Why was I so sleepy on all of those family trips? Was I brain-dead? Was I bored? Was I in-the-back-seat sick?
All of the above. For now, in my adult life, I found that I was nesting, I was resting and I was hibernating for bigger things, for more exciting times than the endless hot highways rising up to meet our family car on its yearly trek to Florida. Row after row of small, cheap motels, with “NO VACANCY” flashing in our weary faces. Dad, was such an adventurer that to make a reservation was to “fence him in.” No matter, we somehow managed to find a room, any room at 2:00 a.m. after a long road trip seemed like gold. The hum of the room AC, broken by the steady snoring of my father, lulled us little ones to sleep, even huddled three to a double bed. It was our life.
My parents were big on big breakfasts eaten at the , local touristy Pancake or Waffle House. Large stacks of flatcakes, piled high would show up later in a lazy afternoon at the beach. Lobster red, refusing to patiently slather the required amount of sun “tan” lotion, the following night was sent in agony flinching at the touch of the rough, cold sheets of our chosen hut of a motel. Sore, sleep-deprived and grumpy, we rose to another trip to “breakfast” while Dad cheerfully said, “you kids better slather up today.” Ugh! We slunk to the nearest shade where my mother sat, her fair skin was to be protected, but her constant vigil undaunted. Though she could not swim, she would not relinquish her quiet watch over her brood of four at the beach. How faithful she was to watch and squint in the bright Florida sunshine for impending shark attacks or drowning children. Thanks to Mom, we were never far enough to escape her watchful eye.
Oh, those fond memories of Florida in the 1960s and Highway A1A. Now, as I travel that same road, it is the same road, those same motels lie dormant and rotting, but the scenery though quite unchanged mostly, looks very different to my adult eyes. Not the adventure these days, just quiet musings of a hot Corvette loaded with children and two weary parents on trips taken long ago …….
