24 Hour Businesses

When I first arrived in Gainesville in 1977, I was somewhat entranced by the fact that, in certain parts of town, there was a night life that went all the way around the clock. The best "24-hour" zone in town lay along NW 13th Street (US 441) from Jerry's around 16th Avenue up to Arthur Treacher's Fish and Chips about ten blocks further north. In between were several all-night businesses. There was the great Mister Donut, whose donuts are, to this day, my all-time favorites. There were two 24-hour grocery stores: Pantry Pride and Skaggs/Albertsons (now just Albertsons). Eckerds operated a 24-hour store jutting out of the Gainesville Mall. And, for a few years, there was Skeeter's, a perpetually-open breakfast restaurant which eventually expanded its menu and even featured live musical acts. Closer to me at the University of Florida was Krystal on University Avenue . To the Southwest, on Archer Road, there was a Sambo's Restaurant. And a Waffle House and an International House of Pancakes on SW 13th Street. On North Main Street, The Clock was a compact, efficient little all-night restaurant.

I suppose that nowadays we still have our "night-life" in Gainesville, although it seems to me that places tend to close down earlier in general. There are two Steak-n-Shake restaurants, two Waffle Houses, the same IHOP, the Clock, and a new 24-hour restaurant replacing Denny's at the Holiday Inn on 13th Street and University Avenue. Walmart seems to have changed to a 24 hour operation, although trying to shop there in the wee hours can be challenging, with all of the stock work and maintenance presenting obstacles for the customers. Walgreens and Albertsons are also stores "always open". The Mister Donut, though, is long-gone. Krispy Kreme, however, has operated a continuously-operated establishment since I've been in Gainesville. The main problem I have in going there, though, is that the smell inside (of their processed doughnuts) is so strong that it actually stinks a bit. Still, Krispy Kreme is the most inviting of the all-night places for me to just walk in, buy a coffee, sit down, and collect my thoughts. And because of this (smells notwithstanding), I bestow the Irwin Award of 24-Hour Excellence to Krispy Kreme on NW 13th Street.

The supreme irony about my criticism of my hometown's apparent trend away from an all-night culture is that I myself have been shifting away from it as well. When I get off work at midnight, I just head on home and bypass any late-night establishments. For many years I worked the graveyard shift until I physically and mentally simply couldn't stand it anymore. So maybe the fact that I don't try anymore to visit late-night places factors into this current perception of mine about Gainesville "rolling up the sidewalks" in mid-evening. But I get the feeling that, even though we still have all-night places in Gainesville, the 24-hour culture that used to be an important element of life here seems to have died. Could be my imagination, though. In all fairness, though, there has been a trend toward eating establishments keeping their drive-through service open very late (and sometimes around the clock). But they want you to buy your food and then go somewhere else, away from them!