Among the many memories, I cherish from growing up in the s was the annual winter trips to Florida to stay with my grandparents who had a winter residence there. I took this picture of my family in front of the Florida Welcome Station in the early s. Photo: Newvine Personal Collection. Those trips were novelties in my teen years as my family discovered a whole new part of the country. The drive itself was an adventure. It started with a very early wake-up call as we climbed into a car that had been packed the night before.
When the weather cooperated, we'd zip through the Eastern Seaboard states. It felt just a little bit warmer at each rest stop. Our day ended at a motel where the whole family of five shared one room with two double beds and a roll-away bed. The days in Florida were filled with trips to the tourist venues, including Cypress Gardens or the newly opened Disney World.
There were also many activities that were less travel-intensive. Some days included a visit to a distant relative or a trip to the nearest shopping center to pick up souvenirs.
The family dressed up for Sunday dinner at a buffet-style restaurant during one of our trips to visit my grandparents in Florida.
I remember a warm Central Florida winter night in Six kids between the ages of twelve and seventeen were enjoying the spring break by playing cards and listening to one particular song on the radio. The card game was racehorse pitch, the preferred card game of that era. That song was the big rock-and-roll hit in early It seemed like it was being played every half-hour on the Tampa rock-and-roll station. I was fifteen years old. The symbolism did not yet resonate with me.
