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I was planning a road trip and was thinking about how easy it is. I have Google Maps to tell me how to get from one place to another and then, while driving, my GPS gives me a play-by-play. There are roads, reliable cars, and AAA (for if the car isn’t so reliable). My grandfather didn’t have these things.
He lived in a small town in South Dakota and loved tinkering. He learned how to work on machines by… working on machines. No licenses required to drive but there were no cars. Except the local catholic priest had a car. But no tinkering skills.
Priest’s Garage in Capa, South Dakota
The summer after Grampa turned 15 (when he graduated from high school early), he drove the priest to his family home 1,850 miles away to Salem, Massachusetts for the summer. On the way, they stopped by my grandfather’s grandfather’s house in Russell, Iowa, where these pictures were taken.
They did it again the next year, with Grampa’s friend, Pete, joining. So for two summers, a car of teenagers and a Catholic priest road-tripped to Salem, Massachusetts where they stayed at 3 Milk Street with Father Kingsley’s family.
The priest had a non-priestly brother who worked all day. Grampa and Pete would impatiently wait all day for the brother to get home and then they’d all head to the Salem Willows.
From the Salem Willows website (http://www.salemwillowspark.com/history.html):
This beautiful wooded and hill peninsula jutting out into Salem Harbor became a municipal park in 1858. Graced with majestic, 200-year-old white willow trees, Salem Willows, a public park since 1858, has a special place in amusement park history.
In 1906, Everett Hobbs & William Eaton offered Americans the first ice-cream cone; “Blind Pat” Kenneally introduced Spanish “double-jointed” peanuts to America from his cart at the Willows.
Bavarian woodcarver Joseph Brown created the famous Flying-horse Carousel in 1866. in 1945, the horses were sold to Macy’s Department Store in New York City , where they graced the famous Macy’s Christmas displays. While the original horses have been replaced, the carousel itself still offers a thrilling ride.
A young Duke Ellington played here in 1923; Count Basie and Louis Armstrong performed as well, at the old Charleshurst Ballroom, now the Willows Casino. A tradition of popular summer jazz concerts continues to this day; jazz vocalist Cassandre McKinley performed here in 2003.
Do you have stories about your ancestors’ vacations?
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2026