We're going to Florida! (Part 1)
I was awoken at 3 a.m. and told to get dressed. We were going on vacation.
In February 1982, my family drove to Florida for our first real vacation. A snowstorm was pushing through the Midwest, so we weren't exactly sure when we would leave. My father wanted to get an early start to drive through Chicago before rush hour. When I went to bed the night before, with our dog already by Grandma Elsie's house, I didn't know when we would leave. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I knew we were leaving sooner than later.
We all piled into our Chevrolet Citation coupe (yes, we took a compact car to Florida) and left while it was still dark. When we got into Indiana, things got interesting. The storm that had hit left the interstate slick overnight, and my mother was freaked out at the sight of trucks jack-knifed in the wide, grassy (well, snowy) median. But the sun was shining and the roads were clear. We were on our way.
By the time we had reached Kentucky, the temperature had warmed enough that it didn't feel like winter. The winter or 1982 was so incredibly cold, so even 40s seemed like a heat wave. However, the Citation was already becoming cramped, and someone (not me) spilled milk in the back seat. The milk spoiled and left the car with a smell we couldn't get rid of the whole trip. Jenny, age 6 at the time, kept asking if we were in Georgia yet. We did get to Georgia after dark, and even pushed past Atlanta that first day. I was amazed that our AM radio was still picking up WLS hundreds of miles away from Chicago. We found a hotel to stay the night. My parents turned on the TV to find "South Pacific" was on; they werhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife almost tempted to stay up and watch it, but they were just too tired. Our first vacation day had come to an end.
If cool spring weather the day before in Kentucky was welcome, the warm weather in southern Georgia the next day was heavenly. It now really felt like we were on vacation, a feeling punctuated even more when we arrived at the Florida visitor's center and were given free orange juice. It took a few more hours to get to Orlando, and it was raining when we got there. We checked into a hotel on International Drive (Orlando's strip -- we didn't stay at Disney World). Our vacation was in full swing, and though we hadn't done anything really fun yet, I already was having the time of my life.
Click here for part two of this vacation.
In February 1982, my family drove to Florida for our first real vacation. A snowstorm was pushing through the Midwest, so we weren't exactly sure when we would leave. My father wanted to get an early start to drive through Chicago before rush hour. When I went to bed the night before, with our dog already by Grandma Elsie's house, I didn't know when we would leave. When I woke up in the middle of the night, I knew we were leaving sooner than later.
We all piled into our Chevrolet Citation coupe (yes, we took a compact car to Florida) and left while it was still dark. When we got into Indiana, things got interesting. The storm that had hit left the interstate slick overnight, and my mother was freaked out at the sight of trucks jack-knifed in the wide, grassy (well, snowy) median. But the sun was shining and the roads were clear. We were on our way.
By the time we had reached Kentucky, the temperature had warmed enough that it didn't feel like winter. The winter or 1982 was so incredibly cold, so even 40s seemed like a heat wave. However, the Citation was already becoming cramped, and someone (not me) spilled milk in the back seat. The milk spoiled and left the car with a smell we couldn't get rid of the whole trip. Jenny, age 6 at the time, kept asking if we were in Georgia yet. We did get to Georgia after dark, and even pushed past Atlanta that first day. I was amazed that our AM radio was still picking up WLS hundreds of miles away from Chicago. We found a hotel to stay the night. My parents turned on the TV to find "South Pacific" was on; they werhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gife almost tempted to stay up and watch it, but they were just too tired. Our first vacation day had come to an end.
If cool spring weather the day before in Kentucky was welcome, the warm weather in southern Georgia the next day was heavenly. It now really felt like we were on vacation, a feeling punctuated even more when we arrived at the Florida visitor's center and were given free orange juice. It took a few more hours to get to Orlando, and it was raining when we got there. We checked into a hotel on International Drive (Orlando's strip -- we didn't stay at Disney World). Our vacation was in full swing, and though we hadn't done anything really fun yet, I already was having the time of my life.
Click here for part two of this vacation.
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