June 29, 2007
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Childhood Vacations
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What I Remember
~I remember driving to Hershey Pennsylvania when when I was 8 and my younger sister and I slept in the back of my Dad’s Barracuda at night while my parents drove. I could see the stars through the glass back as we drove down the dark and endless roads. My Dad would not stop for pee breaks for 4 daughters so we had to pee in a jar and dump it when we stopped/slowed for tolls. This is the truth, I swear.
~I remember driving down to Kitty Hawk (from MA) when I was 6 and somewhere in that area my sister and I got out of the car to race up this hill and there were all these cactus-like spiny plants on the ground and I got them in my bare feet and screamed and fell and then they got into my skin through my pants. My mom had to lay me face down in the back seat of the Barracuda to pick all the spines out of my bum after cutting my patchwork cords off.
~There was the Washington, D.C. vacation where I ate too much chicken at a Chinese restaurant buffet and had to be hospitalized for a severe reaction to MSG. I swore to never eat it again. I managed to repeat this in the early 90′s when Trevor and I drove to Graceland and ate at a chinese buffet on the way. I was finally in Elvis Presley’s home and all I could think about was my throat swelling and my mood going downhill.
We went to the Bahamas for Christmas in the mid 70′s and my mom got the flu and there was a hurricane and we had no power in the hotel. I remember eating fried conch at this restaurant by candle light because the power was out and I was wearing my new Shaun Cassidy outfit with white bell bottoms and top. The top had a pic of Shaun on it and it said,
“love, Shaun” like he REALLY SIGNED IT. Swoon.
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Bahamas, 1977
(I am the one in the middle and I am wearing The Shaun Shirt under my floral vest)
My mother must have wanted to drink on these vacations, she never did but I would not have blamed her if she had.
Comments (31)
I rarely had family road trips…I am an only child and they were always boring unless I was with my cousins…I want to traumatize my children like your parents did :wink-wink:
xo
my fsamily didn’t travel. once we went to the very far away state of west virginia *eye roll* to see friends. it was sin our pontiac (sp?) and i secretly thought they must have called it pontiac b/c it was the color of pee… and i thought it was “potty-ac” which I assumed was the grown up word for a car the color of pee.
Great (and hysterical) memories!
oh wow, that makes *me* want to drink! we now have a 3 hour layover in vegas (instead of a non-stop to philly), and i will be hitting the little taqueria for margaritas.
:celebrate: Great!! Love that pic!! haha.
Wow. Your memories sound as harrowing as some of mine! It’s reminding me why I blocked them out… :what:
What a great family photo! You all look so happy.
That was funny…………I think I had that Shaun shirt! :blushing: We generally only take car trips with our 4 kiddos and I hope they have some good memories too! Loving your outfits in that classic pic!
OK the peeing in the jar thing…. Wouldn’t you be more concerned that someone would spill? And then what? Hours and hours of pee-O-rama. Ewwww
My parents would both smoke in the car with the windows rolled up. Nice. Sometimes, I’d bring my box of fancy schmancy nail supplies and paint my nails (with the windows rolled up and my parents smoking).
i love that picture.
All that floral! You also wore knee socks with sandals.
You stole my idea! :frog: I *love* all the floral. I think I had a dress just like it…
Wow, what memories! What floral print!
I’m still laughing.
What a great idea.
wow, you all are the most floral ’70s family ever!!
Love that picture! And I didn’t know you were 1 of 4 girls. WOW.
My dad wouldn’t stop much…we had to hold it until he had to fill up with gas!
Your mom looks pretty good with the flu! I thought I was the only one who was made to pee in a jar. :blushing:
This was so funny!!
Awesome picture! Ah, roadtrips.
WOW is all I can say about those dresses. It’s nice that you had family vacations. We went to Hawaii once & that was it. I haven’t taken Aidan on any vacations, I’d better get started so he can one day blog about it too!
I’ve been at that beach near Kitty Hawk (I did theater in that area) and ouch! I know the burrs of which you speak.
h-no: We went to Bermuda in the 70′s and I remember wearing knee socks with my platform sandals. My mom drove her moped into a wall (just had stitches) and I got poison oak but I remember loving it and have always wanted to go back. This was fun to read. But man (only a man would ask it) – the peeing in a jar?! I have never heard of any girl having to do that. blech.
That is hilarious. I love it. :celebrate:
Great stories. It makes me think of my own. I loved the thought of the stars out the window. We did a lot of camping as kids, so I remember many, many starry nights.
Good memories..
Ohmigosh, look at your smile! What a sunny girl you were (hey, nothing’s changed!) Lisa
LOL@ the Shawn Cassidy shirt! having flashbacks to my own family road trips…where we were made to lay on the floor of the mini-van, for sleeping or lounging (where you could take out the middle seat to make room) – so not safe by today’s standards!
Seeing your family photo and all those flowers makes me want to watch how I dress my kids. That was a lot of visual stimulation.
Those memories rock as does the picture. I remember riding the schoolbus with a girl who had a blue satin windbreaker with Mr. Cassidy’s photo and signature. I swooned from afar.
Oh you made me chuckle! And that picture is priceless.
That’s hilarious! What great memories to have!