Ferry on the Ohio River

During my youth we never went on vacation.  Our vacations were a visit to our cousin's house.  My younger sister and I were the only ones left at home.  We would go on school vacations to stay with one of our older siblings and spend time with our nieces and nephews.  So one day when Mom and Dad announced that we were going on a trip for the day, it was exciting news.

My sister and I were bouncing off the walls with excitement.  "Where are we going?" was heard over and over.  "For a drive," was all they said.  Well we didn't go for drives, so it was still exciting.  We packed up and Mom brought along a picnic lunch.  Mom drove the car, I don't ever remember Dad driving, although I'm sure he did in the past.  Mom liked driving and he didn't. In all the years I remember he didn't have a driver's license.  Mom took us everyplace.

Well we took off in the car and headed down the road.  We drove through the country and stopped and looked at anything we found interesting.  My memories about some of the things we did aren't really clear anymore.  I thing we probably went down through Brookville.

  The first stop that I remember clearly was in West Harrison, Indiana.  We pulled up to a house and Dad said, "We are going to stop and see my sister.  "This was a sister that I only remember seeing twice, that day, and when Dad was dying.  When we pulled up she was sitting on the porch.  She looked to see who was stopped at her house.  The next thing I know, she was running out and hugging my Dad.  She said, "Charlie what are you doing here?"  He said, "Taking the girls for a drive down to the Ohio river."  He said. "Girls,this is your Aunt Ethel, my sister." I don't think we were there very long, because we had a lot to do that day.

We drove for a while and Dad pointed out things along the way.  Eventually we got to the Ohio River.  I am not sure if we had ever been there before, but it is a huge river in places.  We came to a point in the river, I'm  not sure where now, but we stopped.  We were going to ride the ferry across the river.  We drove onto a ferry and went across the river.  On the other side, we found a spot and had a picnic.  We enjoyed being along the river for a bit and then we got back in the car and drove back home.  

I now believe that we went down to the area in Kentucky where my grandparents were raised.  I don't know if Dad's parents used to take him there.  This may not seem like much of a vacation to most people, but to my sister and I it was the best vacation ever.  I asked her recently if she still remembers and she said, "Of course!"  

In my lifetime I have traveled to many great places, inside and outside the country, but that little vacation remains one of the great times in my life.