My grandparents... for starters. Especially family gatherings for Thanksgiving and Christmas.
Slot machines in the grocery store (real, mechanical, one armed bandits)
Silver coins and even Indian Head pennies in your change.
Woolworth lunch counters, real ice cream sodas, milkshakes and ice cream that were mostly milk.
Being able to walk around DC and not have to worry about crime (School trips)
Watching airplanes (prop and jet) take off and land at National (now Reagan) Airport from the observation deck.
Crabbing with a push net...
Digging clams for chowder (that species is gone from that river now).
Hanging out at the Firehouse (Dad was a member, an officer, later President of the Department. I later served there through High School, as a Fireman and EMS.)
People who were 'characters', independent, outspoken, not homogenized by TV and uncowed by 'popular opinion', not influenced by influencers but with their own opinions about purt'near everything. I learned a lot from folks like that, and it was when I realized that everyone knew more about something than I did, which meant I could learn something from everyone.
Saturday nights at Mrs. Joe's Grandmother's when a bunch of uncles and family would gather, with guitars, a banjo, maybe a mandolin, and Uncle Pat's fiddle, making our own entertainment. (Some actual singing cowboys in that group). But that was in my 20s...
Cars that not only made noise, but ran like the wind--and you could tune the engine by ear.
Motorcycles.
Climbing.
Caving.
The sheer amount of energy I had then.
