EUCLID, Ohio — To travel or not to travel, that was the question my husband and I would ponder every summer when our three girls, who are now teens and young adults, were little.
It was no wonder. Like for so many parents of young children, the mere thought of packing car seats, strollers, pack-n-plays, and enough entertainment to occupy the most active of youngsters — on long car rides or cramped flights — was enough for us to question the wisdom of going on vacation, versus staying home.
Looking back, I’m glad we never shied away from the perils and frustrations of traveling with kids. Yes, at times, our travels to reconnect with family or explore new horizons could be hurried and stressful, but now I can reminisce, with misty-eyed nostalgia, on the abundance of family memories that are now distant images in our family’s rear-view mirror, as our girls have grown.
Early on, we discovered the magic of Cheerios and ice cream, and their power to calm even the fussiest of individuals. Together we licked the taste of salty ocean air and rested on the mattresses of chain hotels, happy to find an escape from home. We enthusiastically explored our share of zoos and aquariums, and logged countless miles on our minivan, our pseudo living room on wheels.
While our early family trips were often driven by a love of oceanfront beaches, we diverged to trips shaped by our curiosity. A trip to New York City was spurred by my middle daughter’s desire to visit the Statue of Liberty and the Central Park Zoo, the backdrop of the Madagascar animated movies. A trip to Washington, D.C., was conceived by another daughter’s desire to see the White House.
Our late fourth-grade teacher inspired our trips to Bar Harbor, Maine, where we went lobster fishing, and a day trip to explore the Everglades following our family’s trip to Disney World.
We visited family in Puerto Rico and Omaha, Nebraska, and relived my husband’s childhood vacations on the Jersey Shore. A few of our trips to Hilton Head include spending a day in Savannah, Georgia, and weekends in Charleston, South Carolina. One of our summer road trips started in Niagara Falls, weaved through the Finger Lakes of New York, and ended with two days spent in Boston and on Cape Cod.
This, year, the price of gas did not deter us from driving to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, where we took a boat cruise to see the Picture Rocks, hiked around Tahquamenon Falls and rode road bikes around Mackinac Island. Driving down Michigan’s western coast, we stopped at many quaint and inviting towns, before spending time in Traverse City, and seeing the impressive Sleeping Bear Dunes.
Through the years, we’ve learned that, no matter the destination, big or small, what engenders the vacation memories we hold dear is the time we spend together savoring the change in our daily routine and sharing the wonder of new surroundings, however simple.
Rachel Santiago
Summer trips weren’t always a given, but reminiscing about the days of sunny weather and outdoor activity gives yesterday’s summers a mystic glow. More than travels, I remember ice cream and picnics along Lake Erie most, along with hikes in the Cuyahoga Valley National Park, and walks in our favorite Metroparks.
I am especially fond of the summer my sister and I ran “Camp Rock,” a cousins camp with my girls and my brother’s son and daughter, complete with T-shirts, crafts, snacks and daily outings to local beaches, museums and parks.
Now that my girls are juggling jobs, college classes and sports conditioning, the little things of summer, now the most elusive, are what I treasure most. It’s a reminder that it behooves us all to make memories, big and small, while we can.
Raquel Santiago is a freelance writer who lives in Euclid with her husband and their three daughters. This summer, in addition to the family trip to Michigan, she is working as a fellow with Literary Cleveland.
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