Growing up in UEC (Upper East Cary, ie Lochmere) there wasn’t a whole lot to do for a 12-15 yr old kid. There was fishing, shooting bb guns, swimming, football in the streets and riding your BMX around the jogging trails of Lochmere. One place the trails always lead us was to Waverly Place. Waverly Place was an outdoor strip mall type place that never really caught on and is now being blown up, probably for some craptastic over-crowded strip mall like the one that houses Wal-mart across the street.

Everytime I drive by Waverly Place, i think of all the ridiculous adolescent things we did there to amuse ourselves. A typical Waverly Place afternoon would consist of a trip to the fountain to snag some the quarters close to the edge in order to finance our Tuxedo’s Yogurt addiction or a visit to Sub-Conscious. We would then roll next door to CD Superstore and sit at the listening stations and listen to the latest Sir Mix-a-Lot album for hours. Sneak into the back door of the movie theatres We’d venture out into the heat and see who could ride their bike down the escalator or play a rowdy game of bike-tag with the security guard chasing us on his golf cart.

There were days when we would “hang out” with the girls in the stair wells or drink an O’douls in the woods behind Waverly Place. Regardless of what adventure we decided upon that day, it always ended it by riding over the rope that rings the dry cleaner’s bell in order to get the old guy to chase us down into the woods. It was like clockwork, the closest he ever came to catching us was within a few feet of one of our shirts.

Waverly Place never took off and I can remember all the businesses that came and went due to the lack of traffic: CD Superstore, China Pearl, Chi-Chis, Carbonated Video, Toy Store, Tuxedos Yogurt, Sub-Conscious, Pie Works, Harris Teeter, Movie Theatre among others.

It was part of my childhood and to see it being razed is really a disappointment, I just hope they don’t replace it with your typical brick strip mall and offices.