Grandpa stories

[DECK SWABBER 58]

JB said recently that their is too much "doom and gloom" on
Dockside Chat. I agree.

How about some grandpa/dad nostalgia stories, Malboro180
just posted a great one.

Here's another.

When I was 12 I went on a fishing trip with grandpa and
grandma to Lake Ellen near Crystal Falls Michigan north of
Iron Mountain. (UP)

Grandpa was a "hard core" fisherman and didn't take too
kindly to "tomfoolerly" in the boat. That said, he did not
appreciate the fact that my older cousin could not help
him land the "big" fish because he was to busy taking
movies of grandpa fishing. We soon were deposited
back on shore and grandpa went back out fishing by
himself.


Ok, your turn.....

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Grandpa stories

Not really a story, and I hope it's not considered off subject, it's more in remembrance of him...I'm no singer{as you'll find out on the vid } but I do play a little guitar{full size lol} and I mess around with video/audio editing, and a composing program that keeps me out of trouble...hope you enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxtOa3tj3YQ

 

[roncoop75]

Re: Grandpa stories

Odd bit of a grandpa story that involves my father.

All the years I was growing up my parents and grandparents would go to a lake in MN for a week or two and fish. I was out in a boat before I was a year old. They have pictures of me taking a bath in the cabin sink with a bowl on my head. My parents always rented cabins and brought their own motors. My grandparents had a motor home and also brought their own motors. So, very fond memories of the place. Going there now... well it just feels like home.

Anyway, my grandpa passed away in '87 IIRC. In '82 he bought a new Johnson 9.9hp outboard. When my grandmother passed away in '90 my parents got the Johnson. They're in their 70's now, they aren't going to use it, ever. It sits in their basement, waiting for me to bring it back to life. He's kind of a packrat and won't let me touch it. Not that I really NEED it though so no big loss and that's also probably the reason he won't give it up.

So I just bought this boat (one in my sig) and when my mom saw it she thought it would make a perfect boat to visit MN in. I said next year as I need to get the bugs worked out yet. I also mentioned that all it needs is a good kicker to troll for walleye and then looked straight at my dad. He knew what I was referring to, he just smiled and laughed.

It's kind of a running joke that comes up now and again but it reminds me of my grandpa, the motor home and all those summer vacations as a kid every time it's brought up.

 

[Thad]

Re: Grandpa stories

My grandparents had a lake house in Wisconsin. I would spend my summers there growing up. A lot of great memories with my grandmother, not so many with grandpa (I was young when he passed-I do remember the last summer he was at the lake). Lots of memories with my uncle and my parents, but one sticks out that I don't know if it is more the story being told all the time or if I really remember it, is from his last summer at the house.

Everyone was sitting at the table and my uncle asked grandpa to pass the mustard, well, being later in the day, and grandpa being grandpa, picked up the jar of mustard and "passed" it to my uncle. Mustard everywhere and on everyone at that end of the table.

To this day, my uncle does not eat mustard, come to think of it...neither do I.

 

[cookbayou]

Re: Grandpa stories

I was 12 when grandad gave me his old johnboat that hadnt seen the water in years. Well I found an old Sears aircooled 3hp in my dads shop that had been collecting cobbwebbs for sometime. So I ask Grandad to see if he could get it going cause he was a retire crane operator/diesel mechanic (in his day you not only did you operate your equipment but you worked on it to). Well he tore into it and about a week later I got by to check on progress. He got it to fire off but as soon as it he did the piston came through the block. I had to bite the bullet and go buy a motor now so I took all that I made that summer workn for dad at $3 an hour and saved up enough to get a 1967 5hp johnson. This is were the fun began. That jonboat leaked at every rivet it seemed and I was spending more time bailing out the boat than fishing. But man i had some good adventures in that thing. Fastforward 4 years and I was ready to upgrade boats. Been working every Holiday and every summer vacation stackin my pennies. I had $3000 saved up and was going to get my dads old 13ft boston whaler. It needed some work he had built up the transome and slapped a 65Spirt on back and now the transome was cracking. Dad sold the 65 Spirt and the whaler was sittin in the yard waitn on me. Well only being 16 and not knowing a thing about fiberglass me and grandad hauled it to a guy to get a price on fixing it. He said $1000 I had $3000 and $2600 was going to a new 25hp Evinrude with electric start. Not having enough money was devistating. But the guy had a 14ft Walker in the yard he just built. I saw it and it was perfect for floundering and runnin the bayous. Guy said he used it twice and would let it go for $800. I was still short on money so we left. Couple days later Grandad calls up and says he wants to buy me the boat. So a couple seconds later I was at his house.(it was about a 15min drive) with the trailer dad had got for his whaler. Next thing I know I got a boat in the yard now I had to get the motor. Where I was getting it was 7 hours away. So me and my cousins loaded up in my moms honda accord and took off on a road trip.Mind you the oldest is 17 im 16 and the youngest was 12 at the time. This is where i learned how to bark the tires on a 5 speed. We get up there by Atlanta find the place paid em cash money. They looked at the car and the crate the motor was in and said where you gonna put this. I said lets uncrate it and see if its any smaller than the box. It was but it didnt quite fit in the truck so we had to put the back seat down and my youngest cousin had to ride back sittin on the motor. Got it over to grandads and we mounted it on the transome. 13 years later I still use the boat on a regular basis and aint had a major problem yet. Ill never get rid of it neither cause grandad got me that boat.

 

[rbh]

Re: Grandpa stories

My grandfather owned a sporting goods store in Penticton BC back in the 1960's, One day this fellow walks in and introduces himself as a National Geographic writer and is doing a piece on the Okanogan valley, he asks grandpa were the best place's are for fishing, so grandpa takes him out to the river, wades in and start's fly fishing.
Next thing you know there is his picture in the magazine.
(at least that is how I heard it and I wil try to track down a soft copy of the picture)

 

[jeeperman]

Re: Grandpa stories

Not really a story but................
My Grandfather was born in1898.
In his early teens/twenties he was still out and about in horse and buggy as main transportion.
He told stories about when dating and dropping his girl off at her home, he might be 5 miles from home. He give the horse the reins and he would go to sleep in the back.
The horse would walk home on it's own.

He lived 20 years past man landing on the moon.

Will any one of us alive today see such tremendous changes in our lifetime??

 

[roncoop75]

Re: Grandpa stories

we had to put the back seat down and my youngest cousin had to ride back sittin on the motor.

LOL, I'd bet your youngest cousin has a completely different recollection of this incident.

"Those guys made me sit on a motor in the back of a honda for 7 HOURS!!!"

 

[jay_merrill]

Re: Grandpa stories

Some of my best memories of my grandfather, involved his clam chowder. He lived on an 11 mile long, saltwater pond. It was full of clams and as kids, we would go out in our skiffs to rake or tread (feel with our feet) them out of the sand flats. We always called them the local indian name for clams - "quahog." For those of you who are "Family Guy" fans, this is where the name of the town in the show comes from.

In the fifities and sixties, it was nothing for us to come back with a bushel basket full of quahogs, in a few hours. We would then sit at a picnic table in the yard to shuck them. Both quahogs and the "juice" would go into a big bowl. After that, all of the juice was strained to get sand, etc. out of it.

I couldn't begin to tell all of what my grandfather put in his chowder, but it was usually broth chowder, not milk chowder. It had the things that you would expect, like cubed potatos and onions, but he had a few "secret ingrediants" too. Once the chowder was made and cooked in a couple of pots, he would put it in the refrigerator, to be served the next day. This is something that he was adamant about - he wanted the flavor to "settle" into the ingedients and he would get cranky if anyone want to eat some of it, before it was ready.

I love where I live now (Louisiana), but the memories that I have of spending every summer of my young life at his house in southern Rhode Island, speak of some of the best times that I've ever had. He is why boats have been a lifelong part of who I am and he is why I have never been able to live anywhere, that isn't close to water of some sort.



???

 

[marlboro180]

Re: Grandpa stories

These are some good stories and remembrances guys. Really liked the song and video too, that was really moving.

 

[gstanton]

Re: Grandpa stories

My grand dad was on old time farmer/carpenter who did not waste anything. This is around 1960. I learned from him how to hunt and trap everything, and he would show me how to skin and clean everything. We ate squirrel, rabbit, possum, raccoon, muskrat, beaver and of course deer and bear. Grand ma would cook it all up in the best kind of way.

I only wish I had been a little older to really appreciate it all... and remember it!

 

[dingbat]

Re: Grandpa stories

Not really a story but................
My Grandfather was born in1898.
In his early teens/twenties he was still out and about in horse and buggy as main transportion.
He told stories about when dating and dropping his girl off at her home, he might be 5 miles from home. He give the horse the reins and he would go to sleep in the back.
The horse would walk home on it's own.

He lived 20 years past man landing on the moon.

Will any one of us alive today see such tremendous changes in our lifetime??

I'd put good odds on yes, we will see a bigger change.

 

[PGFISHER]

Re: Grandpa stories

My grandfather was not a boater or fisherman, but my dad had me boating young. At 65 I'm trying to build memories for my grandkids to put on this forum.

 

[rbh]

Re: Grandpa stories

Well I'll be, I found it!
Similkameen river, Oct 1961 ????

 

[athurart09]

Re: Grandpa stories

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxtOa3tj3YQ

Thank you for the video.

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Grandpa stories

Thank you for the video.

No...Thank you and Marlboro180 for commenting..I was beginning to develop a complex LOL


Great photo RBH

 

[DECK SWABBER 58]

Re: Grandpa stories

Not really a story, and I hope it's not considered off subject, it's more in remembrance of him...I'm no singer{as you'll find out on the vid } but I do play a little guitar{full size lol} and I mess around with video/audio editing, and a composing program that keeps me out of trouble...hope you enjoy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxtOa3tj3YQ

HSF, I'm bumping this back up to the top.

I started this but have been too busy to really pay attention to all
the posts. Didn't watch the video until just now.:redface:

That is a fabulous video. You made me smile and cry all at the same
time. WOW.

I saw both of my long gone grandpa's in your video.

 

[HopeSheFloats]

Re: Grandpa stories

Thanks Deck Swabber, you made my night

PS: we're the same age, mine have been long gone too...R.I.P.
Actually, I only knew my grandpa from my dad's side, my mom's dad lived cross country, I have pictures of him holding me as a baby, but I don't recall meeting him