One of my most memorable summer trips I ever took was with my dad and brother Will. My dad's brother lives in Kingwood, Texas, a suburb outside of Houston, and we had all planned a week long trip to visit them and see as much of the Lonestar State as possible. We piled into the black Ford Areostar mini-van and set our sites west. Now we truly made our van bachelor-proof because we removed the back seat and not only created a place for luggage, but an entire entertainment area as well. While one of us rode in the front seat, the other could sprawl out and play with the game boy, read books, or in my little brother's case, play with the millions of micro machines that I bet are still in the deep crevasses of the van. Obviously we didn't have the child restraint laws we have today. Another bachelor move we initiated was Craig's BBQ sauce. Dad had discovered a little gas station in Arkansas that carried this particular sauce and it was a Childress family favorite. We picked up a couple of bottles and literally drank them all the way to Texas.
Once we had settled in with my Uncle David, Aunt Cindy, and cousins Shane and Kelly, we planned out our week with our first stop being NASA Space Center and then on to Galveston for some beach time. If you remember one of my previous articles regarding our massive video camera we used in Disney World, the very same camera made its journey with us to Texas. Dad walked up and down the Galveston beach with that Action News 5 style camera on his shoulders filming us kids playing in the Gulf.
Our next excursion we took was, by far, my favorite. We loaded up and headed west towards San Antonio. Instead of staying in a hotel, we decided to pitch tents at a camp site along the Guadalupe River. Once we had settled in, we made our way to San Antonio to see as much as we could in the limited time that we had. We first visited the famous River Walk Mall. There we dined at a local hot wing restaurant where we requested the hottest wings that were offered on the menu. Afterward we walked over to the historic Alamo where it was all beautifully lit up in the night sky. We finally made our way back to the campsite, tired, and with a take-home box of hot wings.
I woke up the next morning, peeked out my tent, and saw a deer drinking by the river. I also noticed several paw prints all over the picnic table where we had left the now open box of hot wings. I followed the tracks to the bank of the river where I found a dead raccoon. I'm telling you--those were some deadly hot wings. We rented canoes and set out down the Guadadalupe River. Shane and I were in one canoe and the rest were in a bigger, safer canoe. We stuck together for the most part, except for when the river split and was clearly marked "safe route" and "professional rafter route." The men and kids obviously took the safer route where Shane and I took the professional route. By the way, this was the first time either one of us had set foot in a raft. Needless to say, the dads were a little scared. We held our own, except for one turn that caught us off guard where the canoe went one way and Shane went the other. I grabbed on to his vest and was able to hold him in until we moved past that one rapid.
The next morning after leaving the camp, we made one more stop at a paintball site. This was the first time any of us had played and it was a blast. We joined other players, were divided up in teams, and the game began. Dad wanted to film the battle instead of play, so he was given a bright orange vest so he would "not be shot." Dad was hiding behind fallen trees, filming every move he could, as well as narrating the battle. I'm sure he thought he was Geraldo Rivera filming behind the lines until he was caught in a crossfire and sustained several gunshot wounds to the chest and back.
We had the absolute best trip to Texas. My uncle and aunt were excellent hosts to us, we were able to see parts of this country we had never seen before, and experience things we had never experienced. The best part about this trip was the bonding of father and sons. I'm not saying that if mom had been there we wouldn't have had less fun, but it's always good for men to bond. Besides, we didn't forget about mom--we picked up her very own bottle of Craig's BBQ sauce on the way home, give or take a few sips, of course.
Thursday, June 24, 2010
Friday, June 18, 2010
Every boy needs a Fort
If you look closely, and in the right places you can find remains of 2x4's and plywood scattered around several trees in Lucy. Like most, the Lucy boys loved to play war and army. We all know that every good soldier needs a fort to scope out the enemy, defend when under attack, and sometimes simply a place to just hang out.
Stevie, Mike, and I built several of these forts all over each others properties. We started this at an early age because I remember the first fort consisted of cinder blocks and a plywood covering. We even found a piece of venting tin to make a chimney. It more so resembled an igloo rather than a fort, but we weren't big enough to climb trees so it had to do.
Once we were able to climb trees, excuse the pun, the sky was the limit. We of course started small with a few boards here and there and places to sit. It was a fort per say, but it more so resembled a deer stand. However, as most contractors do, we went larger and higher. Over the years we constructed multiple tiered forts that in some cases had up to four different levels. There were steps nailed all in the base of the tree to help get around these levels. We could care less about "hurting the trees" but I will tell you we became major "tree huggers" when some of those steps broke while we standing on them.
My proudest fort that I built still stands today. It stands today because no one else can get up there and tear it down. In the back of my parents house is a great oak tree. I climbed that tree as high as I could climb and constructed a little make shift watch tower with an old Memphis State stadium seat anchored to it. Roughly 60ft in the air I could see a good portion of Lucy especially Mike and Stevie's houses on Oakhurst. Most importantly it allowed me to fend off any intruders that were planning attacks or whatever my imagination constructed up at the time.
- Steve Childress
Stevie, Mike, and I built several of these forts all over each others properties. We started this at an early age because I remember the first fort consisted of cinder blocks and a plywood covering. We even found a piece of venting tin to make a chimney. It more so resembled an igloo rather than a fort, but we weren't big enough to climb trees so it had to do.
Once we were able to climb trees, excuse the pun, the sky was the limit. We of course started small with a few boards here and there and places to sit. It was a fort per say, but it more so resembled a deer stand. However, as most contractors do, we went larger and higher. Over the years we constructed multiple tiered forts that in some cases had up to four different levels. There were steps nailed all in the base of the tree to help get around these levels. We could care less about "hurting the trees" but I will tell you we became major "tree huggers" when some of those steps broke while we standing on them.
My proudest fort that I built still stands today. It stands today because no one else can get up there and tear it down. In the back of my parents house is a great oak tree. I climbed that tree as high as I could climb and constructed a little make shift watch tower with an old Memphis State stadium seat anchored to it. Roughly 60ft in the air I could see a good portion of Lucy especially Mike and Stevie's houses on Oakhurst. Most importantly it allowed me to fend off any intruders that were planning attacks or whatever my imagination constructed up at the time.
- Steve Childress
Friday, June 4, 2010
A Summer Soundtrack
Everyone seems to have their own soundtrack to summer. For instance I have my own separate play list on my iTunes that is strictly dedicated to summer style music. It is loaded with great music from Buffet, Chesney, Marley, and several other artists. Growing up, however, the boys of Lucy took a liking to a certain band that we played over and over again. I'm not sure how we were introduced to it, but the band that set the background to every summer, past and present, is the Beach Boys.
Like I said, I do not know how we started listening to the Beach Boys, but we were absolutely crazy about their music. We would play back-to-back cassettes of Kokomo, Surfin USA, and Surfin Safari. Neither of us had ever been to a beach, but these songs had set our imaginations on a rampage of what it would be like to surf the pipeline, or drive your 409 down the strip with your board hanging out the back.
Once we started getting interested in girls, the songs took on a whole new meaning. Songs like Girls on the Beach, Surfer Girl, God Only Knows, and Barbara Ann seemed to set the standard to what girls would be like when we grew up. What was funny was that we didn't have a clue what to look for, but we did know they had to be tan and a surfer from California. This obviously eliminated all of the Mid-South girls we knew and grew up with in our town.
Stevie's dad played drums in a band back in the day and still had his set. Stevie took a liking to the drums and, for a kid, he played quite well. Of course, I couldn't play anything, so Stevie got on his dad's drum set, and Mike and I jammed guitars with tennis rackets. We would set up our stage on Stevie's back deck, crank the stereo as loud as it would go, and perform Beach Boys music in front of thousands (all in our minds of course). It was jamming to the Beach Boys that birthed a life-long passion of music because Stevie is still a very skilled drummer and I, of course, am doing my thing on the guitar.
The Beach Boys were definitely the Lucy boys' summer soundtrack. It took us to a place that we could only imagine and what we thought summer was all about. To this day, when I listen to the Beach Boys, I am immediately taken back to the days of neon sunglasses, tan surfer girls, and strumming tennis rackets.
- Steve Childress
Like I said, I do not know how we started listening to the Beach Boys, but we were absolutely crazy about their music. We would play back-to-back cassettes of Kokomo, Surfin USA, and Surfin Safari. Neither of us had ever been to a beach, but these songs had set our imaginations on a rampage of what it would be like to surf the pipeline, or drive your 409 down the strip with your board hanging out the back.
Once we started getting interested in girls, the songs took on a whole new meaning. Songs like Girls on the Beach, Surfer Girl, God Only Knows, and Barbara Ann seemed to set the standard to what girls would be like when we grew up. What was funny was that we didn't have a clue what to look for, but we did know they had to be tan and a surfer from California. This obviously eliminated all of the Mid-South girls we knew and grew up with in our town.
Stevie's dad played drums in a band back in the day and still had his set. Stevie took a liking to the drums and, for a kid, he played quite well. Of course, I couldn't play anything, so Stevie got on his dad's drum set, and Mike and I jammed guitars with tennis rackets. We would set up our stage on Stevie's back deck, crank the stereo as loud as it would go, and perform Beach Boys music in front of thousands (all in our minds of course). It was jamming to the Beach Boys that birthed a life-long passion of music because Stevie is still a very skilled drummer and I, of course, am doing my thing on the guitar.
The Beach Boys were definitely the Lucy boys' summer soundtrack. It took us to a place that we could only imagine and what we thought summer was all about. To this day, when I listen to the Beach Boys, I am immediately taken back to the days of neon sunglasses, tan surfer girls, and strumming tennis rackets.
- Steve Childress
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
The Battle of the Theme Parks
I have mentioned before about the spontaneous trips my family and I would take. One summer evening my family and I were discussing the local theme parks and the pros and cons of each. We came to a scientific conclusion to visit two of the parks back to back to test our hypothesis.
The very next day we all loaded up in the van and drove to Memphis’s local attraction--Libertyland. Libertyland opened on July 4, 1976 at the Mid-South Fair Grounds. The park opened with several rides, including the Zippin Pippin and the Grand Carousel. The park remained open during the summer months and was an extra attraction during the annual Mid-South Fair every fall. In its heyday, Libertyland was the place to be. My dad would tell me stories of how he and mom would spend all day as newlyweds riding rides and enjoying the life of the amusement park. Fifteen years later, however, Libertyland had lost its luster and excitement.
Dad paid our way in and we soon realized we needed tickets for every ride. So after my dad was forced to shell out even more cash, my brother and I had enough tickets for a handful of rides. We started in the back of the park and rode the Revolution. The Revolution was a spiral roller coaster with several loops and hills. It wasn't a bad ride, especially when the operator accidentally let the coaster roll past the exit bars...twice. We got lucky and rode that thing three times on one ticket. For the rest of the day, our time was spent on rides like the Tennessee Tilt and the Turnpike Antique Cars. We took a break from rides and decided to play a round of putt-putt there in the park. We walked up to the booth to pay for our putters and balls and the attendant was sound asleep. We literally watched him sleep for a solid minute, waiting to see if he would wake up. He never did though. We then proceeded to the ride that has always made Libertyland famous--Elvis’s favorite, the Zippin Pippin. My brother and I gave up the last of our tickets to sit in the front coaster. The Pippin was truly a thrill ride because, unlike any other ride I’ve ridden, I truly felt my life to be in danger. The wooden roller coaster creaked and moaned the entire time. I can only describe it as termites holding hands.
The very next day we packed our bags and headed toward Nashville to visit Opryland.
We paid our one admission price which allowed us to ride every ride possible. Now Opryland was an absolutely wonderful place to be. The atmosphere was bustling with the excitement of local shops and eateries, upbeat music, and surrounding greenery. We spent the entire day there riding the Wabash Cannonball, Grizzly River Rampage, and many other thrill rides. We were even able to squeeze in a few shows and ate some very good food, overly priced, but good. Now this was a theme park and in a completely different league than Libertyland.
Sadly, my kids will never be able to experience either one of these two parks. Both have been stripped down and sold off. Countless numbers of people were able to leave their mundane lives and step into a world of fantasy and enchantment due to these parks. After all, that is what theme parks are made to do--give us a break from reality and bring us back to a state of childhood. What a theme park that was!
The very next day we all loaded up in the van and drove to Memphis’s local attraction--Libertyland. Libertyland opened on July 4, 1976 at the Mid-South Fair Grounds. The park opened with several rides, including the Zippin Pippin and the Grand Carousel. The park remained open during the summer months and was an extra attraction during the annual Mid-South Fair every fall. In its heyday, Libertyland was the place to be. My dad would tell me stories of how he and mom would spend all day as newlyweds riding rides and enjoying the life of the amusement park. Fifteen years later, however, Libertyland had lost its luster and excitement.
Dad paid our way in and we soon realized we needed tickets for every ride. So after my dad was forced to shell out even more cash, my brother and I had enough tickets for a handful of rides. We started in the back of the park and rode the Revolution. The Revolution was a spiral roller coaster with several loops and hills. It wasn't a bad ride, especially when the operator accidentally let the coaster roll past the exit bars...twice. We got lucky and rode that thing three times on one ticket. For the rest of the day, our time was spent on rides like the Tennessee Tilt and the Turnpike Antique Cars. We took a break from rides and decided to play a round of putt-putt there in the park. We walked up to the booth to pay for our putters and balls and the attendant was sound asleep. We literally watched him sleep for a solid minute, waiting to see if he would wake up. He never did though. We then proceeded to the ride that has always made Libertyland famous--Elvis’s favorite, the Zippin Pippin. My brother and I gave up the last of our tickets to sit in the front coaster. The Pippin was truly a thrill ride because, unlike any other ride I’ve ridden, I truly felt my life to be in danger. The wooden roller coaster creaked and moaned the entire time. I can only describe it as termites holding hands.
The very next day we packed our bags and headed toward Nashville to visit Opryland.
We paid our one admission price which allowed us to ride every ride possible. Now Opryland was an absolutely wonderful place to be. The atmosphere was bustling with the excitement of local shops and eateries, upbeat music, and surrounding greenery. We spent the entire day there riding the Wabash Cannonball, Grizzly River Rampage, and many other thrill rides. We were even able to squeeze in a few shows and ate some very good food, overly priced, but good. Now this was a theme park and in a completely different league than Libertyland.
Sadly, my kids will never be able to experience either one of these two parks. Both have been stripped down and sold off. Countless numbers of people were able to leave their mundane lives and step into a world of fantasy and enchantment due to these parks. After all, that is what theme parks are made to do--give us a break from reality and bring us back to a state of childhood. What a theme park that was!
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