Sepia Saturday: Who's Behind Those Foster Grants?

Sepia Saturday challenges bloggers to share family history through old photographs.

This week’s Sepia Saturday prompt shows a crowd around a man with a movie camera. As a child, I envied friends whose parents took movies of their vacations. My parents never owned a movie camera. Maybe the 8 mm was too much extravagance for a family whose summer trips consisted of tours of battlefields and natural attractions in our home state, Virginia. But like some of the on-lookers in the prompt photo, my mother sported some large white framed sunglasses, a distinct fashion trend in the summer of 1965 when we toured the Shenandoah Valley.

Mary E. Slade August 1965
Mt. Vernon Motel Charlottesville, Virginia

My mother and sister Mary Jollette August 1965
Mt. Vernon Motel Charlottesville, Virginia
I am ALMOST in the picture along with my camera case.

Usually there are large gaps of time between snapshots of my childhood, but in August 1965, Daddy was the consummate shutterbug capturing the stops along our vacation across Virginia. The exact chronology of the stops and hotel stays are long forgotten, but the photos prove we had a grand ol’ time at the Mount Vernon Motel in Charlottesville. No doubt a trip to Charlottesville included a ride through the campus of Daddy’s alma mater, THE University of Virginia, aka “Mr. Jefferson’s University.” Highlights always included the Rotunda, the Lawn, the stadium, and, of course, Copeley Hill where my parents lived while he was in school along with other married students who became their life-long friends.

Not far from Charlottesville is the Skyline Drive. That summer, we stopped at Big Meadows Wayside, a lodge, restaurant, and visitor center. We probably bought some lunch and shopped for souvenirs. Bear sightings, especially around the campgrounds, are common on the Drive, so a stuffed bear for my sister was an appropriate purchase.

Skyline Drive Aug 1965
Me, Momma holding her sunglasses,
Mary Jollette holding her little black bear

Even though the ride along Skyline Drive offers the same vista view for miles and miles and miles, we always stopped at various overlooks. I would bet my mother’s favorite was Naked Creek Overlook where she might gaze down over the land that once belonged to our ancestor Fielding Jollett and others we were yet to learn about.

At the opposite end of the Shenandoah Valley is Natural Bridge near Lexington in Rockbridge County. Admittedly the appeal of this National Historic Landmark was lost on me in 1965, maybe because the summer heat was trapped in the walkway leading to the big hunk of stone. I was not sure why we bothered. Did I even notice where George Washington had carved his initials “G. W.” when he surveyed the surrounding site in 1750?

Natural Bridge Aug 1965
I'm sure Momma's sunglasses are in her left hand
along with a sweater and purse.

While I was not impressed, my mother’s family always held a soft spot for Natural Bridge. According to family lore, the Marquis de Lafayette was given the land where Natural Bridge stands in gratitude for his service during the Revolutionary War. Then supposedly he passed it on to some woman in our family who then gave it or sold it to Thomas Jefferson. What? No history of Natural Bridge that I have ever read mentions Lafayette, let alone a member of my family. Historians confirm that Thomas Jefferson purchased Natural Bridge from King George III for 20 shillings in 1774 – BEFORE the Revolution. However, our family does have a connection to Rockbridge County: my maternal grandfather’s paternal grandmother was from Rockbridge County. Maybe she lived near Natural Bridge, close enough to justify such a wild tale.

On reflection, I have come to appreciate how much of our summer was not just a time to rejuvenate but also an opportunity for my parents to pass along family stories. So what if we had no movie camera!

Grab your Foster Grants, your Ray-Bans, your Oakleys, or no-name shades because it’s Lights! Camera! Action! all day at Sepia Saturday.

© 2016, Wendy Mathias.  All rights reserved.