by H. Bishop Holliman 2011
The Summer of 1935....
"I had completed my first year of high school at Shades Cahaba and would be 16 the coming December. Still too young to get a job, even if one had been available and even if I had been so inclined to pursue it! Robert always had yard work to do and he gave us loose change...which he always had...for Saturday afternoon chores. Also, one winter I earned some pennies for starting the fire each Sunday in the heater in the Presbyterian church....not enough to pay my way to Florida however.
When the summer of 1935 rolled around, the Dalys began to talk of another trip to the beach, and I guess Virginia and I pressured them to include us in their plans, though I do not remember any of that now. Mr. Button evidently was included also in the planning because he, along with Virginia and me, were in the Model A Ford on a Monday morning in August when we set out again for Florida.
Robert had received some brochures from the Mississippi Gulf that attracted him to that area. Also, Loudelle and Charles had spent their honeymoon at the "The Whitehouse", a luxury hotel in Biloxi in June, so maybe that helped lure him there instead of Florida.
Our first stop was in Tuscaloosa to chat with Glenn Barrow, the young principal of Irondale school was was attending classes there, working on another degree. He met us on the corner of the main street of the University and we talked for about 30 minutes. We felt bad that he had to attend classes and were going on a beach holiday. But such was life. He was a fine man, and we were glad to spend time with him.
We went on to Mississippi, arriving in Gulf Port about sun down, and were we ever disappointed! We saw immediately that the beaches along that coast did not measure up to those at Fort Walton and other Florida beaches. We spent the night there, but the next morning all of us agreed that we had rather go back to Fort Walton even if it ate up another day of our vacation. So, east went, along the Gulf Coast, through Mobile and Pensacola arriving late that afternoon in Fort Walton, in a cabin close to where were the previous summer. We felt at home there, and content to be back there for the next 10 to 12 days.
Our facilities and daily activities were much like those of the previous summer. Vena and Robert did the cooking. Mr. Button was a 'fun' person, and I guess he helped with dish washing, maybe. Virginia continued to look after Mary, and to this day, I can't think of anything I did except act as a good fishing buddy and surf swimmer. However it was not long before we had company!
Mary Daly Herrin on the beach in Florida.
Over the past year we had done such a good job talking up the pleasures of a beach vacation....so much so that Mama and Daddy (Pearl Caine and Ulyss Holliman) decided to join us at Fort Walton for a few days. I don't know how they managed to pull it off...I am sure Daddy had to suffer a loss of wages for a week...but they did it! I have forgotten how long they stayed...less than a week. They brought with them my brothers, Ralph and Euhal and Euhal's girl friend, Anna Grace Bagley. They found a cabin near us and we all enjoyed a few days of fishing and surfing. All of us got along fine. This was Daddy's first real vacation and their first time ever to splurge. Daddy, born 1884 in Fayette, Alabama, was 51 that summer.
Below, Stewart Button and young Bishop Holliman survey their 'catches of the day' at Fort Walton, Florida.
We returned home from Fort Walton on a Saturday in August, the other members having been back for several days. Our stay at the beach had been uneventful after their departure...lots of fishing and swimming. This may seem a mundane thing to mention now, but I remember our lunch on the way back was a sandwich shop in south Alabama. The sandwiches were 20 cents each...a humongous sum, we thought!"
Next posting, the Great Storm of 1936....
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