Your childhood memories of vacation, food, and going out to eat? Are you resentful?

[Anonymous]

Growing up in the 60s/70s, you didn't eat out a lot the way people do today. We did go out for special occasions. Going to Hogates on the SW waterfront was a big treat!

Honestly, the way restaurants are so expensive these days, I don't know how people can afford to eat out all the time. Maybe it's my HCOL community, but a simple sandwich sets you back about $15. How do people afford to eat out all the time?

[Anonymous]

I literally did not go to a restaurant until I was in college.

I would have been nice to go a few times to understand how to order, what appetizers are, how to tip.

Not mad about it beitvrealuze it was a gap in my education.

[Anonymous]

We never did this. I understand why. We traveled a lot with my aunt (who was a corporate executive). My mom was a single parent and so was she. So when we went on vacation, we went on VACATION. I’m sure there was a budget, but we didn’t know it. They took us where the budget allowed, so it didn’t feel like we were missing out.

We do a mix of cooking in the room (we usually do a time share) and take out. Part of it is cost, but a lot of it is that my system just cannot handle a week of takeout! So we buy plenty of fresh fruit and veggies to augment the takeout meals.

I hope my kids don’t get mad about the trip to the Cayman Islands where I cooked breakfast most days in the future.

[Anonymous]

Almost never want to fancy restaurants.

My childhood vacations were usually driving to Wildwood, NJ and staying in a motel. Our family of five would stay in one “suite.” We’d go on rides together on Morey’s Pier.

[Anonymous]

I never went out to eat growing up. Maybe once a year to a buffet like Golden Corral.

My kids don’t even want to go out for dinner. They are of the age we offer on weekends, but they’d rather stay home while DH and I go out for brunch. Oh well!

On island vacations I usually do most of the cooking, because by the end of the day they are tired and would rather eat at home. I am a good cook though, and usually try to buy a fresh fish at the dock, or shrimp, or scallops or whatever so the food is nice. They’d rather be able to play video games while I make a ceviche then go to a restaurant and wait for basically the same food.

[Anonymous]

My parents were not rich by any means. We lived in a small ugly house that most of DCUM would sneer at, but my parents loved to eat out, including pricey fine dining places. (Both my parents would often comment in how they never, ever ate in restaurants growing up.) On vacation, we would eat out for every breakfast and dinner, and the excess of it all eventually started to kind of gross me out the older I got. It was a given that we would come home from vacation a few pounds heavier than when we left. Now, with kids if my own and money not really an issue, I make a point of planning trips where we can do a fair amount of cooking on our own. I just don’t like sit-down meals being a central focus of a trip and most restaurant experiences these days are hugely disappointing for what they cost.

[Anonymous]

We couldn't afford to eat out and took coolers on day trips to the beach or mountains to hike/swim even when my parents took a week off from work in the summer. I do enjoy eating out now and my husband and I bring our son on all sorts of vacations but I have nothing but fond memories of building sand castles at the beach and jumping off rope swings into lakes. It's the quality of the time you spend with the people you love not how much money money you spend on them.

[Anonymous]

When I was growing up, we went to a restaurant on special occasions like birthdays. It was festive and good training for how to behave in that environment. My parents were invariably respectful to the staff and that taught me to be the same.

On vacation, it depended on where we were. Many trips were to visit family so of course we just ate in. The adults would go out to a restaurant one time per trip. Mainly to get away from us, I think! We would also road trip and pack breakfast food for the motel and lunches for the road. Again, once per trip, we would go to a fancy restaurant in the place we were visiting to get a better feel for the place according to my parents. We camped a good deal and learned to make dinner over a camp stove and an open fire.

No, I’m not resentful that I ate a lot of cereal in motel rooms and sandwiches in the station wagon or at a rest stop. My parents knew how to have fun without spending a lot of money. I think it’s a lost art for so many people.

[Anonymous]

We spent a week at the beach with family every summer and brought our own food except for 2 meals: lunch at the diner that sat just outside of the beach town on our way in to vacation, and one takeout meal of seafood and fried chicken during the week. The rest of the time we had food my grandmother had made, often ahead, and brought in her big blue cooler.
Obviously I can remember what we ate on vacation, and the memories are all good. Grandmom's food was delicious and special (homemade ham spread sandwiches eaten on the porch while wearing a wet, sandy bathing suit, washed down with my aunt's special recipe sweet tea before racing back to the beach might be the finest way to spend 20 minutes this earth has to offer). Eating at the diner where you could order just about anything you imagined was divine. Riding in the car with Grandpop and seeing that huge bucket of fried chicken, a delicacy I thought only existed in Ocean City, NJ, was pure excitement.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up, we went to a restaurant on special occasions like birthdays. It was festive and good training for how to behave in that environment. My parents were invariably respectful to the staff and that taught me to be the same.

On vacation, it depended on where we were. Many trips were to visit family so of course we just ate in. The adults would go out to a restaurant one time per trip. Mainly to get away from us, I think! We would also road trip and pack breakfast food for the motel and lunches for the road. Again, once per trip, we would go to a fancy restaurant in the place we were visiting to get a better feel for the place according to my parents. We camped a good deal and learned to make dinner over a camp stove and an open fire.

No, I’m not resentful that I ate a lot of cereal in motel rooms and sandwiches in the station wagon or at a rest stop. My parents knew how to have fun without spending a lot of money. I think it’s a lost art for so many people.

We’ve don’t ever stop for fast food on road trips. I hate feeling awful while confined to a car. I always pack picnics to eat at rest stops, parks, etc. My kids are teens now and we have so many great random picnic memories.

[Anonymous]

I grew up in a family of 5. We never ate at sit-down restaurants except on birthdays, and never anything nicer than Outback/Red Lobster level places. Family vacations were mostly camping or driving to visit relatives, once in awhile a cheap beach condo, never a full service hotel. We never ate out on vacation and it never would have occurred to me to feel resentful because I had no idea people did things any differently until I was old enough to understand my parents were giving us the best they could. I have fond memories of my dad's "camp eggs" and my mom's "car sandwiches" even though now, as an adult, I enjoy eating out and can afford to do so.

[Anonymous]

I have the opposite problem now where my kid thinks takeout is fine and I have to keep telling them it’s $50-100 every time now, it’s not like it used to be and we don’t do it anymore. We try to only eat out once or twice a month. Even a dozen bagels is $24 where I am now. It’s crazy. Everything is $15-25 for the basics.

[Anonymous]

We never ate out when I was a kid. There were periods where my mom shopped with coupons and we ate mostly rice and beans to keep the grocery budget down.

My siblings are younger (5, 7, and 12 years) and they ate out frequently in middle and high school, after I'd left for college. Our family financial situation had changed. They don't even recall the lean years. My dad insisted that I be financially independent in college, so I was still eating rice and beans while they were going out several times a week.

As an adult I still view going to a restaurant as a splurge. They view it as normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:When I was growing up, we went to a restaurant on special occasions like birthdays. It was festive and good training for how to behave in that environment. My parents were invariably respectful to the staff and that taught me to be the same.

On vacation, it depended on where we were. Many trips were to visit family so of course we just ate in. The adults would go out to a restaurant one time per trip. Mainly to get away from us, I think! We would also road trip and pack breakfast food for the motel and lunches for the road. Again, once per trip, we would go to a fancy restaurant in the place we were visiting to get a better feel for the place according to my parents. We camped a good deal and learned to make dinner over a camp stove and an open fire.

No, I’m not resentful that I ate a lot of cereal in motel rooms and sandwiches in the station wagon or at a rest stop. My parents knew how to have fun without spending a lot of money. I think it’s a lost art for so many people.

We’ve don’t ever stop for fast food on road trips. I hate feeling awful while confined to a car. I always pack picnics to eat at rest stops, parks, etc. My kids are teens now and we have so many great random picnic memories.

Picnics? Eff that. I'm not packing some basket, finding a rest stop and setting up a buffet. I'll take my family to McDonalds for $20 and save two hours of drive time.

[Anonymous]

I was born in the 1960s. My parents were middle class in another country. I grew up in an incredibly happy home and there was an abundance of good home made food all the time.

We did not go to eat in restaurants because going to eat in restaurants was not common practice. However, we belonged to organizations (church, military, school) etc that usually organized huge events with many food stalls. My father was also a very social man who was always planning road trips and picnics for his family and friends. And so we were always going for an adventure. He would hire cooks and servers and they would reach the scenic spots before we did and usually have a large campfire going.

My mom has always been a wonderful cook, and our house was a place where people dropped by and remained for meals. I grew up eating wonderful meals and I am now married to a man who also is a foodie and we are constantly cooking and hosting.