Dad and I went to the grain elevator then on into town. After picking up the parts he needed, we drove over to Lake Wales so he could show me the land he had picked up there. He first showed me the property he had sold to the developer. There were already over a hundred houses built with a bunch in progress. When I asked if it was smart to build so many houses in anticipation of hopefully selling them Dad told me there wasn't any hopeful about it. All those that were built were sold plus over a hundred more being built were sold already.
We looked at some more property in that area then went off to the other side of town to look at the property that had been unsold at Christmas. I was surprised to see huge billboards advertising homes for sale. We drove up to a home in the front of a big development and went in. The house was being used as a sales and construction office. Everyone was saying, "Good morning, Mr. Johnson" and "How are you Mr. Johnson" and "Can I get you coffee Mr. Johnson." When I looked at my Dad funny, he just winked at me and shook his head to keep me quiet. He talked to a couple of guys that were obviously the construction people then had a word with a guy wearing a tie that was obviously sales then took me back out to the truck.
"What do you think, Chuck?" Dad asked.
"About what Dad. Those guys were all over you like they owed you money or something," I said.
Dad just laughed softly, "they don't owe me money, I probably owe them. They are my employees."
"Employees?" I asked.
"Yep," Dad smiled, "when I saw how well the guy was doing that bought the other land, I thought I should start my own development. So I did. I hired a couple of architects and hired a bunch of construction people and now I have it started. So far we have twenty-two upscale homes built and sold plus almost seventy more with deposits on them. All of these homes have bigger lots than anywhere in the area plus the homes are twice as big. The community will have a central swimming pool, plus a community center. It's going to be real nice. I might even build a country club out here.
He drove me to an adjoining area where a big store was being built with buildings on each side that suggested more shops. Dad said that Publix was opening a store for him plus he had most of the other shops already leased.
Wow, my Dad, the landlord!
On the way back to the farm he described what he had in mind for the family. He had picked out a nice area for the boys to build houses so they could live on the farm and work it with their future wives and kids. He said that if any of the girls wanted to stay on the farm he would do the same for them. As the kids graduated from school he would give more and more of the farm work to them and migrate to Lake Wales. Mom had already designed the house she wanted and it would be started later in the summer.
He had stopped the truck by one of our orange groves and we had walked into the grove a few rows.
"Son, I don't know what you're going to do yet so I can't make plans for you. As soon as you decide what you're going to do, we will make a plan and get it done. You're the only one interested in education so far and I'm proud you're doing so well." My Dad was happy to be in the midst of an orange grove full of the wonderful smell of flowering trees. The fragrance of orange blossoms is one of the most sensuous smells ever. But Dad just continued, "I'm kind of disappointed you didn't get to go to Florida like you should have but at the time the scholarship was your only hope of going to school. If the coaches there could see you play, they would be kicking themselves for not taking you. Guess it all worked out for the best though, you have some very nice friends."
We went back to the house in time for lunch. We had some soup and sandwiches then went out to the tool shed to work on a tractor. I was surprised to find three guys working on other equipment. Dad said they were ready to weed and trim the groves soon plus they needed to plow up the strawberry fields and start the summer vegetables in the covered gardens.
When I asked how many folks he had working he said he didn't know at the time as he now had a farm manager that handled the farm workers instead of him trying to do it all. He said he now had twelve houses for workers and was planning to build some better quarters instead of the bunkhouse arrangement he had for the migrant workers. He was always proud that all his people now had indoor plumbing and electricity. He said happy workers were usually good loyal farm hands. He always did believe in treating his people well.
With a wave we went back into the house to find the three girls busily trying to tune the piano. They had taken the bellows and roller apparatus out in order to get at the soundboard more easily. Sandy and Delta were recovering hammers while Trish was gently adjusting the wire strings. Mom was putting a couple of pies in the oven for supper while trying to supervise the girls.
Dad and I had a cup of coffee then went out to fix some fence around the garden. Mom had been complaining that the deer and wild pigs were getting into her garden and eating her vegetables. We found where the pigs had rooted the fence up so they could go under. Then we found an area that was pushed down enough for a deer to jump over. We drove stakes around the bottom of the fence and stapled the fence to them then set another post and pulled up the fence that had been pushed down. Dad did some magic with the gates to help them swing easier then we walked back over to the machine shed to tell one of the guys to spread some horse manure on the garden then to plow it in.
As we were walking back to the house, the kids were walking up the lane from the school bus. We made quick work of the evening chores then cleaned up to eat. After supper, the kids quickly did their homework then we settled down in the living room with Mom at the piano.
The girls had done wonders with the old piano. With new felt on all the hammers and the perfect tuning job they had done, it sounded beautiful. Mom and Dad played a duet that was smooth and gentle. Dad played his old violin like a Stradivarius. Their music was so nice; they should have been on a stage. Next Sally sat with Mom while they played one their favorite pieces. As soon as they finished, Dad started his hoedown fiddle playing. This just meant that banjo's and guitars were brought out filling the house with sound. Danny surprised me by playing guitar very well. Carl displayed his new talent with a new banjo. At ten, Dad called a halt for bedtime. Everyone was having such a good time, the hours had flown by.
Before going to bed, I asked Dad if he would like to play some golf. I told him the girls and I had brought our clubs and was planning on playing when we got down to Ft. Lauderdale. He said that as soon as he got up in the morning he would call and get us all a tee time.
The next morning I helped with the chores while Delta, Trish and Sandy helped my sisters with the chickens and breakfast. When we came in for breakfast they were all laughing at tiny Sandy being chased around the chicken yard by a rooster. Dad suggested we might have the rooster for dinner if she wanted revenge.
Dad took Trish, Delta and I to the new Lake Wales Country Club. The biggest grove owner and cattleman in area, Ben Hill Griffin, recently built the place.
When we went into the golf shop to get caddies, the kids almost had a war to be our caddies because of the two girls.
Dad couldn't believe that I learned how to drive so well. He complimented me on my short irons but laughed at my attempts at putting over six to ten feet. He showed me how to look at the greens to see how the ball would travel and gave me some hints as to the speed of a putt when putting uphill or downhill. I actually beat my dad on our first trip to the golf course by a stroke. I shot 88 and he shot 89. I learned something though. Before you play a course, you should walk it to see how the greens lie and what all the traps look like up close. I had a lot to learn if I was going to help the golf team at school. The girls had shot pretty well and both were in the low 90's.
The next day Mom, my sisters, who were playing hooky from school and the three visiting girls, went to Lakeland to go shopping. To go to really big stores, they would have to go all the way to Tampa but Mom thought Lakeland would do fine.
Dad and I worked with the grove trimming crew cleaning out dying trees and trimming back brush around the edges of the groves. When my brothers got back from school we drove over to Frost Proof so Dad could talk to another farmer about some calves he heard about for sale. He made a deal for a hundred head of weaned white face calves and said we would get them in the morning then we all headed home.
After supper we played music again, entertaining each other and enjoying the closeness that we had always shared. Sandy played the piano some with Mom. She was acting strange around Mom till my mom reminded me that Sandy had lost her mother at an early age and she needed some Mothering. She got it as Mom did everything she could to give her some love.
The next day, we fired up the big truck, hooked up the forty-five foot trailer and took off for Frost Proof. Dad drove; Delta and Trish were in the middle with Sandy setting on my lap. Just a little crowded. The girls helped load the calves into the truck then we headed back home. Dad had already made arrangements for the calves to be put in a smaller pasture near the barn. He said we would have to make sure they were all eating and doing all right after the trip. He said he would give them all shots and ear-tags that weekend.
That night was our last before heading South so we had a great time playing and singing silly songs. We ended up playing every funny piece of mountain music we knew. Kind of hard to laugh and sing at the same time.
The next morning we drove to Ft. Lauderdale arriving in the early afternoon. Delta and Trish had gone whole hog this time. We had a large one-bedroom suite on the top floor of the hotel. There was a nice kitchen with a table, a big living area with a television and radio and a bedroom with a huge bed. The girls said it was a regular king-size bed. I had never seen anything larger than a double so I was really impressed.
We changed into swim trunks and headed to the beach just outside the hotel. Sandy had never seen the ocean before so she ran to the water as soon as she saw it. We played, splashed and swam for an hour then went to the room to shower before supper. In the room, there was a small red flashing lamp over the table where the phone was. Delta said it was message lamp, which meant she had to call the front desk to get a message.
The parents had arrived. Delta called the parents' room then hung up and walked out the door leaving it open. I looked to see what was up and she knocked on a set of double doors at the near end of the hallway. Carol opened the door. Behind her, I could see Cecile and behind farther, Dan and George. They hollered for us to come have a drink with them before we showered so we all joined them for a few minutes. Trish and Delta had a margarita while Sandy and I had a coke. I declined the booze saying that we had a long night ahead of us and liquor made me sleepy.
The parents were in a huge suite that had four bedroom suites off the main sitting area. It was really fancy but I thought a little much with all the unused space.
We went back to the room and showered to get ready to eat. At supper, George and Dan said we had a tee time at eight in the morning. They would take the girls and me if the girls wanted to go to the course in the morning. We were to meet Terry and Fred Weathers there for a foursome. Cecile, Carol and the girls said they would come along and play together. Sandy commented that she guessed she would have to start taking lessons to keep up with all of us. Dan joked that we should be able to find clubs for her in the kiddy department. Sandy tossed a roll at him.
George said he had made reservations for us at four different courses and we could play every day either at seven or eight. He said that way, I would have almost a full day on the beach for all of the festivities that happened there. Dan was grinning and said we had a surprise coming Monday.
Saturday's golf game was pretty good. When I told Fred that I thought it would be better to walk the course first, he said if we were playing a match, we would do that but since we were being tourists and playing for fun we would just use the course notes published by the local pro.
This was a tough course. The fairways were very narrow. Some had trees pretty close on both sides. All of the holes had water hazards in the fairways and some had great big sand traps right in the middle of the fairway. We actually played with five in our group. The guys said that with two threesomes of women behind us, we would be fast enough to keep well ahead of them. Terry and Fred tutored me on every shot for every hole. They chose clubs for me and told me why they had selected what they did. My drives were great except two of them were in the center of a pond and one was buried in a sand trap. My irons were not too bad and my putting was abnormally good. Even with a couple double bogeys I ended with a 79. I was tied with Dan and George while Fred and Terry both had 74's.
Fred said for me to keep playing just the way I was now and he would be happy. When I asked how soon could I start shooting par or better, the four men laughed loud enough to draw attention. I thought it was reasonable to want to play par golf but they kept saying I had years before I could consistently shoot par regularly.
I now had a new sports goal.
The afternoon at the beach was a blast. Sandy and I got a little carried away with some sweet umbrella drinks filled with rum. We were both trashed and could hardly walk back to our hotel to sit in a cold shower sobering up then taking a little nap before supper.
We ate at a fancy seafood restaurant on the beach. When Sandy and I were asked if we wanted a cocktail before dinner, we both declined. We were a large group of twelve, Trish and her parents, Delta and her parents, Terry and his wife, Fred Weathers and his wife, Sandy and myself. It looked like we would need to get reservations for most everywhere we went.
After a leisurely dinner we walked to the nightclub we had gone to last year. When we went through the back door a large man greeted us then escorted us to tables near the band. When he looked us over, he told Dan that he didn't think he could serve Sandy saying, "We don't usually serve pre-teens."
Sandy stood, all puffed up with indignation and tossed out, "I'll have you know I am a second semester sophomore in college." She then looked around sheepishly and smiled at the man, "But I don't think I'll have any liquor to drink tonight so thank you for looking out for me."
When the band started playing, our table emptied out onto the dance floor. Most of us danced for an hour straight till the band took a break. We stayed for another hour then went back to the hotel for an early night so we would be fresh for golf in the morning. All the women were going shopping in the instead of playing golf so the girls were pretty frisky wanting to play till I couldn't any longer. The surprise was Sandy as she didn't become a part of our playing but curled up on the couch and went to sleep. Delta said that Sandy felt committed to her new boyfriend and did not think she should play with us. Trish and Delta were happy, more for them.
As soon as we arrived at the private country club in the morning, Dan announced that we might see some pro's practicing as the next week there was a major tournament being held there. He also said that this was going to be the toughest course we would play the entire week. We stayed on the driving range and practice putting green for an hour before our tee time.
The first hole was a long straight par four that lulled you into thinking the course would be easy. Luck was with me and my second shot was a short chip shot that landed a foot from the hole. So I began with a birdie.
The next hole further lulled the player, as it was just a fairly long par three. At first you thought it would be a snap, then when you looked at the course card you saw that there was sand traps surrounding the green. The choice was to go for the green with a low iron or fairway wood or lay up in front of the sand then chip onto the green. Since I had a birdie on the first hole, I was first and asked for help from Terry and Fred. They said that if we were in a tournament and I needed the score I should go for the green. They said they were going to lie up but for me to do whatever I thought best. I liked my three wood, as it seemed to always hit the ball straight and landed about where I thought it would land. My shot hit on the edge of the green then rolled out of sight as the green is elevated enough that you can't see the green or the flag from the back Tee's. My caddy said it didn't look like my ball had hit that hard so he thought it stayed on the green.
The other four guys all laid up leaving their balls in front of the sand traps. I stayed with the guys while they chipped up onto the green while my caddy took my clubs up to the edge of the green. As soon as he topped the rise in front of the green he was gesturing for me to come look. The other caddies were up there as well so they could see where their player's ball landed. They were laughing and patting my caddy on the back.
All the balls were within six to eight feet from the cup but one ball was barely hanging on the lip, it was mine. I was told to go ahead and get it out of the way as it would be dumb to mark a ball right at the cup. I now had two birdie holes in a row.
The others pared their puts then we went on to a long par five. This one was a long five hundred and fifty yard hole with a sharp dogleg to the left at a little over three hundred yards. Fred was saying that most folks stayed to the left of the fairway so if they were short they could cut the corner on the dogleg and have a good look for the third shot. But, right at the elbow of the dogleg was a pond that actually wrapped around the curve of the fairway. So you had to be accurate if you were going to hit left plus you would have to be careful not to hit the ball too hard. On the right side of the fairway were palm trees with a dense oak tree forest behind.
I told Terry and Fred that I was going to drive the center of the fairway and try to get the ball well past the corner of the dogleg. My drive was straight and a little to the right. It landed well past the tree line on the left side of the far fairway. My caddy said I should have a decent shot at the green from there. Dan and Terry followed my shot and landed very near my ball while both George and Fred put their balls on the left side up near the lower end of the pond.
Once again the green had sand traps all around with a pond on the other side of the green. You couldn't see the back part of the fairway from the tees so it was a surprise to find the fairway so narrow with large trees on both sides with what seemed like a little funnel opening for the green. I was last shot and asked for help on this one. My confidence was high enough to think I could use a fairway wood or long iron to put my ball through the narrow opening two hundred yards away. If you lay up, there was a large fairway sand trap right at narrow opening so you would still have a long chip shot to the green. Terry said to go for it with the three wood and see what happened. I didn't hit the ball very hard and landed right in the middle of the large sand trap in front of the green. Everyone else except Terry laid up long before the sand trap. Terry threaded the narrow opening perfectly, landing on the green about thirty feet from the hole. The three guys put there third shots on the green then it was my turn.
I lined up with my sand wedge and pictured the ball in a high arch coming down near the hole. I hate sand as when you dig under the ball to get the loft, sand explodes everywhere. I blasted the ball and it went high in the air then started down seemingly right at the cup. It hit the flagpole that had not been pulled yet. The ball bounced away from the hole but had a lot of spin on it to cause it to skitter back toward the hole then dropping into the cup. I yelled, my caddy yelled and everyone in our party was yelling. My first eagle. My caddy apologized for not taking the flag out. He said he thought it would give me a better target. I guess it did.
The fourth hole was another long par four that everyone shot par except George. George chipped to right next to the hole then easily putted for a birdie.
The fifth hole was supposed to be like the fourteenth with a large water hazard midway down the fairway.
The fifth was a par five with an absolute straight fairway four hundred twenty-five feet to the cup. The fairway was fairly narrow but between one hundred sixty yards and three hundred twenty yards was a lake. So you could lay up in front of the lake then shoot the hundred sixty yards over the lake using at least two approach shots for the green or go for broke and drive the lake leaving a still fairly long approach shot. All of us decided to try to drive the lake. We all did with George, Terry and Fred staying in the fairway. Dan and I ended up in the tall grass but both of us were at about fifty to sixty feet from the green. The farthest three put their balls up near the green then Dan used a nine iron to get out of the grass and put the ball on the green. I swatted at the grass five or six times trying to see how it would affect the club then stood over the ball. I didn't want to hit the ball too hard as I didn't want to go over the green. No problem, the ball landed on the green then bounced and rolled toward the left shallow side of the hole stopping ten feet away. Dan was farthest at about forty feet away so putted first to within three feet of the hole. George had a twenty-five-footer and put it about the same distance away. Fred was also about twenty-five feet away and lagged it up to within six feet of the hole. Terry studied the green thoroughly then hit his fifteen-footer to drop for an eagle. Terry came over to me and showed me how to read the green for my slightly uphill put. It looked straight to both of us so I hit it fairly hard to get up the hill. The ball hit the cup dead center. The other guys birdied and pared out so not bad, two par holes, a birdie, and two eagles.
Number six was an easy par three but had a slanted green. The slant was toward the back of the green so when a ball hit and rolled, it rolled right off the back of the green. We all pared except Dan who three putted to get out.
I pared the four stroke seventh and the par five eighth then darn near holed out on my drive on nine. I actually was six under for nine holes.
The back nine was similar to the front in that all the holes were tough with lots of hazards and traps. The fourteenth hole was another of the long fairways with water in the middle. When I drove the ball, it got to the other side of the lake but hit the railroad ties holding the bank straight and bounced back into the water. Terry said I could take a drop where the ball bounced into the water or drive again. I thought I should do it over so this time I lay up short of the lake. My third shot put my ball twenty yards from the green and my fifth was a chip that put the ball about three feet from the hole. I missed the easy put and finished with a double bogey. Darn, now I was only four up but still leading everyone.
I pared fifteen, sixteen and seventeen, leading everyone by three. The eighteen was a four hundred-yard par four that had a green that was supposed to be from a horror film. I blasted my drive and came within a few feet of the green. So far my strokes were on. My caddy said that if I could drop the ball near the hole to be above it a little as that area was fairly level. When you looked at the green, it looked like a washboard with dips and swells everywhere.
The other guys shot their second shots onto the outer areas of the green then it was my turn. I asked Terry if I could use my sand wedge it order to loft the ball and try to get it to land as near the hole as possible then stop where it landed. He said the wedge or my nine iron would do it but to use what I thought was best for me. I used the sand wedge and barely hit it with a chip shot. The ball arced up and landed about two inches from the hole. Instead of dying right there, the ball was spinning and spun back over the hole about a foot but not into the ravine of the washboard. I wiped my brow for that one. Everyone putted and putted again then again finally making the cup with three putts and a double bogey. I lined up my one-foot putt and sank it for a birdie.
I had actually finished with a sixty-seven of what was supposed to be a tough, par seventy-two hole professional course. The caddies were all slapping me on the back and congratulating me telling me I should be playing the next week with the pros. When we went in the pro-shop, my caddy had me sign a logbook for games under par. I was surprised that there were very few on the page for shooting a sixty-seven. The golf pro questioned the caddies over and over again, confirming my score before finally congratulating me. He gave me a gift certificate for one hundred dollars worth of goods at the pro-shop for the best score of the year so far. The course record was sixty-five. He asked if we wanted to come back tomorrow but we had reservations at another club. He said he was sorry that he couldn't offer any tee times the next week but the tournament was going to be in progress.
We went back to the hotel to meet the ladies as they were getting back from shopping. When we went upstairs, I went into our room and took a quick shower. When I came out of the bedroom dressed in my swimsuit, ready for the beach, I was shocked to find my three sisters sitting with the girls.
"What are you guys doing here?" I asked.
"This is the surprise Dad said he had for you," Sally said. "We're off school too and for the rest of the week you're going to have us underfoot. You're going to show us how to act like crazy college kids on Spring break."
"Well go get your swimsuit on and let's hit the beach," I told them. "Where's Mom and Dad?"
"In the big suite. We're all staying there with Trish and Delta's folks," Sissy answered.
I went next door to see my excited mom and my very happy dad. He was hearing about my great golf outing where the pros were going to play. He was saying that he would like to go to see some of the tournament but it was a little late to be buying tickets.
I went back to our room and called the golf pro-shop where I had been given the gift certificate. I asked the pro if I could trade the certificate in for tickets to the tournament. He enthusiastically agreed and said he would give us as many VIP passes, as I needed for my group. To just see him when we got there. He would put my name on the gate list.
Back in the suite, I told everyone that we were going to be the clubs VIP guests for the tournament for any and all days, whatever they wanted. George, Dan, Fred, Terry and Dad were really excited. The girls didn't care that much but were happy for the guys.
Our twelve had now become seventeen so now even more time had to be allowed to get everyone seated for a meal. All us kids said we were going to hit the beach and get lunch out there. Dad cautioned me about letting the girls drink anything that was too strong. Delta, Trish and I agreed to watch out for them. This was going to be a chore as all three of my sisters were lookers wearing some pretty skimpy swimsuits.
We slicked up with Coppertone then headed out for the beer and brat parties. I will always be amazed at how much free food and beer there is. Then add some good-looking women to the deal and now you have all the free booze you can suck up as well. Sandy and I watched out for those fruity drinks and kept my sisters from having more than one. It took all three of us, Delta, Trish and myself, to herd the other four girls around keeping the vultures away from the unsuspecting farm girls. We had a great time and the girls collected several bags of freebies from all the different manufacturers. The Coppertone folks took tons of pictures of the girls. One of the photographers was really shooting the bull with Trish, Delta and Sally trying to get them to go with him for a private commercial shoot. They didn't fall for it and told him to talk their agent. We did get several bottles of tanning lotion out of it though.
Back at the hotel, we cleaned up and dressed for a fancy dinner. This time we took three limousines out to a steak restaurant owned by some famous sports guy that George knew. We were treated like royalty with great food and great service. I can't imagine what our bill was but I saw Dad give the headwaiter a hundred-dollar bill as a tip.
We went back to the hotel and all the adults went up to the big suite while us kids put on beach clothes then grabbed our guitars and went out on the beach to join all the kids having a party out there. The Budweiser folks had a huge fire with snacks and free beer for everyone. We joined a guy who was being paid to play and started playing all kinds of sing-a-long stuff. We played and sang till after eleven. Then left with folks hollering for us to play some more.
Back in the suite, the folks all wanted a couple of songs so we did some of the stuff we played out on the beach. They sang along then my girls and I left for our room. It didn't take us long to settle down and go to sleep, as we were all tired out.