50+ Things You Won't Find in Schools Anymore

 

While the core content of education - reading, math, history, science, PE - hasn't changed as much as it probably should have done over the past 50 years, the way that we deliver instruction inevitably evolves. Forces such as 1:1 laptops in classrooms, changing cultural/societal norm, and an increased fear of liability  have transformed educational tools, classrooms, and expectations. 

Thought it would be fun to assemble a list of some of the transformations I've lived to witness!  

SCHOOL CAMPUSES

1. Dangerous playground equipment. Metal jungle gyms (constructed with exposed bolts) that towered into the sky. Merry-go-rounds that flung children aside like a wet dog shaking off rain. Once upon a time, kids used to not just collect playground scars, but show them off like war vets comparing wounds. Nothing like the rounded, padded playgrounds of today! 
2. Smoking lounges. Hard to believe that, once upon a time, schools not only condoned teen smoking, but accommodated it with designated areas that practically marketed smoking as “cool”
3. Desks with storage. Rendered obsolete by backpacks, much to the relief of teachers who were tired of removing moldy food and even nastier items.
4. Physical hall passes. Replaced by online apps that keep great data, but that require teachers to constantly interrupt their instruction to check students in and out of the classroom.
5. Lockers. No longer necessary in a world that has banished heavy textbooks and heavy winter coats - the kids just wear their hoodies year round.
6. Majorettes. Not sure if the disappearance of majorettes from school marching bands has more to do with baton twirling no longer being taught in PE, flags being easier to master than twirling, or a growing discomfort over showcasing prepubescent girls in skimpy attire.  
7. Retaining students who haven't met grade-level standards. Citing concerns over social-emotional issues, it's increasingly rare for students to be held back a grade. 
8. Summer school. Parents hate it and school districts increasingly can't afford it, so high schools are increasingly defaulting to "credit recovery" initiatives.
9. Corporal punishment. No one’s arguing that corporal punishment doesn’t belong in schools but, truthfully, thanks to litigious parents and lawsuit-fearing school districts, pretty much all consequences for misbehaviour are being gradually whittled away
10. Expulsion. Given the increased risk of parents filing lawsuits, schools have pretty much given up on expelling students except for the most egregious behaviours (ex: attempted murder) 
11. Snow days. Rendered obsolete by 1:1 technology that now allows students to access instruction from their homes – which is, frankly, just plain cruel.

CLASSROOM PRACTICES

1. Pledge of Allegiance. To be clear, many schools are still observing the pledge, but the days of students being compelled to stand and recite the pledge aloud have gone the way of other compulsory displays of performative values.
2. Formal attire for teachers. No one dresses up for work any more – not even teachers.
3. Grade books and attendance rosters.  All this has been moved to online apps, the better to facilitate real-time communication with parents, fellow teachers, and admins.
4. Grading with red pens. Eliminated out of concern that the color red might hit as too "judge-y," wounding student feelings.
5. Memorization. With information available at the touch of a screen, emphasis is shifting from developing automaticity (those mind-numbing skill drills!) to developing effective digital literacy skills.  
6. Homework. While the research is by no means clear, more and more schools are eliminating homework over concerns related to equity.
7. Grades for formative assessments (quizzes, classwork). The theory: that grades should only measure mastery, and therefore should only be based on tests/projects that measure mastery.
8. Giving zeroes. Another update being credited to concern over equity, many schools are making their lowest grade a 50.
9. Penalties for late work. Because if grades are supposed to measure mastery, they shouldn't be "tainted" by deductions that have nothing to do with mastery.
10. Pen & pencil work. 1:1 technology is rapidly making those once-ubiquitous worksheets obsolete. Nothing like the smell of ozone in the morning
11. Teacher autonomy. For a variety of cultural reasons, control of what happens in the classroom is gradually being wrested away from teachers, replaced by politically-approved curriculum, AI-powered learning games, and standardized tests.
12. Expecting sports coaches work in other content areas. Gone are the days when HS football and baseball coaches were also expected to teach history, shop, or drivers ed. Past time we
13. Birthday cupcakes. As awareness about childhood allergies spreads, more and more schools are banning student-provided sweets.

STUDENT EXPECTATIONS

1. Holding students accountable for attendance. Covid exacerbated a nation-wide outbreak of chronic absenteeism. Rather than try to restore order, however, schools have for the most part decided to give up enforcing mandatory attendance.
2. Studying for tests. An unintended consequence of mastery learning: students who no longer see any need to prepare for tests but instead rely on the availability of teacher remediation and retakes. So much more efficient to study for the test after you already know what’s going to be on it!
3. Taking notes. Note-taking is no longer being widely taught or expected, replaced by cellphone photos of the teacher’s slides and copies of the slides online.
4. Due dates.  In the cause of ensuring grades reflect only mastery, many schools now forbid teachers to dock grades for late work, inadvertently removing incentives for students to honor due dates.
5. Tracking due dates in planners.  Apps that push out reminders mean students no longer have to track this info themselves.
6. Passing notes. Students haven't actually stopped passing notes, of course: they've just transitioned to texting.  
7. Reading time on an analog clock. Rendered obsolete by cell phones … but now that kids aren’t allowed to have their cell phones out in class, yet most buildings are still equipped with analog clocks, this just means that most students no longer have any idea what time it is.

PARENT EXPECTATIONS

1. Field trip chaperones. The upshot of parents who both work: a dearth of parents willing/able to volunteer to chaperone daytime field trips
2. Classroom volunteers. Ditto classroom volunteers, though this has also been exacerbated by concerns over the dangers of allowing unvetted adults into classrooms. 
3. Active PTAs. Involvement in PTAs continues to diminish, driven by improved online communication with parents, more diverse student populations, and changing cultural expectations 
4. Expecting parents to participate in school discipline. Not meant as a blanket condemnation – there are of course still parents willing to work with schools to enforce consequences – but school admins have largely stopped expecting this to occur.   

CURRICULUM

1. Gender-specific classes. No longer is home ec the exclusive domain of girls, shop the exclusive domain of boys; all courses have become comfortably co-ed
2. Cursive writing; penmanship. Rendered obsolete by computers – though we’re going to have to nurture a small group of cursive interpreters to preserve pre-2000 text.
3. Grammar instruction. Being replaced by AI-powered writing aides, in combination with an increasing cultural tolerance for “flexible” grammar.  
4. Drivers Ed. Liability-fueled fears have put the kibosh on school-based driving instruction, though some schools still offer the classroom portion.
5. Typing class. These days, students are proficient at typing by the time they reach 6^th grade, thanks to the time they’ve spend on keyboards.
6. Photography classes. No more need for darkroom skills in this era of digital cameras.

LIBRARY, CAFETERIA & GYM

1. Card catalogs. Computers may have replaced grubby index cards in tiny drawers, but the Dewey Decimal System seems safe for now.
2. Stamping cards with due dates. The library now sends students text messages when their books are due.
3. Microfiche. Remember when newspapers were scanned and preserved on film that had to be viewed using a special machine? Now they’re stored as .pdfs, available on any computer.
4. Lunch boxes & thermoses. Lunch boxes have become, alas, uncool – but no one’s missing those old glass thermoses that used to shatter and fill your soup with shards of glass
5. Lunch money. No need to carry cash anymore; students all have debit accounts that can be accessed by pin numbers. (A tough break for bullies.)
6. Presidential Fitness Test. Discontinued in the interest of focusing PE classes on overall health and wellness rather than athleticism.
7. Rope climbs. Discontinued, I have always assumed, due to irrelevance (piracy having ceased to be a career option); that, and the potential liability associated with students plummeting through the air onto thin foam mats.
8. Square dancing. Replaced by less socially humiliating forms of physical fitness.
9. Dodgeball. Bullying in the form of sport! Discontinued for humanitarian reasons.
10. Gym uniforms. Took us longer than we should have to figure out they were unflattering, unsanitary, expensive, and unnecessary

TECHNOLOGIES & SUPPLIES

1. AV Carts. Feel almost sorry for generations of students who will never experience the excitement of the AV cart (TV, speakers) being rolled into the room, bring with it the promise of novelty and perhaps a quick snooze after the lights went out!
2. Computer carts and labs. Replaced by 1:1 laptops – an expensive investment for school districts, but perpetually buggy, outdated computer labs and carts were definitely NOT going to be adequate to give students the time they needed to develop computer literacy.
3. Blackboards, overhead projectors, film projectors. Replaced by white boards that double as projection screens for the teacher’s computer.  An improvement no one is regretting, except perhaps chalk manufacturers.
4. Physical textbooks (+ grocery bag book covers). Being replaced by a combination of online textbooks and collections of internet apps & resources.
5. Manual pencil sharpeners & pencil boxes. No need for pencils (nor boxes to put them in) now that students are producing their output in the form of computer text.  
6. Doing research using encyclopedias, hard copy books, index cards. Rendered obsolete by computer-based resources and apps.
7. Compasses, protractors, slide rules, calculators. Gone the way of the abacus!
8. Pull down maps & globes. No longer necessary due to the availability of these resources on the internet … and also the fact that few schools seem to bother to teach geography any more.

150+ Things From My Childhood That Have Become Obsolete (Generation Jones version)

Like many other folks my age, I spend a lot of time remarking on how much the world has changed since I was a child back in the 60s/70s. Last night (just as I was trying to turn my mind off, naturally) I started making a mental list, which I've decided to capture here. 

Note that I've limited my list to things that have actually become obsolescent - replaced by faster/better/more efficient alternatives. If I let myself include things that change over time due merely to changing tastes -  fashion, furniture/home decor, retail stores, food, toys/games, entertainment - this list could go on forever! 

(Items in italics are things that aren't quite gone, but are well on their way to obsolescence.) 

TECHNOLOGY

1. Landline rotary telephones
2. Pay telephones
3. Answering machines, answering services
4. Pagers, beepers, Blackberries
5. Personal digital assists (ex: Palm Pilot)
6. Telephone-based services for time and weather
7. Telephone-based movie listings
8. Telephone books, telephone operators
9. Film cameras, film cartridges, flashbulbs, negatives, disposable cameras
10. Film developing kiosks in parking lots
11. Slides, slide projectors, slide carousels, portable screens
12. Videocams, camcorders
13. CRT TVs
14. TV antennas, TV guides, TV signoff patterns
15. VHS tapes, Betamax tapes, Laserdiscs
16. Record players, vinyl records, record inserts
17. Portable music players (transistor radios, walkmen, iPods)
18. Cassette tapes, 8-track tapes
19. Tape recorders (reel to reel, cassette), cassette tapes
20. CB radios
21. Telex machines, fax machines
22. Computer punch cards, floppy disks, 3.5" hard disks, zip drives
23. CDs, CD storage boxes & totes
24. Dot matrix printers
25. Catalog-based internet search engines
26. Desktop computers
27. Wired internet, charging cords, wired earphones
28. DVDs, DVD players
29. Calculators

CIGARETTES

1. Cigarette vending machines
2. Restaurant ashtrays
3. Cigarette lighters in cars
4. Matchbooks
5. Metal cigarette lighters, lighter fluid, flints

SHOPPING & BANKING

1. Manual cash registers
2. Credit card imprint machines
3. Pneumatic tubes at banks
4. Bank passport books
5. Bank Christmas savings accounts
6. Green stamps
7. Paper airplane tickets & boarding passes
8. Paper theater/event tickets
9. Print newspapers & magazines, newspaper vending boxes
10. Shopping malls
11. Walk-in banks, bank tellers, checkbooks
12. Traveller's checks
13. Price stickers
14. Print catalogs
15. Paper receipts
16. Mailed billing statements
17. Cash

JOBS/PROFESSIONS

1. Paper delivery boys/girls
2. Shoe repair shops
3. Projectionists
4. Human tollbooth operators
5. Travel agents
6. Telemarketers
7. Non-AI customer service
8. Cashiers

CARS

1. Vent windows
2. Hand-cranked windows
3. Backward-facing seating in station wagons
4. Gas station attendants
5. Free gas station giveaways
6. Paper maps
7. AAA Triptiks & paper guide books
8. Cassette/CD players
9. Manual transmissions
10. Metal car keys
11. Coin operated parking meters

SCHOOL & OFFICE

1. Typewriters
2. Carbon paper, typewriter erasers, white-out
3. Rolodexes
4. Portable dictation devices
5. Shorthand
6. Working 9-5 in an offsite location
7. Paper stamps
8. Pencil boxes, paste, slide rules, report covers
9. Lunchboxes with matching thermoses
10. Mimeograph machines
11. Overhead projectors, transparency film
12. Filmstrip projectors
13. Encyclopedias
14. Card catalogs
15. Date stamps in library books
16. Jungle gyms
17. Hard copy textbooks
18. Paper reference books (dictionaries, thesauruses, atlases, etc.)
19. Cursive handwriting
20. Annual school photos
21. Dewey decimal system
22. Wall calendars

FOOD & RESTAURANTS

1. Tiki-themed restaurants
2. Cafeteria-style restaurants 
3. Glass straw holders
4. TV meals served on TV trays
5. Home milk delivery, milk boxes, milkmen
6. Ice trays
7. Amphetamine-based diet pills
8. Hot air popcorn poppers
9. Electric can openers
10. Wax sandwich bags
11. Manual egg beaters
12. Coffee percolators
13. Hardcopy restaurant menus
14. Tea kettles
15. Ice buckets
16. Restaurant buzzers

AROUND THE HOUSE

1. Fine china & silverware, china cabinets
2. Incandescent light bulbs
3. Photo albums
4. Family address books
5. Shag toilet covers
6. Colored/patterned toilet paper
7. Shower caps
8. Metal toothbrush holders affixed to the wall
9. Macrame everything
10. Crocheted granny square afghans
11. Curtains on hooks
12. Chenille bedspreads
13. Manual lawnmowers
14. Snow chains on tires
15. Pet turtles
16. Goldfish in bowls
17. Fabric wall calendars
18. Metal trash cans
19. Webbed lawn chairs
20. Bug zappers
21. Terrariums
22. Cap-style hair dryers
23. Mercury thermometers
24. Bomb shelters
25. Wristwatches, alarm clocks, analog clocks
26. Metal house keys
27. Home sewing machines
28. Analog thermostats
29. Lawn jockies
30. Bar soap

SOCIALIZING

1. Letters written in long-hand
2. Postcards
3. Air mail envelopes
4. Paper party invitations
5. Honeycomb crepe paper party decorations
6. Tupperware parties
7. Avon cosmetics
8. Date books
9. Autograph books
10. Printed programs for theater and sporting events
11. Fee-free social media

HOLIDAYS

1. Mass-produced Halloween costumes with plastic masks
2. Elaborate Christmas decorations in town squares and malls
3. Satin Christmas balls with sequins
4. Aluminum trees with color wheels
5. Christmas tree tinsel
6. Flocked windows
7. May Day celebrations
8. Columbus Day celebrations
9. Dark tanning oil for sunbathing
10. Home birthday parties for kids
11. Cone-shaped party hats & noisemakers
12. Easter Seals

OTHER

1. Hotel room keys (not keycards)
2. Polio vaccination scars
3. Cough medicine with codeine
4. Calisthenics
5. Elliptical towel machines in public bathrooms
6. Bubblegum machines
7. Public water fountains

Mallstalgia: 50+ Memories of '70s and '80s Shopping Malls

 

Waxing nostalgic over the fabulous shopping malls of the 1970s and 1980s has become such a phenomenon, they've invented a word for it: Mallstalgia. But it's not just the stores members of my generation miss - it's the whole mall experience. Back in the days before online shopping, malls were where you went to buy pretty much everything, from Craftman tools to novelty candles, Lacoste shirts to Chic jeans, fish to fashion. In the days before social media, they were where you hung out with your friends. In the days before video games, they were neon temples of stimulation and instant gratification. The following list attempts to capture specific moments of shopping mall magic. Did I miss anything? Add your own contributions in the comments section! 

1. Dining at the Kmart or Woolworth's lunch counter. Those menus with full color pictures of the 5-6 meals they served (grilled cheese was always one of them), those spinny stools, those old-timey glass straw dispensers! This was the bribe that my mom used to use to keep my sister and I in line on especially boring shopping trips. 
2. Perky Kinneys or Thom McAn salesmen measuring your feet with their mysterious metal gizmos before disappearing into the back room to prospect for boxes containing the desired styles and sizes. 
3. Being dazzled by elaborate mall Christmas displays! Back in the day, malls invested in massive light displays, vast garlands, towering decorated trees, giant snowflakes, and jolly Santas with cottonball beards seated in thrones. They were magical! 
4. Elaborate displays of kitschy holiday decorations at the Woolworths. Remember when Woolworths was the go-to destination for cheap plastic Halloween costumes and crepe paper Christmas fireplaces?
5. Flipping through record albums at the Sam Goody/Tower Records/Musicland, or checking out the listening stations in search of new music. 
6. Stopping in the Hickory Farms store for free samples of sausage-shaped mystery meats, cubes of cheese, and oyster crackers dipped in cheesy spreads.
7. Sneaking into the Spencers gift store to gape at the naughty products and drug paraphernalia. 
8. Stopping by the teeshirt shop to pick out an iron-on design from the hundreds of options on display. I can still smell the scent of those plastisol images being steam-transferred onto cotton teeshirts! 
9. Wasting hours (and quarters) at the mall arcade on pinball and early video arcade games (Pacman, Galaga). To this day I still associate the sound of pinball machines with the scent of under-deodorized teen boys, soda being slurped through straws, and the clink of money-changing machines dispensing quarters. 
10. Stopping by the Radio Shack to play with the RC cars and watch the miniature train display.
11. Catching a movie at the mall multiplex with friends, then stopping by the Orange Julius afterwards because it was the only store in the mall that stayed open late.
12. Flopping down in one of the big, open atrium areas to enjoy the elaborate water features, potted palms, enormous aquariums, or aviaries full of live birds. Some malls even had ice skating rinks. You have to admire that level of commitment that used to go into creating delightful shopping experiences.  
13. Groups of girls coming out of the Glamour Shots store, their hair teased into cotton candy confections, their faces streaked with layers of sparkly neon beauty products.
14. Circling the parking lot looking for a spot the week before Christmas, back in the days when malls were the place to do all your holiday shopping. 
15. Mixed-gender groups of teenagers promenading around the mall, laughing, shouting, shoving each other, and engaging in other traditional teen mating behaviours.
16. Automobile/wedding dress/art/piano shows on the weekends. Because apparently it was common practice to rent the atrium and promenade areas out to all manner of galleries, dealerships, and boutiques to show off their wares.
17. Live performances by local bands or choirs - especially around the holidays. Malls used "invite" a different high school musical arts program to provide free entertainment every weekend between Thanksgiving and Christmas. 
18. Live performances/appearances by celebrities - singers, Olympic athletes, local meteorologists, TV/soap opera stars. Surprisingly "primo" entertainers - singer Rick Springfield, gymnast Mary Lou Retten, Astronaut Buzz Aldrin - used to do the shopping mall circuit. 
19. Stashing your purchases in a locker so you didn't have to keep hauling them from store to store.  Such a great idea - I'm not sure when or why shopping malls gave this up. 
20.  Listening to live musicians tickling the ivories at the Steinway and Hammond Organ stores.
21. Gaping at the wall of televisions all tuned to the same station at The Wiz. (Mostly because there weren't a lot of TV stations to choose from back then.)
22. Admiring exotic department store window displays. Stores used to put so much more effort into their window displays back then - mannequins disporting themselves on beaches, dashing through rainclouds beneath umbrellas, swimming through coral reefs ....
23. That muted muzak soundtracks, imperceptible during the busiest hours but eerily, offputtingly loud if you were shopping during a lull. 
24. Throwing coins into the water fountain or feature - because all the malls had some sort of water feature, ranging from simple fountains to elaborate spouts and waterfalls, didn't they?  
25. Women getting their makeup done at the makeup counters of the high-end department stores: Bloomingdales, Macys, Nordstroms, Neiman Marcus.
26. Groups of moms happily gossiping as they pilot their baby carriages down the corridors, grateful for any opportunity to get out of the house (and maybe stock up on junk food at one of the snack shops - Karmelkorn, The Original Cookie Company). 
27. Groups of seniors in track suits (track suits being a thing back then) and sneakers getting their exercise on. 
28. Exotic aromas wafting from the Wicks 'n' Sticks candle store.
29. Windows full of prom dresses in search of insecure high school girls. 
30. Getting your ears pierced at the Claires as a half-score other teenage girls watched on to see if you were going to cry. 
31. Glittery neon signs shedding their warm electric glow over passing groups of shoppers.
32. Little kids chasing each other in the atrium areas, burning off steam as their exhausted parents collapsed on the fashionable but oddly uncomfortable bench seats.
33. Elaborately themed stores: Hickory Farm stores that looked like barns, Banana Republic stores that looked like jungle-themed mini-golf courses.
34. Sculpted concrete edifices: curving walls, soaring ramps, terraced planters, sculptural benches, trash cans so solid that you could detonate bombs in them. The 1970s had a bit of an obsession with concrete, and malls built at that time were prime opportunities for architectural experimentation. 
35. Authors sitting awkwardly behind tables at the B. Daltons or WaldenBooks, waiting to autograph copies of their books. Inside, you could peruse new releases, select one of the 200 magazines they stocked, or check out the "sale books" sections for deals on 10 yr-old best sellers.
    
36. High school students wrapping Christmas gifts in the atrium to raise funds for their schools or clubs. 
37. Watching  puppies and kittens playing in the windows at the mall pet stores - long before the term "puppy mills" was coined.
38. Stopping by Circus World or KayBee to check out the toys.
39. Planters full of suspiciously perky plants - still unsure how they were kept alive given that they got zero sun and were constantly fondled by curious toddlers. Maybe they were just switched out every couple of months? 
40. Stocking up on solids at Eddie Bauer, ESprit, or The United Colors of Bennetton. Solids were very big in the late 70s and 80s - still, in retrospect, three stores with the same aesthetic seems a little excessive. 
41. Stopping by Blockbusters, Hollywood Video, or West Coast Videos with your family or friends to rent movies for the weekend.
42. Stopping by the Farrells Ice Cream Parlor for a shot of faux 1920s nostalgia, bags of candy from their sprawling candy shop, and over-the-top ice cream concoctions.
43. Visiting the Sears "outdoor furniture" store to check out the many enticing jungle gyms on display.
44. Exploring the eclectic wares of novelty retailers: Discovery Channel Store, Disney Store, Natural Wonders, World Bazaar.  Before internet, these stores are where you went if you wanted to buy something a little unique. 
45. Stopping into Brookstones or Sharper Image to take turns sitting in the massage chairs and admiring the scores of electronic gadgets we all secretly wished we'd thought of inventing first.  
46. Doing lunch (or early dinner) with the family at one of those great mall cafeterias: Morrisons, Harvest House, Hot Shoppes. Formica tables, a selection of fried entrees, entire elaborate displays of jello desserts - what wasn't to love? 
47. Clothing stores with spacious changing rooms and three-way mirrors for seeing how you looked from every possible angle. Okay, so maybe I don't miss seeing myself from every possible angle.
48. Families in matching outfits leaving the Olan Mills store or Sears photo studio. Formal photo studio portraits were practically required during the 70s and 80s. 
49. Scoping out the latest fashions at the trendiest boutiques: Limited, Merry-Go-Round, The Gap. 
50. Buying engraved bracelets or necklaces at Things Remembered. In my day, this was the go-to gift for presenting to your boyfriend/girlfriend du jour - thoughtful and jewelry-adjacent, but also relatively cheap.
51. Parents dragging their bored kids through Sears, Montgomery Wards, or Service Merchandise - those bastions of middle class consumerism. 
52. Stuffing yourself into a photo booth for candids with your inamorata or friend group - because Gen X didn't actually invent selfies.  
53. The rattle of gates and grills being pulled down and fastened as stores closed for the night.

50+ THEME Road Trip Inspirations

Struggling to plan a vacation for you or your family?  Maybe the problem is that you're so focused on where you should go, you're neglecting to consider what you really want to do. Try thinking about it this way: if you could spend your precious free time doing anything you want, what would you be doing? Now try designing a vacation around that. Here are some ideas to kickstart your brainstorming. 

1. HISTORY & POLITICS ROAD TRIPS. Is history one of your passions? Design a vacation around learning more about our nation's rich past.
1. National Register of Historic Places road trip. Check out the NRHP database (available online) and learn more about the US's historic treasures, including (but not limited to): 
1. Historic landmarks
2. Historic neighborhoods/districts
3. Notable homesites
4. Monuments & memorials
2. Celebrating US History road trip. Pick an era of US history and learn more about it! Some ideas to get you started:  
1. Founding Fathers/American Revolution road trip. 
1. Revolutionary battlefields, forts, and fortifications
2. Famous buildings & residences: Courthouses, homes of Founding Fathers
3. Notable Revolutionary cities: Williamsburg, Boston, Philadelphia  
2. Civil war road trip
1. Civil War battlefield sites, forts, and fortifications
2. Civil War museums
3. Plantations
4. Lincoln-related destinations
3. Westward expansion road trip
1. Restored Wild West towns, mines, and ghost towns
2. Dude ranches, rodeos, and cowboy experiences
3. Native American destinations and experiences
4. Forts & fortifications 
4. WW1/WW2 road trip
1. Museums
2. Monuments & cemeteries
3. New Deal sites: CCC infrastructure projects, murals & artwork
5. Black history road trip
1. Museums
2. Monuments & memorials
3. Civil Rights/abolitionist sites
4. Homesteads of notable black Americans
5. HBCUs
6. Cold War road trip
1. Missile silos
2. Bunkers/bomb shelters
7. Federally-designed historical sites
1. National historic sites: Military parks, battlefield parks, battlefield sites
2. National monuments & memorials
3. National historical parks/sites
3. Military History road trip
1. Battlefield sites & cemeteries
2. Military museums
3. Air shows
4. Military academies
2. NATURAL WONDERS ROAD TRIPS. Are you a lover of all things natural? I always say that getting out in nature is the best way to reboot one's soul to its initial factory settings. Here are some ideas for indulging your love of beauty, recreation, and restoration.
1. National Parks road trip. One of the greatest privileges of living in the US are our fabulous national parks, but don't overlook other federally-designated natural areas, including:
1. National monuments
2. National preserves
3. National lakeshores/seashores
4. National rivers/wild and scenic riverways
5. National scenic trails/parkways
2. State Parks road trip. State parks can be unappreciated treasures! 
3. Natural Wonders road trip. The US is blessed with a plethora of natural wonders. Craft a road trip designed to explore natural wonders in general, or focus on a specific feature: waterfalls, arches, slot canyons, impact craters, volcanic features, big trees
4. Camping Experience road trip. Spend a weekend tent camping, cabin camping, or glamping. National and state parks often offer cabin/bungalow experiences. 
5. Beautiful Biomes road trip. Experience one of Earth's unique ecosystems!
1. Biomes: Tundra/arctic, taiga/evergreen forests (commonly found on mountaintops), temperate deciduous forests (trees with leaves that drop), grasslands, rainforests (tropical, temperate), deserts, freshwater, marine
2. Ecosystems: Wetlands, cypress swamps, salt marshes, beaches, temperate rainforests, caves, coral reefs, hot springs, bioluminescent bays, etc.
3. CULTURAL ROAD TRIPS. One of the benefits of travel is the opportunity to expand one's appreciation for our nation's rich social, cultural, and intellectual diversity. Which of these appeals to you? Here are some ideas to get you started. 
1. America's Cultural Diversity road trip.  Pick one of the many, many immigrant populations that contribute out our country's diversity and craft a road trip designed to learn more about them. Possible destinations include:  
1. Ethnic neighborhoods/towns
2. Cultural street/arts festivals
3. Ethnic restaurants
4. Embassies/museums
2. Museum Experience road trip. Create a road trip that combines stops at federal, state, university, and local museums. Add whimsy by focusing on museums dedicated to unusual topics: medical sciences, agricultural products, cryptography, entertainment, etc.
3. Institutes of Higher Learning road trip. Many US campuses are strikingly lovely, populated by ornate, historically important buildings or located in gorgeous locations. Check them out!
4. Spiritual Journeys road trip. Explore the US's religious roots. 
1. Historic churches/missions
2. Spiritual sites
5. Fabulous Fairs & Festivals road trip. In a country this big, there are multiple festivals/fairs occurring every week of the year. Some ideas: 
1. State fairs/agricultural fairs
2. Street fairs: Food festivals, cultural festivals
3. Holiday/seasonal festivals
4. Arts festivals/fairs: Music festivals, crafts festivals, theater festivals
5. Novelty festivals: Mummer's parades, Renaissance festivals
6. Underground City Experiences road trips. All big cities have an "underground" life -  music venues, pop-up restaurants, speakeasies, and other experiences - known only to the hippest of locals ... or anyone dedicated enough to search social media for clues. 
4. ARTS ROAD TRIPS. If you're the type that appreciate arts & entertainment, there are plenty of ways that travel can expand your horizons. 
1. Art Experience road trip
1. Art museums/galleries
2. Artist homesteads
3. Public art installations
2. Architecture Exploration road trip
1. Specific architectural styles/genres: Victorian, Spanish Colonial, Art Deco, Mid-Century Modern
2. Civil engineering projects: Bridges, skyscrapers, dams
3. Famous neighborhoods/architects
4. Novelty destinations: Castles, vernaculars
3. Entertainment (TV/Movie/Theater) road trip
1. Live performances: TV studios, theaters
2. Festivals: Film festivals, theater festivals
3. Movie/TV filming locations
4. Famous theaters: Historic theaters, nostalgic theaters
4. Music Lovers road trip
1. Specific musical genre road trip: Rock, pop, country, jazz, R&B, blues, classical, opera, Broadway, indie 
1. Museums
2. Music festivals
3. Notable music cities/venues
4. Recording studios
5. Live performances
5. Bookworm road trip
1. Novel destinations: Author homesites, locations featured in famous novels
2. Notable libraries & atheneums
3. Book conferences, fairs & festivals: Book festivals, author/genre-specific events
4. Book themed bars/hotels
5. Notable bookstores
6. Crafting road trip: craft conventions & events
5. SCIENCE ROAD TRIPS. If STEM is your groove, why not craft a vacation that incorporates a little lifelong learning along the way? 
1. Natural History road trips
1. Natural History museums
2. All About Animals road trips
1. Zoos/wild animal parks
2. Wild animal safaris/boat tours
3. Aquariums
4. Farms
5. Live animal encounters: Swim with dolphins/manatees, feed giraffes
6. Animal research facilities and sanctuaries
3. Botanical road trips
1. Botanical gardens
2. Flower shows
2. Space Exploration road trip
1. Launch facilities
2. NASA facilities
3. Planetariums & observatories
4. Dark Sky parks 
3. Understanding our Earth Geology/Paleontology road trip
1. Rockhounding/panning for gold
2. Digging for fossils
3. Notable geologic features: Fault lines, cave systems, volcanic features, impact craters
6. EXPERIENCE ROAD TRIPS. As Gen X is fond of reminding the rest of us, YOLO - you only live once! Travel presents a great opportunity to seek out novel sensations and experiences. 
1. Explore Your Passions road trip. Think about your hobbies - what you do for fun, or would like to do if you had the time! Now, identify opportunities to explore those hobbies on the road. Potential opportunities are as various as personal hobbies, but might include museums, historic venues, conferences/conventions, classes, or experiences. Following are some examples: 
1. Model trains: Model train museums/displays
2. Creative writing/blogging: Writing festivals/workshops, writers retreats
3. Video games: Gaming conventions, gaming competitions, gaming museums/arcades
4. Cooking: Cooking schools/classes, farmers markets
5. Experience/fantasy camps: Rock n' roll camps, cowboy camps
6. Crafting: Craft shows/conferences, workshops, art colonies
7. Genealogy: Genealogy libraries, halls of records, cemeteries
2. Sports Fan road trips
1. Major/minor league teams & facilities: Stadiums/arenas, racetracks
2. University teams & facilities
3. Historic/notable facilities
4. Notable competitions/tournaments
5. Sports museums/Halls of fame
3. Watersports road trips
1. Boating/sailing
2. White water rafting/tubing
3. Ocean/river/lake cruises
4. Swimming/snorkling
4. Sports & Recreation road trips
1. Hiking/climbing/running/biking: Notable events, notable tracks/trails
2. Hunting/fishing
5. Exotic Travels road trip
1. Train journeys: Scenic railroads, cog railroads
2. Steamboat/ferry journeys
3. Novelty automobile/motorcycle journeys
4. Hot air balloon journeys
6. Make Them Laugh road trip
1. Comedy clubs
2. Comic theater performances 
7. Bucket list road trip. Because it's never too soon to start crossing items off your bucket list!
8. National Parties & Parades road trip
1. Famous/notable holiday celebrations
2. Famous parades
3. Mardi Gras
9. Lifelong Learning road trips
1. Tours led by organizations/universities
2. Discovery camps/experiences
3. University sessions/courses
4. Active archeology sites
10. Acts of Service road trips
1. Build houses
2. Participate in ecological restoration projects
3. Volunteer in areas recovering from natural disasters
11. Novelty B&B road trip. Because a vacation doesn't have to be about what you do, but where you stay. Memorable overnight options include: treehouses, lighthouses, houseboats, train cars, RVs, historic lodges, watchtowers, museums, battleships and more
12. Mystery trip. Open a map, close your eyes, tap a spot on the map, and go explore!
7. SHOPPING ROAD TRIPS. For those who's favorite recreation is hunting -hunting for bargains, that is! - why not build a vacation around shopping? 
1. Antiquing road trips
1. Antique malls
2. Antique districts
3. Auction houses
2. Factory Tour road trips
3. Bargain shopping road trips
1. Flea markets & yard sales
2. Outlet malls & potteries
3. Auction houses
4. Abandoned luggage sales
8. SEASONAL ROAD TRIPS. Every season has it's special pleasures; maybe you just need a chance to get away from home in order to celebrate those pleasures without distraction? 
1. Spring road trips
1. Spring sports & recreation: Golf, baseball
2. Summer road trips
1. Summer sports & recreation: Water sports, soccer
2. Fruit picking
3. Outdoor concerts/events
3. Autumn road trips
1. Autumn sports & recreation: Football
2. Leaf peeping road trip
3. Pumpkin patches, corn mazes & hay rides
4. Apple picking
4. Winter road trips
1. Winter sports & recreation: Hockey, basketball, skiing
2. Christmas-themed destinations
9. HEALTH/WELLNESS ROAD TRIPS. For those whose idea of relaxation is pampering, why better choice for vacation than a destination that prioritizes creature comforts? 
1. Resort road trips
1. Family resorts
2. Adult resorts: Casinos 
2. Wellness road trips
1. Spas
2. Retreats
10. FOOD ROAD TRIPS. Is food one of your favorite things? Then maybe it's time to make food a priority when planning your next getaway. 
1. Diners, Dives & Drive-In road trips
1. Food street festivals
2. Diners, dives, and drive-ins
1. Destination Restaurant road trips
1. Historic restaurants
2. Famous chefs
3. Regional flavors
2. Favorite Flavors road trips 
1. Farms/farmers markets
2. Favorite cuisines. What's your favorite flavor - BBQ? chili? chicken fried steak? pizza? Turn your passion into a road trip to discover new variations
3. Boozy road trips
1. Winery/brewery/distillery tours
2. Wine/beer/booze street festivals
3. Wine/beer/bourbon trails
11. NOSTALGIA/KITSCH ROAD TRIPS. Sometimes, wanting to get away from it all really means wanting to get away from it all. Retreat from reality by choosing a road trip that will transport you to a happier time or more glamourous places. 
1. Childhood Memories road trips. Give yourself permission to relive your happy childhood vacation memories!
1. Revisit favorite childhood destinations
2. Relive favorite childhood memories
3. Give yourself permission to play
2. Dark Side road trips. Indulge your inner goth with these macabre vacation inspirations: 
1. Haunted houses/hotels or ghost tours
2. Macabre museums/historical sites: Cemeteries, medical museums
3. Murder mystery events
3. Kitschy road trip. Get your kicks on Route 66 ... or seek out the spirit of Route 66 that permeates every corner of this marvelous, kitschy country of ours!
1. Novelty museums: Museums dedicated to specific products/events; cryptozoological museums
2. Roadside attractions
3. Novelty festivals/fairs

150 Signs That You May Be a Baby Boomer ....

 

I arrived right at the end of the Baby Boom generation, but my parents lived the dream.  Take a walk with me through 150 "best generation" memories ... and add your own if you feel so inclined!

1.                You and your friends rode EVERYWHERE on your bikes, which you “pimped out” for special occasions with playing cards tucked into the spokes.

2.                You paid for groceries with checks

3.                You remember the smell of mimeographed worksheets

4.                Your English class was color-coded SRI cards from a box

5.                You spent hours in front of MTV waiting for your favorite videos to show

6.                You remember when Luke and Laura got married

7.                You drank Cool-aid out of character glasses from the local gas stations, cooled by ice cubes from a metal tray

8.                You remember the sweet, sweet agony of standing in front of 20 different jello parfaits at the Hot Shoppes, knowing you could only pick one

9.                Your parents let you play outside.  All day. Unattended

10.            You anxiously awaited the release of the next Nancy Drew or Hardy Boys book

11.            If your wanted pizza, you had to go out for it

12.            Your phone had a rotary dial and only one person could use it at a time. (Bonus points if you remember yelling at everyone to get off the phone so you could connect to the internet.)

13.            You had to call out-of-state relatives after 8pm because that’s when long distance rates went down

14.            You caught fireflies in a jar and used them to light your room at night

15.            You rode in the back of pickup trucks and no one thought that was questionable

16.            You had a record collection

17.            You weren’t sure if Princess Leia would end up with Han or Luke

18.            If you liked a movie, you had to hope they would re-release it the next year

19.            You saved the TV Guide from the Sunday paper so you knew what TV programs were on

20.            You called a phone # if you wanted to know the time or weather

21.            You remember the agony of busy signals

22.            You ate casseroles made out of canned soup and vegetables

23.            You sewed “peace sign” and “smiley face” patches on your bell-bottoms

24.            You tied your ponytails with pieces of thick, colored yarn

25.            Your favorite day in PE was “parachute day”

26.            You sang Beatles songs in chorus

27.            You rode a Big Wheel

28.            You remember gym class mostly as a series of humiliations: dodgeball, chin-ups, rope climbing, polyester gym clothes that reeked of BO no matter how many times they were laundered, and public showers

29.            TV dinners were the coolest thing ever – even if the fruit compost was always at least partially frozen despite 2hrs in the oven at 350 degrees.

30.            You remember the Hawaii episode of Brady Bunch (yes, the one where Peter finds the cursed Tiki)

31.            You identified with one of the characters in Breakfast Club

32.            You remember watching filmstrips in elementary school

33.            You had an M.I.A. bracelet

34.            You remember the magical feeling of walking through a shopping mall draped with decorations at Christmas

35.            You wore a plastic mask and stiff, scratchy packaged costume for Halloween. (Bonus points if you remember collecting money for UNICEF at the same time.)

36.            You had no idea how many of the songs you loved were actually about drugs

37.            You watched variety shows on TV (Carol Burnett, Sonny & Cher, The Captain & Teneil)

38.            You learned to read from Golden Books

39.            You ordered something from K’Tel

40.            You played ALL the politically incorrect games – Smear the Queer, Red Rover, dodgeball - without realizing they were so very wrong

41.            You decorated your room with posters from Teen Beat or Woolworths

42.            You wore suntan lotion designed to make you MORE tan, not less

43.            On special occasions, your family went out to dinner at Tiki-tastic faux Polynesian restaurants at the local strip mall

44.            Your worksheets came from a “ditto machine”

45.            You still think of Sprite as the “Uncola”

46.            Your bologna had a first and second name. (And sometimes your mom served it fried)

47.            Your friends collected hot wheels, comics, or _____

48.            You didn’t always understand everything in MAD Magazine, but you knew it was inappropriate

49.            Your TV required time to “warm up” and came with an antennae that had to be minutely adjusted to ensure reception. (Bonus if you remember using tinfoil to strengthen the signal)

50.            You popped popcorn on the stove, or in a popcorn popper

51.            Your bought your pet from the Woolworths

52.            You remember the excitement of a Kmart Blue Light Special

53.            The guy at the shoe store measured your foot using this incredibly complex metal tool that was always cold – and yet somehow the shoes never quite fit

54.            Birthday parties were held at houses, not restaurants, bowling allies or indoor playgrounds. You wore party hats, played some games, ate cake, watched the birthday boy/girl open presents, and then waited for your parents to pick you back up. (Bonus points if you remember your mom insisting that you dress up.)

55.            Playground equipment was made out of concrete and metal, and no one had a problem with that

56.            College actually WAS like Animal House

57.            You sat next to the radio with your hand poised over the “record” button of your tape recorder, hoping to catch your favorite song

58.            You made mix tapes and gave them to your friends

59.            You owned a bottle of Aquanet

60.            Your Mom bought her makeup from the Avon Lady

61.            They played “Celebrate” by Sly & the Family Stone at least once at your prom

62.            You had to go to the TV set to turn the channel

63.            You learned your grammar, history and multiplication tables from Schoolhouse Rock

64.            You learned how to type on a manual typewriter

65.            On road trips, you stopped at the Stuckeys or Howard Johnsons for meals

66.            You knew your way around a yoyo

67.            You got pinched for not wearing green on St. Patrick’s Day

68.            You started monitoring the TV Guide weeks in advance of each holiday so you wouldn’t miss the holiday specials – especially Charlie Brown & The Grinch Who Stole Christmas

69.            Your aspirin tasted like oranges

70.            You owned a beeper or Palm Pilot

71.            Your diet plan included Tab, Slimfast and/or Jazzercize

72.            The furniture in your room included a mushroom lamp, _________, and/or shag carpeting

73.            You waited all week wondering what was going to be on the Wonderful World of Disney TV hour next Sunday

74.            Your TV was color but many of the shows you watched (I Love Lucy, The Dick Van Dyke Show, etc.) were in black and white

75.            You remember when your local arcade introduced the first video game

76.            Your school supplies included books wrapped in repurposed brown shopping bags, a pencil box, paste, and a metal lunchbox with glass-lined thermos that always broke

77.            You know all the words to at least one song from the album “Free to Be You and Me”

78.            Your mom owned at least one wig

79.            You kept the prizes from cereal boxes, because they were actually cool

80.            You still remember how amazed you were when you heard microwaves could bake a potato in 10mins

81.            The women in your life used clear nail polish to stop runs in your pantyhose (Bonus if you remember that the pantyhose came in an egg-shaped container)

82.            Your car had ashtrays, no A/C, and handles for rolling down the windows

83.            Your mom set your hair in rollers as a kid; later, you got it regularly permed at the local salon

84.            You remember the summer everyone in your neighborhood installed a bug zapper

85.            At Christmas, the neighborhood dads ran those strings of big lightbulbs all the way up to the top of the roof

86.            If you want on vacation with your family, it was usually to your grandparents’ house

87.            You owned a pet rock

88.            Your mom did all the cooking; your dad did all the home maintenance & outdoor chores

89.            Ouija boards, Doodle Art posters, and prank phone calls were a staple of slumber parties

90.            On snow days, they put chains on the wheels of the school buses

91.            You partied with Bartle and James

92.            You remember playing Pong

93.            Your elementary school celebrated May Day

94.            You rocked either shoulder pads or a wide tie

95.            Airlines gave you a free mini-suitcase of toys if you were a kid (and the kit always included a pin with wings)

96.            Your eggs and milk were left in an insulated box on the front porch by the milkman

97.            Your idea of a playlist was a stack of 45s on the record player

98.            You remember seeing movies at the drive-in

99.            You remember cigarette machines

100.        Every Christmas you thumbed through the Sears Wishbook to pick out the toys you wanted for Christmas

101.        You glued S&H stamps into booklets which you then redeemed for such glamourous prizes as toasters, juicers, and towels.

102.        You watched Evel Knievel perform trick motorcycle jumps

103.        You remember  these words: “The thrill of victory …. The agony of defeat”

104.        You know what Joe Namath looks like in panty hose

105.        You used an adding machine to figure out your taxes

106.        You watched Howdy Doody, Romper Room, Mr. Rogers’ Neighborhood, Captain Kangaroo, or The Mickey Mouse Club without irony.

107.        Your think of NASA every time you see a bottle of Tang orange drink

108.        You receiving AOL CDs in the mail every week

109.        You remember people smoking in movie theaters, restaurants, and the grocery store

110.        You remember when Salisbury steak, chicken livers, and eggplant parmesan were cafeteria staples

111.        You remember when TV channels used to sign off at the end of the night. (Bonus points if you remember the anguish of waking up early on a weekend morning, only to discover the TV channels weren’t yet back on.)

112.        Woolworths stocked everything you could imagine ever needing – from clothes to farming supplies to pets

113.        You remember TV commercials and billboards advertising smoking

114.        Your mom served you strange combinations of fruits, vegetables, marshmallows and nuts suspended in layers of colored jello

115.        You looked up telephone numbers in the phone book

116.        Party invitations came in the form of cards that arrived in the mail

117.        Your mom brought out the “good china” for special occasions, like dinner parties or holidays

118.        You wrote and mailed formal thank-you notes to people who gave you gifts

119.        You have a polio vaccine scar on your arm

120.        You used a pencil to rewind your cassette tapes

121.        You died of dysentery on the Oregon Trail. Over and over again.

122.        You remember Asking Jeeves or following technical advice from a talking paper clip

123.        The store placed your credit card on a machine that physically embossed the information onto a thin sheet of copy paper

124.        Your teacher used a chalkboard

125.        You suffered serious physical harm playing on the playground equipment at the local park – shooting off the side of a spinning merry-go-round due to centrifugal force, face-planting onto a wooden see-saw, or tumbling off the top of towering metal climbing bars.

126.        You remember when hashtags were used for either numbers or playing tic-tac-toe

127.        You can still say “twoallbeefpattiesspecialsaucelettucecheesepicklesoniononasesameseedbun” really, really fast

128.        Doctors, dentists and banks ensured a regular supply of lollipops. (Bonus points if you remember lollipops with teardrop-shaped stems and/or long rows of lollipops attached by their cellophane sleeves)

129.        Your high school had smoking halls; perhaps even a smoking courtyard

130.        Your camera came with flashcubes. (Bonus if you also dropped off your film at one of those parking-lot film stands.)

131.        You learned cooking from Julia Childs or the Galloping Goumet

132.        After decorating the Christmas tree, you blanketed the whole thing in an impenetrable layer of silver icicles.

133.        Your bathroom rocked a shag toilet lid cover and patterned TP

134.        You remember the burn of mercurochrome as your mom slathered it onto your open wounds

135.        You begged your mom for a quarter to ride the mechanical horses/cars/rocket ships outside the local grocery store or gas station

136.        You got pretty good at drawing Winky

137.        You succumbed to the lure of Columbia House’s offer of 13 records or cassette tapes for $1

138.        You slathered suntan lotion on your skin so you could become MORE tan.(Bonus points if you also lightened your hair using lemon juice.)

139.        You watched Soul Train and American Bandstand to learn how to dance

140.        Your list of childhood pets includes an ant farm and/or sea monkeys

141.        You remember when curbs overflowed with metal pop-top rings and cigarette butts discarded by passing drivers

142.        You entrusted your deepest secrets to a diary with a cheap metal key

143.        Your friends wrote actual messages in your yearbook, not just signatures

144.        You competed with your friends over who could create the longest gum wrapper chain (Bonus points if you also used a loom to make potholders)

145.        You stocked up on canned food in the basement in case Cuba & her Russian allies decided to launch a missile attack on the U.S.

146.        You remember why the Native American standing next to the Grand Canyon was crying

147.        You remember making shrinky-dinks, creepy crawlers and dip-flowers

148.        You stored your school supplies in a pencil box

149.        You still remember the smell of Colorforms

150.     Your parents owned engraved silver cigarette lighters which they refilled with lighter fluid 

151.        No one ever shopped on Sunday because all the stores were closed

152.     Your family had their picture taken at Olan Mills