Vacation and Memories

Last week, I had the pleasure of taking my third unemployed vacation. Some may feel I was taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't working. And the fact of the matter is, I was taking advantage of the fact that I wasn't working. It's not a bad thing. I didn't spend a lot of money. And I did some job searching on my first trip. (I didn't have to this time, because I have a job now!!)

So anyways, where were we? Oh yes. Vacation. I went with my extended family, on my dad's side. We took our first vacation together in 1993. Actually, we went to King's Island in 1991, but that was only 2 days. The past 16 years (minus 2) have been for a week.

It actually began when my mom decided that our childhood vacations weren't really vacations at all. We'd pack up enough food and clothes for two weeks and stay in a log cabin, on a deserted peninsula in Canada. No indoor plumbing, no electricity and no heat. It was a 3-mile ride in a little wooden boat to even get to the campsite!! And it was a good hour plus to the nearest life form, so if we didn't bring it, we wouldn't have it.
After ump-teen years of this fabulous vacation (my mom went there as a child too), my mom decided that indoor plumbing, electricity, and populated areas were a bit more desirable.

So she did the research and sent letters to all of my dad's siblings. That first year, in 1993, we made our trek to Ocean Isle Beach, North Carolina. There were 36 of us in all. We stayed in four different houses. My cousin even made us all sweatshirts. I should say that this trip took place in the middle of July. They had heat advisories every day, and it was usually still over 100 degrees well into the evening. So yes, of course we donned these sweatshirts and took pictures!!
(I would love to post them, but I don't have any copies.)

Over these past 16 years a lot has changed with our vacation. Way back then, we all used AAA Trip-Tix. Now we use our GPS. Most of my cousins came along those first years. Now, my siblings and I are really the only ones who still join the "adults." We did a lot of sight-seeing and souvenir purchasing in the beginning. Now we usually hit a Wings more for kicks than anything else.

We've also changed locations. We spent quite a few years in Ocean Isle, but have also tried North Myrtle, Cherry Grove, and Surfside Beach. We are currently at Surfside and love it. We have a beautiful pool and we're only one street from the ocean.

But every year we go, we end up reminiscing.

Sometimes it's about previous years which usually ends up in a "No. It was...." "No. Remember? We did..." My dad's family never will admit to being wrong, so these stories can be entertaining.

We talk about pool fights, and restaurants, and the houses we've stayed in. We've tried to remember who came which year, and what made it special (there were 19 of us this year, by the way, and it was special for lots of reasons. We got to meet my niece, T. And my cousin, R, was able to come from his base camp to visit as well. He's a marine and we haven't seen much of him!)

Other times my dad and his siblings will talk about their childhood. Share their stories, their memories. I love hearing about how my dad came to be the awesome man he is (he beat some odds!!)

I consider myself so fortunate to have a family that vacations together. That loves being together. That can laugh, and cry, and celebrate, and remember together.

Thanks family for 16 (minus 2) awesome vacation memories. Here's to 16 more.


Posted in participation with Jen's Spin Cycle. I'm back... at least for a week! :)