Believe it or not that's me sitting on my dads motorcycle. It was 1972 and I was all of 11 years old. My dad an I were just about ready to embark on a trip. My dad had just bought this new motorcycle and decided that he wanted to break it in. Disney World had just opened in Orlando a year earlier and I had been talking about wanting to go. So for the bike's shake down cruise we decided to take it from Thomson Illinois to Orlando Florida. I was recently reminded of this trip as I recently went to the Disney World area with my family. As we drove towards the entrance I remembered being there some 30 odd years ago on the back of my dad's Harley. So when we got home from this trip I asked my mom if she had any pictures of dad's "old" bike.
The bike I'm sitting on is the one we originally started on. However, we got about 3 hours from home near Peoria, Illinois and the engine blew. Dad called the dealer, he picked us up and brought us home. Not to be deterred my father had the dealer take the blue one back and he then bought a red one. We regrouped and then a short while later headed for Florida on the red Harley. Keep in mind that it was the early 70's so the speed limits were not what they are today so it was a long trip. We also didn't have the Weather Channel back then (only 3 channels - 4, 6, 8) and being true Midwesterners had no concept of what a Hurricane was. But we would.
My grandfather (my dad's dad) was afraid that I would fall asleep on the back of the bike and fall off. My dad assured him I wouldn't. Now I did fall asleep but I was wedged so tight between my dad and the tour pack on the back of the bike that there was no way I would fall off. Once again we headed towards Florida and for the first day and a half it was an uneventful trip. I remembered driving through downtown Atlanta in the early morning thinking that we would be in Orlando in no time. As we got past Atlanta and towards southern Georgia it began to rain. We tried to shrug it off but the rain became more intense. Then came the wind. Then came the pain. When your 11 years old, in shorts, on a motorcycle and you get hit by Hurricane force rain - it hurts - big-time. We stopped at a Shell station to get out the rain and I remember the guy who was working looking at us like we were crazy. He informed us that a Hurricane was making landfall and that we were driving right into the middle of it. I looked at my dad who said "
Sorry son but gotta get away from this storm".
As disappointed as I was, I agreed. So we got back on the motorcycle, turned around and headed north. We went back through Atlanta and went to Chattanooga, Tennessee. We decided that we would hang out in Chattanooga until the storm passed and then head back towards Orlando. Our time in Chattanooga was really cool. I remember we stayed at hotel that had a pool. Again, this was the early 70's and before the big hotel chains and before pools became common place. Our hotel was at the foot of Look Out Mountain and to this day I remember being in the pool looking up at the mountain. Anyhow, the storm passed and we once again headed back towards Orlando.
We got to Orlando, which was really not much of a city back then. Instead of staying in a hotel near Disney my dad decided to find a hotel in the middle of no where. In this case the middle of no where was an orange grove. I kid you not, it looked like a square was cut out of the grove and the hotel was placed there. Once again I begged my dad for a hotel with a pool. To which he obliged me….sort of. Technically this dump, err hotel had a pool. I excitedly put my trunks on, grabbed a towel and headed towards the pool. I'd leave the luggage to my dad - he didn't care. As I reached the pool I couldn't believe my eyes. I am not eggarating when I say that the entire pool was covered in green moss. Dejected and disappointed I returned to my hotel room. I told my dad about this travesty to which he replied "
You asked for a swimming pool so you're gonna go swimming. Come with me!" I couldn't believe what I had heard. Surely once he saw this disaster he would understand. We reached the pool and he said "
Well….?" I thought to myself "
Well What?" - A few moments later he said "
Well aren't you gonna get in?" - I remember the words "
Dad" coming out of my mouth. The next thing I remember is coming up for air in middle of the pool and thinking if you just don't touch anything you should be Okay. And don't swallow the water! Then to ensure that I would swim my dad pulled up a chair and watched me…for hours. This is where I perfected the "dog paddle" with out touching any of the carpet like moss that covered the pool. I also learned to never ask for hotel with a pool again.
The drive into Disney was one I'll never forget. The miles of pine trees that led to the entrance seemed like it would never end. We got to entrance and it seemed like no one was there. That's because there really wasn't - the hurricane had detracted many of the wood be visitors. So it was quite empty by today's standards. It was also when Disney sold ticket books. Instead of paying one price, getting into the park and riding all the rides - you got a book with tickets. You then exchanged the tickets for the ride you wanted to go on. They rated the rides from "A" to "E". When you got to the attraction you wanted, you used the corresponding ticket to get to the ride. As you can imagine the "A" tickets were for the lame rides i.e.. Tea Cups, Mister Toads Wild Ride etc. While the E tickets were for the cool rides like Space Mountain and the Haunted Mansion. Of course they gave you mostly "A" tickets and only a couple of "E" tickets. With the idea that you could purchase more single "E" tickets if you wanted. So of course I got to ride "It's a Small Wold" about a dozen times while the time wondering what "The Pirates of the Caribbean" were doing. I later realized that this was my first real experience with capitalism and frankly I've never gotten over it. Nor have I forgiven the fine folks at Disney for this fond memory.
On the way home we stopped to buy some fireworks. We stopped in either Georgia or Tennessee - not sure which one. Anyhow, we boxed up all our clothes that were in the saddle bags and tour pack and mailed them home. We then filled the saddle bags and tour pack with fire works! And I mean hundreds of dollars of fireworks - as many as we could pack. This also means the clothes we had on were what we wore for the remainder of the trip (ripe). A funny note about the fire works. We took these fireworks to my Aunt's house for the 4th of July only to have my cousin through a match in the whole box and watch them go off in about two minutes. Everyone had to duck and hide as bottle rockets and roman candles went off in all directions. At the time it sucked, but looking back on it now it's pretty funny.
The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. No more blown engines. No more Hurricanes. No more mossy pools. No more fireworks. And no more "A" tickets. That's okay though - years later I realize that this trip with my dad was the "E" ticket vacation of my child hood and I'll never forget it.
