Those Places Thursday - Family Vacations at Virginia Beach

Sunrise at Virginia Beach, July 2011

When I was growing up I really thought that everyone took vacations to places like Virginia Beach, VA.  I loved going to Virginia Beach (referred to from here on simply as "the Beach").  Each year we would start asking my father if we were going to be going on vacation sometime around March.  The answer was always the same..."Maybe".  That was good enough as a "Yes" to a kid and I was a planner so I'd start packing...in April.  

Aimee and Cherie Tabor playing on Virginia Beach

Packing..you know...the things that a 5 or 6 or 7 year old would pack for a trip.  My sisters and I couldn't contain our excitement about going.  What we didn't realize at the time was that it was always a matter of money as to whether or not we could go.  As I've mentioned in previous posts, my father was (to put it kindly) employment-challenged for the majority of my life, but little kids don't really understand that.  When we would go, most times, it was because my mom was the general manager at the local Holiday Inn and either got the hotel room for free or a really discounted price.

My mom, Alice, with Aimee and me at VA Beach

The hotel room was always right on the beach and had a balcony over-looking the ocean.  It was heaven to me.  To be able to go out onto the balcony in the dark and not be able to see the ocean but to listen to it.  Listening to the waves crashing  close by, but just far enough out to not really be able to see them was so cool.  It's a peaceful sound to me.  Probably because it brings back some happy childhood memories.  Back when my mom and dad were still married and my family unit was still whole.  That's not to say that my life wasn't happy after that, but divorce makes an impression on a child and children are generally that casualties of those types of war and "war" was a pretty apt term for what happened.  That's another post, however, and this is a much more happy memory.

Benjamin and Daniel Cayemberg collecting shells at VA Beach

We would wake up in the mornings and my mom would make breakfast.  It was a requirement for the hotel room to have a kitchenette so she could cook and we could save money.  Then we'd go to the beach and play in the sand or in the water and then head back to the hotel room for my mom to make lunch.  Dinner was the one meal that was at a restaurant.  This was a big deal for us because there wasn't much restaurant eating for us during the year and I was an incredibly picky eater.  This was irritating for my father.  He'd take us to a wonderful seafood restaurant at the beach and I would get a hamburger.  We'd go to an Italian restaurant and I'd get a hamburger.  We'd go to any restaurant and I would get a hamburger.  He hated that.

My husband and kids at VA Beach

Why wouldn't I try crab legs?  Shrimp? Lobster?  To me I would think, "Why would I want to eat something that looks fairly close to what it looked like when it was still crawling around?"  My older and younger sisters enjoyed that stuff, but you couldn't get me to touch it with a 10 foot pole!  And my burger...yeah...well-done, baby.  It had been sent back a number of times by my mom who would sarcastically tell the waiter to have them burn it.  She enjoyed her meat pink...not me...pink meant blood.  I've grown out of that.  I eat my beef medium and try new things...as my waistline unfortunately has started to show since I said good-bye to the Army and people whipping my butt into shape!

Rick and Danny on VA Beach at sunrise

Still, even with the craziness of my awful eating habits it was the height of the year for me.  We would get inflatable rafts and ride the waves in.  They call it body surfing now, I suppose, and I had so much fun doing it.  It was hard to get my little sister, Aimee, and I out of the water to do anything else and my dad would body surf with us.  Great fun.

My other favorite thing to do was to visit the souvenir shops along the beach.  Yeah, I can appreciate today that they are pretty much filled with crap, but to a kid it was awesome crap!  We never got to buy too much, but every now and then, when my dad had an employed year, we'd be able to get some souvenirs.  I remember a wind up dolphin that would float in the bathtub and swim around.  It lasted a couple weeks before it died.  They still make them by the way!

I will always have fond memories of the Beach although as an adult I can look back and understand that it wasn't perfect.  What is?  But the memories are perfect.  Pure joy.  Pure innocence as a child oblivious to all the difficulties of the world.  Just having fun.

I wanted my two boys to share in those experiences, so this year as we drove from Texas to Pennsylvania to see my family, the Beach was one of those places we had to stop at.  It looked the same.  The hotels, the shops, the beach.  Not much changed.  People still plucking jellyfish out of the water and poking them.  Sitting on towels and kids playing in the sand.  No body surfing for my 5 year old, but my 10 year old and husband did enjoy riding some waves sans raft/board.  The little one and I contented ourselves with jumping over the waves and staying cool.

The sunrise over the Atlantic

We had fun, but I realized that it wasn't the same type of fun my husband had when he was a kid.  His family lived in Wisconsin and would go camping.  We shared childhood memories of vacations and I realized that we both looked back on our different experiences with such fondness...both had somewhat different ideas of what a family vacation was, but we managed to give our kids a taste of both his childhood and mine.  I wonder what they'll think of our family vacations when they are grown and have children of their own.  Hopefully, we've given them some great experiences.

Thanks for reminiscing with me.

Wedding Wednesday - Patrick Cayemberg Jr & Dolores Kuehl

 

This is the wedding announcement for my husband's mom and dad with some of the wedding pictures.  I love my in-laws!

Unknown Wisconsin Newspaper

"Pat Cayemberg, Jr. Takes Miss Dolores [sic] Kuehl For Bride

{hand-written May 14, 1960}

St. Killian's Church New Franken was the scene of the May 14th [sic] wedding of Miss Dolores [sic] Kuehl, daughter of the Romand [sic] Kuehl's [sic] Campbellsport [sic] and M. Patrick Cayemberg Jr. son of the Senior Patrick Cayembergs [sic], 2023 Willow St.  The Rev. Fr. J. B. Reickel, officiated.

The newlyweds will reside in Green Bay following a honeymoon to the Western States.

Honeymooning in the Western states are Patrick Cayemberg Jr. and his bride, the former Miss Dolores [sic] Kuehl.  They were married Saturday morning, May 14th [sic], at St. Kilian's Church, New Franken, with the Rev. J. B. Reickel officiating.  Mr. Cayemberg is the son of the senior Patrick Cayembergs of Green Bay, and the bride's parents are Mr. and Mrs. Romand Kuehl, Campbellsport, Rt. 3.

The bride was escorted to the front of the church by her father, and was attended by Mrs. Vincent Ryan, matron of honor; along with Mrs. Richard List, Mrs. Rolland Cayemberg, Mrs. Darold Cayemberg, Miss Margie Rousseau and Miss Marie-Jo Hensch as bridal aides.

Wayne Cayemberg performed the duties of best man for the bridegroom, while Richard List, Glen Cayemberg, Darold Cayemberg, Rolland Cayemberg and Vincent Ryan were groomsmen.  Guests were ushered by Larry Laurent and Alois Beisbier.

A bridal dinner was served at Krueger's Hotel in Theresa, followed by a reception and dance at West Park Ballroom in West Bend.  When they return from their honeymoon trip, the Cayembergs will make their home in Green Bay."

Was that article disjointed or what?  So many spelling errors...I mean misspelling the bride's name, although at least they misspelled it consistently throughout the article!  I had to get through transcribing the whole thing before I could convince myself that it wasn't two different articles pasted together.  I had cut and pasted it together because the original was in some lopsided pieces in a scrapbook, but I really began questioning myself.  Of course all the misspellings and the date of the wedding being wrong should have been big flags that it wasn't my cut and paste job but the lack of an editor with any real skills. 

Leona Kuehl nee Boegel helping her daughter Dolores

The Kuehls on the left and the Cayembergs on the right

The wedding party

Tuesday's Tip - eBay - Don't Be Stupid, Sparky

Sounds a bit harsh?  I'm not saying don't use eBay to look for lost family treasures or bits or regional memorabilia.  I have searches on eBay that go straight to my Google Reader account.  They're great.  This is more of a tip for those selling the memorabilia on eBay.  Don't insult the item in the title or description.  Don't be stupid, Sparky.  You want to sell it don't you?  This is the item that caught my attention and inspired this brief post:

Difficult to read.  Click to enlarge.

The screen shots are cropped to hide the seller's name and other items he's currently selling, but I think you can see what I'm talking about.  I'm from the Hazleton area.  Born and raised and that is not without embarrassment to say considering the awful state of the area now.  There are truly sweet and wonderful people there, but they are drowned out by the much more prevalent personalities like this one here.  Sad but true.

HINT:  If you want to sell something, even if you don't think it's the best thing in the world, you aren't going to by insulting it.  You should describe it in a way that makes people want to buy it.

Needless to say the item wasn't sold.  Shocker, I know.  There is apparently some deep rooted issues this person has with the items or with the area (although he lives there still so he can't hate the area too much!).  It shouldn't have come out in the attempted sale.  He's at least $8.50 poorer than he would have been if he had described the item properly.  Of course, unless there was something very dear to me in these photos the starting price is more than a little too high.

Ah, well...back to trying to find ephemera on eBay.  It is really a great tool when used properly.  At least he didn't just title it "7 Stupid Photos".  At least with "Hazleton" in the title it popped up on my reader.

I'm on vacation right now, and actually am on the road so no census this week.  I should be back with the 1850 census next Tuesday, but who knows...I may be having way too much fun!

Have fun tending your roots!

Military Monday - Central Texas Casualties 2009

Faces of the departed - 2009

 

Roll Call

SSG Roberto Andrade JR

PFC Lucas M Bregg

SGT Timothy A David

SGT Ezra Dawson

LTC Garnet R Derby

PFC Richard A Dewater

SGT James M Dorsey

SSG Bradley Espinoza

CPL Keith E Essary

2LT Joseph D Fortin

SPC Matthew D Hastings

SPC Albert R Jex

SPC Ryan C King

SGT Christopher M Kurth

PVT Thomas E Lee III

SSG Edmond L Lo

SPC Jeremiah P McCleery

SGT James D Pirtle

SFC Johnny R Polk

SA Jacob I Ramsey

SGT Joshua L Rath

SGT Jeffrey A Reed

PFC Daniel J Rivera

PFC Jonathan R Roberge

SPC Jessica Y Sarandrea

SPC Brandon K Steffey

SPC Shawn D Sykes

PVT Jhanner A Tello

CPL Stephen S Thompson

SPC Jake R Velloza

SSG William D Vile

SPC Demetrius L Void

SGT Joshua A Ward

SSG Leroy O Webster

May our Soldiers come home soon.

Sunday's Obituary - Eli Cayemberg

Eli and Florence Cayemberg nee Villers

 

"ELI CAYEMBERG, 77, IS DEAD AT PULASKI

Resident for 30 Years Succumbs to Heart Attack.

(Special to Press-Gazette)

PULASKI, Wis. - Eli Cayemberg, 77 Pulaski, died suddenly Monday night after a heart attack at his home here where he had lived the last 30 years.

Born in Rosiere July 1, 1861, he had operated a general store, a cheese factory and a blacksmith shop here.  He was treasurer for 12 years of Lincoln school.  Mr. and Mrs. Cayemberg had been married 53 years on April 24.

Surviving are his widow, nee Florence Villers; seven sons, Frank and Walter, Pulaski; Martin, Green Bay; Henry, Manitowoc; Felix, Ensign, Mich.; Wilfred, Manitowoc; and Pat, Green Bay; three daughters, Mrs. Russel Anderson and Mrs. Harvey Moureau, Green Bay, and Mrs. Eli Cravillion, Luxemburg; 31 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.

Funeral services will be held at 10 o'clock Friday morning at St. Edward and Isadore church in Flintville. Burial will be beside the body of his daughter, Mrs. Emily Guillette, in the Flintville cemetery."

[There is no date on the article, but Eli Cayemberg died on 08MAY1939.  The article appears to have been published in the Green Bay Press-Gazette]

 

Florence and Eli Cayemberg

On the Road!

This morning before the crack of dawn I will have piled in the car with the hubby and kiddos to start our vacation.  We'll be driving from Killeen, Texas to Greentown, Pennsylvania and stopping along the way to enjoy the journey.  Hopefully we'll make it to Nashville, Tennessee for the first night...or at least Memphis.

The boys will be enjoying practicing their new swimming skills in hotel pools and we'll all enjoy a night of camping under the stars at the Great Smoky Mountain National Park.  We'll celebrate America's beginnings at Williamsburg, Virginia and watch the sun rise over the Atlantic at Virginia Beach before heading over to Fredericksburg to learn about the great war that threatened to tear our country apart 150 years ago.

We'll arrive in Pennsylvania sometime on the 14th which means I won't be on the road when the much anticipated release of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2 comes out!  I have posts scheduled to go out while I'm traveling and I'll certainly be checking in on everyone's blog posts, tweets and any comments you may leave while I'm on the road.  Gotta love technology!

I'll be diving into the county courthouse of my ancestors for the first time as well as tracking down some obituaries and tombstones, and leaving flowers at the ancestors' gravesites.  My oldest seems to be showing a mild interest in genealogy and our family history right now so I hope I can fan those flames!

As always, have fun tending those roots!

Follow Friday - She Just Leaves Me Amazed

Jenn Woods from Climbing My Family Tree: One Branch at a Time has the most wonderful series of Genealogy for Kids!  If you haven't checked out her series and you've got kids or grandkids that you'd like to get interested in genealogy, you really need to head on over to her blog!

Her first in the series "Family Notebooking Page" has an adorable family tree that your kids can fill in.

The second post "Cemetery Scavenger Hunt" has a wonderful scavenger hunt that can occupy their attention whether they've started reading yet or not!  I can't wait to have my boys use these while we are traipsing around cemeteries in Pennsylvania over the next few weeks.

The third "My Ancestor Notebooking Page" which has spaces for the little ones to fill in dates the ancestor lived, where they lived, historical events they lived through and more.  Really puts your ancestor's live into historical perspective for the kids and is sure to get them asking questions!

And the last is "Jobs of My Ancestors" which has boxes for the kids to draw a pictures of various jobs their ancestors had and label them.  I know I'll have to dig deep for this one in educating my kids...Soldier, teacher, farmer, coal miner...that pretty much sums up the majority of our ancestors!  I'd like to see them draw genealogist though! :)


I can't wait to see what Jenn's going to come up with next!