Remember the Peanut Shack? I do, and I Still Miss It.

I can't remember when the University Mall in Nacogdoches officially closed, but I remember the last time I walked through it. It was in 2019. I walked by all the shuttered spaces of stores that I used to visit while I was growing up.

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I walked by the Payless ShoeSource, the Waldenbooks, the Gordon Jewelers, Hibbett Sports, and more. But the one that I was the saddest to see close down wasn't one of the chain stores. It wasn't even one of the biggest stores. It was the Peanut Shack.

For those of you that didn't get to visit the Peanut Shack, it was a little snack shop, located in the center of the University Mall. They had all kinds of snacks. There was popcorn, candy, chocolate, fountain drinks, and all kinds of other things. But the thing I remember the most, was the Coca-Cola Icee. That was my go-to place for an icee. I didn't have to indulge in any of the other snacks they offered - even though they were all good - as long as I could get that frozen drink.

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Sometimes, I'd go get one and just sit in one of the tables while I enjoyed it. It sounds bad, but the mall was never packed, so it was always a nice quiet place to just relax without having to worry about who you might run into.

But, as they say, all good things come to an end. So, in 2019 the Peanut Shack closed down for the last time. Not long after that, the mall changed from a traditional, indoor mall design, to more of a shopping center, and it still maintains that design today. But I can still taste the Coca-Cola icee, and still think about it when I drive by what is known as the "University Plaza".

Take a look at some of the pictures that I got before it completely changed: