by H. Bishop Holliman 2011
The Summer of 1936 and the Great Storm....
Above along a pier in Clearwater, Florida, 1936, left to right, Virginia Holliman Cornelius, Mary Daly Herrin, Vena Holliman Daly and Bishop Holliman.
"I don't recall now how our 1936 trip came about. Stewart Button had taken a church in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier in the year, but Virginia and I were still available. Ralph, I guess, was still considered too young to go. I would enter my last year of high school that fall, so this would be my last hurrah. That year we went further south, all the way to Clearwater, Florida and points in between. Robert had now acquired a new 1936 black two-door Plymouth, so now we would be travelling in style.
Below a restored 1936 four door Plymouth touring car.
In Clearwater, we did not find the beach as white and sandy as those at Fort Walton and Panama City, so that took some of the shine off our stay there. Instead of a 'tourist cabin', we found a fully furnished home used mainly in the winter by a wealthy owner, so that made our stay more enjoyable. It was a few blocks from the beach and backed up to the bay. I have no idea what the rent was, but I am sure more than we had paid at Fort Walton. One day we drove down to Sarasota and over to St. Petersburg, and another time Robert rented a small boat and he and I went out into the bay to fish and got caught in a squall that came up quickly. We had left Vena, Mary and Virginia home to worry about us.
"I don't recall now how our 1936 trip came about. Stewart Button had taken a church in Knoxville, Tennessee earlier in the year, but Virginia and I were still available. Ralph, I guess, was still considered too young to go. I would enter my last year of high school that fall, so this would be my last hurrah. That year we went further south, all the way to Clearwater, Florida and points in between. Robert had now acquired a new 1936 black two-door Plymouth, so now we would be travelling in style.
Below a restored 1936 four door Plymouth touring car.
In Clearwater, we did not find the beach as white and sandy as those at Fort Walton and Panama City, so that took some of the shine off our stay there. Instead of a 'tourist cabin', we found a fully furnished home used mainly in the winter by a wealthy owner, so that made our stay more enjoyable. It was a few blocks from the beach and backed up to the bay. I have no idea what the rent was, but I am sure more than we had paid at Fort Walton. One day we drove down to Sarasota and over to St. Petersburg, and another time Robert rented a small boat and he and I went out into the bay to fish and got caught in a squall that came up quickly. We had left Vena, Mary and Virginia home to worry about us.
It had been planned early on that Mama, Daddy and Ralph would drive down to Panama City Beach during our two week stay. Soon Melton and Ida Holliman decided to join them, along with Ida's nephew, Earl Burton. Also, accompanying Mama, Daddy and Ralph would be Hoyt and Vivian Bryant, close family friends of Melton's age, who had lived next door in years past. After a week at Clearwater, we decided we would join them, so we drove up to Panama City, found a cabin where they were and settled down, we thought, for a fun time with friends and family. On the way, we stopped at a resort similar to Silver Springs called Waukulla Springs and took a boat ride."
Next the hurricane comes....
Next the hurricane comes....
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