GRAND BEND, ON
During the winter season, tourists say goodbye to the cool ice cream and summer wear because soon the shops will be boarded up until the next season.
“The ways in which we think about space matter a great deal to how we inhabit and use places and spaces, and how we interact with people across the world- to across our cities”
Spaces and Places of Popular Culture by Susie O'Brien
Vanessa: Living closer to and visiting Grand Bend multiple times in the summer has given me a different perspective of the strip than most who visit say, once a year. When I look at this photograph I don't see a run down, closed pizza place, but a place where people come to gather and take a break from the hot weather, enjoying the food that this place has to offer.
Taylor: Since I live out of town and have never been to Grand Bend, this pizza place, to me, looks like it is run down and dirty. This place gives off the 'beachy' vibe and can see why it fits into this strip but it also looks like it has not been kept up with.
Vanessa: When I walked by this store and saw it in this state I felt a rush of sadness, as I only have good memories of this shop and how its always filled with people and life. Seeing it in this condition, empty, cleared out, like no one has been here for years only made me think back to the summer time and all the good memories my friends and I have had there as we would walk in and grab a sweet treat for ourselves and take a break from the heat of the sun on the beach.
Taylor: To me, this shop looks dirty and the way everything is out away is unorganized and looks like it being put away for good. The shop does certainly match the beachy and relaxed feeling of being by the beach but with this picture I cannot see how this shop is a 'must go to' kind of place.
Vanessa: When taking this picture and walking around, Grand Bend looked like a ghost town. This was very strange to me because I'm used to seeing the sidewalks crowded with people filled with excitement and cheerfulness. Because of this, I felt like I had never been to this place and it was a totally new experience which allowed me to look at it from a different angle.
Taylor: While taking this picture I noticed how quiet it was and how there was no body in sight, except for the few cars driving passed.
This to me made it really seem like a ghost town and could not imagine why, with all the closed down stores, people would want to go there.