With how cold it has been for the past few weeks, I have been thinking about some of my favorite memories that took place during different summers or when the weather felt like summer weather. Trips to Disney World, trips to South Carolina, to Allegany, and a trip to San Antonio, Texas. These memories were when I was with my grandparents and also with my parents.
DISNEY
My first trip I took, and the first one I can remember, was my first trip to Walt Disney World with my grandparents when I was around the age of three or four. That trip took place in January 2009. During that trip, we went on so many rides, got to meet so many of my favorite Disney characters, and I constantly tried to capture one of the lizards that were all around so I could keep one as a pet.
The second time I went to Disney, I was also with my grandparents. Looking back on it, I should have not taken that trip for granted. That was my last trip to Disney with my grandfather and the next time I went with my grandmother was after his passing. My third trip to Disney was my dad’s first time going. This was in 2015 or 2016. This trip was so much fun because I was able to go on a trip like this with my parents for the first time. What I mean is that that was my first out of state trip with my parents. We had gone on trips before, like camping trips in western New York, but going on a trip to Disney with my parents was fun and exciting.
My fourth time going to Disney was a few months after the passing of my grandfather in 2016. He passed away in December of 2016, and my mom, grandmother, and I took a trip to Disney in 2017. That was the most difficult trip that I went on mainly because it was a few months after my grandfather passed away. The fifth time I went to Disney was actually this past summer. My mom and I drove from Buffalo to Orlando to spend some time with my grandmother, who just moved down, and to help her pack up some things so she can stay in Rochester over the summer. At that point, she was considered a “snowbird,” but now she is a full-time resident in Florida. We went on a day trip to Hollywood Studios and had a fun time. We had also gone to Disney Springs most nights as well.
ALLEGANY
For as long as I can remember, most of my summer vacations were spent on camping trips. Whether it was in Rochester, Grand Island, Jellystone, or in Allegany, I was always camping. One place that I went camping at a lot when I was a kid was in Allegany State Park. My parents and I would usually get a cabin, and we would always go on one of the multiple hiking trails that are in Allegany. While on one of those hikes, I was talking with my parents, when out of nowhere, I walked right into a tree…yep, you read that right. I walked right into the tree. I swear I did not notice that the tree was there.
On another trip to Allegany, it was my mom, my dad, and one of my dad’s friends. We were around the fire one night, when my dad’s friend told me that he saw a cat close by, and that the cat would answer if I called for it. I did just that. I called for what I thought was a cat. I heard one of my parents call back saying, “Morgan! That’s a skunk!” During that same camping trip, I was on the porch, watching the Tim Burton movie adaptation of “Alice in Wonderland”. While watching the movie, I noticed something had come up onto the porch and took some of our bread. The animal then ran off with the bread. The animal was, luckily, not a skunk. This time, it was actually a raccoon. Yep, a raccoon came up onto the porch and stole our bread. I hope that the raccoon enjoyed the bread.
MYRTLE BEACH
After my first trip to Disney, the next adventure with my grandparents was to Myrtle Beach in South Carolina. We stayed at a really nice hotel that was right on the beach. Oh, how I miss the view that we had from our balcony. During that trip, my grandparents took some fun photos of us like me going into the ocean with a boogie board and completely getting submerged by the ocean. All you saw in that photo was my head. Later on, that trip, I wanted to collect some seashells from the beach. My grandmother told me not to go into the ocean, my grandfather on the other hand, told me to go into the ocean…and that is exactly what I did. I walked into the ocean.
It is now a running joke in the family that my grandmother would tell either myself, my aunt, or my mom to do something but my grandfather would tell us to do that exact thing, and we would listen to my grandfather rather than my grandmother. The second time I went to Myrtle Beach was in 2019, right after my eighth-grade exam. My nerves were so bad, and I ended up getting myself sick right after my exam. But while I was in Myrtle Beach with my grandmother, we stayed at a campground that was right at the beach. If you got up early enough, you could walk to the beach to see the sun rise, and if you were up late enough, you could see the sun set. It was so beautiful. I honestly miss the smell of the ocean and want to go back.
SAN ANTONIO
For those who do not know me, I am from Buffalo, but I was not born in Buffalo. I was born in San Antonio, Texas when my mom was stationed at an Air Base in the city. My mom and I lived there for two years, until my mom went from active duty to the reserves and when she did that, we then moved back to New York. So, I have lived in New York for about 17 years now, but I have lived in Buffalo for about 14 of those years.
I had not been able to go back to Texas for years until 10th grade. At that point, my parents and I were going to go for my birthday, but because of the winter storm that the South had gotten, we decided that it would be best if we did not go. I was devastated; I am not going to lie. But the following year, my parents and I took the trip to San Antonio, Texas for the Northern spring break. What I mean is that the Northern states have their breaks at a different time than the Southern states do. So, when we went in April 2022, it was spring break for the Northern states. But in the South, they had their spring break the week before.
When my parents and I landed in Texas, I started getting a really bad headache that never went away until the end of our trip. My dad got sick about halfway to almost the end of our trip. We were dropping like flies. When we were in San Antonio, we went to the Riverwalk, the Alamo, the Air base where I was born, and we went to the San Antonio Zoo. While at the zoo, my mom took a photo of me on the train ride that we decided to go on and posted it to Facebook. The caption for it was “This young lady turns 17 on Friday, and she gets to spend it back in her birth state and city”.
With the winter that we have had for the past few years, and with how cold it was this previous week, I have thought about these memories. These warm memories that I want to relive, and I am grateful for those moments. These warm memories in a cold place make this cold place feel a little bit warmer.