It's weird. Here I am getting ready to go on vacation in a couple of weeks and within in the last couple of DAYS, I've heard four songs that really sent me back in time...to PREVIOUS vacations.

"Moonlight Feels Right" by Starbuck

They were a one-hit wonder but, man, did that song apparently work for me. I was ten years old in 1976 when my family went to visit my extended family in New Mexico (which is where I'm headed in August).

My aunt and uncle lived in a sprawling one-story ranch house on top of a mountain (or so it seemed). There was no electricity, so when the sun went down, it was DARK. And I mean dark. But it's also my favorite place of all the places my aunt and uncle have lived in New Mexico.

 

"Dreams" by Fleetwood Mac

The legendary band's only number one song was ALWAYS on the radio in the summer of 1977 when my family and three other families rented a cottage on Jekyll Island, Georgia and spent a week there.

It was a blast and it was right on the beach. And Jekyll Island was also loaded with a lot of cool history. It's kind of odd, actually, that I haven't been back in 35 years after going three times in five years.

 

"Sailing" by Christopher Cross

I actually find this song pretty cheesy, but NOT the vacation for which it was the soundtrack. Well, partially, at least.

In the summer of 1980, we all joined my New Mexico family and did a three-car caravan to San Diego.

Let me tell you, driving across extreme southern Arizona and California in August is no picnic. But the destination made up for the trip.

We camped on the beach, went to the San Diego Zoo, Sea World, ate lots of seafood, took a boat ride through the bay.

One of my all-time favorite trips.

 

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World" by Tears for Fears

In late spring of 1985, we drove up to Chicago to visit one of my dad's cousins. And we did the town. It was a blast.

One of my favorite parts (not my parents, of course) was driving through downtown Chicago. I was only 19, but I decided if I drove like the cabbies drove, we'd be okay. And we were.

And, yes, that Tears for Fears song came on all the time.

 

Nobody else in my family is like this. But for me, songs trigger memories all the time and not just of vacations. Of just about anything. Let's see what happens in a couple of weeks.

What about you? Do songs take you back?

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