On a recent scenic drive in northeastern Georgia, I tried not to let my excitement get the best of me. With the entire family in tow, I was not only careening down a mountain in the family SUV but also speeding quickly toward a trip back in time. It might not be the most logical family excursion, and probably not even a blip on most people’s radars, but I couldn’t wait to step inside my first trip to an actual functioning video rental store in over a decade—Mountain Video.

Growing up, I frequented many video stores. Seemingly every town in America had one in the ’80s and ’90s. From strip malls to grocery stores, they were everywhere! As a child, I could ride my bike and take advantage of our local mom & pop’s five for $5 rental deal to burn through mainstream hits and schlocky sci-fi.

If she thinks back hard enough, my 14-year-old daughter can remember her own trips to Blockbuster to pick out a new Elmo’s World DVD as a preschooler, but her 10-year-old sister only knows that location as a Starbucks now. So, while I was overly eager to see what wonders awaited behind those doors, my family could only guess why I dragged them along for the ride.

This relic from the past, Mountain Video, can be found in a nondescript strip mall in the sleepy mountain town of Jasper, Georgia (pop. 3,700), and it looks like little has changed in its decades of operation.

For a video store operating in 2019, I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I can say I was NOT disappointed. Take a gander at the interior and marvel that this still exists.

Far from dead, Mountain Video was current with not only DVDs but also the latest Blu-ray releases. They have what you would expect to find at a video store such as rows and rows of movies, but it’s almost as if they had a checklist of required video store ephemera that’s required to ward off the evil spirits that have already destroyed lesser stores.

Endearingly cheesy decor? Check.

Worn, on-brand carpeting? Check.

An adjoining tanning bed that looked futuristic back in 1992 but is probably a sarcophagus for whatever dark forces are keeping this place alive? Check.

So, yeah, this store checks all the right boxes, but Mountain Video goes above and beyond the requirements to make this place even more wonderful.

A broken Galaga/Ms. Pac-Man arcade machine taunting you in the corner? BAM!

Southern hospitality in the form of a snack bar with a communal microwave? Check.

Magical mechanical gumball machine with creepy face? You got that right!

Sun-faded Ninja Turtles adorning the wall of the kids’ section? Cowabunga, dude!

Needless to say, I was in awe. My kids already thought I was crazy, but once we were inside, I drew them close and told them, “Take it all in, girls. Savor it. Walk around and look at everything, because this may be the last time you ever get a chance to be in a video store, and you can tell your children that your crazy father took you to one of the last in America.”

OK, so maybe that was a little extreme, but operating video stores are few and far between these days, and they’re only disappearing. Aside from the legendary Videodrome in Atlanta, there are only a handful of video rental places in Georgia, and aside from Mountain Video, none that are less than a two-hour drive from each other.

I was able to speak to a longtime employee behind the counter about the shop and get the scoop on the store. Apparently, Mountain Video has been around since the ’80s, but the reason it can still operate is because the owner’s main business is the nearby storage units, which offsets the need for the store to turn a high profit.

I also suspect, however, that it probably took high-speed internet quite some time to make its way to this mountain town, so the community needed a traditional media outlet for entertainment. I’m not sure if the store serves double duty as the storage unit storefront, but there were a small number of legitimate movie rental customers during our time in the store.

Having had a conversation with the clerk, I felt a little better taking photos in the store, and having my family around probably made me seem like less of a creeper taking photos of the joint than if I were solo. I was even emboldened to peer into the open door protected by none other than Jason Voorhees himself!

No, it wasn’t the tantalizing “adults only” section of the store but rather the office. Having managed a Blockbuster back in the day, I’m always curious of the inner workings of other stores, so I snapped a pic hoping to see more relics of a bygone era, but it was mostly just boring business stuff.

I enjoyed being in the store regardless, but I was disappointed not to find any VHS tapes to add to my collection until I noticed a sign hanging on the wall: “VHS: 4 for $1.” I asked the clerk about the sign, recognizing that I probably missed out on the good fortune and the videos were long gone, but no. He told me I just missed them because they only had a small section left. He led me through the aisles and sure enough, four full shelves of VHS!

I was a kid in a candy shop, and even my daughters got in on the action. Most of the usual fare I would be looking for (horror, sci-fi, cult classics) was gone, but we still managed to pick up a handful of tapes such as classic Looney Tunes and even Animaniacs to add to our collection. My wife even picked up a copy of Circle of Friends, which she had fond nostalgia for. Sure to support local business and to do our part to keep this nostalgia train running, we rounded out our pickup from their 4 for $10 Blu-ray collection with previously viewed copies of new horror treasures Mandy and Happy Death Day, among others.

It may not be Disneyland or another more exciting roadside attraction, but hunting down still-standing video stores makes for a fun family road trip. While we were in Jasper, we took in the local classic car show, ate ice cream while walking the downtown strip, checked out an antique store, and enjoyed the beautiful mountain views (even spotted a bear!) on our drive home.

If you’re anywhere in the vicinity of Jasper, GA, check out Mountain Video. And even if you’re nowhere nearby, do your own sleuthing for video stores operating in your neck of the woods. It’s a fun family adventure that won’t be around much longer.