Disneyworld, 1973

My family took a trip to Disney World during Christmas break in 1973; I was 7-1/2 years old, and my sister was 5. We stayed at the Polynesian Village, one of two hotels on site (the other being the Contemporary). We did the luau one night, but it was so cold that we had to wear winter jackets, hats, and gloves while eating our spare ribs (as can be seen in one picture here). Judging by the position of the night-time photos, we spent two full days at Disney World.

I know that at least two of the rides aren't there anymore - the 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea ride (closed 1994, demolished 2005) and the Skyway (closed 1999).

Lots more photos at my flickr page; if you're knowledgeable Disney fans, please comment on what ride it was taken on, and even if it's still there in that condition.

Vancouver, summer 1985

My dad took these on a business trip around June 1985. I've never been anywhere near Vancouver (in fact, in Canada I've never been west of Windsor, Ontario) so I have no idea what the area looks like today. Maybe you'll see something you recognize during the Olympics.

Space Shuttle Columbia, October 1994

With the Space Shuttle program winding down, I can add some photos of the shuttle and its infrastructure here as something that will all too soon become a thing of the past.

These are photos I took of the Space Shuttle Columbia in October 1994. Columbia was on her way from Florida to California where it would undergo several months of modifications and upgrades. As you can see, the shuttle sitting on the 747 Shuttle Carrier Aircraft is huge, and it can't fly cross-country without refueling several times. On this trip, she stopped in Huntsville AL before landing at Ellington Field southeast of Houston on October 10, 1994, where she stayed for the night. Ellington is just a couple miles from NASA's Johnson Space Center, so a lot of NASA folks went out to look at the big bird.

Columbia was lost on Feb. 1, 2003, as she was coming in to Florida to complete mission STS-107. The orbiter came apart and the crew was killed.

Chicago, Fall 1972

Some slides taken from the top of the John Hancock Building in downtown Chicago, sometime in late 1972. I photo-stitched some of them together to make panoramas.

Statue of Liberty, 1974 & 2006

Living in New Jersey in the 1970s, we got to travel a lot in the Northeast, and from time to time we'd take in the sights of New York City. In summer 1974 we took the boat trip out to the Statue of Liberty, and of course my dad took a number of slides. He and I went up to the crown's observation deck (you can see the spike from the crown in the 6th row of pictures), while my sister and mother hung back. We took the typical family tourist pictures.

Flash forward to Sept. 2006, I took a trip to New York after my sister's wedding, and not having seen the Statue of Liberty since that 1974 trip, I went back and took my own pictures. What I didn't realize at the time was that views of the Statue are so iconic, I ended up taking many similar or nearly identical photos that my dad had taken. There had been some changes in the meantime, including remaking the field at Liberty's back into a paved walkway with a security tent, and of course the loss of the World Trade Center buildings on the Manhattan skyline. In 2006, the statue itself had not been reopened, and we were only allowed up to the top of the base, whereas in 1974 we could go up to the crown.

Here are side-by-side images of the Statue of Liberty 32 years apart (1974 on the left, 2006 on the right).

Pittsburgh, summer 1977

We used to go visit my dad's parents in Pittsburgh every summer. My dad grew up there, and my grandparents had lived there since the 1950s. The panorama picture is a composite of 4 photos taken from Mt. Washington, on the south side of the river across from downtown. The other pictures include my sister and I at the Three Rivers fountain, Three Rivers Stadium (then home to the Pirates and Steelers), and a couple of Ft. Pitt. Click on the panorama picture to embiggen.

Austin, summer 1983

I took these pictures when my family went up to Austin during the summer of 1983. We checked out the campus of the University of Texas, where I was strongly considering going (and where I ultimately went to college), and went inside the Dobie dorm to check out the views of campus. Freshman year my room had a view of the Tower, on the 9th floor. Downtown is nearly unrecognizable compared to now with all of the construction that has taken place since. These photos and slides start with a view from Mt. Bonnell, then the Capitol Building and downtown, and finally the UT campus.