“A Road Trip Is A Way For The Whole Family To Spend Time Together And Annoy Each Other In Interesting New Places.”
Today is a perfect fall day through it isn’t quite fall. The air is warmish, the sun bright and there is no breeze. I’m thinking I might go for a ride. I do need to get a few things at the grocery store, yogurt and cream, but that stop will be at the end of my ride. I think I’ll go up Cape.
Sunday rides were fun when I was a kid. My parents would load us into the car and off we’d go. My father always took side roads instead of the highways. I remember seeing cows and red barns and little towns with white churches near grassy commons. My father sometimes gave us a running commentary. I had one back window, and my brother had the other with my sister in the middle. My youngest sister sat up front. Those were the days when the front seat extended across from one window to the other. My mother often packed a lunch, and we’d stop at a roadside place with picnic tables under the shade of trees. It also gave us a chance to run around and play. After lunch, we’d get back on the road for a bit. Sometimes on the way home we’d stop for ice cream cones. It was usually a stand alone ice cream shop with so many flavors it was difficult to choose one. For a while chocolate chip was my favorite. The ice cream was always served in sugar cones which were tasty for eating after the ice cream was gone, but for some reason they always leaked at the bottom. That meant licking the top so it wouldn’t melt down the cone and licking the bottom so the melted ice cream wouldn’t get all over my hands. It was tricky to master. My mother used to put napkins around the bottom of my sisters’ cones. They never ate that far down as the paper stuck to the cones. I finished every bit of my ice cream, and the last taste was always from the bottom tip of the cone.
I am watching It, one of the scariest movies made from a Stephen King novel. It is a good thing I am not afraid of clowns.
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September 8, 2019 at 6:14 pm
Hi Kat,
When I was a kid we would take a road trip from Dallas to NYC in June to visit the relatives. My sister and I occupied the rear seat and my parents sat upfront and controlled the AM only radio. My sister and I got car sick regularly while my kids never got motion sickness. I figured out that was because both my parents smoked cigarettes and the car AC just recirculated the air and we became sick on second hand smoke. This was the time when the interstate highway system was just a gleam in President Eisenhower’s eye. Most of the journey was on two lane state highways. My father was an expert at passing trucks on two lane highways and would sometimes get back in the right lane in just a couple of seconds before colliding with an oncoming car. My mother would catch her breath after each pass. These were the days before seatbelts, shoulder harnesses or airbags and surviving a head on crash was nearly impossible.
We made that trip every year and knew where are favorite places to stop for food or ice cream were located. The few four lane divided grade separated roads were turnpikes which had rest stops with Howard Johnson restaurants. There was nothing better than a fried clam sandwich followed by an ice cream cone served with a cone shaped scoop of ice cream.
Sunny with a 100 degree temperature right now. Supposedly there is rain in the forecast. 🙂
September 8, 2019 at 8:09 pm
Hi Bob,
We went as far as Niagara Falls and often went to Maine but not even close to your lengthy trips. We didn’t have air conditioning All the windows were open. I also got car sick, but I was the only one. My parents also smoked but that didn’t bother me. I don’t remember when I stopped being car sick, but I never was in Ghana, and that would have been the place: crammed in vehicles with chickens and lambs on the floor.
My father drove fast and never lost an opportunity to pass a slower vehicle. We took Route 1A north. It was a two lane road. We liked it as there was so much to see: lots of stores, tourist cabins and attractions.
We call them clam rolls here in Massachusetts.
It was a great day and tonight is chilly without getting cold yet.
September 8, 2019 at 6:25 pm
After two days full of live music I just stayed at home today and skipped the 3rd music day. Am I getting old? Maybe.
I hope you’ve had a great day out on the beautiful Cape!
September 8, 2019 at 8:11 pm
Birgit,
No! No! You’re not getting old. Sunday is, after all, a day of rest!!
It was a nice day.