Summer Vacation

There is nothing I love more than travel. (Well, obviously I love my family more. And, uninterrupted sleep, someone else cleaning my house, and --- wait, I digress.) But, I do love to travel. And, I'm finding that for some destinations, you have to plan way in advance. I'm already thinking about a trip next summer, so my first step is always to ask where my family wants to go. Without fail, the answers (even from the other adult in the home) are a beach or a Disney-type theme park. Then, the second step I always take is to ignore their input.

I want to take them to east coast cities, so rich with history - New York City, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, DC. We're fortunate that we have family in NJ/NY so in the past couple of years, whenever we go to see family, we try to have a day in the city. The boys fight me as we leave the comfort of my sister's home, filled with various electronic devices, but they've enjoyed touring the Intrepid, walking through the enormous Museum of Natural History and seeing a Broadway show.

Last winter, my younger son made an off-hand comment about wanting to see the Lincoln Memorial. I threw myself on that, having always wanted to take the kids to D.C., a city of enormous sightseeing potential and where I went to college. I organized a trip there for us in early June. Sadly, we arrived in the midst of an unprecedented and unwelcome heat wave. Undaunted, each morning, I marched my crew out into the oven-like city, pushing them on to see the various sights. Periodically, when they weren't too parched from the heat to complain, the children would say they didn't want to be in D.C.

I would patiently explain that the younger one had picked this destination and we had to respect that. The older one would look at him with thinly veiled hatred and the younger one would howl that it wasn't so.

So, for next summer, they may have said "beach," but I think I heard "Boston." Instead of laying on sand, I think they'd really enjoy walking the Freedom Trail. They're baseball fans so I'm even willing to throw in a game at Fenway Park. I think they'll love it!