Vacation

It's fun to get away for awhile. Jeanine and I have been vacationing in Maine for a few days now. Growing up--being from Connecticut--her family went to Maine in the summer for a week or two. Me--being a Kentucky boy--my family went south to vacation at North Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.

In South Carolina we developed some traditions--going crabbing, a day of deep sea fishing, golfing, mini-golf, fishing from the pier, swimming and body surfing in the ocean a visit to Pawley's Island where (Isabel and Wilson Yates rented the same house every year). And of course there was wonderful food. And cousins galore!

The house we stayed at was The Grey Dolphin. Uncle Mac and Aunt Jane and their four children always had the upstairs apartment, Dad, Mom and we five kids were downstairs. The Dolphin was on the ocean side, steps from the beach where we could go fishing, swimming, and body surfing about any time of day. Truly those were idyllic days firmly held in memory and photographs.

So this year-- at the invitation of Libby--we headed to Maine to spend a week at a rental near Bar Harbor. Not sure what our traditions will be going forward, or even if there will be a next year. But it is certain that if we do vacation together next year. That the traditions that do develop will be different than those of the past. For one thing all of those who made those traditions are gone. In the past few years Mom, Dad, Aunt Jane and many more have died. Mac and Jane's kids are no longer kids; many have grand kids of their own.

About the only thing I really know is that Jeanine has already said that the water off Maine is much too cold for swimming (not only in June, but throughout the summer) so swimming won't be one of those new traditions. Golf is not something that any of us do. I play disc golf, but that doesn't have much in common with Arnold Palmer's version of golf. But whatever happens in the years to come our traditions will be our own.

I hope you have some vacation traditions. If so, please share them in the comments.