The family vacations, part 1....
Feb. 4th, 2012 01:24 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
poltr1Growing up, my family didn't go on many vacations. Dad would either defer vacations or stay at home, catching up on household projects. I think we did some occasional day trips, like Kinzua Dam (near Warren PA), Allegany State Park (near Salamanca, NY), Niagara Falls, Toronto, or Rochester. Those were few and far between.
But there were two times we went down to the Gulf Cost of Florida for our vacations.
The first trip was in August 1975. We got up early one Saturday morning, loaded up Dad's '68 Impala, and drove down. I had the AAA Triptik, and handled the navigation duties for Dad. Our route: I-90 to Cleveland, I-271 to bypass Cleveland, I-71 to Cincinnati (taking I-270 to bypass Columbus), and I-75 to Florida. Ohio seemed magical to me at the time, but their rest areas were primitive -- no flush toilets, but porcelain cylinders you had to squat over (there were no seats). Dad also warned me about speeding on Ohio: "Ohio troopers will see cars with New York plates and smell money." The first day, we got as far as Richmond, KY., outside of Lexington. The next day, we got as far as Macon, GA. We finished the trip on the third day. One of my aunts had a small 2-bedroom house in Pinellas Park, FL (north of St. Petersburg). That is where we stayed.
Where did we go during the two weeks we spent there? Disney World. Busch Gardens. Sunken Gardens. The Pier (there was a Putt-Putt miniature golf course on the roof at the time). The replica of the HMS Bounty that was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny On The Bounty"and moored at the Pier. The Kapok Tree Inn, in Clearwater, for dinner. (The food was OK, but the grounds were spectactular.) The Aquatarium, on St. Pete Beach. And the beach! We also spent a couple days visiting my mother's friend Florence, in Ft. Myers. And we visited my great aunt Frances and great uncle George, in their winter home -- a trailer in Osprey (near Sarasota). My dad had his 8mm film camera and filmed us having fun.
It was also hot and humid -- typical Florida summer weather. We mostly stayed inside the air-conditioned house. (The "Florida room" -- which was like an attached garage without a garage door -- was not air-conditioned.) And when it rained, it poured, for about 5 minutes. This would happen in the late afternoon. Then it would stop, and an hour later, there was no evidence that it rained.
After speding two weeks in Florida, we returned home to Buffalo. The first night, we got as far as Chattanooga, TN. The second night, we made it to Elyria, OH. We took a side trip to see our cousins in Lorain -- my grandfather's brother's family. Then on the third day, we returned home to Buffalo.
We returned to Florida in July of 1978. I'll write about that trip some other time.
But there were two times we went down to the Gulf Cost of Florida for our vacations.
The first trip was in August 1975. We got up early one Saturday morning, loaded up Dad's '68 Impala, and drove down. I had the AAA Triptik, and handled the navigation duties for Dad. Our route: I-90 to Cleveland, I-271 to bypass Cleveland, I-71 to Cincinnati (taking I-270 to bypass Columbus), and I-75 to Florida. Ohio seemed magical to me at the time, but their rest areas were primitive -- no flush toilets, but porcelain cylinders you had to squat over (there were no seats). Dad also warned me about speeding on Ohio: "Ohio troopers will see cars with New York plates and smell money." The first day, we got as far as Richmond, KY., outside of Lexington. The next day, we got as far as Macon, GA. We finished the trip on the third day. One of my aunts had a small 2-bedroom house in Pinellas Park, FL (north of St. Petersburg). That is where we stayed.
Where did we go during the two weeks we spent there? Disney World. Busch Gardens. Sunken Gardens. The Pier (there was a Putt-Putt miniature golf course on the roof at the time). The replica of the HMS Bounty that was built for the 1962 film "Mutiny On The Bounty"and moored at the Pier. The Kapok Tree Inn, in Clearwater, for dinner. (The food was OK, but the grounds were spectactular.) The Aquatarium, on St. Pete Beach. And the beach! We also spent a couple days visiting my mother's friend Florence, in Ft. Myers. And we visited my great aunt Frances and great uncle George, in their winter home -- a trailer in Osprey (near Sarasota). My dad had his 8mm film camera and filmed us having fun.
It was also hot and humid -- typical Florida summer weather. We mostly stayed inside the air-conditioned house. (The "Florida room" -- which was like an attached garage without a garage door -- was not air-conditioned.) And when it rained, it poured, for about 5 minutes. This would happen in the late afternoon. Then it would stop, and an hour later, there was no evidence that it rained.
After speding two weeks in Florida, we returned home to Buffalo. The first night, we got as far as Chattanooga, TN. The second night, we made it to Elyria, OH. We took a side trip to see our cousins in Lorain -- my grandfather's brother's family. Then on the third day, we returned home to Buffalo.
We returned to Florida in July of 1978. I'll write about that trip some other time.
