First week back from vacation is always such a rude awakening. Every year when I go to the beach, I just want to quit my job, sell my house and go to work renting Sea-Doos. *Sigh*
Diva Reader Tammy commented that her dream vacation is “anywhere that isn’t the beach,” which I totally can not relate to, but can certainly appreciate. I imagine that there must be as many different dream vacations as there are people in the world. Which makes it the perfect Friday Five.
- Where did your family vacation when you were a child?
- What’s your favorite vacation spot?
- What’s your best vacation memory/ most tragic vacation story?
- If you could break the mold and realistically vacation somewhere totally different next year, where would you go?
- What’s your dream vacation, if money’s no object and the whole world is safe and open for your traveling pleasure?
Leave your vacation five in the comments. My answers after the jump.
- My family used to go to Rehobeth Beach, Delaware. Back when it was sand dunes and not condos. I also used to go to Virginia Beach with my best friend Lisa Green for two weeks. She was an only child so her parents took me on their family vacation. Is it any wonder I love beach vacays? I lived in the sand & surf when I was a child.
- I believe we have already determined that a) I love the beach and b) Destin makes me deliriously happy.
- Well there have been lots of great vacations over the years - I’d be hard-pressed to pick a “best.” Worst vacation is easy. And it wasn’t the time I broke a molar in the car ON THE WAY TO FLORIDA that one year. Or the trip to Atlanta where we got caught in a torrential rainstorm complete with hail and tornadoes in the middle of the night somewhere in Northern Alabama. Or the seven-day cruise where Big Daddy didn’t quite understand the concept of the aerosol sun screen and got second-degree sunburn BEFORE THE SHIP EVER LEFT FT. LAUDERDALE. No, the very worst vacation was that one year in Destin. My family totally knows what I’m talking about. The first day at the beach, I had a little too much rum punch and forgot to re-apply to either myself or Elijah. We were both sunburned so horribly that our faces were swollen up like The Beast from that Linda Hamilton TV series in the 80s. Then it rained all day the second and third days. The fourth day we gave up and went home. There was not one redeeming thing about that vacation.
- I seriously want to go to Vancouver. It looks breathtaking in pictures. I’ve never been to the Pacific Northwest and I think part of what is so appealing to me is that Vancouver doesn’t look like anything I’ve ever seen or any place I’ve ever been before.
- I feel like I haven’t seen NEAR enough of Europe yet in this lifetime, so there are lots of places on my list that I would visit there. But if we’re talking DREAM vacation - ultimate luxury? Then I’m going to say the Greek Isles. Or the French Riviera. (What? You knew there was going to be a sea involved.) With first class accommodations all the way.
Responses to “Friday Five”
July 11th, 2008 at 10:10 pm
1. We used to camp on the way to visit Grammy in Louisiana from Virginia. It was a blast for us kids; I cannot EVEN imagine how much work it must have been for my Mom.
2. I really enjoyed Vieques before it was turned into a popular resort vacation spot. I love the Blue Ridge Mountains in the winter.
3.Driving from Anchorage to Kansas in my Honda Accord with my husband, a 9-year-old and a 1-year-old in a carseat in back. What a beautiful world we have. (I guess maybe my Mom rubbed off on me … camping down the highway … it was work, but I enjoyed it, strangely enough.)
4. I would love to see Scotland and Cornwall.
5. I think I would overwinter in Antarctica, and be their librarian. Yes, they have a library!
July 11th, 2008 at 12:46 pm
Kalisa,
Thanks for recognizing that not everyone is a beach person. Like you, I can certainly recognize the beauty of a white sand beach with the ocean lapping the shore. It is the beach details that get to me — you have to wear a bathing suit, I don’t swim, and the sand is full of little creatures that crawl on you! All that aside, we were planning a group trip to Hawaii next year, but it looks like that is on hold because of other commitments and air fare prices, etc. BTW, our Alaska cruise ended in Vancouver, and parts of it are like every other city in the world (which is why the movie and TV industries use it as a stand in for other cities), but parts of it are very pretty. We toured Stanley Park and the aquarium, but my husband refused to let me walk down the street with all the designer stores! Vancouver is VERY expensive, so we were only there one day.
Now for my 5:
1. I can remember that we went to Opryland several times, and we went to Washington, DC to visit relatives more than once when I was a kid.
2. I loved Alaska, but I also love the Big Cedar Lodge in Missouri — both mountainous — not beachy!
3. I have several favorite vacation memories — all 3 of our cruises have been fabulous and Washington, DC is so historic. Probably the most unique memory is taking a helicopter to a glacier in Juneau to dog sled — fabulous! The most tragic vacation was when we left Munford for Murfreesboro on a rainy day. Two dogs ran in front of our car on the highway just outside of Covington. My husband swerved to miss the dogs, and the car slid on the wet road. We hit a phone pole which broke onto the car. We were OK, but unfortunately, we still hit one of the dogs. Needless to say, we never got out of Tipton County on that trip.
4. If I could break the mold, I would go on the Hawaii trip (how much more beach can one person want?). I think it would be something to see once in my life, plus there is more than just beach there. And I would like to see NYC — just because.
5. If money and safety were no object, I would go to England and Scotland. When I was younger I read the “All Creatures Great and Small” book series by vet, James Herriot, and I would love to see the Yorkshire countryside that hew wrote about. Plus, I would go to China to the panda preserve where you can actually hold the baby pandas!