Family Vacations of my Youth

Angelo Gallo, my father, gained two week vacations at first when he worked at the General Electric Company. Then three weeks as he grow in senority; he worked there some 45 years. My life growing only knew one employer for my father, GE. It was evident from first memories that Angelo and Carmella Gallo loved getting away during my father's vacations. We were always going somewhere. I will discribe them here, but this attempt will not render them in any chronological order because I have no way of dating them accurately. Coney Island   The family at the time of the Coney Island vacations consisted of Mom and Dad, my sister Louise, and me. The period would be the late 1930's. We went to Coney Island more than once, though how many times I don't remember. My sister Louise died in 2014, and in her papers I found this memory of hers. "Of course, they - Mom & Dad - also remind me of Coney Island. I don't remember the specifics, but just a sense of happiness as we spent our days playing, swimming & riding rides. I have always thought of Coney Island with happy thought, except for that infamous roller coaster ride. You played with me and let me follow you all day."            It was a newer ride called the Coney Island Cyclone   One trip to Coney Island, our rooms were not ready and we had to bunk up in one room for one night. I slept (hardly) in a chair by a window so close to an elevated train track that ran by our hotel that I felt I could reach out and touch it. And each time an "El" came by I would wake up. Another memory at Coney Island is so contrasting to today's anti-gun mentality: the shooting gallery. Various metal target figures were moved across the real of the gallery. In the shooting gallery, real rifles were used and, of course, the expended copper-jacketing shells would fall to the ground around the gallery. For some reason completely unknown to me today, I would collect a bunch before the hawker would shoo me away. Crazy.   1939 New York World's Fair                   I was 10 years old when our "first" family group (Mom, Dad, Louise and me) went to the New York Word's Fair. It was just for one day but I remember it so well. One notable experience was going through the Perisphere. The exhibit was all about the world of tomorrow. Now (2014) I see how accurate it was. Asbury Park - The Jersey Shore After experiencing Coney Island a few times, my parents decided to visit the New Jersey Shore. We went to Asbury Partkwhich was closer to Schenectady than Atlantic City. They said back then the beaches at Asbury Park were better. Yet, when I was a teenager, my Uncle Pat (the barber) and Aunt Sue asked me and my cousin Frankie Sterlina to accompany them to Atlantic City as company to their two young sons. That was a fun trip because as a teenager I was more open to the social aspect of the beach - girls! Browns Beach & Satatoga Lake There are many beautiful lakes in the Schenectady, New York region. My parents often took single week vacations at many of them, renting a cottage for our family. However, their favorite was Saratoga Lake. So much so, that during the summers, our family would go to Brown's Beach on Saratoga Lake for a Sunday picnic. Brown's Beach was, perhaps, 30 miles from our home, so an easy trip. Added to these Sunday excursions was the fact that very many of Mom & Dad's friends and family would also be there. Telephone use was rare then so the gathering was always unplanned. And remember, almost all those there in our family's group gathering were Italian immigrants. You cannot image the festivity connected to these Sundays at Brown's Beach. The food was absolutely outstanding, each family bringing to the community table a speciality food of a given family. Lake George Usually once a year on Sunday during pleasant weather, my parents would take us to Lake George, a wonderful lake about 48 miles North of Schenectady. When I was in High School and able to drive, Lake George was the place to be because as youngsters would say, That's where the action was." And it was the point at which my participation in family vacations ceased. However, my visits to Lake George did not cease because I started my work carrer at Glens Falls, New York, placing me only 8 miles away from the lake. Indian Ladder Another favorite Sunday picnic site was Indian Ladder, a familiar name for the John Boyd Thacher State Park located 15 miles southwest of Albany, New York near Voorheesville, not far from Schenectady. It has a lot of history connected to it. The history of the park area dates back around 400 years to a time when the trail now known as the Indian Ladder Trail was used by the Mohawk Iroquois Indians to reach the trading post run by Henry Hudson. For youngsters who have an inclination to scale and climb, Indian Ladder is a wonderful memory of Sunday picnics there.