Vaihingen Bahnhof

Again, not the best nightshot, but many hours spent on these platforms coming and going. We didn't actually go downtown on this trip, but I did back in '97 and 2000, and not much has changed, at least not in the regular hangouts.

Vaihingen Schillerplatz

When we first moved to Vaihingen in 1984, I immediately started figuring out how to get downtown. I had to catch the #84 or #7945 bus from the underpass near the BMW building. It would take you to the Schillerplatz, where you could either stay on the bus downtown, or get off and take the #1 or #14 U-bahn to downtown. The bus was faster, but the U-bahn was fun. Tom and I used to ride our bikes all the way downtown (in that traffic, were we nuts?), which was almost all downhill into the valley, and then put them on the U-bahn for the ride back uphill to Vaihingen. Sometimes they'd let us, sometimes we'd get something like "Bitte umsteigen mit deine fahrrad!" But then the S-bahn started working in '85 and the bus ended at the Vaihingen bahnhof and you transferred to the S-bahn, which was way fast. I think the U-bahn will still take you, though. Don't ask me why I remember all those numbers. Too many hours riding.

Vaihingen Rathaus

So I tried a few nightshots with my new camera. Some of them came out, but I didn't have a tripod. I always loved hanging out in Vaihingen at many different places. Didn't hangout here at the Rathaus, but I went past it thousands of times. There was lots of cool little shops and places to eat close by. FYI, this area has pretty much remained unchanged, although there is an updated version of the indoor shopping mall there now. And I think the Schwaben Brau brewery is no more. Don't know what happened there.

My Dream Car

There were a few seniors who turned 18 and got their driver's licenses. Most of us had no hope, though. I do remember a few......Tom Reed, again, did quite well with his Dad's Saab. I remember going 230 kph with NHS president Charlie Stone during an official function in his Dad's BMW. I think I should stop there. At any rate, none of us that I remember came close to this. Except, maybe, Mr. Heffernan.

O Club

My first exposure to schnitzel was at the Officer's Club. We had just moved there and I wasn't too keen on trying new foods. Dad figured we'd like schnitzel, and he was right, but it took some coaxing. Since we lived in the Sonnenhof in Vaihingen those first few weeks, we weren't doing our own cooking, so we ate here quite a bit. I eventually got around to trying other foods, but schniztel was a staple. Also, remember the LaRomantica pizza joint downstairs? At first that seemed promising.......a place for the teens to hang. But I only remember going there once. Hmmmm. I also remember feeding nickels and quarters into the slot machines upstairs and the occasional bazaars where you could buy all things Deutsch.

Former Commissary

Geesh, how many hundreds of hours was spent here? Some of you might know that before endless hours bagging groceries, I spent endless hours at night (well, 3-4 a week) stocking shelves at the hallowed four aisles of the PC. Tom Reed can tell you some stories of the fun that was to be had with huge pieces of cardboard, forklifts, and packages of damaged goods. Don't worry, everything you bought there was safe. Anyone remember Sgt. Atkins? I don't know what this building is now.

Senior Lockers

My locker is just at the edge of the screen to the left. FYI.

Tribute to Mr. Hanks

For those of you who weren't aware, in 2002 one of our Biology teachers tragically took his own life in the school after hours. A bench in his honor, with this plaque, has been designated in tribute, just outside his classroom.

The Halls of PHS

The only significant change I noticed inside were that the locker circles have been removed and all lockers have been put against the walls. Oh, that and there's tons of computers now. This pic was taken on the main (3rd) floor from the office/library area looking down towards the senior locker area.

Bill at PHS

You know, I never really used the front door. It was too close to the office. :')

Brian at PES

You'll notice we had to wear visitor's passes. Alumni status didn't get us out of it. You'd think we'd get some sort of perks.

Patch High School from Smokers' Hill

It's amazing how little change the high school and elementary school have undergone. The only difference Brian and I could see was the addition of an annex building kind of in the triangle between the HS, the ES, and smoker's hill (from whence this photo was taken.....how's that for proper grammar Mr. Minette!.....I still got it!) I like the new sign announcing your arrival to Panther Country, or was that there then? For those interested, Smoker's Hill has been lovingly preserved, although I don't know if it still functions as such.

Former Medical Clinic

If you had major needs, you had to go to the bigger hospital at Bad Canstatt. Otherwise this equally scary building served as your path to health. I think I show it only because on the top floor was the dental clinic. I remember some Army Major refusing to numb me up for one of my fillings (tooth #13, I do recall), and I wanted to punch him. Inspiration for a future career path?

Movie Theater

aka, Patch Playhouse. I remember when we first moved there it was some terribly dreary old quanset hut. Creepy. Then they closed it down for like 9 months to refurbish and it was a major event in the Stuttgart military community when it re-opened. The first film they showed was Silverado (don't ask me why I remember that). I think it was 2.00$ to get in, and popcorn and cokes were even affordable, even for mid-80's standards. The most vivid memory, though, was the line when Top Gun came out. Top Gun remains, to this day, the movie I associate most with my time in Germany. I won't even start quoting it........"You can be my wingman any day!!.......(sniff)" (Correction...Top Gun and Three Amigos)

PX and Shoppette

Does shoppette have one 'p' or two? No matter, it's no longer there. The PX is now a thrift store. The main PX is over on Panzer. We do at Patch have a lovely new commissary that I think was done around the late '90s. That whole stretch of building on the right used to be the Shoppette where we'd get our gummi bears, Ritter Sport chocolates, Cherry Cokes, then there was a vending area, a Four Seasons store, plus some other stuff I forget. To the left of the PX was the bookstore. Now there's a Subway, a Sixt Car Rental, and that's about it.

Gym and Bowling Alley

Spent many hours here. With not much to do for teenagers on such a small installation, the gym and bowling alley became a frequent hangout, especially in the winter. The gym has been updated, but the bowling alley no longer exists, or at least isn't in this location any more. Now a fairly large workout area is here. The bowling alley used to have the worst pizza and a few video games, plus cheap bowling and great shoes.

Husky Field

Sorry it's been so long updating. My wireless internet is not working, so after transferring all the pics, I can now upload them from the desktop.

Anyhow.....back to the show. This is Husky Field, site of many events including PHS football, league softball, military drills, ceremonies, and the 4th of July fireworks show.