A Trip Down Memory Lane

By Allison Hay

Illustration: Shutterstock

WRITTEN BY JULIE DAWN BAKER

They were looking for their perfect dream holiday…

“I miss the old days when you could go into the travel agent’s and browse through all the glossy brochures,” Mary told Al as they discussed where to go for their summer holiday.

“I’d have thought you’d be glad they’re not printing brochures any more! Think about all the trees saved now we shop for holidays online,” Al pointed out smugly.

“Well, there is that. Although, I like speaking to a person,” Mary said. “Carol Philpot used to work at the travel agency on the High Street before it closed. She was in my class in junior school, always very helpful.”

Truth be told, most of their family holidays had been spent camping in the New Forest, and they had booked a grand total of two holidays abroad through Carol Philpot, so they were hardly regular customers. Nonetheless, the travel agent had organised a classic fun-in-the-sun Mediterranean vacation for them before they became parents, and a ten-day trip to Disney World Florida when the boys were little. Both were a great success – the latter now family folklore as Ollie, their elder son, had spent the whole of the holiday believing they were in France rather than Florida.

His misapprehension came to light at the end of the holiday, when he casually observed, “Not many people speak French here, do they?” As they were in America, it seemed a strange comment, and further probing revealed Ollie thought he’d been at Euro Disney for the last ten days. A logical mistake, as it was 1992, the year Disney opened the new theme park just outside Paris, and six-year-old Ollie had seen so many TV ads heralding the new location, that he’d assumed that’s where they were.

Since 1992, Al and Mary had been abroad twice. Both trips involved taking their car on the ferry and driving to a gite in the Loire Valley in 2004, and to a caravan in Brittany in 2010. Both nice holidays, once they arrived safely at their destination, but driving on the other side of the road in a British car wasn’t really Mary’s idea of a stress-free road trip.

She was far happier with a cottage in Cornwall or the Cotswolds, but according to Al, it was time they ventured abroad.

“Where d’you fancy, love?” Al asked, gazing at his Google Earth app. “The world’s your oyster!”

Mary, who had never been a fan of oysters, wrinkled her nose.

“How about Lyme Regis? You can find fossils on the beach, and ever since I saw that movie with Meryl Streep years ago, I’ve wanted to stand on the harbour wall. The Cobb, I think it’s called…”

If it’s dinosaurs and movies you’re after, what about Hollywood? Disneyland and Universal Studios!

“We could see if Ollie, Laura, and Jack want to go. Jack’s only a bit younger than Ollie was when we took the boys to Disneyworld,” Al added. “What d’you think? Shall I see if they’re interested? Be lovely to go with them the first time, to see Jack’s face light up when he meets Mickey…”

“It would…” Mary admitted hesitantly.

Ollie and his family lived hours away, and they didn’t see nearly enough of their only grandson, so the thought of two weeks with him was quite appealing, but a frenetic holiday involving flights and rental cars and long queues for short scream-inducing rides was not. Before Mary could voice her reservations, Al had accessed Disneyland’s website and was vibrating with excitement as he scrolled through the list of attractions.

“Jack will love the new Star Wars ride!” Al beamed.

“Looks scary to me. He might be a bit young,” Mary suggested and was glad to see It’s a Small World was still running.

“Maybe… Ollie’ll like it though. He was always a bit of a daredevil,” Al said proudly, then chuckled. “Remember how he thought we were in France the whole time we were in America?”

“I do,” she grinned, adding, “But don’t mention it to Ollie. He doesn’t like being reminded.”

“Right-oh!” agreed Al as he phoned.

“Dad! I was going to call you tonight,” Mary heard Ollie say.

“Really? Your mum and I were just talking about when you were six, and we took you and Matt to Disney World in Florida, and you thought…”

Mary glared at Al, rolled her eyes, and headed for the kitchen.

Ten minutes later, Al appeared, sadly shaking his head.

“Disneyland is a no-go.” Mary wasn’t sure whether to be happy or sad. “Apparently, they’ve set their hearts on a week in the New Forest this summer and wondered if we’d like to join them.”

“I hope you said yes!” she replied.

There would be no fossils or walks along the famous harbour wall, but nevertheless, Mary couldn’t think of anywhere she’d rather be.