A monster from the past

The other day today I spoke to my mom and we were discussing a trip we both made to Florida a long time ago, to visit with a family friend. That trip was made when I was five years old, and that was also the time I first went to Disney World. We were there for about a week, staying with that friend who lived in Winterhaven, near Orlando. We went to several places while there, including Busch Gardens, Cypress Gardens, Sea World, Sanibel Island, and, as mentioned earlier, Disney World. Before this came up I had told my mom about the monstrous nightmare bridge that will eventually be built to replace the Key Bridge. She asked me if I remembered that huge and terrible (well, in her mind, anyway) bridge that crossed the Tampa Bay. I told her I could not remember anything like that, nor could I understand (looking at a map) why we would have needed to cross the Tampa Bay. However, one could choose a route from Tampa down the coast to Sanibel Island by way of the highway to hell – meaning the portion of that road that comprises the Skyway Bridge. It would have been a long drive, but we may have stayed in a hotel instead of trying to day trip it from Winter Haven. Now I can’t help but wonder did I in fact cross the first iteration of that evil monster but simply do not remember it? Being that I was only five and that was so long ago, it is possible, and there were many things on that trip I don’t recall. My mom said we went to Cape Canaveral, but I don’t remember that either. I do know that my mom would have recalled crossing a scary bridge, as she has never forgotten the Savannah monster. She can even remember it being a weird and unusual looking bridge. Events from that trip to Florida are a bit murky due to my very young age at the time. Considering this would have been in the mid seventies, if we did cross the Tampa Bay, the monster in question would have been the original Skyway, which was constructed in the 1950’s. That bridge did not collapse until the early 1980’s, and the current one was completed in the late 80’s. That’s just totally eerie to think I might have actually been there, even if a long time ago. Could that be a reason for the nightmares? Could this be why I am so utterly freaked out by that particular bridge? Even though it would have been the old bridge and not the current one I might have traversed? There are lots of causeways and some other lesser bridges in the areas we would have traveled, but apparently none that were tall, steep and really long like the Skyway. Sadly, the one other person I could ask passed away a couple of years ago, was that family friend who lived down there. I don’t know, I will have to think on this some more.