Welcome To the Sit 'N' Stick

When last we paid any attention to my life story, I had arrived in Waycross, Georgia in 2006 as the youth pastor at Trinity UMC.  Waycross is a unique place, and my early impressions were a mixed bag of special...and strange.  Today I remember a couple of the things that made Waycross unique.

Waycross is a "big" small town.  There are several nice motels.  It had all of your standard fast food restaurants (as a side note, the Hardees and Wendy's had signs when I arrived indicating that soon they would no longer except personal checks.  I never knew any fast food places accepted personal checks!), plus a KFC,  Krystal, Sonic and an Arby's.  It had a couple of very nice seafood restaurants, a great Chinese buffet and Wong's, which may be my favorite Chinese restaurant ever.  It had Dick's Wings & Grill, which I have mentioned in previous posts was a huge part of our student ministry.  Waycross provided me with my introduction to Zaxby's, which was a favorite hang out for lots of the youth.  In fact, I think I met students and families at Zaxby's 5 times during my first full week in town.  Waycross had plenty of food.


Waycross also had a multiplex movie theater, the Waycross Mall Cinema 7.  The complex was not actually in the mall, but behind it.  My friend (and Associate Pastor at TUMC) David White informed me that the theaters were more commonly known as the Sit 'N' Stick - because you did!  The floor was covered in soda spilled sometime around 1987.  Whole sections of seats were roped off because of water damage.  When the air conditioner came on, the noise reminded me of the rumble you hear at the Indiana Jones Stunt Spectacular at Disney's Hollywood Studios when the giant ball rolls after Indy.  The theater did not except credit cards, and there was no means of buying tickets online- in 2006.  And I don't think I ever saw a movie there when the projection equipment didn't malfunction at some point- usually between the coming attractions and the actual movie.  Nonetheless, every weekend the theaters were packed, because it was the only game in town...

I mentioned there was a mall.  Kinda sorta.  Again, I was informed early on that the locals called it The Small.  There just wasn't much there other than the town's only Chick-fil-A, and when it moved out to new facility it felt The Small just completely died.  The youth did a scavenger hunt there one time, and I promise you that the 20 of us doubled the crowd that night.  At various points in time they had a music store, a Chinese restaurant and a sporting goods store, as well as several places that sold some pretty ridiculous clothing styles that even my youth found to be over-the-top.  There was seldom any reason to visit The Small.


Waycross has much more to offer.  If you love trains, it's hard to find a better place to see them.  The Okefenokee Swamp is located just down Highway 1.  They have their own Christmas Parade and their own racetrack.  And Swampfest is a great festival of food and music held every April in downtown.  There were things to do in Waycross- and Jacksonville, Florida was only an hour away!  :)


It was a long strange trip that led to Waycross, and an even stranger path that brought me back to Tampa.  If you ever find yourself lost between I-75 and I-95 in south GA, check out Train Town.  Just stay away from the Sit 'N' Stick!


Because of Jesus,