Some of my favorite childhood moments involved spending summers in Boston with my grandmother. During those times, I could get away from issues involving my family, and I could spend some peaceful time with my Grandma Betty. She lived in a small blue cape-style house in West Roxbury, and if I behaved myself all week, well then she would take me to any one of several amusement parks, museums, or beaches and I would just have the time of my life.
In fact, I was puttering around YouTube the other day, and I saw these old vintage homemade movies and commercials for the places Grandma Betty and I would visit each summer weekend. And since I’m feeling in a sharing mood, why don’t you watch these with me?
| THE NEW ENGLAND AQUARIUM The New England Aquarium was fun. Just lots and lots of fun. And in the center of the building was one of the tallest fishtanks I ever saw, and the fishtank was ringed by a spiral staircase. You could see different species and types of fish, from the top of the tank to the very bottom. So way cool. |
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| THE MUSEUM OF SCIENCE If I didn’t visit the Museum of Science at least four times during the summer, I would have felt shorted. From top to bottom, this museum – and the attached Charles Hayden Planetarium – were just a great place to visit and a wonderful educational experience. Plus, they had Spooky the great horned owl, who I think lived to be at least 30 or 35 years old. |
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| LINCOLN PARK This amusement park in Dartmouth, Mass. was my personal favorite. I enjoyed the fun houses and the mini golf courses and the roller coasters. Sadly, this park no longer exists. But I still have great memories of visiting it. |
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| PARAGON PARK What a great amusement park along the shores of Nantasket Beach. I loved the roller coaster and the tall elevated slides, and the rows of pinball machines along the midway. |
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| EDAVILLE RAILROAD Oh when the cranberries were in season, and we would all ride that steam locomotive and just have a fantastic time. The images you see here are of the last time the train ran on the original track layout; apparently some of the line was relocated for the construction of a housing development. |
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| THE LARZ ANDERSON AUTO MUSEUM If I can trace my love of classic cars to one seminal event, it was when my Grandma Betty took me to the Larz Anderson Auto Museum in Brookline. Absolutely breathtaking collection of classic and vintage automobiles. |
I think that’s enough reminiscing for now… but I hope that in seeing these old classic images and commercials, it brings back some memories for you as well.
Chuck The Writer 
Chuck-great blast from the past. This reminds me of the trip to Disney World my family took in 1973, about a year or two after it opened. We never took any pictures or film of our visit, which always disappointed me, but lo and behold, on YouTube I found some old home films of another family’s vacation trip to Disney World in, yes, 1973! It was amazing how much of what I saw closely matched my memories of that day oh so long ago. It’s amazing what our brains keep locked away, like a video waiting to be replayed…
Another thought…speaking of old amusement parks, Frontier Town is rotting away up North, looking very much like a ghost town! Might make a nice summer photo hunt Chuck (hint hint)
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My parents used to load up the Oldsmobile Vista Cruiser (2 skylights!) and take us and all the neighborhood kids that would fit in the back to Paragon Park. Before car seats, seat belts and airbags, that was a total of about 10 smaller kids, pretty much stacked like cord wood. We got to run loose with one of the baby sitters while mom and dad would eat their fill of fried clams. After running loose for a couple hours, none of us kids would be awake by the time we arrived home.
I’m sure my parents enjoyed the nice quiet ride home.
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