Sunday Drives, Then and Now...

hiraeth2018

hiraeth2018

Member
Location
Oregon
Who remembers them?

Getting into the family car, parents in the front (usually smoking) and kids in the back (begging for windows to be rolled down)? That sentimental feeling always comes over me when I'm in the car on a Saturday or Sunday, getting my coffee, looking for yard sales or just driving through our the back roads in our community.

Do we spend too much time in our cars during the week to find joy in this once again?
 

I remember them with my parents, my sister and me in the back seat.

My mother would always notice a place she would like to stop and my stepfather would always find an excuse as he flew by.

My sister squealing and whining because I was looking at her or because I was on her side of the seat.

Eventually, my sister and I would fall asleep and for me, that was the best part of those family drives. :playful::eek:nthego:

Today I can't think of anything that I would rather do than fill the car with gas and head out on a little adventure in the surrounding countryside. I really enjoy my little twenty dollar vacations and I will miss them if I ever have to relinquish my driving priveledges. Maybe by then, I'll find a young adventurer that will let me ride shotgun.

Z
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In my former (working) life - yes. Anywhere within about 50 miles of Boston, driving is a blood sport. Many drivers from the greater Boston area actually take pride in how rude they are on the road. The last thing I wanted to do on a Sunday afternoon was to "go for a drive".

Now, I frequently enjoy it. Can't leave my home except by winding, hilly two lane roads with beautiful views of the forests, lakes, and mountains.

Due to cost, traffic, and/or overuse, I suspect most younger people today shun the old "Sunday drive".
 

My parents didn't Sunday drive. We went to particular places, but not just drive around.

When I was married, we loved to hop in the car and go driving all day, sometimes finding something special. We enjoyed exploring, looking at houses, listening to music, talking, stopping for supper and just driving.
 
Tommy said:
In my former (working) life - yes. Anywhere within about 50 miles of Boston, driving is a blood sport. Many drivers from the greater Boston area actually take pride in how rude they are on the road. The last thing I wanted to do on a Sunday afternoon was to "go for a drive".

Now, I frequently enjoy it. Can't leave my home except by winding, hilly two lane roads with beautiful views of the forests, lakes, and mountains.

Due to cost, traffic, and/or overuse, I suspect most younger people today shun the old "Sunday drive".
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Tommy, you are so right... today the commutes are very long near large metro areas with very tired, frustrated and angry drivers. It's too bad really... Aunt Bea is right about how kids fussed in the back seat but I still say it's a lost art.
 
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I loved our Sunday drives. I remember going for many drives during the winter to look at all the water that had frozen as it seeped out of the rocks. Some along the way to the Delaware water gap. Just beautiful. In the fall we would look for old apple and pear trees and would pick up the fallen fruit or pick berries. My Grandma would then make all sorts of things from them. In the summer we would just ride until we found a nice place to stop for a picnic lunch. Sometimes along a stream or lake. The picture shows me when I was about 2 or 3 years old with my Mom,Grandma and Dad. Image (2) (800x511).jpg
 
Ruth n Jersey said:
I loved our Sunday drives. I remember going for many drives during the winter to look at all the water that had frozen as it seeped out of the rocks. Some along the way to the Delaware water gap. Just beautiful. In the fall we would look for old apple and pear trees and would pick up the fallen fruit or pick berries. My Grandma would then make all sorts of things from them. In the summer we would just ride until we found a nice place to stop for a picnic lunch. Sometimes along a stream or lake. The picture shows me when I was about 2 or 3 years old with my Mom,Grandma and Dad. View attachment 60200
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Ruth In Jersey... beautiful memories!
 
RadishRose said:
My parents didn't Sunday drive. We went to particular places, but not just drive around.

When I was married, we loved to hop in the car and go driving all day, sometimes finding something special. We enjoyed exploring, looking at houses, listening to music, talking, stopping for supper and just driving.
Click to expand...

Same here, RR. We never just drove around; my father had to have a destination!!
 
Almost always took a Sunday drive when I was a young man. We lived in the country to begin with, so we usually ended up on the old CCC roads that were built in the depression years. Quite often we would stop and pick berries of one kind or another. These roads were always dirt roads and we very seldom saw anyone else using them.
 
Pappy said:
Almost always took a Sunday drive when I was a young man. We lived in the country to begin with, so we usually ended up on the old CCC roads that were built in the depression years. Quite often we would stop and pick berries of one kind or another. These roads were always dirt roads and we very seldom saw anyone else using them.
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Pappy, your story reminded me of a time I took my mom on a drive... she wanted to go look for mushrooms and we ended up lost on some dirt logging road. My "Home" is located between mountains and rolling wheat fields so there are many places to get lost in. As I'm trying to figure out which direction is back where we started she turns to me and says, "You know, you wouldn't believe the bodies that are buried in these mountains"...
Geez mom! I will never forget that drive!
 
Somewhere around the 30s when more and more families owned cars and started enjoying drives just for fun , they started opening up cute little businesses to try and get people to stop in for a drink, a snack or meal. Now they are taking some of the old photos of these businesses and making cookie jars to sell to the young people. Here is a dog restaurant and a cookie jar copy of it my daughter has.

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I remember our Sunday family drives like yesterday, mom and dad in the front, oohing-and-ahhing over a home they'd spot and like, and us kids soaking up the occasion, sharing a bag of chips between us in the back and just enjoying the ride.
 
Something to add, Sunday drives (when I was a kid) were more relaxing than a Sunday drive would be today, difference being, everything was closed on Sunday's when I was a kid, so traffic in general was absent, thus affording those on a Sunday afternoon tour to do it in a more leisurely and relaxed manner. Today, there'd be someone on your (you know what)... you know the ones I'm talking about... the ones in a big rush to go nowhere fast.
 
My parents in New Jersey would peruse the Sunday paper ads for a discount department store called, “Two Guys from Harrison.” We’d drive there in the afternoon, and walk through the long store which sold everything from appliances to hardware to 45 rpm records. There was always a pretzel vendor there selling hot soft pretzels at three for 25 cents; those were the days!

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Does anyone remember Sunday drives on quirky roads? Steep hills, roller coaster roads, those berms that play a tune in your car from vibrations??? Burma shave sign roads?
What special roads do you remember?
 
Yup, mom , dad, older brother and me. It wasn't necessarily on a Sunday though. Sometimes after my parents worked all day and after supper on a nice summer's day, we would go for a drive and the treat at the end of the drive was stopping at the Dairy Queen and getting ice cream cones.
 

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