John Smith was destined to lead a life of hot dogs.

Growing up in the 1950s, Smith would sit at the faded Formica counter at Hopewell Quick Lunch and watch Roy Houser roll greasy franks on the grill.

Years later, instead of a paycheck, Smith brought home pork.

"If I had a day off school, I'd work with my dad in construction," Smith said. "That's the way he had to pay me, in hot dogs."

A burly guy with a quick smile and ever-present baseball cap, Smith recently found himself back at the Quick Lunch. He bought the place from a fraternity brother in November.

"I might as well shoot myself if I change anything," he said.

So the chili sauce, the "smack you mama navy bean soup" and "the girls" have stayed.

There's Annette Grammer, Joanne Crockett, Deborah White and Sandy Cotman. With the exception of White, the women have been ringing up sales, frying potatoes and bagging lunches at this shoe-box-size restaurant for more than 20 years.

"It's a paycheck," Grammer said with a grin.

She followed in the ketchup tracks of her mother, who fixed hot dogs "all the way," covering them with cole slaw, mustard, onions and chili at the Quick Lunch.

Stuck at the corner of Hopewell Street and East City Point Road, this greasy spoon, which dates to 1927, is indicative of many of the shops and restaurants in downtown Hopewell and nearby City Point.

They're old and they're good, the locals say.

Some of the businesses have been around for decades; others, like Celebri-TEES, a screen-printing and embroidery shop on East Broadway, have been reincarnated.

Owner Bam Rafey, who grew up in Hopewell, printed her first shirt about 16 years ago in the same storefront where her father ran Rafey's Billiards.

"It was the social center of Hopewell," she said. "People came in, shot pool and ate hot dogs."

Her father closed the place about 30 years ago.

"What can I say, it's a working town," she said. "My family has always been here."

. . .

Downtown Hopewell, while in a time of transition, remains a tourist attraction for history buffs, a hidden gem for bargain hunters and a regular lunch spot for those craving acid indigestion.

The retail strip is a lot like Walker's Gym, an East Broadway mainstay where local cops and hard-core lifters go to pump iron.

"We are no thrills, no frills," said Bobby Woodfin, who works there.

"I come down here two or three times a week," said Julia Adkins of Charles City, who was trying on a pair of gold pumps at Victoria's Antiques. "I always find something."

Marie Barretto and her husband, Tony, who live in Petersburg, said they visit often. They like to take walks through the park around nearby Appomattox Manor.

The manor, which belonged to the Eppes family for 340 years, is down Cedar Lane, beside some quaint, brightly colored homes. It fronts one of Virginia's most dazzling views at the juncture of the Appomattox and James rivers. Now owned by the National Park Service, it's open to the public for tours. There are several picnic tables nearby for anyone who wants to bring lunch and enjoy the scenery.

Visitors should ask for Grant Gates, a Park Service interpreter. Once inside, check out an original door from Union Gen. Ulysses S. Grant's cabin. Grant directed the siege of Petersburg from the grounds of the plantation.

Tony Barretto said that while he enjoys visiting the park, he isn't much of a shopper. In fact, he's afraid to visit a lot of the stores along East Broadway.

"They sell old stuff," he joked. "They might try to keep me there."

. . .

From the lace wedding gowns at Victoria's Antiques to the Russian and English teapots at Celia's to the artifacts at Hamilton's Civil War Relic Shop, everything in downtown Hopewell has history, even the people who visit.

Bill Harvey of Enon has already outlasted five of the Quick Lunch owners.

"I like the hot dogs," the 84-year-old said. Harvey, who retired from Allied Chemical after 21 years, tries to eat one a day. But he won't bring his wife into the shop.

"She doesn't like the smell," he said. "You'll see when you go out of here, everyone will know you've been here."

Unlike most people, Precious likes the smell.

A blonde, Precious is the unofficial mascot of downtown Hopewell's Broadway Barber Shop and a fan of the Quick Lunch. Shoot her with your finger, and she'll roll over and play dead.

Most days, Precious sleeps under a chair near barber Keith Hall and provides steady company for Frank Lower and other customers.

Lower, 29, has been coming to the barber shop since he was 9.

"Our customers have been here forever," Hall said only half-jokingly, suggesting that visitors to downtown Hopewell don't just shop. They linger.

. . .

Celia Bratisax of Celia's antiques has met many of her friends through her shop.

Recently, she and Pat Jones spent the afternoon talking about their finds.

"We are junk shop-a-holics," Jones said, amused at her self-description.

"I have a gift for everyone," Bratisax said. "If I like it, I sell it."

Sandra Buisset, co-owner of Victoria's Antiques, keeps a coffee pot on for the customers who mill around and chat.

Buisset, who works just down the street, went into business with her mother, Janet M. Stanley.

Stanley used her retirement savings from working at Philip Morris to buy the shop, originally called Victoria's Attic, and two other storefronts.

"People come in here, and they get lost," Buisset said. "There's the chicken room, the men's room, the pink room."

Named after Buisset's daughter, Victoria, the shop sells everything from rhinestone jewelry and cut crystal to designer purses and hand-painted furniture.

They find some of their stuff at auctions and estate sales. Occasionally, people bring things by and want to trade, Buisset said.

"We sell many of the same items found on Cary Street at one-fourth the price," Stanley said.

And she isn't kidding.

"One day my son bought my daughter in-law a rhinestone bracelet for $50 in one of the shops there in Carytown," Stanley said.

"I looked at it and realized it had been in our store," Stanley said.

"The lady had bought it from us for $10."