The other night I was watching a comedian, I don't recall which one, on TV when he started doing this bit about summer vacations as a kid. Watching that really got me to thinking about the family vacations that I had enjoyed as a child. Most of these involved the family station wagon, the pre-cursor to the modern day SUV. If you never got to experience the joy of the station wagon, you suck have missed out on the less than luxury modes of transportation from a bygone era!

As a youngster, we usually were told where we would be going for that year's family vacation a month or so before the departure date. No, the folks really did not care for our input on the destination; they were paying after all. I really only experienced one unpleasant vacation that my siblings and I refer to as the travelling history of dad's youth. Basically two weeks in a station wagon as Dad points out the places of his youth. To a twlevel or thirteen year old, this is akin to Chinese water torture. As a side note, if you are planning one of these, "that is where I went to elementary school" or "I used to go to work here" types of driving vacations, you might want to wait until you retire to stumble down memory lane. Believe me, the kids and the spouse will thank you!

Now the best vacation always involved Orlando! Orlando in the mid 1970's was quite a different place than it is today but there were always things to do in Orlando! At that time, "the mouse" only had the Magic Kingdom; but the Magic Kingdom was indeed a bit of magic. I remember being enthralled just riding the monorail, thinking that this really was the transportation system of the future! The Contemporary hotel seemed like a futuristic marvel, with the monorail stopping right in the heart of it, like a futuristic docking station from the movies. We, like many families in the day, could not afford the luxury of a Disney resort hotel. Having drug the pop-up camper all the way, we stayed at the Fort Wilderness campground! The campground incorporated the Country Bear Jamboree breakfast in the mornings and a screening of the latest Disney film on a huge outdoor screen with everyone sitting on the lawn. In the evenings before bed we would sit around our campfire, yes we could actually have our own campfire, and have roast marshmellow or make s'mores! We would talk about what we had done that day in the park, or if it was an off day, what we had done at the meager beach at the campground. Those days were full of innocence and fun.  Today, as an adult, I realize the planning and expense that my parents incurred to give us this family vacation every year. Today, I appreciate what they did for us as kids, and us as a family. Today, I may plan a trip to Disney! The Boston Museum of Fine Arts can always wait until next year along with all the other things to do in Boston!

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