Test Drive on the Lake

It was the summer of 1963, the first year I was on the island without my grandmother. She had passed away the previous year and the family had decided to divide ownership. Ultimately it meant that we had to reserve the weeks that we spent out there. It was during my dad's vacation when we were introduced to the AMPHICAR. Some enterprizing salesman was on the lake and giving test drives.  He came up to the back of the island put the wheels in motion and suddenly was resting on the shore line in what appeared to be a CAR!! My dad, always the curious one, was immediately full of questions. He was like a kid discovering a new toy under the tree at Christmas time.   He was never one to jump into decisions without investigation, so he took the test "ride" and proceeded to educate himself in every nuance of this thing.

  How perfect could this be??? We lived on an island, we had to drive to the landing in a car, then unload the car, load the boat and take the 30 minute ride to the island. This was not an easy procedure. A 50 pound block of ice, tons of food, Grandma, Aunt Aggie, Uncle Phil, my brother and myself. It always took two or more trips.  Imagine going camping in some remote location . It required a lot of logistic planning.  It wasn't because the place was remote. Not in the least. But it was on a lake and all we had was a little wooden rowboat with an outboard motor. Trips back and forth took a lot of time. It wasn't like we could run down to the corner store for that loaf of bread. We didn't want to waste any time getting into our swim suits and Uncle Phil was always more than ready for that Tall Cold Beer so these trips just cramped out style.

Well here we are back to 1963. We no longer have as many people to take back and forth and our stay on the island was not for the entire summer. It was just three weeks with my dad, my mom and myself. My brother was 18 by this time and working full time. I was still a pampered little princess with nothing to do but Hang out with mom and dad.  Little did I know that our excursions were about to take on a very entertaining twist.

It was just two days since my dad had been introduced to this new form of transportation.  Mom was not at home, dad was on the phone for a very long time, which was very odd for him. He was one who never answered the phone - his reasoning ? "It's not for me anyway" Whatever. So I answered it. Of course it was the salesman from the VW dealership.  I went about my business and when dad hung up and came into the kitchen and said "Eileen, I just bought an AMPHICAR" . Remember mom was not home and I had a feeling this was not going to be a good thing. Thankfully I was wrong.  It's a good thing I had my drivers license, because he couldn't get out the door fast enough to go pick up his new toy. I drove with him and he allowed me ( another first) to drive his car home. When mom came home, dads car was out of the garage and the door was closed. It was a two car garage of course, so mom was suspicious until she opened the  door to put her car away. WHAT did she find?? A bright red, brand new cute, little AMPHICAR parked in the spot where dad used to park his little VW.   When she came in the back door, dad was grinning from ear to ear, with the help of a beer and a  couple of shots of whiskey. I wasn't planning on hanging around to see her reaction, but I didn't move fast enough. The moment was priceless. She was actually excited and ready to take a drive that instant.  And THAT is how it all began .