vacation

My vacation is so close, I can almost smell it! I’m not going anywhere tropical and childless, like some people we know, but after 6 pm on Friday, I will not be back at work for 18 days. These next three work days are going to be torture, but there is so much to get done that I am hoping the time will fly by. My whole family will have 10 days to fart around this city before the kids and I head back east for a week. I am so looking forward to the time to just chill, get some projects started around the house, and bump up my beach time quota significantly. And I really can’t wait to see my peeps on the right coast, I need a dose of Corey women like you read about. I’m jonzing, man.

When we were kids, we took several vacations to Myrtle Beach in the Explorer 24. Whose camper was that, anyway? It was so awesome. 24 feet of fun. That’s about 3 feet of fun per person for our family of 8, and once we brought our Brazilian exchange student, Christina. Who cared, though? It had a CB radio, and we all gave ourselves handles and spent hours calling out to anyone who would answer. I think we had a little manual with CB lingo, so we were obviously quite capable of conversing with any class of trucker. Man, that must have been annoying for my parents. Sorry mom and dad. Once we met a retired couple who were staying right across Lake Arrowhead! We ate lots of taffy. I loved my bed in that camper. Actually, I didn’t get a bed, per se it was more of a windowsill if you want to get technical. But I remember lying there, and it was all good.

When I was 5 or 6, we all went on the Auto Train to Disneyworld with our next door neighbors, so there were a total of 4 adults and 15 kids. Paul and I were the youngest, and the oldest girls would have been about 13. Can you imagine? What I remember most are the blueberry muffins we had for breakfast at the hotel, and squinting into the sun to get my chalk portrait done. We have movies of this, and it is just as exciting today as it was way back then to see our fine wood paneled Country Squire station wagon coming off that Auto Train.

(this is a stunt double, but ain't she a beaut?)

It’s cool to think that my kids will now have vivid, albeit weird, memories like these of their vacation moments. Most of our travel has been to destinations where we stay with family, but we’ve thrown in the odd spectacular moment. A couple of summers ago, I got us tickets to the Lion King on broadway, very cognizant of the fact that this would be memorable. But what my kids remember most about that particular visit was the cannonball contest we had at the pool of my parents’ condo complex.

The awards ceremony, poor Mistah and Mark never stood a chance with those judges

The following year we did another NYC trip with all of the cousins, and planned a day full of memorable moments like this:

Their fondest memories?

You can totally tell we're locals.

Also:

Oh yeah, and

It’s a good reminder to keep it simple, because the memories are made in the everyday moments. This year’s trip has great potential. After all, we’re going to get to see Ellie and Bill’s new house, and it has STAIRS! And we’ve also been tempted by the lure of gay cats. And of course, the club. I don't think even the Big Apple can compete with the excitement this itinerary promises. Whatever happens, I do suggest that some people start brushing up on their cannonball form.