This is my post for #memoirmonday week 10 What's your favorite way to travel and your most memorable trip? hosted by @ericvancewalton
My favorite way to travel is by car, but I have many memorable trips.
My first trip anywhere was when I went by car with my Mom and Dad, we visited family in Georgia, that is where my Dad's Dad was from. He moved to Florida in the 1890s. I remember visiting family who grew peanuts we helped dig them and they dumped a bunch of them in a huge wash tub and cooked them on an open fire in their yard. I also remember visiting my grandfather's grave. He passed away in the 1940s and they shipped his body back to Georgia after he passed away, I never knew him. The graveyard was very old with concrete graves above the ground and the tops were broken, I remember wondering if the bodies could be seen but I was too scared to look in them.
Dad had something to do with politics where he met with Governors and other important people. My first plane ride was scary but I remember looking down at the clouds and thinking if the plane ran out of gas would the clouds hold us up, I think I was 10 or 11 years old.
We drove to Alabama, I remember going through a tunnel that went under the water, that was scary.
We had free run of the inside of the Capital building in Alabama and met Governor George Wallace and his wife. We ran up spiraling staircases to the top and looked down at each floor filled with seats. That is the memory that sticks out to me. Also when they were having a meeting with Dad I was behind a curtain with a record player and played Dixie before the meeting started.
This is the same place Gov Wallace is standing by.
I also remember being in Hot Springs Arkansas, we stayed at the Arlington Hotel. It was the fanciest place I have ever been, Dad had a suite there. We kids got to know the elevator operator very well.
I went on a cruise with my daughter and 3 of my grandkids, it was not my favorite way to travel but I am glad I did it. There are too many people on the ship and it was too expensive to do anything other than get in a pool with lots of other people, which I did not like.
But I did like going to this Mayan city in Tulum Mexico. The way they lived and the things they built were amazing.
This building warned them that a tropical storm was coming, when the wind got over 40mph it would make a sound that alerted the villagers who in turn would blow a shell horn on the other side of the village that would alert villages that were too far away to hear the sound from the building, they would alert other villages by blowing their shell horn.
Born and raised here in Florida and I was 61 before I ever went to the Keys, my daughter rented a house down there and we drove to it. She also rented a boat and I took us to the Sombrero lighthouse and the kids scuba-dived around it.
One of them dropped a cracker overboard and the yellow tail snapper came from nowhere to eat it, so of course more crackers went in the water than was eaten, I wished I had a fishing pole but no fishing was allowed.
My trip to Vermont with my sisters was very nice, we flew to Pennsylvania and the rest was driving which was nice, we did a lot of hiking that was the best part.
Even though I love a road trip, I have to say my favorite way to travel is to climb in my boat loaded with camping gear like in the first picture, and camp on an island not 5 miles from my home. I can not pick one because I have loved them all.
I haven't experienced camping maybe I will try that one.
I enjoy it, but I was raised at a campground and always envied the people who came to camp when I lived in a house. lol
I do have motion sickness, especially on Kong distances, but j still enjoy road trips as there are so many fascinating things on the road. Haha
Yes, I love seeing things that are not on the list to see and stopping to explore them.
Very good memories! It was interesting to hear a little of your family's history also. I was in that exact spot in Tulum in 1999. We took a tour bus down from Cancun and the bus driver was doing shots of tequila with the tour guide. Needless to say we were on the edge of our seats the whole drive.
We took a boat from Cancun, then a bus, after seeing the ruins we swam in a Sanota and zip-lined. It was the best part of the trip.
Found you in Silver Bloggers -- this is one of your most remarkable posts because of the travel through history as well ... and of course Governor Wallace is well known, but through the eyes of a child ... that's a rare view!
Running the stairs of the capital building impressed me more than meeting him, maybe because it was more fun for a kid.
That makes sense, especially since back then, George Wallace wasn't "famous" yet!
I really love to go camping since I haven’t tried it, love the idea of being reconnected with nature together with loved ones♡♡♡
It is not for everyone but everyone should try it.
The fond memories are always the most touching. A cruise how fancy 😧 I’ve never been on one. Crackers and yellow tail haha 🤣 that seems like fun. The fishies must have had a great catch with all the yummy food. Nice write up, a lot of thoughts ran through my mind imagining the journey you described.
@coffeenlove thank you for the comment, the cruise was the only one I have ever been on and if it hadn't been for my daughter paying for me, I would not have gone.
About the fish eating the crackers, it made me think why do I spend so much time trying to catch bait when all I need is a box of crackers, lol, I am a commercial fisherman.