Monday, December 21, 2009

Not your typical Christmas

First of all, if you have not seen AVATAR, you must go see it, and see it in 3D, you get these cool glasses! I have never seen anything like this movie, spellbinding pretty much covers it!
We went back to my hometown for Christmas, Myrtle Beach, SC. My mom recently remarried, she is 79, my dad passed away 16 years ago, and my mom's new hubby got her this for Christmas. I grew up in a tiny little wood siding house with oil heat and now my mom is living in this........wow, she has come a long way, good for her I say!!
She has a pool and hot tub, oh my!!
This is Broadway at the Beach. When I was little this was a marsh and farmland and we boarded my pony here. There was a dirt road that went through here and that was the route my school bus took. Now it is full of shops, a Hard Rock Cafe, IMax theater, and lots of restaurants and bars.
Some of you may remember the Myrtle Beach Pavilion that was such a huge part of so many families vacations. It was recently torn down and they moved some of the iconic things from the amusement park over to Broadway. I rode this swing so many times as a kid, and ate more corn dogs and cotton candy from this stand than I can remember. My relatives in NC thought I was the luckiest kid alive. I, however, felt like a total misfit most of my life. The kids I grew up with lived in motels, their parents owned restaurants, they drove porches, mercedes, and bmw's to school. My dad was a furniture maker and we were just barely middle class. When I went to design school, kids in my class were just getting away from home and wanted to party. I had been partying at home in MB since I was 14. I was worn out and didn't go out with them. I was serious about my career as a designer in my 20's because I had worked since I was 13, and no one in the company I worked for took me seriously because I was so young. It wasn't until I started doing props and sets for the theater that I found "my people". It's no wonder considering the crazy place I grew up.

The fun house mirrors were always a must see for my grandparents when they came from High Point NC to visit, they would stand there for the longest time and laugh and laugh.
When Wes was little she had to go and play Dragon Golf every time we went to visit my mom. And Gerry had to go play baseball. Not much has changed. No wonder we stay in trouble all the time, we are still 12 years old!
This is Fun Plaza. It is located on the boardwalk right on the beach and this is where I got my first job when I was thirteen years old. I worked in the gift shop just to the left of the skee ball sign.

We also have to go and get a fortune from this creepy lady every time we visit.
I had the weirdest childhood, dysfunctional doesn't even cover it. While Gerry and Wesley played arcade games I walked around outside on the boardwalk and talked to all the ghosts. MB was a crazy place to grow up. I spent my time skate boarding, laying on the beach and swimming in the ocean. I had a job starting from age 13, and a car/license at 14. A good bit of my time was spent driving on the Boulevard, music blaring out of my 8 track tape player and my best friend mixing white russians in the seat beside me. My car was a 5 speed Mercury Capri with a sun roof and we thought we were the baddest asses out there! Going to Myrtle Beach for Wesley and Gerry is play time, they have so much fun, Gerry remembers his family vacations that were spent here every year, Wes remembers her childhood fun and I work out all the strange things that happened to me as a kid growing up too fast with parents who were not paying attention. It takes me a week after a visit to get my head back. So there is a little stroll down memory lane, so different from Meredith's farm visits and so different from all of the snow pictures being posted right now, but it's a bit of an escape from reality for ya, isn't it! I don't know how all of this led me to making pottery, I'm sure it was all due to my grandmother and her love for Seagrove and pottery. It just took so long to get here!

13 comments:

DirtKicker Pottery said...

Your Mom's house is so beautiful. I looks like you all had a fantastic time.

Ron said...

My parents took us to Myrtle Beach for vacation when I was a kid. I guess we were probably there every summer from 1974-1985. Then I went back many times with my friends during HS. I loved playing skee ball and also flying a trick kite out on the beach.

cookingwithgas said...

What a strange and wonderful life you have led.
It is what got you from there to here and back again.
And I always wonder what typical really means.
That and normal- what is normal? is it what you are use to.
You make some great threesome of a family and things look pretty darn good from here.
Best!
M

Tracey Broome said...

Ron: Isn't it weird to think that we were probably on the same beach or the same road at that time? I left MB for college in 1980. Meredith, I do often wonder about that word "normal" and who sets the standard for what it is considered to be. Maybe the word unique would be better! My life certainly wasn't what I would hear others describe their childhoods to be as I got older, and I always felt like I was on the outside of something looking in. There were some things that I would be happy about leaving out, but for the most part it's been an interesting journey!

Anonymous said...

i need to go to the movie just so i can get some of those specs. i was at myrtle beach about a decade ago and went to part of what you've got pics of... it reminded me of coney island stuff you see in the movies. your mom is stylin'.

Tracey Broome said...

Jim, my mom is styling! She has always wanted a big house to decorate and now she has it. I'm really happy for her because we had such a tiny little house when I was growing up with something always going wrong and needing fixing. Guess she has paid her dues. BTW, I loved the beach picture you sent! Such a happy picture :)

Linda Starr said...

What a fun trip with your family that looks to have been; love hearing about your reflections on childhood, mine was the opposite, no partying when young so partying in young adulthood, funny how our early years affect our later years; I love the Myrtle Beach swing, so lovely, romantic and somehow victorian looking. Your mom's house looks great especially the pool and spa looks great now since we're due for another cold snap. Happy holidays to you.

Laura Farrow said...

Great story, Tracey. xo

Sister Creek Potter said...

Wonderful stroll though your past, Tracey! Thanks for the tour!

cindy shake said...

Great photos!! Congrats to your mom. I'm putting MB on my "travel to" list. The fortune teller lady and carnival rides reminds me of the ones in the movie "Big!"

ang design said...

wow trace what a ride....weird isnt it...my trip to the UK this year had some strange moments of recollection but then i was only 6 when we left...not quite the cruising the boulevard in my car with my friends.....

Trish said...

Tracey,
There is a saying: Life is a journey, not a destination..
Thanks for sharing some of yours..
Enjoy the warm weather and the pool!..nice.
Seasons Greetings..:)

Peter said...

Life has so many twists and turns, and it is interesting having a look back. So many ways that we might have turned out, some good, some bad. I think I know what you mean about being on the outside and looking in. I rather suspect that being "outside" has propelled many a person towards a creative life as an artist, writer, or actor, maybe it's an essential ingredient?? I loved the photo of the swing ride, absolutely magical.