Your Best Childhood Adventures....
 

Reading posts from people wondering what kinds of vacations will please their kids made me think back to when I was a kid. We lived in Upstate NY, and took trips to Maine and Cape Cod several times. I always managed to have fun - swimming, rock climbing, meeting other kids. There were no water parks, or special efforts on the part of my parents to go out of their way for us. We still had fun.

One of my most memorable and favorite places to go wasn't really wasn't a vacation. My dad would drive me and a friend or two about an hour or so away from home (near Pine Lake) and stop on the side of the road at a clearing in the pine trees, that ran along a creek. He'd park there and read the paper while we played on the rocks and in the creek for a few hours. I remember those outings more than our one trip to Disney World.

I used to enjoy trips from Texas to see my grandparents in Oklahoma. On the way, we sometimes stayed in a cabin at Lake Murray. I used to think the cabins were great because they were full of pill bugs. I don't think my mother ever went back there after her first experience with the rolly-polies, but my dad took us a few more times.

My favorite vacations were probably trips to see relatives, especially if they had children or pets.

My parents took my brother and me around Europe and some of Asia in the process of going back and forth to India. I loved Europe, especially Italy, Greece, and Austria, but not Britain, which I thought was boring, cold and rainy. The most dreaded phrase I could think of was "four hour tour". By the time I turned 8, I started liking tours. Train, boat, and airplane trips were great. Car trips were not, since I was a little hyperactive and got car sick.

I remember being frustrated at not getting to try exotic foods wherever we went. I liked spicy food and vegetables, and was disgusted to have to settle for bland soup at a Chinese restaurant.

I went to the New York World's fair when I was five, and enjoyed it. I only remember a couple of things about it now. I realize that most of my fond memories involve interactions with other people, not seeing or doing certain things.

When I was a kid my family used to rent a cabin at a lake in the Sierras for a week every summer. We always had a lot of fun. Sometimes another family would go with us. There were rowboats and canoes we could use, a small island in the middle of the lake to explore, fishing, swimming, hiking, rock climbing. We would have camp fires and roast marshmellows, play cards, just hang out. There were a couple little towns within a 30 minute drive of the lake, so we would go into town and get ice cream, maybe a hamburger.

When we lived in Bayamyn, Puerto Rico, one of the most wonderful trips we ever did was across the island to Ponce-- exploring a coffee plantation. Absolutely beautiful area, with lots of wild lemon trees with huge fruit (larger than the Meyers lemons we get here in California farmers' markets). And we made monthly treks to El Yunque rain forest outside San Juan. That was truly magical. The beach trips were always fun too.

My favorite trips stateside were to New Orleans to visit relatives. Mom and Dad would take us kids to the French Quarter-- all night, having fun. My clearest memory was commenting to my mom: "Mom, that lady has really ugly legs!" And her reply: "That's not a lady, son." Ahhh, childhood memories....

i seldom left my little inner city neighborhood when i was a kid which is probably why i'm on a travel binge as an adult.

So many great memories:)
As a child, living in Hawaii, running wild with my friend, every day was an adventure.
Going horseback riding in the desert with my uncle, in Arizona.

Growing up in NC..swimming in my other grandfathers lake, fishing with worms we had found ourselves (for some reason, that was always my job) riding friends horses bareback, and falling off all the time, no one ever got hurt!

Going to Myrtle Beach with my parents and baby brother and going out into the ocean on my dads shoulders, waaay out in the ocean!

as a real city kid, I loved visiting a family member's nonworking farm where I drove a tractor, built a dam in the creek, caught lizards and mice in the barn and walked a mile in the woods to the old burial ground (with my brothers!) It was so different from my normal life, very unstructured time and I could have adventures!

The American summer vacation trip is a really recent phenomena. I grew up in Stamford, CT. My father had his own business and there were no family vacation trips. Summer consisted of renting a locker at the local beach for $10 for the season. We split it with another family to save money. I am NOT joking. We went to the beach every day. By the end of the summer my brain had fried and I was happy to return to school.

There were no vacation trips to visit Grandma because she lived down the block. She was a caterer and I could see her any time I wanted. Occasionally, my sister and I would sub when she needed a waitress.

People were simply not as mobile when I grew up. Airfare, when compared to what people earned, was much higher. I was 16 before I went on an airplane, which was very typical for older baby boomers (which I am). My first trip was to Saskatchewan to visit a pen pal. (She recently found me online after many years!).

Of course, once I got on a plane, I started making up for my childhood airplane deprivation. My kids took their first plane flights as infants.

American mobility does, in my opinion, have its downside in splitting up families as kids (and parents) run all over the country looking for better jobs. Grandma is not around the corner anymore and some kids hardly have a relationship with her. That piece is sad. When I was a kid, I had scads of relatives within an hour's drive. My kids only occasionally saw members of their extended family, as my family has spread out from Oregon to New York to Florida.

And so it goes in 21st century America where the airplane has replaced the bus. . . .

Growing up my parents took us on lots of camping trips. One trip to our property on Mt. Rainier my sister, McKenzie, ate nothing but corn on the cob and rootbeer for lunch before we left for home. Well, she is known for getting car sick. My mom, always prepared, had a plastic peanut butter jar with a lid for such occasions. Sure enough, my sister needed it on the way home.
Another trip to the Mountian, my dad was buring some wood that had nails in it. He knocked a nail out of the fire and told McKenzie, who was picking up trash, don't touch that hot nail. She bent down, picked it up, and said, "This hot nail?" The same trip she sat on the picnic table, which was quiet old, and broke two of the legs.
On one of our yearly trips Westport, a small town on the Washington coast, McKenzie was misbehaving. We were going back to our campsite after spending the afternoon at the beach. McKenzie kept kicking the back of Mom's seat. Mom told her to stop or she would have to get out and walk. Well, McKenzie, being the uncooperative child that she was, wouldn't stop so Mom pulled the van over, got out, pulled McKenzie out and then got back in. McKenzie began to walk. The rest of us knew Mom wasn't in a good mood, so we sat quietly, and tried not to laugh. Mom's friend was in the front seat with her eyeballs floating needing to use the rest room. McKenzie walked for about a half mile while we followed in the van. Mom got out and asked if McKenzie was ready to ride the rest of the way politely. Well, McKenzie, being McKenzie, gave Mom the finger. Mom, not wanting to look at that pulled around her and watched her from the rearview mirror. While all this is happening, Katie, my youngest sister (who is about 3 or 4 at the time) is crying, "Quit...being...mean to...my...sister!" Mom's friend is about ready to wet her pants, I'm trying not to laugh. After about another half mile, McKenzie decides that she is finally ready to ride nicely.
One other trip to the beach the van broke down at our campsite. Dad didn't think of bringing his toolbox, and had to get a ride to get a new battery from the park ranger. He also got sick on a trip to the beach and ended up going to the hospital. He swears that he isn't going to go camping with us every year, but ends up going anyway.

Not every thing happens to McKenzie. When I was 14 my friend and I were camping with our families at the beach. We meet two guys at the bathroom while we were brushing our teeth. After our moms had gone to bed we quietly left our campsite and went to theirs for the night. This was the night I got my real first kiss. My friends and I did this on another camping trip to the Mountian. To this day, my parents still don't know.
Another trip to the beach, a woman from church came with us. Her son who is a year or two older than me, followed me around the whole time. I would go to the bathroom and when I came out he would be waiting for me. I couldn't get away from him!

These are just a few stories from family trips we've taken over the years. Even now new adventures and catastrophies are added, and my sisters and I are either teenagers or adults. With my family you never know what to expect on a camping trip.

The only "real" vacation that I took was when I was 11 years old and living in Texas. My Grandparents came from California and took me on a great adventure to New York City, Detroit, Buffalo mostly to meet relatives. We did go to the Statue of Liberty and Niagara Falls. We traveled by bus and then took a train back to California (where my Grandparents lived and my parents picked me up. It was a GREAT ADVENTURE and I loved it!

Utahtea

I was born in Los Angeles. My grandmother's family lived in that area, while my grandfather's family was in San Francisco. All of my early chidhood vacations were spent in San Francisco. It was a looong drive for a young child, but so worth it once we arrived. SF was a wonderland to me. We rode the cable cars, went to Fisherman's Wharf, drove up and down the then scarey hills, walked across the Golden Gate Bridge, and stayed in hotels and with family. We ate in very nice restaurants, both here and in Sausalito, and I had cousins my own age to play with.

Then when I was 7 years old, we moved to SF. What a culture shock. Gone were the cable car rides and all of the vacation type things that we did. My mother had to work and I had to go to school.

My family in SF all lived in single family houses, and we had lived in a big house on over an acre of land in La Canada (foothills of LA). Now we were living in a rented flat/duplex where the neighbors hung their clothes on lines out of their back bedroom windows, and the houses were built very close together. We could hear the landlord walking around in the unit above us, and had to be very quiet so as not to disturb them. I never told my mother, but I thought that we had lost our 'fortune' and were now living in tenaments like I had seen in movies about New York. Actually, we never did have a fortune and we were living in a nice neighborhood in SF, living the same way that most people live up here, rich or poor.

It took me a few years to get used to SF, but when I did, I began to love it, and still do. All of the 'tourist' things that I did as a kid, are still here for me enjoy as an adult. My adult daughter was born here and when she was little, I made sure that she saw and did the same things in the City that I had experienced when I was her age.

After we moved to SF, guess where we spent our vacations - Los Angeles/La Canada.

Now I can travel any where I want, and I do, but San Francisco will always be my home and I always feel the same excitement that I did as a 5 year old girl, when I hear a cable car. I rarely if ever go to Fisherman's Wharf, but I still have the little shell creatures that my mother bought me many many years ago. They are on a shelf in my bathroom and I still look at them every so often and remember my wonderful San Francisco vacations.

I grew up in Northern New Jersey. Most of my relatives lived in Pennsylvania including one branch of the family who were mennonites. I would ride on the train to Philadelphia with my grandmother who broke with tradition(drank dewars and smoked parliments). She would let me order club sandwiches and 7 up. I thought I was in heaven. In those days, Grace Kelly had just married the prince. Everywhere I travelled with my grandmother she and her friends would sit around and tell each other how much I looked like Grace Kelly. (frankly I was a kid and ,in retrosepct..not a chance I looked even remotely like Grace Kelly!) My grandmother would also take me out to see the mennonite relatives..I remember great feasts of wonderful corn and beefsteak tomatoes. I was utterly amazed by their outhouse!
I also remember trips to the Jersey shore where we would rent a house for a week. Over the years I have pined for those days..went to Rehobeth in 2000 for a day and got a whiff of the past(fries, sausages and peppers..lots of people with kids and big beach umbrellas)LOVED IT!

So, of those who posted replies, none mentioned theme parks or other organized-activity based vacations. Do we organize our kids/families too much today? Do we need to go back to simple vacations like Austin's where we let our kids explore and be kids (while the parents get much needed down time)?

McSmith: Although you might think that this new, media-savvy, wired-in generation requires the whole Theme Park/Structured Activity Vacation thing, I'm not so sure. After all, does taking the kids to Walt Disney World say "I love you, kids" or "I love the fact that I just spend the money and I don't have to entertain you little buggers for the next 6 hours"?

WDW and the whole theme park experience, after all, are things that ANYONE can provide to their kids, provided they have the money. But our backyard picnics, eating boiled crabs, London broil and watermelon under a willow tree-- no one else can have that. And THAT'S what makes those memories special: they are unique to me.

Ask your kids when they're adults about the Disney trips. They'll say "Yeah, they were fun". If you ask them what their favorite time was, they will (hopefully) say something like: "Remember when we were on the beach and we were building that huge sand castle and Mom was standing back to get a picture and a big wave knocked her over and she was so mad at first then we all laughed and laughed, and then we went to that hole-in-the-wall place for Cuban ham sandwiches and friend plantains? That was so great."

I definitely think we structure our vacations too much and I think that a lot of kids' lives are too structured as well. Unstructured adventures and even a little boredom are wonderful things for a kid because out of that comes creativity and original thought.

When I was a kid, we went to Disneyland, some water parks, and other amusment parks, but my best memories are of just hanging around with family and friends. I'm not that old, so my childhood wasn't too long ago, but we didn't have a lot of money for vacations and amusment parks, so we didn't do a lot of that stuff. Most of our vacations were spent visiting family and or camping.

My cousins and I used to spend time at our grandparents' house during our school vacations. They lived in the Sierra foothills, so there was plenty of opportunity for advanture - playing in the creek, exploring the woods, swimining in the lake, going to the farmer's market with our grandmother, working in the woodshop with our grandpa, camping out, whatever. These memories are golden. I mean, if a person was going to write a story about an ideal summer vacation spent with cousins and grandparents, this would be it.

For most of my childhood, we lived by the beach so that offered a lot of adventure too. After a good storm we liked to go down to the beach, collect driftwood and build forts. We even built a raft once that was actually semi-seaworthy.

theladyjess - what happened to Mackenzie? I'm expecting to hear that she is now Mother Superior Mackenzie.

I had all but forgotten those eight or nine hour train trips between Los Angeles and San Francisco. I loved eating in the dining car. Towards the end of the trip it did get a little boring and my mother had a hard time keeping this very active little girl in her seat.

A theme park in those days was a city park with a playground, picnic area and maybe a swimming pool.

Growing up we didn't have much money, but every summer we would scrape up enough for a few days in Atlantic City. My sister and I lived for this yearly treat. We would each get a stuffed animal and go on all the rides on the old Steel Pier. Anyone remember the diving horse? And how could I ever forget Mr. Peanut, shaking all the kids hands on the boardwalk, he seemed so real! The lights of the amusements, the smell of the ocean mixed with the aroma of pizza, fries and cotton candy, it was magical.

After my first trip as an adult to the carribean, I thought how could I ever go back to the Jersey Shore after being here? But every year that's just what I do, I guess it just feels like home.

McKenzie has changed from the deamon child that she was to a polite, respectful 20 year old woman. I think that she found herself in high school, and realized that people liked her better when she is nice to them.

Thinking back I remember a trip I took with my grandma to North Dakota when I was 10. This was the beginning of the end of my relationship with Grandma. She wouldn't let me to to the bathroom by myself on the train. When we got to Devil's Lake, I had to share a full size bed with her. Even though it was vacation she made me go to bed at 9pm. When we visited her friends who lived on the lake, she wouldn't even let me put my feet in the water because she can't swim. The highlight of the trip was the sleep overs at my second cousin's house, because Grandma wasn't there. On the train ride back, she made me sleep on the floor so she could stretch out on both seats. Over the years our relationship continued to go down hill. The same thing happened with McKenzie when she went to North Dakota with Grandma when she was 10. Grandma finally got it right with Katie.

We never went to a theme park as a family. There aren't any in Washington and we never had the money to go to one somewhere else. All of our family vacations were to our property on Mt. Rainier or to the coast.
I went to Disneyland for the first time when I was 18. My mom and I had a great time, just the two of us before I graduated high school. I have memories from that trip, some of which happened at Disney like waiting in line for Space Mountian when it broke down. We were almost to the ride and decided to wait in the air conditioning rather than coming back later. When we first got to California the shuttle from the air port dropped us off at the wrong hotel. We got a ride to the right one from a security guard. Once we got there our room had been given to someone else. So we got a ride back to the first hotel from the guard.
After Disney we went to LA for the Foster Parent convention Mom was attending. One of her sessions got canceled so we went to Universal together. I did Sea World by myself while she was in class. The whole time we were gone my tailbone was bothering me. At first I didn't realize it, as I was too busy having fun. Soon it got so bad that I couldn't sit, stand, lay down or walk. At 11:30 one night Mom called house keeping to have them bring up a sewing kit. I had a huge lump on my taibone that she lanced with a needle. Jay Leno is doing his monolog (sp?) while I am laying on the bed crying, "Stop Mama! You're hurting me!" She's draining this huge cyst I have and telling me to be quiet because there are foster parents in the rooms next to us that were also attending the convention. At least the draining helped and I was able to get through the rest of the trip pain free. We found out when we were leaving for the airport that there was a hospital a few blocks from the hotel. Mom and I still laugh about the trip.

Born and raised in Arizona by a couple of Scandinavians from the Midwest I remember looooonnnnnggg car trips in June every summer to Indiana & Wisconsin. My mother would read aloud to us great novels-"Travels with Charlie" is still one of my faves. Texas just never ended!My dad would end the day by allowing us to select the coolest motel with a slide in the pool. Of course the family reunions were like a Rockwell look at endless summertime picnics. Back home we did weekend trips all over Southeastern AZ and picnics all the time-a favorite was early AM sunrise breakfasts out in Sabino Canyon (which you cannot drive yourself to anymore).Pancakes on the griddle-the whole deal! Another 2 weeks in August found us in Napa as my Dad did 2 weeks of Navy reserve duty out at what was Skaggs Island. (Napa and Sonoma still don't look that different to me now as they did then-for all of you who live in the Bay area-Stornetta's is still there!) This place was so wonderfully green compared to home! And has many fond memories.

I am enjoying this thread. Theladyjess' disaster tales certainly reminded me of some "bad funny" experiences I have had on vacations over the years. "Bad funny" experiences are ones that you laugh at after the fact, but are not so funny when you are going through them.

Here are some examples:

1. The temperature is 103F. There you are in your rented beach house in Hilton Head. You call the owner, who is not in Hilton Head. "Where is your filter?" you ask. He says, "What is a filter?" The a/c had to be defrosted at great expense.

2. A rented beach at Rehoboth Beach, DE, where the stove started a fire and the water heater did not work. We spent the week calling the realtor and waiting for repairment. Grr!

3. Our first home exchange with a British family of packrats. The clothes dryer was buried under junk and we did not find it until the end of the 3 week exchange. The cleaning woman told us they cleaned up the house in honor of our arrival. Huh? I would have hated to have seen it before. Not to mention that my mother, who is one of those antiseptically clean and neat freaks, was along on the trip.

4. The fact that my car a/c invariably breaks down on any return trip from New England (must be a curse).

There are many more, but you get the idea. I never had any of these pleasurable experiences as a kid because the only place we ever went was the local beach (see previous post).

For theme parks, the big outing was the annual family outing to Playland in Rye, NY. We would save these coupons from the paper all summer for discounts on the rides. Then the big day came. It was a once a year deal. Playland is (I think it still exists) and old fashioned amusement park. Disney was only in California when I was a kid and the airfare was too expensive to even contemplate going for my family.