I am on day 2 of LPC – Life Post Cubicle. It still feels like vacation which is about what I imagined. So I figured that would be a good post for this week’s memory challenge – vacations from childhood.
Up until the time I was 10 and my grandfather died, we didn’t go on vacations much. Well, I think we went to the Washington state fair and that we got out of the car and I fed a deer in the middle of the road but I don’t remember the event, I remember the picture of the event. After my grandfather died we started going on vacations. One year we would go to Disneyland, then the next year we would go somewhere my mother and grandmother wanted to go. We went to Hawaii the year that the Polynesian cultural center opened. They weren’t done with all the exhibits. We had a long, long drive to the center where we were going to stay overnight. I think it might have been some sort of a deal for my mom to listen to a time share, I don’t remember. The hotel we were in was filthy and we slept in our clothes. My mom freaked out at the lizards (geckos?) that were covering the wall of our room.
I remember the fire dancers and I remember eating poi. That’s all I remember.
I was mad because my mom invited my cousin Diane to come with us. I wanted to have my mom to myself but she was thinking it would give me someone to do things with. We must have been about 12.
I remember taking a helicopter ride from island to island. I remember picking my own oyster so we could get a pearl so I could have my “memory” set into a piece of jewelry to remember the trip.
At least once every summer we would drive to the Nut Tree which now is a bunch of outlets but back then wasn’t much of anything. A few rides, like a train, and a restaurant, and I don’t know what else that made it such a fun place for my mom and my grandmother.
We went to Santa’s Village and Frontier Village. At Frontier Village I always wore my cowgirl outfit and I used to hope people would think I was part of the show.
Other vacations – they were often “educational” ones to the California Missions or history visits that I could do reports on. Hmm…when I came up with the topic I thought I had a lot of ideas about vacations my mom and I had taken and now I can’t remember that many.
Your turn. What do you remember about childhood vacations?
I remember my dad driving with the window down, causing my hair to whip like strings across my face.
That sounds like a beautiful memory!
I was 14. My parents, at Christmas, announced that I had been invited out with old friends of my grandmother’s (who had been dead about 6 years at this point) to go on a summer trip.
… To EUROPE! I was stoked. Come on, how many 14yo girls get to go bum around EUROPE for a summer! (Keep in mind this is 17 years ago, so, it was a bit different then!)
We left June 12th. I flew out of Cleveland by myself. Met up in Newark (I think, not sure) with the others that were going. Me, S — the son of my grandmother’s friend, R, N, C and we were meeting up with J in London. Four guys, and me. They were all like older brothers, so it wasn’t anything to even blink about for me.
First, we went to London. We spent a week in London. Then, we took the train up to Edinburgh, and after three days there, we debunked to Dublin (Ireland). Spent time with S’s father. I had my first pub experience there. (I started a bar fight, inadvertently, telling someone that I wanted nothing to do with him, and didn’t want to dance with him.) After almost three weeks in Ireland, we left for France!
I drove my first car in France. The guys were too drunk (I was amused). Then, after a few days in Paris, and almost a week bumming around wine country, we went to Germany where my elder brother Mike was stationed (as a Marine). I hung out with him for a couple days (he took leave to show his spaz little sister around, any wonder why I love him?) and drove on the Autobahn.
After Germany, we drove down to Italy. We were going to stop in Vienna, but the Lipazzaners weren’t performing, so we didn’t. We spent I think a week in Rome, before heading up to Venice, and headed over to Greece to stay with J’s family on one of the isle.
By this time it was getting close to October. (Erm oops?) We’d planned on heading over to Morocco, but I called home and my parents were all “NO COME HOME NOW” and even though I pouted, they said no.
So, yeah, best. vacation. ever. I wish I could do that with my kids. Or maybe just England. Since my boyfriend is British.
Wow – Europe at that young age – what a treat!