Memory Lane - We Discover Florida (January - May 1982)

When I last stepped off Memory Lane, I had finished telling the story of 1981 and the growth of our family by one little girl. The holidays over and packed away, we started 1982 in typical Michigan fashion. While some were lollygagging and contemplating their navels - 

Most of us were dealing with scenes like this.

These pictures are significant in two ways. First, this was the inaugural snow storm of our life together as home owners. We had shoveled snow of course, but - never our own. Sort of a Michigan rite of marriage. It was the beginning of a long and complex relationship with this persistent and wily wintry opponent. Some of our more daunting weather episodes have been chronicled in earlier posts. Not surprisingly, this won't be the last one you hear about.

The second item of significance has to do with the first snow picture. Note that in our driveway you can see the tailgate of our new car - a 1982 Oldsmobile Delta 88 diesel station-wagon. There'll be more on that diesel part later. For now, the point I'd like to stress is the hauling capacity of this shiny big boy. Remember this pic from a while back?

This was taken during a return trip from seeing the relatives in Toronto the previous October. At the time our "big" car was this Chevette (our other car was a Mustang II). So this pea green cruiser got all the road trip assignments. During our 1981 Christmas trip to Bay City, the Chevette met its Waterloo. Crammed full with gear - baby swing, baby walker, playpen, suitcases, our dog Heidi - plus Christmas gifts, we realized that we were under-autoed. We survived, but the atmosphere during the ride home was not kumbaya.

Within a week of this near miss, we marched into the local Oldsmobile dealer and asked, "What's the biggest thing ya' got?" A couple of days later we drove home in our new family station wagon. Oddly, I can find no full picture of our new car from that first winter. But I can offer the shot below taken some time later, to attest to its capability as a cargo master.

As any steady reader of this blog can tell you, large vehicles became a tradition in this family (see the series of posts starting with The Tiara Years). It all started with this big honkin' Oldsmobile.

Our automobile situation taken care of, we continued our journey through the winter of '82. I was working downtown Detroit as the manager of the IRS Special Procedures Advisory Unit. Nancy was working as an IRS Collection group manager in Ann Arbor. Life was busy, but good. Christy was having fun doing some new things - 

Some old things -

And was sporting "new" duds.

These bib overalls were actually mine way back when; my mother had saved them and had passed them on to me when Ted was born. Here's the proof - Ted, circa 1977.

Five years later in '82, Ted was growing like a weed and taking an interest in sports. Here's a shot with what I believe was his first ball glove, itching for the snow to melt.

As March was rolling around, an opportunity to escape the winter early arose. Nancy's parents Rae and Marge had taken a condo in Sarasota for the month and invited us to pay a visit. We accepted and decided to expand the trip to include visits to my grandmother in Tampa and some friends who had relocated to Sanford, Florida. This would be our first real road trip as a family. We were pumped. 

Nancy and I had both been to Florida before, she most recently on a vacation with and to visit friends. My last trip to the Sunshine State was in the early '70s, with my parents to visit my grandmother. Slight difference in atmosphere and activities. Nancy spent time in a bikini enjoying the sun and the Florida coast. I in my sans-a-belt pants caught up with grandma, met a great uncle for the first time, and toured an underground sea in Tennessee. The draw was big carp-like fish with no eyes. You had to be there.

So traveling as a couple with a six-month old would be different. Because we now had this big car that was fun and comfortable to ride in, we decided to save a little cash by driving straight through. We made a pack list which included clothes, baby equipment and supplies for about 10 days, and an impressive array of road snacks. We also bought some travelers checks (remember those) and obtained our first AAA Triptik which provided information about gas stations that sold diesel. This was our first hint that our big, beautiful, roomy, over-accessorized land yacht might have a dark underbelly. But at that moment, we loved it.  

We packed one other item, which is the reason no pictures were taken of the loaded car or of our time on the road. It was a foam mattress roughly the size of a twin bed that nested perfectly in the back of the Olds with half of the rear seat folded down. We each used it to sleep on while the other was driving through the night. And yes, the parent sleeping did so with our baby daughter sleeping along side. You can now see why no (incriminating) pictures were allowed.

What can I say. We were young and adventurous (read irresponsible). What could go wrong? Our young'un surely didn't need to spend all her time strapped into her boring car seat, safe and snug. She deserved some fun, too, didn't she? Yeah right. Our real motivation of course was to enhance the likelihood that Christy would actually sleep through the night, so we could, too. And it worked.

In our defense we thought about it more when we returned home and realized, belatedly, that we shouldn't have done that. We never did it again. And to ease our guilt we've spent the rest of our travel lives pointing out kids in other vehicles who don't appear to be strapped in and commenting on what idiots the parents must be. 

Overall, our 22 hour drive from Dearborn to Sarasota went fine. We arrived on time, met up with Rae and Marge and had a delightful stay in their vacation condo. Here are some pics. The first one is mother and daughter relaxing after the long drive, enjoying their new, warm surroundings.

Here are Nancy and yours truly posing for the record. I'm the one in the dorky bucket hat with - no beard. 

This condition of this pic has not weathered the years very well - the Ektachrome bleed thing. And it wasn't adjusted properly for the sun and shadow in the first place. But I'm including it here anyway because it is the first pic of me face-hairless for the first time in 18 months. And it has been so ever since. 

Just for the record, here is in my opinion the most memorable picture of me with a beard. It was taken by our long-departed friend Bob Douglas during an evening of private karaoke in his living room. 

This is also the best picture ever taken of me in a bowling shirt. Sort of Seger-esq I've always thought, especially the bowling shirt part. What can I say? It was the '80s.

But back to Florida. Christy felt right at home while on the trip. Mainly because she spent much of it like this. 

I guess the world looks pretty much the same everywhere through the fishnet of a playpen.

Here's a favorite shot from Sarasota, of Nancy's folks with Christy. Nice sun hat. 

After a few days with Rae and Marge, we started our meander north. Our next stop was an afternoon  with my Grandma Katy in Tampa. She was only 78 at the time. Sobering in retrospect as that's only five years older than I am now. Here's a shot of Grandma with her husband (#3) Grandpa Louis, enjoying their visit with Christy. 

There'll be more on the adventures of my remarkable grandmother later on as she lived to be 100, and did so in her own way in her own home. 

From Tampa we cruised up the I-4 corridor to the smallish town of Sanford to visit our friends Terry and Paula. Upon arrival they greeted us with cocktails and a hot tub. That's what I'm talking about. Here are Paula, her daughter Jesse, Christy and I enjoying the moment.

In this shot the girls - Paula, Nancy, Jesse and Christy - are heading for a walk in the Florida sun. The pic's a little blurry but you get the idea. The photographer was walking backwards, doing his best not to fall down, and took his eye off the ball. So much for an action shot.

Here's Christy back at the house for a mid-afternoon snack.

That night, we went clubbing in Sanford. The hot spot in town was - Showbiz Pizza. The headliner was this guy, known as Billy Bob Brockali.

It was our first encounter with a rock-singing animatronic creature. But not our last as in the early '80s the Showbiz, Chucky Cheese and Major Magic floor show pizza and beer arcade palaces were springing up everywhere. Here's a shot of Terry and daughter Jesse enjoying the fun, which for them we learned was a weekly experience. Christy was a little young to enjoy the atmosphere, but it made a big impression on me.

The next day we took a short drive over to the ocean and New Smyrna Beach. It was our first afternoon on the ocean as a couple. We didn't realize it at the time, but this was a foreshadow of many vacations to come. We had a fine time as indicated by these pics.

In this first shot we tried for a little nap time after the drive. Ya, like that was going to happen.

So we explored the beach for awhile and took in the ocean air. 

And relaxed on a beach blanket. Notice little miss no-nap starting to fade.

Before we left for the day we took this shot of our fully acclimated beach bunny.

This has become one of our favorite pictures of Christy, as it captured her upbeat disposition at an early age. This picture has been on our refrigerator door ever since I can remember. It always reminds me of the good times our family has shared over the years on one beach or another. 

We spent one more day with Terry and Paula before our trip home. It included trying on a little local color.

A last dip in the pool.

And resting up for the long journey ahead. Life was good.

Thus ended our first family trip to Florida. We enjoyed it and thought it would be nice to go back some day. We had no idea what lay ahead.  

The drive home was uneventful, the way you always want it to be. Safely back in Dearborn, spring was in the offing. The next few weeks brought a lot of this.

With frequent visits from the supervisor.

And of course, Christy's first Easter outfit.

This takes us to the end of May and to the brink of Christy's first full summer. We'll explore her discovery of sand and lakeshore in our next Memory Lane outing. Until then.

Grosse Pointe Charles