Escape

Family Road Trips

Jeanna GLeave a comment

Thanks to my friend’s family plan, I’ve been enjoying a lot of Spotify’s playlists lately. The Classic Road Trip Songs playlist is a great one, and it got me thinking about road trips I’ve taken. My daughter and I have been on countless road trips together, many to the beach, but few to the same place twice. Growing up in a house with seven people did not make packing up and taking off easy to do. Nevertheless, we did manage to pile into the Suburban and get out of dodge once in awhile.

The earliest family road trip that I can remember was to Prince Edward Island, a province of Canada. It is an 11-hour drive from our hometown. My brother had been at band camp in Maine, so we picked him up and continued on to PEI. I was only 5 years old, so my memories are faint. I do remember that it was absolutely beautiful there. I remember steep red cliffs and splashing about in shallow tide pools. I watched my brother pull a large crab out of the water with his bare hands. He also sat on my teddy bear’s head causing her eye to pop off. That led to the first of several eye surgeries for her. He’s also the one who won her for me at a carnival when I was two, so I can’t be too upset with him. One night the wind blew my bedroom window open, knocking over a bedside lamp. It scared the bejeezus out of me, but my sister rushed in and put everything back in place, including my nerves. One of the days I was outside playing with a dog. I have no idea who it belonged to, but I was chasing it around and playing with it. Then it took a break and lied down, but I wanted to keep playing, so I kicked it in the ribs thinking that would get it back up again (little kids aren’t the smartest). The next thing I saw was its uvula as it latched onto my face. I was relayed from one brother to the other, and was held over the kitchen sink while I rinsed the blood from my face and mouth. Funny are the things that stand out.

Her eyes were orange, originally.

In April of 1987 we took another vacation, but this one did not include my brothers, and instead of hitting the road, we hit the rails. For spring break my parents gifted us with a trip to Disney World. We rode the Amtrak from Connecticut to Florida. We cracked Easter eggs on our foreheads and ate Kentucky Fried Chicken from a bucket. How did we have those on the train? It’s a mystery. Yes, my memories are faint, but I remember Chip and Dale joining us at breakfast and seeing Tinker Bell fly down from the castle tower during the evening fireworks. I remember some of the attractions: Mad Tea Party, Cinderella’s Golden Carrousel, Dumbo the Flying Elephant, It’s a Small World, and the Country Bear Jamboree. Everything was fun and magical, but I was sad we left without taking Peter Pan’s Flight and meeting Mickey Mouse. Fast-forward about 30 years to when I took my daughter to the Magic Kingdom and guess who was more excited about checking both of those things off the list?!

What tickets looked like before the digital days.

Another road trip we took was up to Wells, Maine in the summer. We went a couple of times and stayed in the New Harbor View Cottages off Route 1, conveniently located across from Congdon’s Donuts. Maine is such a beautiful place, but the water is freezing! It didn’t phase me as a child, but my body felt otherwise when I moved there in my 20s. But really, the lobster, the scenery, the quaint little shops… If the winters didn’t last as long as they did, I’d have stayed living there much longer.

Michigan was a destination for a couple of other trips we took. My dad grew up in Allegan, so we traveled to visit with his parents there. I remember going to Lake Michigan and thinking we were at the ocean. On one of those trips we drove to Niagara Falls on the way. Majestic!

Lake Michigan

Road trips are a great way to be with family away from the daily grind. No chores and no to-dos, other than sightseeing and memory making. Families need a break to reconnect. I’m grateful that my parents took us on road trips. They helped to pave the way for me and my daughter to reconnect when adventure calls.

What are some of your memorable road trips?

The Seventh of Firsts – The First Time I Left the Country Alone

Jeanna GLeave a comment

As noted in a previous post, I left the country for the first time when I was 5 on a road trip to Canada. I traveled to Canada a few other times for soccer tournaments in Montreal. But the first time I left the country on my own was in 1998 when I flew to the Dominican Republic to visit my sister. She was teaching in an English-speaking school in Santo Domingo. I traveled with two friends in the front of a Penske truck from Pennsylvania to Miami, where I left them and caught a flight to the DR by way of Puerto Rico.

Once there, everyone wanted to be my taxi driver! Luckily, my sister arrived quickly and we headed back to the home she was living in with a host family. Maria Louisa and her two boys were wonderful hosts, and it was very sweet to welcome me into their home so that I could visit with my sister and explore their country. I’m also very grateful to Maria Louisa for killing the giant (I swear it was several inches long) cockroach that flew in through the window one evening. My sister and I were screaming and jumping on our beds while she battled the bug with a shoe. That was my first cockroach encounter, and it gave me quite a jolt! The rest of my experiences were much calmer and more beautiful.

My sister was the perfect tour guide. She led me to Las Terrenas on the Samana peninsula. The ride was a little hairy as we rode in the bed of an old pickup truck along narrow, mountainside dirt roads. We hiked into the rainforest while we were there. There were spectacular panoramic views of the Caribbean from the top. While on that hike we came across a double waterfall, the Salto El Limon. A hidden gem!

Above, top right, is the beach we enjoyed by our hotel. The hotel had beautiful views from the open windows. Mosquito nets hung over the beds. Uniformed men guarded the front gates with machine guns. They were especially useful when saying goodbye to the two men who we’d met on the beach earlier in the day, ran into again at the market, and then enjoyed dancing merengue with at a local discotheque that evening. The waters were warm, gentle, and crystal clear. My sister floated along singing Irving Berlin’s Cheek to Cheek. At the market I found a beautiful painting by a Haitian artist that still hangs in my home.

When we returned to the capital, my sister took me to the Colonial Zone (Ciudad Colonial) to sightsee. We did some bargaining at the marketplace and I left with some lovely pieces of amber and larimar.

Our second beach getaway was to Juan Dolio. We stayed at an all-inclusive resort (my first and only). It was what one would hope for: endless tropical fruits and cocktails, pristine beaches, peaceful atmosphere. I got my hair braided (remember to bring cash for that!). My sister also took me to a place that offered horseback rides along the beach. That is definitely one of my happiest memories. The horse could have done that walk with his eyes closed. It was so relaxing and exciting all at once.

I’d love to go back, but I’m sure it just wouldn’t be the same. I find there’s a nuance when traveling to meet someone. They know the hidden gems, the ins and outs, the language, the must-dos. And they know better than a guidebook, because they also know you. I’m grateful for the experience, and especially one provided by and shared with my sister.

When did you first leave your home country, and to where did you travel?

Traditions & Customs

Jeanna G2 Comments

I spent the last four days at the beach with my posse. It’s the fourth year in a row that we’ve taken this family vacation together. This past July was the third year in a row that we shared a lake house together, and this November will be the fourth year in a row that we shared a mountain cabin for a long weekend. Some other women and their families have come and gone on these trips, but there is a core group whose presence has remained throughout. I’m grateful for the two women who do the majority of the planning, and they tend to book our rentals a year in advance, so there’s always something fun to look forward to and plan around. One of these women’s families used to take beach vacations with their friend’s families when she was a child, and she wanted that recurring event to become a tradition that her children could experience. It is now my hope that my daughter will continue this tradition with her children and closest friends.

One of the many conversations of this most recent trip revolved around the topic of traditions. I took an opinion poll asking how many times or years an event needs to be repeated before it can be considered a tradition. I liked the answer of three years in a row best, because two years could be a fluke, but three shows effort to continue the event. It wasn’t until I started writing this that I realized “generation to generation” is part of the definition of tradition. So when creating new traditions, you’re initially practicing customs, with the hope of continuance and a motivation to hand down these practices.

Aside from these shared vacations, I want to pass on to my daughter many of the customs that I practiced as a child every year with my family. A lot of my favorites relate to holidays, but not all. Of course there are customs related to behavior, morals, values, and character, but those require daily practice, not just an annual duplication.

Holidays make me think of food, and I think certain dishes could and should be handed down and practiced year after year. My daughter will know how to make real mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, her own pie crust, my grandma’s chocolate chip cookies, and how to roast a turkey. Ham crisps (ham salad on Ritz with a cucumber slice), bowls of olives, shrimp cocktail, and lutefisk will be available before Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Corned beef, cabbage, and potatoes are prepared on St. Patrick’s.

New Year’s is spent in the place you love the most to get the year started off right. For us, it’s been the beach.

She and I celebrate Valentine’s Day with fondue. I want her to continue to celebrate that holiday by sharing it with who she loves and who loves her.

Thanksgiving isn’t complete without watching the Macy’s parade and the dog show. I’ve added the new custom of watching all of the “Friends” Thanksgiving episodes every year, too.

During advent we open a chocolate-filled calendar every day. We watch A Charlie Brown Christmas and A Christmas Story every year. I complete a Christmas jigsaw puzzle annually, but that’s a hobby that doesn’t need to be passed on. On Christmas Eve, baby Jesus is laid in the manger of the crèche. We also go to the candlelight service every Christmas Eve, and then get to open one gift before bed.

Non-holiday traditions include taking a photo on the first day of each new school year and playing board games together. Sports are a huge tradition in our family. We play them, we watch them, we bet on them, we love them. The New York Yankees. My daughter is a 4th generation fan. Penn State football. I am a Nittany Lion and hope that my daughter at least applies to attend. My dad graduated from both Michigan State (undergrad) and Iowa (grad), and my sisters and aunt are Big 10 alumni, as well, so Saturdays in fall are loud. Every year we pick our favorites in the Triple Crown races, which my mom did with her dad. We root for USA in the World Cup and the Olympics. I grew up a Whalers fan in Connecticut, and now we root for the Canes (who used to be the Whalers) here in North Carolina. We fill out our March Madness brackets every year, and we always tune in to watch the Super Bowl.

So why are we motivated to hand down these customs? I like traditions because they create a comfort space for me, a chance to hit the re-set button. All of them are something to look forward to, a reward for all the hard work, and an escape from the mundane. Some of them, like the vacations, are a chance to reconnect with friends and to participate in experiences that we wouldn’t normally get to enjoy in our day-to-day lives. And considering the topic of my blog, traditions are a chance to rediscover not just my childhood, but those of my ancestors with the added bonus of learning more about who am I, where I came from, and who I can be. Traditions and customs create experiences and add a much needed joie de vivre.

What are your customs that you hope become traditions? What traditions do you continue to carry on from your ancestors? Why do you practice these customs and traditions?