Your favorite childhood vacation.

[Rain Man]

What was your favorite vacation where you still lived with your original nuclear family and vacationed with them?

For the purposes of this question, assume that a "vacation" was any outing where you slept away from home for more than two days.

Poll coming, but it's also an open-ended question.


My family only took four vacations outside Missouri during my childhood: Disneyland when I was 2, Texas when I was 5 or 6 (more of a work trip for my dad), Washington, DC when I was about 12, and Tennessee when I was probably 14. We also did smaller trips in Missouri, but almost never spent the night - generally Six Flags or Silver Dollar City, then back that night. We never went camping or anything, either - maybe twice in my childhood for one night each, maybe just once.

The DC trip was the big one for me. First off, I got to pick the destination, which was very nice of my parents. They asked me and my sister where we wanted to go, and I don't know if she had any ideas and I really, really, really, really, really wanted to go to the Smithsonian. So we went there (drove all the way from Missouri) and saw all the touristy things. I really don't remember much about it, so it wasn't a life-changer or anything, but I remember being all stoked about it, and I wasn't disappointed at all.

[Fairplay]

DC was a really cool vacation for me also.

[KCChiefsMan]

my grandma had a beach house in cape cod. A very secluded part of the beach, a nice rock ledge out into the ocean for fishing. A little row boat to get out there and fish. Get up early in the am and walk out into the ocean for clams and pick mussels right out of the sand. It was definately my favorite vacation spot as a child. We would go there about once a year.

[Katipan]

We never went on the traditional every summer week long trip, but I guess my favorite memory was going to Mexico with an Aunt and some cousins. Which is odd because after 3 hours of driving it looked like I was right back at home.

[BWillie]

Lakes in Minnesota

[el borracho]

Week in Mission Beach, San Diego. Juice Newton was an Angel of the Morning, Kim Carnes had Betty Davis eyes and my mother bought me a boogie board.

[Mr_Tomahawk]

What is this sh!t? Where is Neverland Ranch? :mad:

[Stewie]

The Olympic Peninsula. I had no expectations and it was awesome.

[Hydrae]

We lived outside Chicago for a few years and two years in a row we drove around Lake Michigan, camping along the way. The highlight for me was collecting rocks known as Petoskey (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Petoskey_stone).

Best trip ever was a month in Europe but that was with the high school band, not my family. Spent the Bicentennial celebration in Lucerne, Switzerland which is still my favorite city in the world.

[DTLB58]

Yellowstone.

[Sully]

Gobbler's Mountain at Table Rock Lake.

[keg in kc]

I can't remember anything from my childhood.

But if I had to pick a favorite imaginary place, it would be a quiet cabin on a lake.

[cdcox]

My parents have been married 48 years. These are the vacations they've taken:

Some lake in Minnesota a bunch of times

Lake of the Ozarks a bunch of times

Skiing in Colorado a bunch of times

Table Rock Lake a bunch of times

Cancun a bunch of times.

At each destination (except for the Colorado ski trips), they stayed at the same resort every time. It kind of causes all of them to run together. Of these, the trips to the Lake of the Ozarks were my favorites and most memorable from my childhood.

Actually, the above probably only accounts for 70% of the vacations they have taken, but you get the idea.

[Dr. Johnny Fever]

Our family vacations we're always visiting family where I now live. We did have family in Chicago so we got to go there a couple times and see the sites which was cool for a kid from a small town in Kansas. I never went on a "real" vacation until I was an adult (Florida) and only twice since then. Now I go visit family for my vacations... which are generally just long weekends... or even short ones.

[Jilly]

My family was not too rich so we did a lot of camping. I wouldn't trade those times for anything. We went to colorado once and camped the whole time, the stories from that trip will always be in my heart

[cdcox]

Typical day at the Lake of the Ozarks in the '70's. Always a good mix of aunts, uncles, and cousins were there.

Wake up early because 1) you went to bed early, 2) Uncle Frank woke you up at 6:00AM when he got up to go fishing, 3) Bed was incredibly uncomfortable

Go for an early morning ski.

Fish for a while.

In latter years, we'd drive into town to get groceries in this time slot.

Eat Breakfast (this was around 10:00 AM) and pack the coolers to take down the dock.

Go to the on-site arcade and blow a couple dollars worth of quarters.

Water ski.

Swim/Fish/read at the dock.

Eat homemade cookies, hot pepper cheese, summer sausage, wash down with pop (early years) or beer (later years).

Swim/Fish/read/at the dock -OR- water ski -OR- Boat tour of lake with swimming and cliff diving.

Dinner.

Evening Ski.

Night time boat ride -OR- evening swim in the pool.

Rinse and repeat for 6 days.

[sodcat]

Does Silver Dollar City count? Place sucks now-a-days!

[Pioli Zombie]

My childhood was typical, summers in Rangoon, luge lessons. In the spring we would make meat helmets.
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[Delano]

Me and the fam always had great times in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

[Pioli Zombie]

Me and the fam always had great times in the Black Hills of South Dakota.

Rocky Racoon?
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[Delano]

Rocky Racoon?
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What is that even supposed to mean?

[Pioli Zombie]

What is that even supposed to mean?

The lyrics to The Beatles Rocky Racoon start off.

....Now somewhere in the black hills of Dakota there lived a young boy named Rocky Racoooooon....
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[ChiefMojo]

Family was old school when it came to camping. Every summer my family would go on a 2-week vacation. Been to something like 35 States in my 30-years of life. Not only did we camp, but a lot of it was roughing it. We didn't stay in hotels, we camped in tents up in the Mountains or Forests. The older we got we moved into one of those Pop-Up Campers.

There were would be days without bathing at times and if you wanted it daily, you did it in the cold streams or under a freezing cold facet. Sure there would be plenty of campsites that had bathrooms as well... just depended where we were at.

Some of my fav spots were anything to do with the mountains in Colorado and Wyoming (most notably the Snowy Range area or up in the Yellowstone/Grand Tetons area). Also spent a lot of time in South Dakota in the Black Hills, the Ozarks, and in the forests/lakes of Minnesota/Wisconsin. Been all through the country, but preferred these spots the best.

[DaKCMan AP]

Enjoyed many great vacations, but the easy favorite is any of the many cruises.

[Bugeater]

My dad drove me and my two brothers all the way to Lake Tahoe in 1981 for two weeks. The smell coming from the back seat was...hey, wait a minute...I was in the back seat.

[CHENZ A!]

Tuscon for spring break with Pops and my uncle for like 7 yrs straight to visit fam and watch spring training baseball.

[stumppy]

I didn't really have a favorite vacination, I guess you could say there were some I didn't dislike as much as others. The ol' DPT shot really sucked from what I remember. Smallpox was no picnic. But I guess my 'favorite' if you could call it that was the vacination for measles. And the was only because my Doctors nurse was hot and brushed her titties up against me me right after she was done.


Edit: Uh.......nevermind.

[Nzoner]

Mom,step-dad,lil bro,me and 4 step bros and sisters all went to Hannibal,MO for a few days and basically saw and did everything Mark Twain wrote about.

[Ebolapox]

The lyrics to The Beatles Rocky Racoon start off.

....Now somewhere in the black hills of Dakota there lived a young boy named Rocky Racoooooon....
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one day his woman ran off with another guy, hit poor rocky in the eeeeeye. rocky didn't like that, said I'm gonna get that boy.

[Jenson71]

My dad went on vacation when I was young. I haven't seen him since.

[Pioli Zombie]

one day his woman ran off with another guy, hit poor rocky in the eeeeeye. rocky didn't like that, said I'm gonna get that boy.

So one day he blah blah blah in a local saloon.
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[MahiMike]

The Ozarks, of course!

[Coach]

Frontier City in Oklahoma City.

[Sully]

Sorry folks, park's closed. Moose out front shoulda told ya.

[MOhillbilly]

DC was fun went to all the sites got to see the skins beat the giants and get into the playoffs.

Orlando with my mom was fun when i was a kid.

But float trips with my dad were the best. we would fish and float all day, pull up on a river bar make camp. then frog and run trotlines all night.

[JD10367]

What is this sh!t? Where is Neverland Ranch? :mad:

Yeah, but at least you got ice cream afterwards and got to ride his private "Pirates of the Caribbean" ride with him.

Speaking of... for me it was DisneyWorld, around 1978 (when it was still just the Magic Kingdom, and technology was Neanderthal enough that kids could be amazed by air-driven robotics and slide-projector effects). I think Disney was the kind of place that, if you went at a specific age, and at a specific time in history, it was mesmerizing. Nowadays, for most kids weaned on the Internet and XBox and HDTV, they probably spend more time in Disney texting their friends and getting porn camerapics. (Not that there's anything wrong with porn camerapics...)

[seclark]

went on several vacations w/my family. mostly camping. the best was the summer we went to southern louisiana for a week. spent a couple days on the gulf. the highlight for me was me, dad, and brother spent two days fishing in the swamps on pirogues(see pic below). i'd love to get back down there one of these days.
hard to beat a big ole mess of boiled crayfish.
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[CoMoChief]

I was the kinda kid who liked to go to amusement parks, disney world that kinda thing.

One thing as I look back that I took for granted were the camping trips I used to go on. At the time I didn't like it too much but now I love camping. Try to do it about 2-3 times a summer.

Probably the funnest thing I ever did on a vacation was white water rafting on the Arkansas River in Colorado. The River was really high because it had been raining a lot lately in that area at the time and the rafting company wouldnt allow people to go on the river because it was too big n fast (thats what she said) But my dad convinced them to let us go and it was a freakin blast.

[Ebolapox]

So one day he blah blah blah in a local saloon.
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...so one day he walked into town, booked himself a room in the local salooooon. rocky racoon checked into his room, only to find gideon's bible. rocky had come equipped with a gun to shoot off the legs of his rival. his rival it seems had stolen his dreams, by stealing the girl of his fancy. her name was magil, and she called herself lil, but everyone knew her as nancy. now she and her man, who called himself dan, were in the next room at the hoe-down. rocky burst in, and grinning a grin, said 'danny-boy, this is a showdown.' but danny was hot, and he drew first and shot. and rocky collapsed in the corner... yeh, yeah,...doo do do do do do do dooooo...

god, that was sad.

[Pioli Zombie]

...so one day he walked into town, booked himself a room in the local salooooon. rocky racoon checked into his room, only to find gideon's bible. rocky had come equipped with a gun to shoot off the legs of his rival. his rival it seems had stolen his dreams, by stealing the girl of his fancy. her name was magil, and she called herself lil, but everyone knew her as nancy. now she and her man, who called himself dan, were in the next room at the hoe-down. rocky burst in, and grinning a grin, said 'danny-boy, this is a showdown.' but danny was hot, and he drew first and shot. and rocky collapsed in the corner... yeh, yeah,...doo do do do do do do dooooo...

god, that was sad.
I got blisters on me fingers!!!!!!!!!
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[kc rush]

I grew up in a lower-middle class family so we never took big vacations (couldn't afford them). It seems like we would go to Chicago or St. Louis to visit family occasionally, but mostly we would head to Estes Park Colorado. Everything we did was within an easy driving distance.

No offense Rain Man or other Colorado people, but it won't break my heart if I never set foot in that state again. I'll go to Montana or somewhere else if I feel the need to see mountains.

My parents started taking longer, more interesting trips after I got older and stayed home working.

[HemiEd]

We still talk about the 2 week trip, in the 60 Dodge Matador wagon, back to the east coast, the summer of 64. I swear, Chevy Chase used this trip as a basis for his movie, Vacation.

You can not possilby make this up, it was that bad.

Eight of us, including granparents, Wichita to St. Louis, West Virginia, Anapolis Md., Washington D.C. and back.

We started out with turkey sandwiches packed, and everywhere we stopped to see family, they had cooked a turkey.

17 year old big sister's suitcase blew off the luggage rack, and was lost almost immediately. She was a bigger PIA than usual for the whole two weeks.

This was the first summer after JFK's assasination, so going to Washington D.C. was pretty special. I still have the velvet rendition of him I purchased with my $1.25 allowance.

[1ChiefsDan]

Mountains - thus my moving from Kansas to Colorado when the opportunity arrived.:)

[1ChiefsDan]

The Olympic Peninsula. I had no expectations and it was awesome.That's a great place - it's where my Dad retired. Sits on a cliff overlooking the straits and has great view of Victoria Island. Took my kids there and went out to the rainforest - incrdible.

[Iowanian]

Its kind of a toss up for me.

My folks didn't have alot when I was young, so we never went on any of the big trips.
We did go to the mountains in colorado and that was fun...I enjoyed the canoe trips to Current River-Jacks Fork. The camping road trip that landed us at Truman Lake was memorable, but mostly because my dad came about as close to choking to death as you can without dying, and when he went to his knees I started punching his back(12 years old) and it finally came up.

I think my favorite were just the camping at one of our farms near the river with my uncles and cousins. Fishing, fire, a sip of beer, stories and learning to do "man stuff".

They're all about the same, but have the same theme. It was simple, with my family just doing stuff. I remember more details about those trips than most other things at that age.

[seclark]

I enjoyed the canoe trips to Current River-Jacks Fork.

we'd camp down there a bunch...one time we were all sitting around the camper and my old man jumped on one of the mini-bikes and took off bare-footed. as he was riding around, some kind of weed slid between his little toe, and the one next to it and snapped it straight-out sideways from the other 4. we all thought it was funny as hell, but were afraid to laugh.
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[Lumpy]

My parents couldn't afford much, so my 'vacations' were spent at a lake. My favorite memory was my dad surprised me w/ a bamboo fishing pole when I was around 8 or 9 yrs old. Every time I would cast and get a nibble, I would pull back using all my strength. Next thing my family would see is a fish flying up in the air. They would always scream, "she caught one, take cover!". Although I never had the luxury of a 'real' vacation like most kids... I wouldn't change a thing.

[patteeu]

I voted for "road trip with no central focus".

It was actually a road trip from KC to LA to visit an aunt for my parents, but they took several days on each leg of the trip and we did some sightseeing in LA as well.

On the outbound trip and we visited places like Carlsbad Caverns, Tombstone, AZ (Home of the Gunfight at the OK corral. My dad was a big western fan), Fort Huachuca (where my dad was stationed in the Army), White Sands and a short trip across the border into Mexico just to say we'd been there.

While staying at my aunt's house, we went to Disneyland, Knots Berry Farm, Universal Studios, Catalina Island, and the beach (*shiver*).

On the trip home, we visited the Grand Canyon, the Four Corners monument (only point in the nation adjacent to 4 states), Mesa Verde (cliff dwelling ruins), the mountains of Colorado, and the hot springs swimming pool at Glendale, Colorado.

My second favorite childhood vacation was a similar road trip to visit a different aunt who lived in West Virginia and to spend a few days in Washington DC. Loved all the sights in DC, but it wasn't as memorable to me as our trip out west.

[RJ]

In my day we didn't have childhood, it was too expensive.

[patteeu]

In my day we didn't have childhood, it was too expensive.

LMAO

[seclark]

Mesa Verde (cliff dwelling ruins)

i'd love to check that out.
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[patteeu]

i'd love to check that out.
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It was one of the highlights of the trip. We took our kids out to see my wife's family in Phoenix a few years ago and modeled that trip off of my childhood vacation. We made two passes through Colorado instead of hitting some of the southern sights, but Mesa Verde was a *can't miss* as far as I was concerned.

[Iowanian]

we'd camp down there a bunch...one time we were all sitting around the camper and my old man jumped on one of the mini-bikes and took off bare-footed. as he was riding around, some kind of weed slid between his little toe, and the one next to it and snapped it straight-out sideways from the other 4. we all thought it was funny as hell, but were afraid to laugh.
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The only thing I didn't like about Current River was the plethora of snakes....copper heads, water snakes. I swear every morning someone had a 3-4' water pilot coiled up next to the tent

We always had a big time "diving for treasure"...plucking pop-beer out of the river.

When I was a kid, we found a tupperware container full of something I didn't know what it was....my dad said "oh, you found some funny cigarettes".

I didn't know why there were funny, but there were probably 20-30 of them........and now that I think about it......they sure giggled after we went to bed. I may have to ask dad about that.

[Fish]

we'd camp down there a bunch...one time we were all sitting around the camper and my old man jumped on one of the mini-bikes and took off bare-footed. as he was riding around, some kind of weed slid between his little toe, and the one next to it and snapped it straight-out sideways from the other 4. we all thought it was funny as hell, but were afraid to laugh.
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I can remember water skiing at Glen Elder lake as a kid. I was about 15 or so. I ended up getting my skis crossed on a nasty fall, and when I came out of the water, my little toe was angled perpendicular to my foot. I was hooting and hollering, and my uncle comes over to take a look. He said something like "Lemme see here", and yanked my toe straight with no warning. Ohh hell the pain... Damn toes are sensitive.....

[Iowanian]

I had a pretty bad collision with a van in 96. bent the steering wheel in half, broke the column, shoved it into the dash...stuck the top of my head about 3-4" into the windshield...that was with my face, head and chest.

The thing that hurt the worse by far was my broken pinky toe.

[ROYC75]

Table Rock Lake.

[Sully]

I can tell you the worst....
5th grade (maybe 6th?) My mom pulls me out of school.
We drive to Oklahoma City in an old Ford Ranger to pick up her aunt...
...and then drive to Maine and back. I ride in the back under the old camper (just the shell-type) the whole time. No radio, no one to talk to, just some books (which 5th graders love for long trips!), the sound of the wind through the cracks, and a matress laid down between me and the metal bed.

[patteeu]

I can tell you the worst....
5th grade (maybe 6th?) My mom pulls me out of school.
We drive to Oklahoma City in an old Ford Ranger to pick up her aunt...
...and then drive to Maine and back. I ride in the back under the old camper (just the shell-type) the whole time. No radio, no one to talk to, just some books (which 5th graders love for long trips!), the sound of the wind through the cracks, and a matress laid down between me and the metal bed.

So you didn't really care for Maine? Or was it Oklahoma City that rubbed you wrong? ;)

[seclark]

"we've driven through three states so far...knock on that back window a few times to check on sully."
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[Donger]

Our annual trip to the south of France and Spain. The drive sucked, though.

[Mr. Flopnuts]

We were po when I was growing up. Not really, but po enough we didn't take vacations. We had the neccesities and nothing else.

[Rain Man]

Our annual trip to the south of France and Spain. The drive sucked, though.


Especially crossing the Channel, I bet.

[Donger]

Especially crossing the Channel, I bet.

Heh. Hovercraft made the drive across the Channel a little easier. Driving through France sucked.

[Pioli Zombie]

Had to have been the time our family went cross country to see WallyWorld. My Dad was a pain in the ass about it all but he meant well. We would make these ridiculous side stops to things like the worlds largest ball of string. The weirdest part was when we saw my moms white trash relatives. They were so fucking backwards. They served hamburgers wirth no meat. But my cousin had lots of girlie mags and we all get wasted and I boned the girl while my sister boned the guy. Then we had to take motherfuckin Aunt Edna, the cunt, and her viscious dog to some other cousins. But along the way the bitch died and Dad dragged the dog to death.
Get this, when we got to the place finally it was fuckin CLOSED. So Dad went nuts and made them open it for us at gunpoint. Mr Wally himself let us ago. He agreed to drop the charges if mom fucked him. All in all a great vaca.
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[Skip Towne]

Had to have been the time our family went cross country to see WallyWorld. My Dad was a pain in the ass about it all but he meant well. We would make these ridiculous side stops to things like the worlds largest ball of string. The weirdest part was when we saw my moms white trash relatives. They were so fucking backwards. They served hamburgers wirth no meat. But my cousin had lots of girlie mags and we all get wasted and I boned the girl while my sister boned the guy. Then we had to take motherfuckin Aunt Edna, the cunt, and her viscious dog to some other cousins. But along the way the bitch died and Dad dragged the dog to death.
Get this, when we got to the place finally it was fuckin CLOSED. So Dad went nuts and made them open it for us at gunpoint. Mr Wally himself let us ago. He agreed to drop the charges if mom fucked him. All in all a great vaca.
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Lie much?

[Rain Man]

Lie much?


Actually, it might be true. I saw a documentary about it once.

[JuicesFlowing]

My toddler year vacations were spent in the Rocky Mountains of Colorado, which I don't remember, only have photos. My teenage vacations were spent in Padre Island, TX.

[Pioli Zombie]

Lie much?

Oh and my dumbass Dad gets caught skinny dipping in the motel pool with this hot blond.
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[prhom]

We took the new family trailer to Ouray for a couple weeks and had a great time jeeping and moutain biking. The memorable part was driving from Needles CA to Durango through the desert without air conditioning in late July. We had a Land Cruiser that was supposed to be able to tow that trailer but couldn't tow and do AC at the same time. We all had spray bottles with water to keep cool. It worked okay, but was still a really uncomfortable trip till we got into the mountains.