Funny Memories of our Clampette trip to the beach!

 Hi Jennie,

How have you been? I thought of you today while visiting Mama Lottie. It’s always an unforgettable experience when I get to visit her. We chatted for a few moments about her neighbors. Before long we were talking about the good old days you and I spent with her and papa Dewey. She loves to talk about him and truthfully I enjoy being reminded of those carefree days when sitting in the weathered green swing on their front porch was the highlight of the day.  We chuckled remembering how excited papa would get every year when we started planning our annual trip to the beach. His exuberance and excitement was contagious especially to us younger children.

Do you remember the year you and your boys, Michael and Tommy, went with us? It was one of the happiest vacations I remember. I will never forget our fiasco with the boat that year.

Every year Doug would tell me, “I am getting a boat to take to the beach so Shannon and I can go fishing”. This time he did. He bought this old boat for a song from one of the men he worked with. For 2 weeks our afternoons were spent on refurbishing the boat and trailer. Jessica and Josh both helped paint the trailer a bright, glaring gamecock burgundy and Doug painted that old boat a dark turquoise. When the paint dried and we stood back to take a long look we were quite proud of our prize boat.

Late Friday afternoon the packing began. Bags filled with pots and pans, big Marlboro beach towels, sheets and sun tan lotion filled the newly restored boat. The newly painted boat was weighed down with as much as we could fit inside without things flying out. For some reason we thought we had to take every thing but the kitchen sink with us. You would have thought we were moving to never return instead of going away for the shortest week of the year.

Exhausted we get in bed right before the sun rises. By the time the clock says 6:00 am the phone rings. Papa Dewey is so excited, “Are you on your way yet? We have our suitcases packed and ready. Let’s go before the sun gets up”.

Doug led the way with Momma, Maw maw Lottie and Papa Dewey following behind. You and the boys rode in Shannon’s big white truck pulling the boat. Now we were on our way. Excitement filled the air as we headed toward a week of eating fresh fish and shrimp, sun bathing, and swimming in the salty ocean water at Hunting Island.

As soon as we got on the interstate we began looking for the bright yellow Waffle House sign. We knew that we would stop for our traditional breakfast in Columbia.  It always seemed to take forever to get there, but finally we roll into the parking lot and rush inside to find enough seats for all twelve of us to sit and eat.

While we consumed golden waffles, scrambled eggs, grits, and crisp slices of bacon, the tire on the boat trailer was quickly losing air. A friendly gentleman ventures in and mentions that the owner of the bright gamecock colored trailer needed to check his tire before going any further. Luckily there was a store close by that could fix the tire. 

Slightly delayed, but not deterred, our procession headed down the road. Three car loads filled to capacity playing follow the leader, with Shannon leading the way and Doug in the middle keeping watch over the newly repaired trailer tire. Down highway interstate 95 Doug begins to notice the tire has begun to go flat again. Off we pull on to the side of the interstate and the unloading process begins. Doug jumps out of the car, runs back to Shannon’s truck and checks the tire. He scratches his head, “I guess the only thing we can do now is transfer everything from the boat into the bed of the truck and flip the boat and trailer upside down onto the truck”.  Now we have a turquoise boat and a shiny burgundy trailer strapped on top of the truck and off we go. We continued our trek to the ocean with lots of laughter and funny looks from everyone we passed. Every time we think about our beach vacations we always remember the year we looked like the Clampetts on our way to the beach.

Maw maw Lottie and I both laughed for several minutes recalling that trip to the beach.  Those weeks we spent with all of the family together relaxing and having fun were some of the best and happiest days of my life. Remembering them brings Papa Dewey back to life for me. If I close my eyes I can still see the twinkle in his eye when we got in the car headed toward the ocean.

I will talk with you again soon dear sister. I love you.