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Original poster

Did you "go for a drive" when you were a kid?

197 replies

Allthereindeersaregirls · 17/05/2021 14:09

I was reminded of this the other day, when a friend said she was taking the kids "for a drive" to get out of the house. I'd not heard of anyone doing it since I was a kid (80s) and I don't remember anyone else doing it then.

Mum and dad would bundle us in to the car and we'd go for a drive - just that. No purpose (that I can discern), not a drive to get somewhere, not even an ice cream. We'd just drive around for a bit then go home.

Were my parents nuts?

OP posts:
Puttingouthefirewithgasoline · 17/05/2021 22:01

Yes we often did, only mum though not dad.

Bundle in the car and get out, drive around it was fun and pretty much free!

Unfortunately dh wealthy parents drummed it into him just how much petrol costs! So it's a waste to go for a drive without purpose 😏

It's actually got lots of purpose and exploratory..

Echobelly · 17/05/2021 22:05

I think we did this sometimes with my grandparents in the 80s.

Whoateallthechocolate · 17/05/2021 22:15

Yes! I have vivid memories of sitting in the car on a weekend afternoon in the pouring rain with then windscreen wipers going and eating sandwiches, an apple and, if we were lucky, a kitkat or penguin. It was always a local beauty spot but so wet that we couldn't actually see it. It was trying to explain this to the DC the other day and they were completely baffled at the idea.
My Gran lived to be 96 and never wanted anything for birthdays or Xmas. I once gave the local taxi company an amount of money on credit so she could ring them and get taken out for a drive whenever & where ever she liked. It was a huge success so I did the same for the next few years.

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BitOfAFaff · 17/05/2021 22:17

Yes we did. Did as teenagers and still do now.
I'm 28 Grin.

starfishmummy · 17/05/2021 22:18

We did. Used to love going down narrow and narrower country lanes with no idea where we were - although I now realise that Dad probably had an idea of where we were and just pretended to be lost

empod · 17/05/2021 22:19

My 14 year old DD loves to go for "a drive". She put her tunes on and we chat... Might even get a ice cream too 😁

headintheproverbial · 17/05/2021 22:23

We always went for a walk. We often drove to the walk but there was never just driving.

I considered it yesterday as the weather was so dire. Just to get out of the house and not have screens!

Teesdale2622 · 17/05/2021 22:25

We used to in the 80s, parents would drive us to really expensive area and we’d all choose our favourite house and pray people had the curtains open and lights on, then my dad would drive slow and we’d all have a look in Grin

sashagabadon · 17/05/2021 22:34

We did this. We’d go on “mystery tours” that involved driving around and maybe having an ice cream if dad saw an ice cream van parked up, then home again. We loved it!
My mum never came in the mystery tour so looking back it was really to get us all out of the house so she could have a rest Grin

IthinkIsawahairbrushbackthere · 17/05/2021 22:42

My parents used to do this. Especially on a Friday night when I would have preferred to be at home watching tv. I hated it. I would be stuck in the back of the car wishing I was anywhere else. We never stopped for icecream or anything. It was just sitting in the car.

musicalfrog · 17/05/2021 22:59

Yes! And to think we didn't even have seat belts in the back seat back then! I remember hanging an arm around each of the front seats to get a better view in front. Bloody hell 😨

Blankscreen · 17/05/2021 23:13

We used to go for drives. Usually past houses that were for sale.

I do it to my kids now. Started when they were toddlers it was great strap them in the car seat and have some peace and quiet for a bit

We did quite a few drives in lock down just to get out the sodding house.

I love a drive

ivfbabymomma1 · 17/05/2021 23:15

No but I was forever being dragged around a shop of some description 😢

cupsofcoffee · 17/05/2021 23:15

Yes! Normally on a rainy Sunday with my dad while my mum enjoyed some peace and quiet Grin

I loved it and we always stopped for ice cream on the way home!

3Britnee · 17/05/2021 23:18

We did this. Often through empty central london.

Pinchoftums · 17/05/2021 23:21

Never! We just played out or had friends over. A drive sounds like boring hell.

MazDazzle · 17/05/2021 23:28

Yup. It was called ‘a run in the car’ and hand to be at a snail’s pace. We’d stop at DIY or furniture stores to browse, but no way would we purchase something. Seem to remember spending my whole childhood stroking/sitting on sofas we never purchased!

AppropriateAdult · 17/05/2021 23:34

@BendingSpoons

We never went just for a drive but we did go to the airport for treat sometimes! We'd maybe have dinner, ride on the train between the terminals and watch the planes. We didn't actually go on a plane until I was a teenager!
We did this all the time, I thought we were the only ones! We’d wander around, watch planes taking off... I remember once in primary school telling my teacher that we’d been to the airport over the weekend, and her asking (perfectly reasonably!) if we’d been meeting somebody arriving in or sending them off. I was thoroughly confused; didn’t she know the airport was just somewhere you went to spend time on a Sunday afternoon?! Confused

Seems utterly bizarre now...

Bloodylovecheese · 18/05/2021 00:02

We used to go for a drive...and if particularly lucky we'd end up in town and go 'window shopping' in the days where everything was shut on a Sunday.
The best shop was Lewis' and the toy shop, but we'd always end up at an estate agent choosing which house we'd like to buy.
Happy innocent daysSmile

CrikeyPeg · 18/05/2021 01:58

Yes, we used to go for Sunday drives, 'out in the country' Grin, usually picking up a tray of cracked eggs from the poultry farm as we went by. There was a lovely pony at the poultry farm that I used to pat every time; once I even got legged up and led around the paddock - heaven for a horse-crazy kid!

We used to count horses, different coloured cars, play I Spy. Days when we were fractious/being naughty or complaining, we'd be told to 'sit there and enjoy ourselves' hahaha

HelpMeh · 18/05/2021 07:45

@AppropriateAdult Grin I'm glad it's not just me who had the pleasure of plane spotting! If we timed it right we got the extra treat of seeing the Concorde land.

BogRollBOGOF · 18/05/2021 07:52

We went for drives when I was pregnant and SPD was making it hard to get out. It was good to have a change of scenery.

There were a couple of trips, one taking a friend to a hospital an hour away and another when my friends went hiking where I took the body pillow, didn't get out of the car and just had a good nap while they did their thing Grin

I swear that half the milage on my last car was extending or going for a drive so my toddlers would nap!
DS2 would often fight it until we were 300m from home, so I'd do a loop around the block and one more lap of the neighbourhood to ensure he zonked.

My childhood Sunday highlights were the garden centre or the tip.

35andThriving · 18/05/2021 13:33

Yes, we did this.

My mum and dad also went through a phase of taking us round random cemeteries. Also went to garden centres quite a bit, and pet shops just to look round.

Sparticle · 18/05/2021 14:43

@BogRollBOGOF

We went for drives when I was pregnant and SPD was making it hard to get out. It was good to have a change of scenery.

There were a couple of trips, one taking a friend to a hospital an hour away and another when my friends went hiking where I took the body pillow, didn't get out of the car and just had a good nap while they did their thing Grin

I swear that half the milage on my last car was extending or going for a drive so my toddlers would nap!
DS2 would often fight it until we were 300m from home, so I'd do a loop around the block and one more lap of the neighbourhood to ensure he zonked.

My childhood Sunday highlights were the garden centre or the tip.

The tip (or 'the dump' as we called it) was a huge treat too for DBro and me when I was growing up! There was a playground next to it so sometimes, if there was a huge queue of cars to get in, or my dad had lots to dump, we'd get 5-10 mins at the playground but just going to the tip itself was always a treat Grin
VenusClapTrap · 18/05/2021 15:01

Oh yes. The Sunday drive. Often up to the Dales, or somewhere else scenic. My favourite run out was to the Emley Moor radio mast.

Sometimes we’d get a pub lunch or ice cream, but eating in the car was strictly forbidden, so I have vivid memories of standing in windswept car parks in the rain, eating ice cream as fast I could so I’d be let back in the car.

As a pp notes, Alan Bennett has written beautifully about going for ‘a run out in the car’, in several of his memoirs.