Summertime Memories

And now for something completely different...summertime memories.

Some of my favorite summer memories are from when we lived in Willowick after my parents got divorced. As Mom was raising us kids by herself, she went back to work after the divorce, working long factory hours in order to make enough to keep the five of us afloat. Usually she only had two weeks of vacation a year, when the factories “shut down” for those middle-of-the-summer week. (I think this was to save on electricity, and to have everyone gone at once, rather than to have people taking vacations at different times, which would slow the assembly lines down.)

 

The Blue Streak at Cedar Point. My brother Tim & I loved to ride this together!

Mom made sure that those two weeks were something to remember, as it was the only “vacation” we ever got as kids. That meant we made all kinds of excursions: We went to amusement parks like Geauga Lake, or Cedar Point in Sandusky, or Sea World. We went to Mentor Headlands Beach to swim in Lake Erie, or visited museums like the Natural History Museum or the Cleveland Aquarium, etc.

 

For the day-long trips like to the amusement park, Mom always made picnic lunches (and also to save money, of course!). We would find a picnic pavilion, put our picnic basket down, cover it with a tablecloth, and off we would go. At lunch or dinner time, we would come back to our food and eat. 

We usually had cold chicken, Mom's famous, yummy potato salad, brownies, chips, and “pop,” which is what we called all soft drinks at the time. Had a Pepsi? It was a pop. Wanted a root beer? It was a pop. Most of these foods & drinks were things we never got to eat regularly, so it made them all the more special. 

We always came home tired, sunburned, and stuffed with good food. Usually we drove home late at night, with the car windows rolled all the way down (no air conditioning in cars then!), and the wind blowing hard into the car. Sometimes we would lean on each other or slouch down in the car seats and fall asleep - we did not wear seat belts then either.

I will never forget how special my Mom made all our summer “vacations.” She created “stay-cations” before they were a thing!

 

Until next time...

 

IMAGE:

Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_Streak_%28Cedar_Point%29 : 7 May 2023), "Blue Streak (Cedar Point)," last updated 7 May 2023, at 19:44 (UTC).