Anyone Else Have Fond Childhood Memories of Old Florida?
Treasure Island?)
I may be showing my age, but lately I have grown nostalgic for my childhood vacations in Florida. I recently realized that my life-long love for shells stems from those annual visits. Every Spring vacation, I'd join my favorite aunt, uncle and cousin on their vacation to Treasure Island.
What is Treasure Island?
It's a barrier island on the Gulf Coast (Pinellas County) and popular for beautiful sandy beaches and the John's Pass Boardwalk. To get there- follow the Treasure Island Causeway in West St. Petersburg. Back in the day (in the 1970s), we'd pack up the car with me and my cousin Laura ensconced in the back seat of my Uncle Larry's Cadillac. We'd set up camp for the long journey down south (of course this was the age of the Motorcade vacations and we never flew on an airplane). My aunt Patsy would fill a cooler with sandwiches, and we'd hit the road embarking on the long trip down south. We'd sing songs on the radio and long long digressing to bickering in the back, but always alternating from music to my Uncle listening to Paul Harvey on the radio while we watched in awe at the long stretch of land out the window. Soon, the topography changed from New England pines and snow to Palm trees. Of course the hightlight of the trip was the halfway stop, and our nightly respite at South of the Border for a mediocre, yet delicious Mexican-inspired dinner and sleep (what every red-blooded American family could image life was like in the real South of the border back then). This visit was like a mini-Disney of sorts with a gas station, motel and small amusement and mini golf park. We loved it!
Soon enough, we'd arrive at the iconic Sea Castle Motel where my grandmother (Gammy) and her sister, Great Aunt Minnie would be waiting (they always splurged and flew to Florida for their two-month vacation at the motel every winter). The Sea Castle became our family camp of sorts. Laura and I would shop on the local boardwalk for matching sun dresses and sandals and bathing suits. The adults would smoke cigarettes and drink martinis while watching us from the top level as we swam until our fingers were shriveled and waterlogged. Evenings were spent strolling out back of the motel straight to the ocean where we'd pass the adults playing shuffleboard on the property. We we were bent on feeding those seagulls and collecting as many big shells as we could to add to our store-bought collections. Every trip there was at least one big splurge where we'd dress up and go out to dinner at the Kingsfish Restaurant and eat steak and Lobster. But, sometimes the adults would give us pocket change to walk the boardwalk and play games at the local arcade.
Long gone are these iconic motels dotting the Florida coastline, and now they've made way for high rise and boutique hotels. Florida promised us so much back then and it was perfection!
