Vacations are a tricky thing.
A line from a famous movie, about vacations...
In that context, the word vacation, meant to be absent from something or somewhere. It's a great definition.
Growing up in the Mount Vernon Community, I don't remember our neighbors going on vacations. There were families with a stay at home mom, some families with two working parents, and several families with only one parent. A lot of these families were in survival mode. I suppose there was neither time, or money for vacations.
Melanie, Sheri, and I were fortunate. By the time I was in elementary school, mom was working at East Middle school. Dad was running Minit Saver Market, a grocery store that he and his father opened in 1963. They were thrifty and saved up for vacations. We took family trips to see Aunts, and cousins in far away places, like Maryville, TN, three hours away.
If we were lucky, there would be one ot two nights in a hotel in Pigeon Forge or Gatlinburg, before we returned home.
Vacations changed for our family the summer before my first grade year, dad bought a converted school bus camper from Mr. Payne, who owned the Dairy Queen in Tullahoma.
For a family of five, that didn't mind being in a bus, it was perfect. The first big trip was that summer, we went to the Grand Canyon. Then on the way home, dad and mom drove all night to get us back for the first day of school.
A few years later, they parked the bus at the Tennessee Hills campground in Beech Grove. It stayed there for most of the summer. They had a little pool, and it was awesome. They also took us in the bus to Gatlinburg, and Fall Creek Falls for a week or two in the following summers.
Mom cooked all our meals, and we all played outside and had a great time. I think dad mostly enjoyed driving it, and imagining himself a long haul truck driver. Those were the days of CB radios, and 8 track players.
Those trips definately got us away from our normal. In that way, we were absent, so it was a real vacation.
During my teenage years, mom and dad took us to Florida a couple of times. We stayed at the same place in Panama City Beach, The Largo Mar. They had a nice pool with a diving board, and If you walked a little, you were at the beach. It was great fun, and we made wonderful memories there.
Recently at work, a guy left for vacation. When times are good, you think nothing of it. When times are lean, and you find out someone is on vacation. you worry a little bit. You hope it's not an extended vacation like the one Mr. Gump is still on.