we dined.

The books were real. I checked.

For a brief while, I got to be Mrs White;
just waiting for a chance to be alone
with the sexy English butler.

The decor was creeptacular. Were I an eccentric rich girl, I would have a library exactly like this.

The food wasn't great but when/where are pizza buffets great?

Something about the library room inspired my son's curiosity about the old days. Did I have a DS like his? A computer? Did I have electricity?

I was overcome with a sense of sadness over the condition of the (gimmicky) old eatery. Crystal's was always bustling with eager and slightly creeped out children and their more than slightly creeped out parents. Today, the place was almost empty. A lone Indian watched a cricket match on one of the televisions while two children searched for games that didn't have a sign declaring them to be temporarily nonfunctioning.

I left somewhat relieved that it still exists at all, but sad to see the remnants of a bygone era that I was once a part.