Miami Beach circa 1972
in the early 1970's my grandmother would fly south every winter to spend a month in the new Borscht Belt, Miami Beach. there were a number of kosher hotels up and down Collins Avenue, catering mostly to Jewish senior citizens. meals included, social activities, dancing lessons -- a scenario right out of Dirty Dancin', but without Patrick Swayze.
Christmas vacation, 1972. I was 12 (almost 13) and my sister was 11. we went to Miami with our grandma, spent two weeks on the beach, it was the first time I was away from home on a vacation without my parents. it was the first time I flew anywhere on an airplane -- and in those days, people feared being hijacked to Cuba, so I nervously practiced my few words of Spanish (I had been studying the language for a whopping 3 months) as we sat in the airport.
grandma let us wander around on our own all day, returning to the hotel for meals and evening activities. we spent most of our time playing on the beach. I remember listening to the radio -- the Miami Dolphins were having a good year, and there was some novelty song about them on the air."Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins number one..."
we went shopping for souvenirs -- all kinds of chatchkas. ashtrays shaped like alligators. change purses with the image of oranges imprinted on them. snow globes with dolphins inside. dolls dressed in straw skirts, with straw hats filled with plastic oranges.
New Year's Eve I wore a floor-length gown, in my favorite lavendar. I wore that dress for my bat mitzvah a few months later. (years later, when I picked out dresses for my bridesmaids .... guess what they looked like?)
guess what I found on youtube?
Christmas vacation, 1972. I was 12 (almost 13) and my sister was 11. we went to Miami with our grandma, spent two weeks on the beach, it was the first time I was away from home on a vacation without my parents. it was the first time I flew anywhere on an airplane -- and in those days, people feared being hijacked to Cuba, so I nervously practiced my few words of Spanish (I had been studying the language for a whopping 3 months) as we sat in the airport.
grandma let us wander around on our own all day, returning to the hotel for meals and evening activities. we spent most of our time playing on the beach. I remember listening to the radio -- the Miami Dolphins were having a good year, and there was some novelty song about them on the air."Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins, Miami Dolphins number one..."
we went shopping for souvenirs -- all kinds of chatchkas. ashtrays shaped like alligators. change purses with the image of oranges imprinted on them. snow globes with dolphins inside. dolls dressed in straw skirts, with straw hats filled with plastic oranges.
New Year's Eve I wore a floor-length gown, in my favorite lavendar. I wore that dress for my bat mitzvah a few months later. (years later, when I picked out dresses for my bridesmaids .... guess what they looked like?)
guess what I found on youtube?
Wow, that song might be more annoying than "Hail to the Redskins"!
ReplyDeleteIt's cool that you had a vacation sans parents back then. :)