Family Vacation 2013: To the Caribbean via Baltimore

It has been a while since I vacationed with the family. The next several blog posts are dedicated to capturing the good, bad, and tasty experiences of a week at sea with my father, his girlfriend, my sister and nieces.

"I never get to go anywhere," said Roxy, petulantly.

On the first day of vacation, everything went smoothly. Our people and their luggage all fit into the van. I won the largest suitcase competition, but in my defense a guy needs an adequate supply of costume changes to get through a week at sea. There were a few traffic slowdowns and one road construction detour in Washington DC that confused the GPS, but other than that it was a smooth trip from Raleigh to Baltimore. 

Seaside Crabhouse, which is surprisingly nowhere near the seaside

After freshening up, we met in the lobby and the desk clerk gave us directions to a local crab house for dinner.  For the most part, I am a bit averse to interacting too forcefully with my food. In the case of seafood, however, I am a beast. I am happy to rip a mollusk’s flesh from its shell, to crack the leg of a succulent crap and dredge the slightly salty flesh through some warm drawn butter, and peel a pound of sweet steamed shrimp for dipping in a spicy cocktail sauce. I love seafood, particularly in the summer, so I was more than delighted to split a seafood steamer pot with Linda. We each had plenty of our favorites and at the end of the night we had the dirty fingers to prove we had enjoyed the spread. 

Upon returning to the hotel, my niece Kaitlyn and I immediately curled into our beds and went to sleep.  All was well in the world, but I was a bit concerned about sharing a room with a light sleeper. According to those in the know, I am not a snore-all-night sort of guy, but I was a bit nervous that my intermittent snoring would ruin this princess’s sleep. I did not want to be the pea under her mattress preventing her from enjoying our week at sea.

At breakfast the next morning she proclaimed that I was very considerate in my snoring except for the one time I reached a crescendo and actually woke myself up. I blame the pillows. 

I am sticking to that story. 

Two Weeks On: Vacation in Retrospective

I was talking to my friend John on Friday and he asked me about my trip. Two weeks on, my perspective has changed a bit. The never-ending jet lag that resulted in two weeks of insomnia had eased and I was sleeping through the night again - well mostly. The fatigue of getting up at 3:30 AM to begin our 30 hour transit home, returning to the office the next day, and being committed to outside activities for seven evenings in a row was a hazy dreamy memory of something that could have occurred in the distant past.

So, in looking back....

I really miss my brother and sister-in-law.  I wish it were easier to see them and share the daily minutiae of our lives. Not to mention that I will have to recreate relationships with Ozzy and Sawyer when I next see them.

Planning a trip to meet the requirements of so many other people's schedules is difficult. Next time, I may have to depend more on my traveling companion or employ the assistance of a travel agent. It was a lot of work coordinating schedules and travel preferences with my brother and dad. Thank goodness for my brother's knowledge of the countries we visited and his eagerness to share his part of the world with us.

Never, never, never again will I update my Facebook status with happy (smug) updates about the empty seat next to mine. Karma is a bitch, and she repaid me by placing an extra large Hispanic man in the seat next to mine on the 15 hour flight home from Honk Kong (not counting the 2 hours of sitting on the ground waiting for electrical maintenance to be completed). After we spent the first hour and a half fighting for the armrest, I gave in and let him have it. Of course, I exacted my revenge by cuddling into his over-hanging largeness as I tried to stay warm and get a bit of sleep on the way home. Good times...

On my next trip to Asia I will plan more professionally conducted tours. Why not learn something new while you are on the other side of the world? I will also plan to take a side trip to Angkor Wat to see another of the wonders of the world - however, I do hear that there is a "roughing it" factor when traveling to Cambodia.

Food is a good thing. I will soon be purchasing my own rice cooker and learning how to make a tasty pho. I will also be pestering my brother for his curry recipes.

If my office opens a branch in Singapore - you can count me among those who are willing to pack up my things and head overseas. I adore that city.

Separate bedrooms may be a good idea to promote prolonged family happiness and harmony. Apparently dad has not spent the night with that many men, in that I expect my sleeping companion to snore, he does not. Middle of the night belching and farting however is still unacceptable.

And, looking back on the entire experience, now that all the bills have come in, I would not change a thing. It was a memorable trip filled with lots of laughs and a few happy tears. My only regret is that it did not last longer.

XOX
Glenn