# Do you remember your childhood holidays?



## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

There is a program over here where celebrities recall their childhood holidays..

We were quite poor and used to have 2 weeks in a caravan..it must have been hell for my mother,  there were 7 of us..

We went to a place called ''Sea palling'' in Norfolk..In the morning we went fruit picking to make some money..

The afternoons were free..I used to go shrimping in a large sand pool..

I didn't have a swimsuit..so my mother sat up all night knitting me one..

It looked great until I got into the water..and then it became bigger and bigger..when I got out I looked like a trawling net from a ship..


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## hollydolly (Oct 18, 2014)

We never went on holidays when I was a child.

What programme is that twixie and what channel?..I've never seen it?


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## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

Holidays of my lifetime..weekdays from this Monday..3.45 on BBC1..


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## hollydolly (Oct 18, 2014)

Oh I'll be at work so I'll set the box to record it thanks for that.


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## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

hollydolly said:


> We never went on holidays when I was a child.



Poor hollydolly...


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## hollydolly (Oct 18, 2014)

I know , it's sad init...lol


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## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

We all had to snuggle down in a bed...which smelled like mould..but we were out every day..


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## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

The calor gas oven exploded in my mom's face..she fell back..no elf and safety there..


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## hollydolly (Oct 18, 2014)

bloomin' eck, call that a holiday? :danger::lol:


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## Vivjen (Oct 18, 2014)

We went to Tenby every year for 10 years.
(Tenby is in South Wales, with fantastic beaches.)

I don't remember it raining; but I do remember an awful lot of those holidays.

I went back about 10 years ago; the town has shrunk, but the beaches and harbour were the same!


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## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

We used to catch crabs, shrimps, etc and try to take them back with us in a bucket to live with us in Birmingham..


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## Twixie (Oct 18, 2014)

Vivjen said:


> We went to Tenby every year for 10 years.
> (Tenby is in South Wales, with fantastic beaches.)
> 
> I don't remember it raining; but I do remember an awful lot of those holidays.
> ...



My father used to go fishing off Tenby..(shark fishing) he called it..

He caught one once and called me over..I didn't speak to him for days!!


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## QuickSilver (Oct 18, 2014)

Holidays???  As in  Christmas, Easter, Thanksgiving??    OR Holidays as in Vacations?


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## Vivjen (Oct 18, 2014)

Vacations, QS...


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## Pam (Oct 18, 2014)

Here's me in Blackpool, circa 1954.


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## Mrs. Robinson (Oct 18, 2014)

Pam said:


> Here's me in Blackpool, circa 1954.



Oooh,I love the donkey! What fun! So wish I had started riding mine years ago-now I`m afraid we`re both too old lol.

Yes,I had to think a minute too. I saw "holiday" and to us that means Christmas,Thanksgiving,Easter etc. But to you all it means what we call vacations. Well,my vacations as a child were all pretty much the same. When I was 2,my parents bought land on the shores of the lake where I now live. It was 3 hours from our home. My dad built a log home on the land and until I married at 17,that is where we spent every vacation-and every weekend as well. As little kids we loved it-as teenagers not so much. Not enough "action",ya know? Somehow though,when hubby and I were looking for a place to relocate from the San Francisco Bay Area,this is where we ended up. That was 23 years ago and we have never once regretted it.


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## Margie (Oct 18, 2014)

I remember going to my aunt Nancy's @Point Pleasant Beach in New Jersey. We would go to the beach and my aunt would put baby oil on me and that evening I couldn't sleep because I was burned to a crisp. But I did have fun with my cousin and her friends and look back fondly on those times.


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## Just plain me (Oct 18, 2014)

Love the picture Pam! We didn't have holidays either. But there was always a family reunion at "the dam" with Cousins, Aunts and Uncles. Picnic's, women fixed the meal and talked, men went fishing and us children ran and played like wild Indians. Then when my aunt and uncle from Nashville came, Dad would buy a watermelon and go to the BAR-B-Que place for real Bar-b-que. My kids didn't per say get vacations but they went home to my Mom's every year where they were spoiled rotten by my brothers and sisters and their aunts and uncles. So I guess we had the best.


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## jujube (Oct 18, 2014)

We would go camping every year.  My dad and we kids thought it was wonderful.  My mother, not so.    Dad and the older kids would traipse off on an adventure and she'd be stuck back at the (leaky) old tent, cooking over an open fire, getting water from a central spigot and using an outhouse, trying to keep the babies from falling into the fire or off a cliff.   Now she says her idea of camping is spending the night at a Budget Inn.


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## SeaBreeze (Oct 18, 2014)

We lived in a big city, but for summers when school was out, my father rented a tiny bungalow on the beach for us to enjoy getting back to nature.  He'd keep working and just see us on weekends, while my mother, brother and two sisters enjoyed swimming, etc.  My user name SeaBreeze is in memory of my dad, and the small sail-less sailboat he bought used to take us out fishing on the bay, he named it SeaBreeze.  Those summer vacations with my family are really cherished memories for me.  Funny comment about the fish net Twixie!


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## oakapple (Nov 16, 2014)

I remember the beach donkeys in Blackpool [poor patient things] we may well have been on the same one Pam, in the 1950's.I got lost once on the beach there [aged 7] so after a while set about finding our hotel, and waited in the garden there while all hell was breaking loose on the beach and prom with people looking for me.An hour later I was found there in the garden and  was told off by various angry looking people.That's how I remember childhood, constantly being told off by angry adults.It wasn't the fun that children seem to have today.


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## ClassicRockr (Nov 17, 2014)

A *GREAT/FUN *"weekend" vacation for me, during my high school years, was going over to my cousin's house. Their parents were considerably LESS strict than my step-parents were and they had a ski boat. Their parents were on a bowling league on Saturday nights. When I went over there for Saturday and Sunday, Saturday night was "Party Time" for us three young teens. Coke, popcorn, a movie and plenty of laughing/romping around. We didn't mess up the house, but we sure had fun. Then, on Sunday, my Uncle would hook up the ski boat and off to the local reservoir we'd all go. Definitely a *FUN *weekend, that is, compared to feeding/watering livestock and other work around the farm, plus, that night, either watching Lawrence Welk (step-parents favorite) on tv or in my bedroom working on a model car. 

My other "vacation" time was w/my step-parents going to Michigan to visit my step-mom's sister's. Now, to me that was *BORING*!! But, I coped.


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## Twixie (Nov 17, 2014)

My dad had an old army jeep..with tarpaulin covers...my mothers used to make us 3 girls a really comfy bed in the back...She was a feeder..we had just had a massive breakfast but before we got to the bottom of the road..she would say ''anyone hungry?''


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## jujube (Nov 17, 2014)

Besides the camping trips, we used to visit my Virginia grandparents every year or so.  It was a day and a half trip and we'd pile into an old station wagon (no air conditioning, of course), bickering and whining every mile of the way ("she's touching me....she's looking out my window....she's making noises at me....you get the picture.)  One sister always got carsick.  Another inevitably would step on a nail or come down with strep throat, which would involve stopping at some little town hospital for a shot.  My mom would periodically reach back and flail away at whoever was in reach.  The secret was to lean as far away from her as possible, while loudly protesting that you hadn't done ANYTHING!  My dad would, at some point, pull the car over to the side of the road, get out, and announce that he was walking home and to go on without him.  We'd all pile out of the car, follow him down the road crying, and he'd get back in the car and drive on.  Our "port-a-potty" was a coffee can with a couple inches of sand in it......dad didn't like to stop for what he considered unnecessary reasons.   We never stopped to eat at a restaurant; mom always packed enough food for an army regiment.  There weren't any nice roadside parks in those days; they consisted of a wide spot by the road with a splintery picnic table, a fly-blown rubbish can and, if you were *lucky*, an outhouse in unspeakable condition.  Otherwise, it was back to the coffee can.  

Fortunately, for my parents, they could hand us over to the grandparents when we got there, and sleep for 24 hours.


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## Twixie (Nov 17, 2014)

jujube said:


> Besides the camping trips, we used to visit my Virginia grandparents every year or so.  It was a day and a half trip and we'd pile into an old station wagon (no air conditioning, of course), bickering and whining every mile of the way ("she's touching me....she's looking out my window....she's making noises at me....you get the picture.)  One sister always got carsick.  Another inevitably would step on a nail or come down with strep throat, which would involve stopping at some little town hospital for a shot.  My mom would periodically reach back and flail away at whoever was in reach.  The secret was to lean as far away from her as possible, while loudly protesting that you hadn't done ANYTHING!  My dad would, at some point, pull the car over to the side of the road, get out, and announce that he was walking home and to go on without him.  We'd all pile out of the car, follow him down the road crying, and he'd get back in the car and drive on.  Our "port-a-potty" was a coffee can with a couple inches of sand in it......dad didn't like to stop for what he considered unnecessary reasons.   We never stopped to eat at a restaurant; mom always packed enough food for an army regiment.  There weren't any nice roadside parks in those days; they consisted of a wide spot by the road with a splintery picnic table, a fly-blown rubbish can and, if you were *lucky*, an outhouse in unspeakable condition.  Otherwise, it was back to the coffee can.
> 
> Fortunately, for my parents, they could hand us over to the grandparents when we got there, and sleep for 24 hours.



Dad's never want to stop..my mom used to shout at him..''The kids need a wee'' It was like he was possessed..and if he lost his way..would he ask for directions??

Hell No!!


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## jujube (Nov 17, 2014)

Men and directions - pah!  You know what would have happened if there had been Three Wise Women instead of Three Wise Men?  Number one, they would have asked for directions and gotten there in time. Number two, instead of gold, frankincence and myrrh , they would have brought practical gifts like disposable diapers, onesies and receiving blankets. And number three, they wouldn't have just stood around "adoring", they would have cleaned the stable, got hold of a proper crib and cooked a nice, nutritious casserole for the Family.


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## AprilT (Nov 17, 2014)

Twixie said:


> Dad's never want to stop..my mom used to shout at him..''The kids need a wee'' It was like he was possessed..and if he lost his way..would he ask for directions??
> 
> Hell No!!



Car trips were the best, we used to sing songs like, If I had a hammer, She'll be comin around the mountain, and such, playing puch car, we kids had fun, in the back seats all five to six of us.  LOL

As far as holidays, there were good ones when and not so good ones when it came especially to Christmas, my favorite were running off to the movies with my siblings sometimes after dinner, my most precious gift memory was of a tea set I received I loved that thing more than any other gift I can think of to date.  But anytime with my family was a good holiday, we didn't have much money, but to me most times during the early years it felt like we had everything in the world we needed.  But things changed, however, I will always cherish those first 7 holiday years after that pretty much everything went straight to hell in a handbag.  LOL.


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## Twixie (Nov 17, 2014)

AprilT said:


> Car trips were the best, we used to sing songs like, If I had a hammer, She'll be comin around the mountain, and such, playing puch car, we kids had fun, in the back seats all five to six of us.  LOL
> 
> As far as holidays, there were good ones when and not so good ones when it came especially to Christmas, my favorite were running off to the movies with my siblings sometimes after dinner, my most precious gift memory was of a tea set I received I loved that thing more than any other gift I can think of to date.  But anytime with my family was a good holiday, we didn't have much money, but to me most times during the early years it felt like we had everything in the world we needed.  But things changed, however, I will always cherish those first 7 holiday years after that pretty much everything went straight to hell in a handbag.  LOL.



no..we didn't sing songs..we couldn't..we were always eating..we would stop at some roadside cafes..(just like we didn't have enough food!)..but it pleased my mother to do so...If she saw a good field of cabbage..an apple orchard..she would command my father to stop..rush over and start stealing...My father would say ''that is stealing'' and she'd say ''oh come on..they won't miss a bit!''


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## Pam (Nov 17, 2014)

oakapple said:


> I remember the beach donkeys in Blackpool [poor patient things] we may well have been on the same one Pam, in the 1950's.I got lost once on the beach there [aged 7] so after a while set about finding our hotel, and waited in the garden there while all hell was breaking loose on the beach and prom with people looking for me.An hour later I was found there in the garden and  was told off by various angry looking people.That's how I remember childhood, constantly being told off by angry adults.It wasn't the fun that children seem to have today.



Fast forward to the 1980s and my youngest son went missing on the prom! It was only a few minutes but it felt like hours!


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## AprilT (Nov 17, 2014)

Pam said:


> Fast forward to the 1980s and my youngest son went missing on the prom! It was only a few minutes but it felt like hours!




I can just imagine how agonizing that was, it feels as bad from the other end as well, like Oakapple, I used to go missing, twice for me it happened at coney island, the first time I went missing from the family, my mom was so upset, she had my dad end the trip, the second time, I think before and after being swept up into my mothers arms, I got a good scolding for wandering off, something I was good for.  LOL  but each instance, some nice adult would wait with me till I was found.


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## Twixie (Nov 17, 2014)

I used to go missing all the time..my parents knew I had a good head on my shoulders...


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## AprilT (Nov 17, 2014)

Twixie said:


> I used to go missing all the time..my parents knew I had a good head on my shoulders...



Well, I was under age 7, actully both times I was around age five with Coney Island incidents, so basically there was much to worry about, the head was filled with lots of air, I was still bumping into poles.  LOL


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## Susie (Nov 20, 2014)

Great topic, Twixie!
Still remember the trip to the Rhine with my grandparents, If my memory is correct, it was arranged thru KDF (Kraft durch Freude), but not quite sure about it as it was a long time ago (about 1937/38).
We stayed at a B&B and made daily excursions, looking at the surrounding castles and viewing the many interesting sights.
I even swam in the Rhine (not oily, muddy or polluted yet).
Years later, on my annual leave (from Australia), I repeated that very same trip (sort of a 'sentimental journey).


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