Places You Might Remember if You Lived in Lansing in the ’80s

I've been thinking about places in Lansing that were here in the 1980s but are no longer around. There are so many of them that I miss.

I was out with a girlfriend the other day and we were doing a bit of reminiscing over a glass of wine (okay a bottle of wine) and started playing the 'do you remember........' game.   I must say with each glass of wine we got more creative and a bit sad for some of the places we miss to this day.

First off, did you know that Lansing had a ski hill? The Lansing Ski Club was located near Park Lake Rd and Lake Lansing. It had 7 runs and 5 tows. I skied there a lot and was devastated when it was closed down in 1984 and was replaced by condos. To this day I feel it was a bad decision to tear it down. One less thing to do outside.

Lets talk shopping. I still miss shopping at Gantos, my go-to spot when I needed something fancy and fun to wear. For the guys it was Bacharach's (FYI...that was Danny's favorite store). Both of those stores were at the Meridian Mall. One of my favorite days would have been spent shopping in downtown East Lansing at Jacobson's and then having lunch there. That was always such a special day.

After work many of us would head off to the Boom Boom Room in Frandor (free popcorn and fun tropical drinks). Fun fact, that is where I met my husband David Andrews. I was there with a group of radio people and he just moved to town and was with a group from the TV station.

Another place that was fun and a great place to dance was B'ZAR. They also had a nice spread of food for Happy Hour. They were located below America's Cup in East Lansing. Dancing was huge in the 1980s to great bands like Duran Duran.

After a night of drinks and dancing, a gall's got to eat. We would all pack into The Pantry, which had the best food for late at night. It was located where Dublin Square is now. Another restaurant that was known for their being the "home of the original pizza pie" was CASA NOVA, which had delicious food. Another fabulous place was The Backstage Restaurant in the Meridian Mall. Great drinks (hmmm, I say that a lot) and great food. And do you remember the Gandy Dancer? It was sooooo good.

How many of us went to the Spartan Triplex theater? I mean going there to see the Rocky Horror Picture Show?  I lost track of how many times I went there, but it was such a fun atmosphere. There are not that many movies where you are encouraged to go down to the front of the theater and dance in front of the screen, and it was always best if you were in costume.

Lansing was a blast in the 1980s and still is today.