After a brief stay in Clearwater and a visit with Ira and Mildred, the eight of us (being Bill, Dottie, Lora, Robby, Dad, Mom, Denise, and me) all headed over to Orlando for the Classic Chevy International convention which was being held from July 28 – August 2. This would be the fourth and final one of these that I would attend. Mom and Dad had attended five, having previously gone to another one held in Orlando the prior year. In fact, they had visited EPCOT Center during that 1984 trip and Dad had decided that he wanted to go there again with Denise and me.
Our first go-round with Big Thunder Mountain Railroad
Spaceship Earth
There were only a few pictures taken at the Magic Kingdom and EPCOT Center by my parents (only one of which contained any of us in them – Denise in front of the Universe of Energy as seen at the top of the posting). A couple other nice ones can be seen directly above. No doubt due to the rather somber proceedings of the week resulting from my parents’ impending separation, no one was much in the mood to snap many photos of any of the events.
Except for me, that is. I had brought along my Nimslo camera capable of taking lenticular 3-D prints. Since I first found out that we would be taking this trip, I long fantasized about the cool prints I could capture at Disney World with the Nimslo. It’s too bad, I didn’t have the foresight to include any of us actually posing in them. The result is that I ended up with a small batch of postcard-type images to enjoy in 3-D. Unfortunately, viewing them on the computer screen does not quite achieve the same effect as seeing the real deal….although I swear if you squint just right, you will be able to perceive some depth. Here they are; try not to fall out of your seat.
Cinderella’s Castle 3-D!
The castle from the Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse 3-D!
The Riverboat and Haunted Mansion in the background 3-D!
Space Mountain 3-D!
Journey Into Imagination 3-D!
As for the car show itself, it was largely unmemorable. I remember the complex we stayed in, a nice Hyatt Hotel that had a slew of two-story pods all surrounding a common pool area. As I recall, I actually swam a bit here along with Robby in what I remember to be a relatively cold pool. Our families had adjoining rooms so I spent a lot of time scampering back and forth trying to get Rob to come out and play. The maids in the complex had a habit of knocking on the door with their metallic key and announcing their presence – so I would often ‘fool’ Dottie by tapping a coin edge on their door, and announcing in a Spanish accent “Housekeeping!”
Two days were spent at Disney World, first at Magic Kingdom and second at EPCOT Center. I have particularly fond memories of Epcot, which I had enjoyed the year before for the first time. It was fun to see Dad actually enjoying a theme park so much. From what I recall, none of the Bill and Dottie family went along with us to Disney – and it’s entirely possible that only Mom took us to the Magic Kingdom while Dad stayed back and participated in the convention.
One other seemingly trivial thing that I remember from this week was that I purchased a new National Lampoon magazine at one of the malls in Orlando. I had previously picked up an special edition of National Lampoon’s True Facts at the 1982 Detroit convention, so it was somewhat of a coincidence that this particular regular issue was exclusively devoted to True Facts. An odd thing to remember, I realize – but it was this issue that springboarded me into returning home and talking my Mom into sending in a subscription for me, and the beginning of my collection of National Lampoons.
For there record, there was a photo snapped of an ocean after the pictures from Disney. This indicates that we stopped at some beach at some point during or after our Orlando stay, although no one can seem to recall where or why.
Upon our return home, I was greeted by two new autographs – Vincent Price and Bob Cummings – that had arrived in the mail. Our next door neighbor Linda Birx dutifully wrote down the dates that both had arrived while we were gone – July 29. For the rest of the summer, I continued on with the autograph requests, and life in the Laurel and Hardy world continued as well. Below are two photos from the annual Towed in a Hole tent picnic in August.
Dad and Mom enjoy one last summer event together at the annual tent picnic
Denise plays with Stacey, Grand Shiek Carl Ahlm’s younger daughter
It had been a fun and memorable trip despite the turmoil going on during the time period, one which ironically evokes a distinctive, flavorful, and mostly happy recollection – although at times I seemed to be so pitiably suffering.
1985 will continue…
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