I was driving in Old Colorado City (Colorado Springs tourist area in the foothills ) today, and it reminded me of days on summer trips from Syracuse to Dennis Port to visit my Great Aunt Pearl. We made the 6-8 hour trip when I was like 5,6,7 and 8 years old; this was back in the early 1960s with no air conditioning, my mom driving, my Gammy and my brother (2 years younger) and I with the classic "Are we there yet?". I know my dad was there too but not sure how he got there. We, like so many back in the day, only had 1 car. He must have flown to Boston for the weekend and my cousins from Boston brought him down. No electronic gadgets to entertain, no DVD players, just books and cards and a few games.
My Great Aunt had a ~2,000 sq ft home (as best as a little kid can reconnoiter from days gone by), a good 15,000 sq ft lot maybe 100' from the beach area; I remember a BIG hammock. I'm not a big outdoorsy person or beach person. I remember the beach was a small cove like shape yet it was on the south side/Atlantic of Cape Cod, the side with GREAT WHITE SHARKS. Of course we never heard of them or saw them. This was before "Jaws" which introduced the world to Great White Sharks. Prior to "Jaws" there must not have been any Great Whites, right? Or, we never heard of them. Or they were just gentile critters that learned from Bruce that humans are good eats.
Sharks: This why I don't like lakes or oceans, or the woods - bears and mountain lions and badgers and skunks and killer rabbits (I've seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail so I know killer rabbits are real, very scary with big sharp pointy teeth). Sharks have the advantage in the ocean. I dare, no, double-dog dare a shark to put on a SCABA (Self Contained AIR Breathing Apparatus for fish) tank and come into my house. Let's see how tough they are now. I've got terriers, bring it on Bruce.
I remember the warm, humid days, the good (inexpensive) seafood, lobster at a dockside restaurant (my dad always got a 3-5 lbs bug, they were not expensive at that time) nothing fancy like Legal Seafood just a dockside eatery. Little Neck Clams were cheapo and much larger than the Little Neck Clams at the seafood store we see today; I never cared for Cherrystone Clams, too tough. Mussels were considered junk food, something scrapped off the hull of a boat, now they are tasty dishes.
Note about lobster: when I was in college in the late 1970s, I sold lobster by Skaneateles Lake and I was a shubber as in Roger the Shubber. (Just Google "Roger the Shubber"), and I was a disco DJ. More on this these things later.
But I digress: There was something simple about that time. Things were slow (I know, I know, as we age we look back and those times are just simpler and slower compared to the "now" we live in...). Kind of like the town scenes in "Jaws" in Amity Island, NY. The grass was cool, the beach in the cove was nice, the water was calm.
I just remembered today how peaceful and carefree it was back in Dennis Port whilst driving around Old Colorado City, and seeing the tourists enjoying the quaintness of all the small shops and restaurants that have been here since I arrived in 1983 from Syracuse. I moved here for work at DEC (just Google DEC for reference...amazing computer company from Boston and how they changed the computing industry).
Sidebar: I see scenes of Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard with the "Lifestyles of the Rich and Famous" and that just isn't me. If man-made (shouldn't it be human-made to be properly PC) global warming is real, why did Barack Obama buy a $15M beachfront mansion on 30 acres on MV if the sea is going to rise 15' and give sharks the advantage without the need for SCABA? This is almost as odd as buying property in San Francisco only it really is just a matter of time before a big earthquake hits.
Meanwhile...I needed that memory of the quaintness of Dennis Port. My life is really a tornado (more on that at some point when I feel comfortable exposing my junk, no not THAT "junk".) I've wanted to visit for many years just a walk down memory lane. Of course you can never go back to your childhood, it would be nice to see how it looks today, obviously it all touristy and out of control based on a Google map satellite view. I've tried finding phone books (yes, this big paper things that had names, addresses and phine number plus the Yellow Pages) from the 1960s to no avail - yes I called the local libraries and they were zippy-do-da help.
Maybe someday I'll have the time, will take my dogs (shark protection, just be cautious) and head out on a road trip to see what I can find.
Have a good evening.
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