When I was growing up, everybody else\u2019s father would happily (or so I thought)\u00a0camp overnight outside K-mart to make sure their kids got one of the few remaining Cabbage Patch Kids in town. They would give them the best presents: Game Boys, Simon Says games, and of course the Barbie Dream House, with elevator and real bubbling hot tub. We never got any of these things.<\/p>\n
Instead, my father gave us experiences. It took me a while to realize this was a conscious decision; and it took me even longer to realize what a great one it was. He would spend days and weeks planning out trips, making reservations, calling ahead to make sure everything was what he thought it would be, and of course parking in a safe place and then heading out first by himself to \u201creconnoiter.\u201d<\/p>\n
We would set out on long, long excursions with nothing but a few metal canteens of water and several packets of sugar wafer cookies. But when we got there, it was always something amazing. \u00a0And, unlike all those cruddy toys I wanted so much, they are something I still have, in my memory. In no particular order, here are a few of the gifts my father gave us:<\/p>\n
PIC Alpine Slides
\nPIC St. Gaudens<\/p>\n
PIC Polar Caves
\nPIC Fenway Park
\nPIC Queechee Gorge
\nPIC Peaks Island Ferry<\/p>\n
PIC Hamlet
\nPIC Isabella Stewart Gardner
\nPIC Rollins Chapel concert
\nPIC The Cloisters<\/p>\n
PIC Hood Museum
\nPIC Museum of Modern Art
\nPIC Mt. Ascutney<\/p>\n
PIC Metropolitan Opera<\/p>\n
PIC Fairbanks Museum
\nPIC Midsummer Night\u2019s Dream<\/p>\n
PIC Coney Island Nathan\u2019s
\nPIC Covered bridge
\nPIC Big Apple Circus
\nPIC Hopkin\u2019s Center Symphony
\nPIC Lake Sunappee seaplane<\/p>\n
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Happy father\u2019s day, Abba! Thanks for all the days.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
When I was growing up, everybody else\u2019s father would happily (or so I thought)\u00a0camp overnight outside K-mart to make sure their kids got one of the few remaining Cabbage Patch Kids in town. They would give them the best presents: Game Boys, Simon Says games, and of course the Barbie Dream House, with elevator and […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1533,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[43,689,690,113],"class_list":["post-12980","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-childhood","tag-fathers-day","tag-memories","tag-my-father"],"yoast_head":"\n