 Summer Vacation! Posted by Susan Sey Aug 4 2012, 12:05 am
All right, everybody, it’s August! It’s likely you’re aware of this already but I thought it worth pointing out, because in our house? August means vacation. Come Monday morning, I’m tossing the kids into the van with five days worth of clothing apiece & taking off for a massive round of driving that won’t end until we’ve seen both the only walled city in North America (Quebec City, bien sur!) and celebrated my fortieth birthday in the state where I was born (Michiganders unite!). But when I’m not feverishly doing laundry & changing the oil in my van & checking off the days on my calendar, I’m thinking about other Augusts, other vacations. Now I don’t often like to double-dip when it comes to vacation–there’s so much of the world to see and so little time/money–but here are a couple places I’d go back to in a red-hot minute.
So how about you? Where are your favorite vacation spots? Do you love revisiting special places? Or are you a stake-out-new-territory sort? Where would you love to go but haven’t managed yet? TweetPosted in Holidays, Summer, Susan Sey, vacations Comments56 thoughts on “Summer Vacation!” |
  
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Hi Susan,
Hawaii is definitely a favorite vacation destination. I’ve never been to Kauai, but I did stay in Oahu and the Big Island. I would love to see Maui the next time I get to go. I’m also hoping to visit Egypt and its archaeological sites.
Jane
You might like to take the GR with you next time I am sure he would love it
Have Fun
Helen
The GR in Hawaii? For some reason, I’m picturing grass skirts and flaming batons. I can’t imagine why. That GR. He’s a danger junkie.
Hi, Jane–
I, too, would love to visit some of the other islands! Such a good excuse to go back. But, oh, Egypt! Now I’m torn. You know what would solve this problem? More time. And money. I guess I’m going to have to write faster. And better.
Hey Jane! Congrats on the GR – I think he’d love Hawaii too…grins.
Jane, congrats on nabbing the rooster! I’d love to see Hawaii someday. The dh has been, but I haven’t.
Susan
Love the pics and Ireland is one place I would love to visit.
August is usually cold and windy here in Oz and a lot of people go to the snow this time of the year I have been there a couple of times and had a great time must visit again one day. As you know we recently got back from our 2nd cruise and loved it we visited a couple of new places we hadn’t been before Fiji and an Island called Mare with is part of New Caledonia and Mare is beautiful you could just about see every grain of sand you were walking on in the water so peaceful scenic I loved it and would go back again we also visited Port Vila which is fantastic for duty free shopping. So for me I would love to go on another cruise next year and am happy to re visit places I have been and explore new places as well. One place that I truly would love to visit is The Greek Isles and fingers crossed that I do get there one day.
Have a great trip and a wonderful birthday
Have Fun
Helen
Wow, Helen, Fiji? Talk about a dream vacation! That sounds amazing! And that beach….mmmmmmmmm.
There are a bunch of places I think a cruise would be the only way to visit–the fjords in Iceland, the coast of Alaska…. Plus, I love learning about new places & cruises often offer just that. The staff is often so knowledgeable. You’ll have to let us know if you schedule another cruise. Would love to hear about it!
Susan , another friend of mine named Susan just got back from an Alaskan cruise. She was there just in time for the lumberjack games…men in plaid shirts doing manly things with axes and stuff!!
I’ve always wanted to cruise Alaska!
Ooooh, fun, Suz! I have, however, heard that doing the cruise thing in Alaska is fun, but renting a car and journeying around is MORE fun. :> I now know two folks who’ve done it that way – my sister, and my friend Barb Devlin who’ll be my guest on the 8th – and they both said they’d do it again in a heartbeat!
Lumberjacks though. They didn’t mention the lumberjacks. I’m thinking… ROAD TRIP!!!
Ah Susan, vacations. I would love to go back to the outer banks someday. We rented a beach house there one summer for a week with Mr. ferrell’s family and had a blast.
I’ve been craving the Blue Ridge mountains of late and would love to go visit the kin still there.
My all-time secret vacation destination? Scotland!!! I won’t mind seeing a castle or two, but would love to sit in a pub and listen to the locals talk. I’d come home with quite a brogue I’m sure!!
Hey, Suz!
Oh, Scotland! How could you not come home with a brogue? Or somebody who spoke with one.
I’m sure Mr. Ferrell (or Mr. Sey) would understand.
And the Outer Banks I’ve heard are gorgeous. It’s so hard to narrow the choices down! I’m committed to Montreal and yet this blog is making me wish I could change up….
Mr. Sey would kill me. We’re going to Montreal. Montreal. Montreal….
The Outer Banks are gorgeous. If you stay at Nags Head, it’s convenient to Manteo, the Lost Colony, Ft. Raleigh National Historic Site, the NC Aquarium (an air-conditioned refuge from the heat and humidity!), Kitty Hawk & the Wright Brothers memorial, Jockey’s Ridge, and a movie theater. We like having things to do besides lie on the beach–can you tell?
Oh, ladies, the OB – Outer Banks – ARE wonderful. YOu would both love it there. Especially the island of Okracoke where you have to ferry over. Ohhhh. I used to go there for a writing retreat each year. I got so much done and slept so well with the sound of the ocean in my ear….ahhhhhhh…
Suz, the Blue Ridge is calling to me at the moment. For one thing, it’s cooler there! Ha!
Hey, Jeanne, is that island you mentioned in the OB the one where the wild horses swim every year? My mom said something about going there after dreaming of it for years, & in my mind it’s either in or near the OB….
Should have added that Scotland IS my dream destination.
Ahhhhh, lassies…..
I know, right? It’s all foggy & romantical in my mind. I almost don’t want to go so I won’t shatter the illusion….
I have always wanted to visit across the Big Pond but I would also like to explore The States, I have only been to 5 other states.
I would like to go back to Georgia when I had more time, the southern states draw me.
I know! I always feel like such an Ugly American when I visit Europe, & discover Europeans who’ve seen more of America than I have. But they have such amazing and vast HISTORY in Europe. Our country still feels so new. Plus we don’t have castles. Or men with brogues. Or kilts….
But, definitely, I would love to see more of the states. In particular, some of the big national parks out in California. Yosemite is on my list. Maybe next summer we’ll go west….
Dianna, the RWA National Conference is in Atlanta next July. 400+ authors at an awesome booksigning open to the public plus lots of Bandits and Buddies. It’s a great reason to visit Georgia!
Always thinking ahead, PJ! I like that about you. Yes, let’s all meet in Atlanta next July because it’s historically important, architecturally beautiful, & because we can hang out with a whole bunch of romance writers! Wheeee!
My husband and I were married 15 years before having children and that is when we did the majority of our traveling. It’s pretty much out of our budget right now but I would love to take another cruise (anywhere) and Hawaii and France would be wonderful repeats. I also would love to see Scotland, Australia, Sicily and oh so many more new places!
How wonderful, Catslady, that you and hubby got to do so much traveling! Mr. Adams and I had hoped to do that, but we got surprised by our eldest. Grins. (Yes, I”m one of those people who make sure the BC pill has only a 99% stat!)
Grins.
Well, Jeanne, *somebody* has to do it.
Catslady, we tried to go to Nova Scotia once, but we overestimated how long we’d need to drive to Bar Harbor, ME, to catch the ferry. We would’ve had time to take the ferry, touch ground in Nova Scotia, and take the next ferry back, so we passed.
The TV show Haven films there, and the fishing villages they use are beautiful.
That’s another of my “dream destinations” – Nova Scotia, PEI, and Newfoundland.
Now that I’ve plowed through the entire Anne of Green Gables series, I desperately want to visit PEI. I can’t *quite* make the time stretch far enough to make it happen this time, but one of these days….
We did the bulk of our big trips before the kiddoes came along, too. But there are so many we’d love to repeat with the kids now! Hawaii, of course, with all that hiking & swimming would be a dream. I’d wait a little bit on France because I want to eat everything and never never never ever have to request a chicken nugget or ketchup. I’m sure a French waiter would never forgive me.
Aloha, Susan! Have fun in Quebec – a place I’d like to visit! “Vacations” while living in Oahu are limited to the other islands – Kauai is very beautiful!
Now saving pennies to visit hubby in Korea, from where we’ll hop over to Japan and China. May even swing by Oz for Tim Tams with Anna Campbell!
*waving madly* HI KIM!!!! It was so great to see you at the National conference! WOOT!!
I’m jealous of your trip to Korea. Despite the countries troubles, I’d love to visit it. And CHina. And Japan. And, of course, OZ!!
Oh, Tim Tams with Anna! There’s impetus for a vacation! If you get there, be sure to take a picture with Anna! We’ll do a blog on you!
Ooh, vacation! My very favorite thing.
Though I must admit, we rarely have gone on vacation in August because it’s too stinking hot! Despite being Southern and having lived in the South all my life, I do NOT like the heat. For that reason, beach trips are not my favorites.
That said, I do like the old familiar places a lot. Hilton Head (where we’ve been MANY times), Williamsburg (3 times) and the Outer Banks (3 or 4 times). We’ve also been to Orlando twice. While I LOVE Orlando (okay, DISNEY WORLD!!), Mr. Crane does not. So…we mostly go to places we agree on. And while we’ve never been to Manhattan TOGETHER, I have been 4 times and it gets better every time! I have sworn I’ll wear him down one day, but who knows?
We would go back to Switzerland in a hot minute. We had such a great time there and it was amazingly gorgeous! Every view in the Oberland is a postcard. *sigh* The list of places I have NOT been but want to visit is very lengthy. The trouble is finding the time and money AND getting spousal agreement. You wouldn’t think it would be so tough to get him to agree to go somewhere awesome!
We are going to Grand Cayman for our 20th anniversary in November. It should be fun. We haven’t been, so it will be new to us. We are staying on the mostly-unpopulated east end of the island where there is nothing to do and nowhere to eat. But the whole island is so small we should be able to drive to where the restaurants are without too much problem. We shall see! I’ll spend the whole time slathered in sunscreen and sitting in the shade. Unless, of course, there is high adventure stuff to do. I’m all about that!
Caren, my sistah!! I’m SO not in the “I glow” Southern Ladies club. I dislike hot-n-humid and beach vacations are torture. Ugh. Unless, of course, they take place in Oct. which is civilized and lovely. Grins.
I envy you Switzerland. I remember your stories of that trip. I was jealous then and remain so! Ha!
Congrats on coming up on 20 years. WOOT!
Caren, we like Williamsburg too, but we prefer not seeing it during a heat wave! We all enjoyed DisneyWorld, but the heat and humidity were draining. We went before Memorial Day, and it was pretty crowded. I hate to think what it must’ve been two weeks later. I hear the best time to go is the first part of Thanksgiving week, but that doesn’t fit into anyone’s vacation schedule.
Oh, Caren, Grand Cayman! How wonderful! I hope you take lots & lots of pictures so we can live vicariously through you! Happy anniversary!
And I also know how hard it is to get spousal buy-in on a vacation destination. Mr. Sey is hugely ambitious while I’m more budget-minded, vacationally speaking. So we often can’t quite get together on how/where to vacation. It’s always an adventure in and of itself just agreeing on a time/place.
But we always have fun once we get there (wherever THERE is), so we let bygones be bygones.
Susan, what a fun piece. August in Australia, at least for romance writers, is conference time. Off to see all my local writer buddies at the very groovy Gold Coast in a couple of weeks. Can’t wait! I love the sound of Kauai! That low-rise development sounds really appealing. One of the things I loved about Washington D.C. is that no building can be taller than the Capitol. Means you’re not walking down huge canyons of concrete (mind you, the lovely wide roads help emphasise that feeling of space). Have fun on your holiday! I’ve got two of my very best friends in the world coming to stay tomorrow so I’ll be having a good time too!
And August in Oz is COOL. You forgot that lovely bit, Anna! :>
We missed having you stay with us in DC this year, pre-conference. But will look forward to NEXT year! WOOHOOO!
Have fun at your conference!
Jeanne, usually we have beautiful winter weather. Cold crisp days with clear blue skies. Last year and this year, it’s been wet and pretty miserable (ask VA!). This last week or so has been just lovely here. Yeah, your boys will be taller than me by the time I see them again! x
You’re so right, Anna! That low-rise thing plus the wide-open streets really does make it feel spacious. I love a big city vacation but sometimes it *does* feel like you’re in a concrete canyon all day. And that’s a little weird & apocalyptic for my taste.
Have fun with your house guests, & the Gold Coast sounds utterly fantastic!
Susan, our favorite vacation destinations are Nags Head beach and the UK. We would love to see Sweden someday, the dh being half Swedish, as well as Hawaii and Australia. We’d also like to get back to the UK for a week or two. Maybe after the boy finishes college, we can swing one of those.
Have a great time on your trip!
Hey, Nancy–
I’ve heard Sweden is absolutely spectacular–clean, accessible, beautiful, plenty of English speakers… If you get there, take lots of pictures so I can live through you! I live up here in Minnesota, you know, land of the Scandinavian transplant, so sometimes it feels like everybody’s been there but me. They’re also a disproportionate amount of tall, leggy blondes walking around. This short freckly Irish girl doesn’t come off all that well, & if I’m going to look bad by comparison, I’d rather do it abroad.
Susan, what a fun post! I love vacations. I love spending that time with my kids and hubby.
Mr. Adams and I are quite a bit alike on our vacay preferences, with one exception. He can tolerate – and likes – the beach in August. Me? Hibernation time!
Otherwise, we have similar lists:
Go. To. Scotland. (This was postponed by the early arrival of our eldest and we STILL haven’t gotten there!) Since I have Ferguson, McDowell, McDonald, and McLeod in my bloodlines, I think this explains my yearning. :>
Return to Kenya with our boys – talk about a trip of a lifetime!
Ireland – ohhhhhh, yeah. Hubster is only 2 generations removed from the auld sod, so it would be uber fun to go.
Sweden – Hubs is only 1 generation removed from the Swedish gene pool, so we REALLY want to visit and find those roots….
Paris. I went as a high-schooller and so want to go back. Ahhhhhh…..
There are a few states I want to visit as well. I’ve gotten to see 38 of the 50 so far, but want to see all 50. :>
I’m giving a big blanket YES to your list, Jeanne! I have a friend who went to Kenya with her whole family last summer, & it sounds like it was a transformative experience. I’d love to have that for my kids & for myself. But, hey, Scotland would rock as well.
I took a tour in Dublin at Guinness Storehouse. Isn’t that the best, smoothest and most flavorful Guinness you’ve ever drunk. I still remember it and it’s been 5 years since I drank it! Not all Guinness beverages are created equal.
Ooooh, jealous!!!
No kidding! They say it all has to do with the water. The Guinness recipe is the same the world over but they use the local water, obviously. St. James Gate evidently has magic water because a Guinness from the brewery right there in Dublin is, I swear, a magical experience.
August tends to be vacation month for us, too–we’re heading back to the “happiest place on Earth” later this month
We’re also planning to see friends, which is something we’ll happily do each vacation 
We’ve spent some previous vacations in the Canadian national parks, which were gorgeous… we’re planning on hitting some of the US national parks in a future visit, and probably some of the East coast…
Oh, we’re big fans of the national/state park system as well, Fedora! Mr. Sey is desperate to get out to Yosemite one of these days, & I’d dearly love to do Glacier again, which I did with our former bandita Inara & her husband back before Mr. Sey & I were even engaged. Then again, those were the days when you could fly your backpacking gear–camp stoves included–across the country, no questions asked. Imagine trying that now!
What a fun blog, Susan! I hope you have a wonderful trip and an early Happy 40th from a fellow native Michigander!
I’d go to Italy every summer if I could. I love that country so much. The culture, the food, the men, the scenery, the gelato.
What’s not to love?
Scotland and Ireland are both on my bucket list. One of these days…
I give the Blue Ridge Mountains an enthusiastic two thumbs up! I live in their foothills and hit higher elevations at every opportunity. It’s so beautiful.
Oooooh, Italy! You had me at ‘gelato.’
And tell me again what part of the mitten you’re from? I hail from suburban Detroit–Romeo, specifically. It’s a little apple orchard town north of Rochester. It would be hilarious if we were once-upon-a-time neighbors!
I’m from the other side – little town called Watervliet. It’s between Benton Harbor and Kalamazoo.
Oh, Watervliet! I know Watervliet! I have a sister who’s lived in Kazoo for over twenty years, & I spent a couple summers in Kazoo myself. Have driven through/near Watervliet loads of times! How fun! In fact, I’ll be driving past in a couple days on my way to kazoo to visit said sister. I’ll wave at it for you!
Well – we just back from Scotland, so I’m thinking we’ll be staying put for August. (grin).
I’d love to vacation in Ireland, though! My maternal gradparents came over from County Cork. I’d like to visit my roots.
Our difficulty is that my husband likes to vacation somewhere hot where he can lie on a beach drinking mojoitos. That does nothing for me- lulls me into a stupor. I like to vacation someplace that I’ve not been before that has lots of shopping and historical interest and stimulation. Sometimes we find a compromise, sometimes we don’t (I won the coin toss this year – LOL)
Donna, you’ve got all of us here in the Lair green with envy over your Scottish vacation! And I totally get the flip a coin deal. My husband is all about checking sights off his Life List, & he wants to do it all as fast as possible. Like take-the-subway-all-over-Paris-instead-of-walking-above-the-ground fast. That makes me bonkers. First, I need time to breathe between priceless masterpieces & world class views, & second? IT”S PARIS. I want to sit in a cafe on the sidewalk, drink an overpriced coffee & soak it in! I do NOT want to hurry up & check stuff off my list.
So about five days into every vacation we need to take a half day apart. Him to see everything as fast as he wants, & me to slow down & soak in the atmosphere.
It took about ten years worth of rip roaring fights in odd cities around the world before we figured this out, though. Good times.
God luck with the GR, Jane. I would NOT take him on vacation with me. Don’t want to end up on the 6 o’ clock news!
My favorite vacation destination of late has been wherever RWA National Conference is. I get to hang with my writer buddies, spend time with Banditas and Buddies and recharge my batteries to get my butt in the chair!
My dream vacation is still returning to England. I would truly love to be there for the Waterloo Bicentennial and then travel on to Belgium for the actual date.
I think of RWA as my mommy vacation every year. It gets less & less about the writing (though it’s always about the writing more or less) and more & more about the friendships. I just love touching basing with certain people year after year. It’s motivating & centering. And it reaffirms my identity as a professional writer, even though I make crap for money.
But, hey, I’d do England in a heartbeat again, too.