What did you usually do on your summer vacations as a child?

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
Lets shake a little of the winter blahs and think about the summers of our younger years.

The two weeks my dad has off from work in the summer, we'd usually go on a road trip. Sometimes we'd visit historic places like Boston, Gettysburg and the like. In 1959 we even went to Titusville, PA where the first oil well in America was established - it was the centennial year for that. I still have a keychain souvenir from there that contains a drop of oil from that well.
Titusville.jpg

We also vacationed frequently along the Maine coast.

My mom was also a connoisseur of literature. One summer we read Bullfinch's Mythology, another year we did Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. She also had two textbooks: Adventures in American Literature and Adventures in English Literature which had selected pieces and we enjoyed reading through those.

Of course I had plenty of time to do kid stuff, too. ;)
 

During the summer... endless *long* walks with my neighbor who happened to be my bestie, Crystal. Miles and miles at a time. There was some bike riding, but not nearly as much as walking. Picnics, reunions, gatherings, school events, sports games, church events... oh how I miss it all. šŸ„ŗ

We didn't travel long distances a lot because of Dad's work, but there were road trips within the state and to relatives in Ohio.
 
We'd go visit my grandparents in Virginia and rent a cottage at the beach for a week. It would be a run-down ratty shack, splintery floors, beat-up furniture and the constant sand and mildew, because that's all we could afford but IT WAS THE BEACH!!! Paradise to a land-locked Midwestern kid.

One year, we set off on a 2-week camping trip at several parks in the south and it was a disaster as rain followed on our heels everywhere we went. The Smokies were having a drought and it started raining a half hour after we got there and came down torrentially for three straight days.

Mom almost lost her mind.
 

Last edited:
Most of the time I spent summer vacation hanging out with my little circle of friends.

Every few years my stepfather would rent a camp on a local lake when he wanted us out of the house to do a major project like a new kitchen or bath.

The absolute worst were the road trips with a pop up camper in tow.

My stepfather had everything planned to the minute and the budget planned to the penny.

I spent most of my time looking out the car window, listening to my mother chirping at my stepfather over why we couldnā€™t stop here or there, after all itā€™s supposed to be a vacation, etcā€¦

It was a great relief when I was considered old enough and trustworthy enough to stay home.
 
The good ? We usually spent a week in California once a week, either in San Diego or on a Disney trip.

The bad ? The ten day trips to visit relatives in Texas. The drive from Phoenix to Central Texas and Dallas were boring. I felt like an outsider because all of my relatives including my parents and sisters were born in Texas and proud of it. And at that time none of the homes we stayed while in Texas had A/C at that time. As I type this I realize i must have been a huge snot when we made those trips.

The rest of my summer was usually spent in the pool, being in Little League or staying indoors and playing table top games with my friends.
 
In the beginning, there were Bungalow Colonies. Then, several weeks each summer in Miami Beach. Once, membership at a beach club in NY

When my father finally learned to drive, he loved taking trips like to Smokey Mts. Williamsburg VA, New England, etc.

Or, we'd fly to West Coast, rent a car there.
My father was loads of fun. He made everything a great adventure.
 
What did you usually do on your summer vacations as a child?
Click to expand...

Ride my bike or skateboard as far as I could get from home. Later, when we lived in a house that had a pool, I'd be swimming in that pool all day, into the evening.

Every couple years I'd be put on a plane and spend the Summer at my grandparents house in North Carolina. Had all kinds of cousins to run around with, swim in pools or lakes, catch fireflies and stuff.
 
We would begin filling a box in our parents room with food and drinks. Then come summer we would head to a small beach town called Nokomis between Sarasota and Venice Fla. An old motel right on the Gulf. YOu could walk out the door and throw a rock into the surf. THe other side of the road was the inter coastal waterway. WE would get an effect with one bedroom for my parents and we slept on couches that became beds and Kevin had the roll away. For two weeks we lived on the beach swimming and fishing. SO much fishing.

There was a bridge close by with lights on the fenders to alert big boats at night how much clearance they had. Those lights attracted bait fish and then SNOOK. We would fish out to that light and catch so much fish. And the jetties were just a mile south so we went there to fish too. It was the place and time a young man dreamed of. My brothers and I fished and swam all the time. It was called Casey Key where we stayed. Stephen King owns a place there now.

My dad eventually bought a bar and marina nearby and we had that years after I graduated HS. Right on the intercoastal waterway. The Buoy Bar.
 
Weekends visiting cousins lots of softball then. Big families so always had 3 or more for each team.
Horseback riding, when possible, most every weekend. Camping and fishing.
Lots of Biking. Working in garden helping parents' plant and weed.
Older it was field work and Bailing hay, picking corn and Tomatoes to market.
Farm Chores, animals to market, Hogs, beef, milking & chickens and eggs raising stuff too.
By the time I was 17 I was fed up with Farm Life. especially the chores. Lol
 
My family never did vacations or outings of any kind. When I was very young I would spend a week at my grandparents during the summer. It was boring because they lived in the city, there were plenty of kids but they didn't come out until the afternoon then had to be back home by dark.

At ten I started working during the summers.
 
We went to fishing camps, a much more economical ā€œresort,ā€ These were low budget cabins with motorboats for rent. I am amazed where parents take their kids now including my own daughters with their childrenā€” Disney World, cruises, other countries. They are not rich either. As a child I didnā€™t know any child who did these things either. Of course Disney World was not built yet.
 
debodun said:
Lets shake a little of the winter blahs and think about the summers of our younger years.

The two weeks my dad has off from work in the summer, we'd usually go on a road trip. Sometimes we'd visit historic places like Boston, Gettysburg and the like. In 1959 we even went to Titusville, PA where the first oil well in America was established - it was the centennial year for that. I still have a keychain souvenir from there that contains a drop of oil from that well.
View attachment 400009

We also vacationed frequently along the Maine coast.

My mom was also a connoisseur of literature. One summer we read Bullfinch's Mythology, another year we did Chaucer's Canterbury Tales. She also had two textbooks: Adventures in American Literature and Adventures in English Literature which had selected pieces and we enjoyed reading through those.

Of course I had plenty of time to do kid stuff, too. ;)
Click to expand...
Our family went to Bar Harbor in Maine a couple of times.
We had a camp at Plum Island in Ma. (Not the anthrax Plum Island in NY šŸ˜‰) Spent most of our summers there.
 
Although my parents didnā€™t have much money( My father was a cop and my mother was a stay at home mom) they always made sure we had a week of vacation in the summer.
We lived close to the Chesapeake Bay, so my father would rent a shore home for the week. We would bring our own food, sheets, towels, etc. It was not glamorous but we all had a lot of fun swimming, fishing and crabbing and walking in the woods for that week . My grandmother and my aunt and uncle with my 2 cousins would also pitch in and come with us. I have great memories of those good times.
 
Two weeks at the NJ shore staying at my grandparents' Rooms to Rent place during August when rentals were fewer.
We slept on the third floor in rooms that didn't get rented out because they weren't very pretty and were used for storage but had beds in them. What do you want for free?

My grandparents were Italian immigrants so it was a cultural experience staying with them. Good food!
 
Quite a few Summers we got sent to a daily Vacation Bible School for two weeks for intensive churching.

One Summer I got sent to a week-long stint at a Summer Camp for poor and troubled kids. Military discipline, up at Reveille to assemble and salute the flag raising then off for communal showers, in the racks then lights out at Taps. Punctuated by Mess Call and Assembly calls during the day. Swimming, canoeing, archery, bushcraft, lectures on citizenship and responsibility, and lots of calisthenics drills. I must have braided 20 lanyards and key fobs.
 
This thread reminded me of a couple camping trips to Lewey Lake in the Adirondacks that my sister and I went on with our uncle and cousins, my aunt always refused to go! šŸ˜‰šŸ¤­šŸ˜‚

1738247435955.jpeg

My uncle was cheap and well connected so he always got a free, but very odd, tent from a company that supplied food tents and booths for carnivals and fairs.

He lived his entire life about two hours behind the rest of the world so we always arrived in the middle of the night.

We would always manage to get the tent up and improvise with the odd assortment of supplies that he remembered to bring.

Those trips could have been miserable but for some reason they were always fun and memorable.
 

Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top