Growing up in the US, what was your favorite childhood memory that now you know it’s actually an American experience?

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1. Eating s’mores around a camp fire.

2. Root beer floats as a reward for good behavior.

3. *All* of my childhood memories were American experiences.

4. Little league baseball on the 4th of July followed by a trip to Dairy Queen.

   Canoe trip the first full day of summer camp

5. Tailgating at college football games.

6. Boy Scout camp.

7. Playing (and, in hindsight, absolutely sucking ass at) little league baseball.

   My dad used to play college baseball and I asked him once as an adult why he never tried to pressure me into doing baseball more seriously. His response was a very flat “I wasn’t about to embarrass us both.”

   Also, trading in my report card with all As for free tokens at Chuck E Cheese.

8. Getting knocked flat on my ass at three shooting my first gun. It may sound horrifying to some, but it absolutely shown me to be prepared for something unexpected. But still be able to enjoy what may be unexpected.

   My next time shooting that gun ( a few days later) I absolutely did not get knocked flat on my ass.

9. Singing campfire songs at Boyscout Camp

10. Getting ice cream after every softball game. Win or lose. Bought by my coach.

11. 6th Grade Camp

    The amount of wilderness survival stuff we did and were taught as kids in general. Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts, various sleepaway outdoor summer camps…

12. Playing little league baseball, then eating a pretzel from the snack shack while watching my friends play their games afterwards

13. Going to boardwalk arcades.

    Later in childhood was getting your permit and drivers license.

14. Huge community festival on the urth of July complete with a parade, tractor pull and fireworks.

15. Road trips! When my dad had to work my mom and grandma would take the five of us kids on some odd but fun road trips. I learned to read a map at a young age.

    My grandmother would try to speak with the accent she thought the locals had. She did it with the best of intentions but it turned out hysterical for us kids. Think of someone with a Brooklyn accent trying to imitate a random southern accent.

    We never had a firm destination on those trips. We would start with one but it would change many times. One trip we were heading towards Tennessee but we changed our minds and decided to head to a Great Lake, any one would do. We ended up just hanging out in PA before heading back to Long Island,

    As an adult I asked how they paid for it. I had never seen either of them use a credit card. My mother said they pooled their money. Once it ran low we headed home.

16. Comicbooks!

17. Growing up near a fresh water river system full of fish. We fished from spring to fall for all sorts of salmon.

    Smoking, drying, salting, canning, and eating it in many different ways. We fish by the season & run, not the clock or calendar.

18. I grew up in the 80s. But man hoping on your bike to go find your friends. Rolling up to one of there house’s and there’s all ready 4 or 5 bikes in the yard. Yep everyone is here. Its gonna be a good day. Building forts playing football just riding bikes. It didnt matter.

19. Catching fireflies, keeping them in a jar (with air holes & grass) as a nightlight and letting them go the next morning.

20. Station wagon drives across states with just the radio or 8 track

21. Dressing in costumes and trick or treating on Halloween

22. Seeing a guy on stilts dressed as Uncle Sam marching in the 4th of July parade.

    Also, anybody ever wonder what happened to those guys? Seemed like it used to be that no matter where you were, If it was a 4th of July parade there was going to be a guy on stilts dressed like Uncle Sam. I can’t remember when the last time I saw one was though. Probably the 90s.

23. Drinking a half liter of extremely sugary lemonade and eating deep fried Oreos and riding boardwalk rides until I vomit.

24. Going with the whole family the day after Thanksgiving to cut our own Cristmas tree, up in the Montana mountains.

25. Being 5 years old, wearing a Martha Washington type dress made by my Grandma and Mom, walking in a Bicentennial Fashion Show at our county fair. 1976 was wild.

26. Halloween. At school, back when we had Halloween parties in class and went out in costume for a little parade. Then, getting to go trick-or-treating.

    Also, Valentine’s Day and everyone having a bag on their desk filled with cards and candy.

27. Riding with friends in the back of my dad’s pickup truck. No seatbelts, just the wind in your face at 55 mph. Kids today will never understand.

28. Fourth of July fireworks

29. Being a staff kid at a Bible Camp. Specifically Lake Lundgren Bible Camp (LLBC). I’m not sure how many other staff kids are hanging around but I know there are some of us.

30. Running around outside in the sprinklers on the 4th of July.

31. Playing football in the front yard with my brothers on Thanksgiving day.

32. Riding in a plastic lawn chair ratchet strapped to the bed of my dad’s truck so he could drop my sisters and I off at the river to swim while he ran into town, then walking back home soaking wet down an old forestry road. This was basically every weekend.

33. Going squirrel hunting with my great grandfather and eating them the next morning with biscuits and squirrel-gravy.

34. Playing little league baseball in the park and then going with the team to get Pizza and ice cream or Italian ice.

35. I loved going to state and county fairs. One of my favorite games was the knife ring toss. The Vermont state fair had maple sugar cotton candy. Got to watch tractor pulls. I loved county fairs as a kid.

    I guess it wasn’t 100% an American experience, though. I was in the Shetland Islands a few years ago and came upon a country fair where they were mostly selling farm animals and sheep dogs. But I did play ring toss for liquor bottles. I won the worst tasting supermarket scotch I’ve ever had.

    So, ring toss seems to transcend. Knives in NY and alcohol in Scotland.

36. Getting a root beer float on a hot summer day.

37. I used to go to rodeos on the 4th of July because there’s nothing more American than drinking Bud while watching bull riding followed by fireworks.

38. Traveling by car. Driving for 12 hours to Idaho and California, was no big deal. Sleeping in the car and stoping at truck stops.

39. Amusement parks- we have so many that we take for granted