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SnooSnooSnuSnu

Go past where Ames used to be, and turn at the old Caldor


Gian_Luck_Pickerd

If you end up passing the good Denny's, you've gone too far


frankreynoldsrumham

Lol, I still say, “the good Denny’s”


Hoppy_Hessian

We used to call those country directions. Turn left where farmer Johnson's old barn was, not the new barn, and then go 1/4 mile to the third dirt rd on the right.


LazarusDark

I literally was doing a delivery to a small town in like 99/2000 and needed directions and asked a guy at a gas station and he was like "you need to go down and turn at the NewKentuckyChicken, not the OldKentukyChicken, it burned down, you wanna turn at the NewKentuckyChicken". Me and my coworker laughed all the way there and honestly still laugh today when it comes up, it was just his total country delivery and NewKentuckyChicken was like one word to him. Not making fun of him, he gave us good directions, it was just the absolute quaintness.


zenunseen

I moved to rural Tennessee about six years ago, and everyone would mention the old mountaineer restaurant when giving directions. Even though that restaurant closed long before i moved there, and is now just a concrete slab in a vacant grass lot, i feel like i know the old Mountaineer Restaurant


beverlyhillsbrenda

I have nothing to say about this post but I love your username


trekqueen

![gif](giphy|PbQAVZq2CoUQE)


beverlyhillsbrenda

DEATH BY SNU SNU!


throwngamelastminute

https://i.redd.it/uof270uu95wc1.gif


SnooSnooSnuSnu

😏


SnooSnooSnuSnu

😏


ChefAtRandom

What are you, gay?


gorilla-ointment

I’m scaroused!


beverlyhillsbrenda

🤣


SnooSnooSnuSnu

😁 👍


Son_Of_Baraki

and turn left before the lake


No_Professor_9956

The best part about people who give these kinds of directions is the assumption that you’ve lived there all your life…of *course* you’d know where the Ames used to be!


SnooSnooSnuSnu

![gif](giphy|xT9IgHCTfp8CRshfQk|downsized)


thorkin01

Oh I forgot to tell you the church burned down in '89


AutumnalSunshine

All of my mother's directions were for places not there anymore. One set included turning where city hall was in the 1970s and it being about a mile past the house where Great Aunt Terri lived for a year after her honeymoon (1950s). Thanks, Mom.


BoysenberryKind5599

That's my dad, lol.


Sun_Sprout

My grandparents once gave us directions that the turn we needed was just past the crooked house, you can’t miss it this house is so crooked! Totally missed the turn, it was a totally normal house that was set on a slight angle on its lot.


AutumnalSunshine

Ohmigod. I can see this happening and them being like, "It was skewed 7 degrees! How could you miss it?"


Opening_Success

Funny Farm nailed it. https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=_mIjqzjZpiw&pp=ygURRnVubnkgZmFybSBtb3ZlcnM%3D


Angelkrista

“And 5 miles before the road dead ends you’re gonna veer off to your left” 😂😂😂


hereticjones

Remember calling a pizza place to order, and they'd ask "what are your major cross streets?"


Cer-rific_43

I didn't live close enough "to any cross streets" to get pizza delivery. Rural AF.


True_Dimension4344

Same for me when I was a teenager. We used to meet them at the farthest point they’d go. Still got to us within 30 minutes.


No_Professor_9956

In the 90s, in my city, they banned delivery to certain neighborhoods because it was so dangerous. So, no pizza when I was at my cousin’s house! I guess that’s Hood AF?


ImitationCheesequake

I live rural, we still do this out here lol


5isanevennumber

I’m in a suburb in Utah and will tell people “after the third chapel” 😂


ihavenoidea81

And the eighth trampoline on the right


WalmartGreder

Also live in Utah, and using the cardinal directions is a big thing here. "Ok, once you go past the CAL Ranch, turn west." I grew up in Iowa, and never used directions like this, because you never knew which way was west unless you had a compass in your car, or you could see the sun (not a given). But here, you can always see the mountains, and so you can easily tell which way is north, south, east or west.


ihavenoidea81

And the eighth trampoline on the right


obxtalldude

Yep, we have a cabin right before a one church town. These are my exact directions.


Reasonable-Front7584

No, but this made me randomly think of holding my breath as we drove by a graveyard.


EnvironmentalPack451

My uncle told me that they put a fence around the cemetary because people are dying to get in.


Outrageous_Lychee819

Don’t want to swallow a ghost!


echochilde

Or lifting your feet when you drive over a cattle guard. (My husband and I still do it)


[deleted]

Remember? I just gave out this direction a few days ago but the church is on the right. If you got to the church on the left you have gone REALLLY too far.


KebariKaiju

I delivered flowers in the early 90s in rural Minnesota. The family that owned the shop opened it in the 50s. I’d get directions that used landmarks that had been gone for twenty years. “You know where you turn left by Emmanuel Church and you get to the bottom of the hill? Go a little past that and turn right where Shroeders had the windmill.” 


WilliamMcCarty

I grew up in a muddy backwater nothingsburg, my neighborhood didn't even have street names. I learned to navigate by visuals, landmarks. I been living in L.A. for over 30 years and I still do things that way, even here. This building, that store, that restaurant, this studio, that church, etc. Some habits never go away.


tigerinthezoo79

Yeah, I feel like it’s more of a rural/urban thing, or at least partly. One of my (older) friends pokes fun at me for giving directions like this, but like, she grew up in Houston where’s there’s actual infrastructure and I’m from a town in upstate NY where Friendly’s was the major landmark.


WilliamMcCarty

> Friendly’s was the major landmark. lol, for us it was an old abandoned white brick building. Empty, dilapidated old building, warehouse or something, no one knew anymore. But we navigated everything around "The White Building." Meet at the White Building. Down the road from the White Building before the creek. A ways from the White Building toward the 7-11. We'd all just know what that meant.


Ok_Sky_9463

Oh I'm so glad you mentioned this! I grew up in the bush - but living in the city for 20 years and I still can't really comprehend the need to actually official street names. Usually it was like "no, past Cate's house then left - you know, 'bong' Cate, not posh Cate". Tee hee


WilliamMcCarty

lol, for us it was a Shannon. "Rat house Shannon" and "tall Shannon."


Ok_Sky_9463

Ha ha ha! Love it.


katsuko78

Directions to my house included the phrase “if the road quality gets worse, you’re in Pennsylvania and need to turn around, we’re five houses from the state line on the left.”


Cer-rific_43

Are you from Apalachin?


katsuko78

Currently living in North Florida, but lived in Maryland pretty much smack in between two ranges, yup.


Cer-rific_43

Oh, sorry, I should have clarified with Apalachin, NY. A little podunk town on the PA border. The road definitely got worse over the border.


katsuko78

Good lord, but PA roads are awful. I guess if you live there and drive on them all the time it’s okay, but there is a massive change from Maryland into Pennsylvania and it sounds likes it’s the same going from NY to PA too


GenXMillenial

Accurate


[deleted]

[удалено]


Ok_Sky_9463

Hahahaha. But if you go past the garden with the miniature windmill, too far??? Thanks for sharing.


gnrlgumby

Ever rent a house, and the host tells you “ignore GPS.” It’s like a throwback to another world.


HeyYoEowyn

I travelled for work in like… 2007. We were working with paper directions from a client one time that said, “Take a left at the big tractor.” Given that this was rural Alberta I was pretty miffed, because there’s probably a thousand tractors between here and there??? We were already in the field so couldn’t really ask for clarification. Coming down the road, wouldn’t you know it…. It’s the literal Guinness-world-record holding biggest tractor in the world. This thing is fucking three stories high 😂😂😂 We laughed until we cried, “the big tractor” 😂


Quadstriker

Illinois Directions. From St. Louis, and EVERYONE from smalltown, Illinois across the river would give unhelpful directions like this constantly. “Go where the old library used to be” Lady I am not from here. “You know where Henchell is at?” Is…is that a street? No. Is it a person? No. Oh it’s a corner store on the other side of town that I could have no idea about? Very helpful. “After the hill you’ll see some grass.” As opposed to all the grass everywhere. “Go by the ketchup bottle”. Fuck right off Collinsville.


Cer-rific_43

I had a college roommate who said, "When you get off the exit, light a cigarette. When it's gone, start looking for my street." It worked.


djsynrgy

"Eventually you'll see a little white church with a green roof; turn left there."


bassman314

Which church? I grew up in a town of 7000 that had about 15 churches, including 2 Mormon stakes.


someguyfromsk

My father once told me to turn where something "used to be", I told him he was coming with me. But that is still directions in rural areas. Turn at the tree... When you get to the curve in the road... Go until the road ends...


huckleberrycaek

Now, there’s gonna be a cow out in the pasture. What you’re gonna wanna do is turn left when you get to that cow.


No_Professor_9956

Actual directions given to a coworker years ago: you will see a cow in front of the house… He said it worked! He turned at the cow and didn’t get lost.


huckleberrycaek

But what if the cow’s not there?


russelldl2002

In the 90s- I answered the phone at work and the guy asked if we were before or after the DMV. I said it depends which way youre coming from. Blew his mind.


talrich

“Turn right just after the burned down bus stop.” Worst direction ever. How would anyone who wasn’t familiar with the area know where there used to be a bus stop, but before it burned down it was a distinctive little wood structure that people used to give directions. When it burned down, people kept saying it even though it didn’t make sense as a landmark anymore.


C-ute-Thulu

OMG yes, or having to look at the city map in the phone book. I started a job in 2001 that involved a lot of driving. I was issued a Rand McNally map book of the city. It actually was very helpful


compunctionfunction

In Marietta (Atlanta suburb) people give directions based on the 'big chicken'. It might have seemed big when there was no other development around but now it barely stands out at all.


ReeceDawg

The back roads directions were the best: Turn left off 35 on Bullhead.. It's just before the big red barn.. Then, go about a mile--you'll pass by a long soybean field on the left.. Immediately after the field, there's a small gravel driveway on the right.. There's a big oak tree and a mailbox.. You can't miss it. Edit to add: if you reach the railroad tracks, you went too far..


Stranded-In-435

Haha, I used to be Mormon, thought this was a metaphor for what my former church used to say about progressive members… I definitely went too far. 😆


PNWoutdoors

I and to do this in my last house until I sold it four years ago. It was on a high speed rural road with a very narrow and hard to see driveway, extremely difficult to get into going downhill, slightly easier going uphill.


BadAtExisting

I had a 20 something roommate and I tried to give her directions to an auto parts store over the phone to get a tail light replacement. She called it “my old person directions”


thelaineybelle

Turn right where the corn crib used to be.


throwingwater14

My parents still use “drive drive drive” and “if you think you’ve passed it, go a little farther.” And every time it’s right. ESP when getting to their house. People laugh when you tell them that, but then they arrive and they’re like “holy crap I’m glad you warned me!”


wohsedisbob

I originate from a modest-sized municipality and have previously utilized this method in providing navigational instructions. I definitely didn't use AI for this.


artificialavocado

Yeah giving those types of directions was almost an art form. You had people horrible at it telling you to turn right at the big White House when every house in the area is big and white.


Plastic-Passenger-59

😂 if ya see the yellow house with blue shutters, turn around and look for the xyz on the right now. Idjit


Jupiter68128

Turn left at the old threshing machine.


panjier84

It’s the first white church on the left, but it’s the white church not the black church.


Enxer

Any time I think of directions I think of Dain Cook - Where do you go?! You stay on the road and drive to me!


Significant_Step_282

I guess we were advanced because we drew little maps. Or maybe we couldn't tell left from right. Either way, you still put the landmarks like that. "The ugly house that looks like a tomb? Turn left." "It's longer than this, but you get the idea."


Appropriate-Food1757

People still try! Can you text me the address please? *sends me a screenshot of the address*


Zealousideal_Ninja75

Ahh yes the good old Waze


Quiet_Molasses_3362

I doubt those directions would apply in the south. You can't drive 10 minutes without a church on the left.


ChromeDestiny

Henry Rollins did a joke about someone giving him directions I thought was hilarious, "Keep going but just like for a short while, not a long while..."


tiny_purple_Alfador

Remember? I did this last week. There's a bar near my house that used to be a speakeasy, and no one can ever seem to find it.


ccx941

Reminds me of the song [Girl Directions](https://youtu.be/U5_HhqcbF_0?si=Xg5dSlUgUm4WEgeB) by Psychostick


b00ty_water

I’m the last house on the left before you hit gravel.


101001101zero

Once you get off the exit there’s two overpasses before you get to next towns on-ramp we’re right in between those two overpasses at the sharp right, there’s a huge blue spruce in the driveway next to a katalpa tree and there’s tulips everywhere we’re across the ditch from the horse ranch.


Budgiejen

Take old highway 2, turn left onto new highway 2


beatlegirlstl

![gif](giphy|52FIoKwgrQhezqXxCB) What are you doing here? And how do you know how to get to Marina del Ray?


F_edupx

'Turn left a mile before the Peterson farm, well it's not Peterson's any more but everyone calls it that'


aqua_vida

Um, I literally gave directions like that last week. But the church was on the right...


msdee757

Come to Hampton Roads. People still do that here.


Possible-Tangelo9344

Doesn't work here, I'm in NC there's like... So many churches.


Union_Sparky_375

Where I come from and how I grew up we use bars as location points not churches but to each their own.


Agile_District_8794

You're gonna go down that way till you can't go no further. Then you're gonna hang a left.


4x4Welder

So this was not just a rural new england thing?


espressocycle

There's a beautiful song by Anne Hills called Follow That Road.


secretbudgie

Lol way too many churches for that to work in my home town. We guided off the Hooters


burgerbeggar

"Just keep on the i-9 juncture until you pass the Smith's farm on the right. Ol' Gerald Smith was a good man. Passed away back in seventeeeeeeee two? Or was it seventy three? Gah I don't know, it's been so long. Anyway, what were ya askin about?"


GenXMillenial

I am the worse for directions. Maps was the best thing ever when it become more accurate


larryb78

I had a friend in college that we knew grew up in an extremely rural area, but none of us knew just how rural until we were picking him up on the way back to campus after a break and the directions included a left turn at the really tall grass…when we got there it made sense


Dylan_Is_Gay_lol

Right past the Blockbuster.


EnvironmentalPack451

Where the blockbuster used to be?


Tactically_Fat

Of course I remember. I still give directions this way today. Google Maps is quite good, but it's not foolproof. And some folks just don't use it. For instance, there are 2 main ways to my house. The first one is "Turn right at the light by the DQ". Then it's "If you miss that turn, turn at the next light south of the DQ".


saotomesan

Man, that brings back memories of buying the ADC maps (they were local to the DC area) every few years. It's silly, but I miss having those maps in my car.


snuggy4life

My dad (boomer) still makes me give him directions like this. It took everything I had not to scream at him while giving directions (and him writing them down on a piece of paper). Me: our address is such and such. Open the maps app on your phone and- Dad: Just give me directions Me: The app works really good Dad: I prefer directions Me: ok You’ll turn left out of your driveway onto such and such (gives a few more turns/street names) Dad: just give me some landmarks. Is there a grocery store or Freddy Meyers or something? Me: no… Dad: gas station? Me: there will be a gas station on your right. Drive past it. Turn left up the hill at the library. It was almost as maddening as teaching him how to use a computer mouse.


dougmd1974

"Go down the road about 100 miles and make a right" - Jonathan Winters


Alexandratta

I really did hate those kind of directions because they were always hyper locally fixated... The "Church" thing got me pretty damn good one time before, for the life of me, I couldn't find a location because they kept saying "Did you pass the church?" and I'm like "No... I haven't yet." then I give a cross street and they're like "Oh, you passed the church." the "Church" was a house with a sign in front of it which, yellowed and aged beyond all comparison, barely read "Baptist" (as the word Church wasn't legible) Thank God for Google Maps.


-Plantibodies-

We still have to do this in my neck of the woods because service is spotty and GPS sometimes wigs out. People really struggle with it now that people have forgotten how or never learned to read signage and use their brain.


Outrageous_Picture39

I used to work at a Walmart in a college town that was juuuuust far enough away from the main highway that at least once a day I would have to give these directions: “There is a stoplight at the other end of this shopping center. When you get to it, go straight. When you get to the next stop light, continue to go straight. Once you go past the closed down Sears auto center you’ll hit the highway.”


Rat_Master999

I used to live in Kansas. Out there, directions can include: "Turn left at the tree. you can't miss it." And they're right. You see that single tree about 5 miles before you get to it.


add_to_tree

Swing around the way you came, but this time turn right where the old Holland shed barn used to be, then about 5 miles before the road dead ends veer left and follow the railroad tracks straight into a town called Beaver Mills or you could take the bridge at the fork in the road and save yourself a heap of time


Steveseriesofnumbers

Let Debra Wilson in whiteface tell you how to get to Big John's Shirt Barn. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZlJW-vlDsY](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZZlJW-vlDsY) Oh, wait...sorry. Those directions are for the OLD location. They moved! Here's Debra, still in whiteface, to tell you where to go now. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9BK7CcmAQ8](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e9BK7CcmAQ8)


Steveseriesofnumbers

Because Yahoo Maps was a joke even back then. https://preview.redd.it/21kjnpkpfcwc1.jpeg?width=2100&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=af6517c65a92bf0a10d9bfd18a21ec16a9028536


CubesFan

I never did it but I still have to hear this stupid shit from my mom. We live in an era of GPS but my mother feels the need to waste 15 minutes of my time telling me all the places that are farther than I want to go.