Following my exhausting and event-filled Hollywood ’95 trip, I was naturally eager to get home and see Lisa and her red satin pajamas. We were still young in our relationship and it seemed painful to be away from her for an entire week. The good news was that we would be taking a trip of our very own less than a month from my return. This would turn out to be one of only two trips that we embarked on alone (the second being our honeymoon in 1999). I returned to work as an assistant customer service manager at the Kroger in Beavercreek and business as usual.
Naturally, having just returned from California, I was knee-deep in Laurel and Hardy World (meaning I had heavily entered an L&H ‘phase’ – Lisa’s term for my rotating obessesive nature). And it just so happens that I had a Sons meeting scheduled for the next weekend – screening some short subject and the feature Our Relations at a meeting at my Dad’s place on July 9. Having just met Steve Cox during my Hollywood trip, he had promised to hook me up with two Hal Roach celebtrites who were living in Florida. Since I had told him that I was planning a trip to their area, he gave them each a call and told them that they would be hearing from me. A couple of weeks prior to our trip, I got in contact with both of them and arranged a meeting. More on that later…
Another interesting thing that occurred during this time period involved a reunion with an old school chum. Our five-year high school reunion was slated to occur during our upcoming Florida trip. My friend Jeff Flinn had made me aware that this was coming up, assuming that the reunion committee may have lost track of me since neither I nor my parents still lived at our old house. I was disappointed that I couldn’t attend this event that was going to be held at Gilbert’s Party Barn while I would be out of town. But it just so happened I was able to meet up with another old friend completely out of the blue…
One day while working in the front office at Kroger, a fella walked up to the booth, looking cool as a cucumber in dark shades, and introduced himself to me as Eric Welch. I nearly jumped out of my socks – although I shouldn’t have been too surprised. His parents were back in the area and his Mom had shown up and recognized me at Kroger not long before. Eric had been my very best friend during my sixth grade year. We had had a falling-out of sorts after growing tired of one another during another great Florida trip to Disney World in 1984. But it was amazing that seeing each other again after more than ten years, any ill feelings completely melted away.
All that we could remember were the great times we had shared. He came over that night to visit and we sat around the living room of our Woodman Park Apartment. Lisa was a little reluctant to allow me to go out alone with Eric, wanting to tag along herself I think, but Eric persuaded her by saying, “C’mon now, it’s been ten years.” Eric and I went to the Phone Booth lounge in Kettering where we drank ourselves silly. I still remember him driving me back to my apartment in his convertible jeep, Twisted Sister’s album Stay Hungry blaring in the warm Summer night, and us cracking up as we drunkenly quoted the song “I Wanna Rock.” That night was as fun as any we ever had in sixth grade and I am anxiously awaiting the opportunity to meet up with Eric again.
Anyway, the day finally came when Lisa and I departed for Florida. We left on Friday, July 28 and drove my relatively new acquisition, the maroon 1989 Toyota Celica. I had modelled this trip after so many that I had taken with my family in the past: spending a couple of days at Disney World and then heading over to one coast or the other for a couple days at the beach. On the way down, we met up with my Mom, Bob, and Bryan, who were traveling with Denise and her boyfriend Chris and we stayed the night at the Days Inn in Forsyth, Georgia – one of our traditional towns to stop over in. And I’m fairly certain that it was here that I left my pillow, one that I had owned since boyhood. That was a bummer. But Lisa said that it was time for it to go anyways.
I believe this is a Days Inn we stopped at in Forsyth or thereabouts. Lisa beams with her toothpaste and we get a final look at my pillow, who still lives there.
With my photos-to-be-signed spread out on the bed. I’m wearing the original reddies shorts.
We arrived in Kissimmee during the late afternoon on Saturday the 29th after driving the last leg of the trip. For the most part, I think Lisa and I got along well during this trip, although I do remember some bickering during our drive down. We had made up and were ready for a night on the town by that evening. We drove up to Orlando and visited the Hard Rock Cafe. Having gone to the San Diego Hard Rock a month earlier, Bob had placed the bee in my bonnet to visit all Hard Rocks, as he was trying to do. Lisa and I also went to the now-defunct Mystery Fun House. Some of it was cool, like the crooked room, but some of it was totally cheesy. I remember looking through some sort of microscope and a fake miniature eye or something. Lisa and I cracked up about that for months.
At the Orlando Hard Rock
On Sunday, July 30, Lisa and I went to the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World. I believe that this was her first time there, or if not, her first time in many years. We started off with the Pirates of the Caribbean. I nearly blew a gasket when the boat we were on contained some group of foreigners who insisted on clapping to the song “Yo-Ho.” For some reason this clapping fad was going on everywhere at the park as groups of foreign kids would just walk along clapping. Lisa thought it was funny as she tried to calm me down as I exclaimed that the people were ‘ruining the rides.’ Uptight, yes, but don’t mess with my Disney World experience!
Lisa ready to set sail on the Pirates of the Caribbean
Singing pirates
The pirate picture I always take. The red-striped shirt guy looks like my friend Carl Lichtenburg.
Another thing Lisa took delight in was getting me to go over to Tom Sawyer’s Island. This was something that my family never did, so I was adverse to it right off the bat, thinking that it was a waste of time. There was that uptightness again, but I survived my first time on Tom Sawyer’s Island nonetheless.
Lisa on the Swiss Family Robinson treehouse. This was always one of my very favorite pictures of her.
On Tom Sawyer’s Island. That’s the Haunted Mansion on the extreme right.
Lisa, delighted to have gotten me onto the island, with the Haunted Mansion in the background
Lisa on the carousel
One of our tickets from this day
Overall we had a great time at the Magic Kingdom. And there would be more…
The trip will continue…
Bypass the trip and continue with 1995…
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