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BBHQ Boomer Essays: |
| Our Boomer-In-Charge here at BBHQ, Hershel Chicowitz, writes frequently about current events... from a boomer perspective. He is sometimes funny, sometimes provocative, sometimes a little of each. We hope you get a kick out of our Boomer Essays. |
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When most of us think of vacation, we set our minds on a week at
Disneyworld, a few days at Las Vegas, or maybe a trip to London or Paris.
There's nothing wrong with that; I'm a big fan of Disney; Vegas is fine;
and I would like to visit London someday. But Paris... I can do without.
I prefer to go where they like and appreciate American tourists, and
where they speak English. That is why I also avoid Miami. Nonetheless, these standard tourist destinations come with massive crowds; endless waiting in lines; horrible traffic jams; and fat, loud, rude people; in other words, the very things from which we are trying to escape. But that's what the marketing people tell us we want; so that is what so many of us do. But, always the contrarian, I took the road less travelled.
 The Road Less Travelled I took off for the open road this summer with Princess, my adorable Australian Shepherd. We went to the same places we have frequented before: the Smoky Mountains; Civil War battlefields; Cleveland, home of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame... and several old friends and relatives. But we made a few minor, but critical adjustments to the tour. First, we had no timetable or schedule; we got there when we got there. Second, we tried to avoid the interstate highways, except when we just wanted to get somewhere fast. We drove up the Blue Ridge Parkway, from Asheville, North Carolina, to Roanoke, Virginia. It was beautiful, relaxing, and thoroughly enjoyable. This is what freedom is all about. But the major difference was that instead of staying at a string of Motel 6s or Holiday Inns, we stopped at several campgrounds, truly one of America's hidden treasures. Our first stop was at the foot of Kennesaw Mountain, not far from where General Sherman put on his Sunday best before sauntering into Atlanta 140 years ago. Our visit was somewhat less momentous. Princess and I have scaled Kennesaw Mountain three times in as many years. Princess seems to tackle it with ease. But for me, the challenge has been greater each year.
I note, with considerable satisfaction though, that General Sherman scaled it but once. On the other hand, when you do it right, once is enough, I guess. The Army Corps of Engineers runs a wonderful campground on Allatoona Lake. Now, why the Army Corps of Engineers feels the need to run a campground is beyond me. They are engineers, after all; not camp counselors. But it is surely your tax dollars at work. We paid $14 a night, nowhere near what it cost to maintain the place. It was gorgeous: water, trees, fresh air, and all the mountain trails you could ever want. One of the first things you notice when you check into a motel is the emphasis on security. I don't care whether it is the Four Seasons in New York or the Economy Inn in Booneville, North Carolina. Your room has three locks on it, and there are warnings all over the place about preventing theft or severe bodily harm. At the small motels, there is no room service; but there is always a nighttime security guard. In contrast, our tent has no lock on it; there were no security cameras or metal detectors at any of the campgrounds. And while we saw a Good Humor truck making the rounds at one of the campgrounds, there were no security guards perusing the premises. It was like we were in a different world. Perhaps we were; perhaps that is the whole idea. There is some food for thought, boomers.
Camping, Camping, and Camping
Now, that is camping; but make no mistake, it is not camping. When I was 11 I joined the Boy Scouts; it was one of the best things I ever did. Two or three times each summer we went on camping trips in Northern Ohio. We slept on the ground in sleeping bags; we rubbed two sticks together to make a fire; we hunted squirrel and deer, stripped and cleaned our catch, and then cooked and ate it. OK, so I made up that last part. But we didn't order pizza from Dominoes, either! Now, that is camping. [I should mention and give enormous credit here to Dick Abbott and Don Nelson, two of my scoutmasters who played a major role in shaping my character. Both of them are gone now, but I am proud that Mr. Nelson's daughter, Janet, is a regular visitor to BBHQ. Now... if I could only get Janet's brother, Larry, a fellow scout in Troop 19, to join us...]
All the campgrounds had nice bath houses; most had a convenience store on site. And most had trails, lakes, or mountains nearby. Don't say you're too old for this stuff, friends. We found it does a lot to help you stay young! My tent is one of those new, ultra-thin, nylon-like, one-piece tents. Two flexible poles hold it up; and the whole thing originally fit into a box about the size of a loaf of bread. Of course I'll never get it back into that box, but I'll never fit into my old Boy Scout uniform, either. The only problem I had was that the poles have to stick firmly into the ground to make the whole thing stand up. Often we had trouble finding three inches of solid ground. In Florida, when you dig three inches into the ground, you run into swamp water. In Atlanta, three inches below the surface... is Stone Mountain. And in New Jersey, when you dig down three inches, you're likely to plough into Jimmy Hoffa. But in the heartland of America, the soil was firm and deep. That's why they call it the heartland of America. Despite the bad weather in parts of the country this year, the corn is tall and healthy in mid-America... and it seemed to go on and on... forever. One thing we learned on this trip is that Mother Nature compensates. You can't fool Mother Nature. For 12 days, we never watched television; we neither read nor saw a newspaper; and we never, never heard Karl Rove or Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama mentioned - not once... never. They all got along fine without us. However, I did stop at several libraries along the way. I am pleased to report that the public libraries are particularly good in Orlando, Atlanta, and Cleveland. I measured quality not by the number of books in the stacks, but by the number of computers available. At each one I visited, I pointed every computer in sight to Baby Boomer Headquarters. I think of myself as the Johnny Appleseed of the Information Superhighway. I had an ulterior motive, too. I considered every stop to be a business meeting. Therefore, the entire trip is tax deductible.
The Great Smoky Mountains
Nope; you make up your own joke there. A bunch of years and one dog ago, I went into the Smokies in early spring. There was snow on the mountain top, but it was sunny and warm down in the valley. This is Princess' predecessor, RJ, near the top of the Smokies.
My sister recommended that I go up the road a few miles to Pigeon Forge. That's where Dolly Parton's theme park, Dollywood, is located. But at $36.50 to get in, I told her that Dolly would have to dance topless for me before I would pay that kind of money. Rest assured, Dolly's vanity stayed intact. Another time, perhaps.
We stayed at one of Yogi Bear's Jellystone Park campgrounds, fifteen miles outside of Gatlinburg. It is located deep in the woods; it is rustic, but civilized.
The National Park Service runs several public campgrounds in the Smoky Mountains. They are very inexpensive. But the campsites are all jammed together and lined up in rows. There are plenty of trees, but where I visited, the grass was sparse. It was mostly bare dirt. Frankly, it reminded me of the pictures of the squatters' camps during the depression. But I guess some people call that camping. The parks have bathroom facilities, but no showers. Now, I am fairly hearty, but even I need a bath every few days. There is a way to describe people who spend time at these campgrounds: they stink. But... to each his own. Well, I have run out of space, but I still have a full tank of gas. I'll tell you about the hidden treasures of Cleveland, Ohio (really) next week. "Film at 11."
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Exploring My Roots: A Chicowitz History
Membership details here.
Terrific boomer memorabilia!!
Remember this?
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If you like what we're doing here at BBHQ, please help us by buying stuff through our link to Amazon.com:
| The BBHQ Album of the Month is "Old Friends Live on Stage (Deluxe Edition) (2 CD/1 DVD)," by Simon & Garfunkel. If you were fortunate enough to see them in concert last year, I do not have to sell you. The concert was terrific! This album collection includes 55 songs, plus their new recording, "Citizen of the Planet," and one of the songs sung by the Everly Brothers during the concert. The DVD was recorded during their concert in Madison Square Garden in 2003. For any S&G fan, this is a must have! But then, you knew that already, didn't you? |
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The BBHQ Book of the Month is
"Vinyl Highway," by
Dee Dee Phelps. You remember her as Dee Dee, of Dick and Dee Dee.
Together, they took a decade long ride on the rock and roll roller
coaster. It was a heck of a ride! Dick Clark, Quincy Jones, the Beach
Boys, Glenn Campbell, Dionne Warwick, Bobby Vinton... Dick and Dee Dee
rubbed shoulders with all of them. This is her "behind the scenes" story.
It's pretty cool.
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