Memorial Day is upon us. On this day, we remember and honor those brave men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our freedom.

“They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this nation.” — Henry Ward Beecher

Memorial Day also marks the traditional beginning of summer vacation season. Here at Hanna & Plaut, we’ve filed our vacation letters and we’re ready for some r&r. Vacations bring some of our most lasting memories – both bad and good. In fact, some of our vacation disasters can provide the funniest stories, after a suitable amount of time has passed of course. For this blog post, however,  I asked Hanna & Plaut team members to share their happiest summer vacation memories, as well as their ideas of a dream vacation.

Most of us enjoy and dream of the beach.  Anne-Marie has fond memories of island hopping in Hawaii with her twins and her parents, living in flip flops and enjoying local treats like shaved ice and malasadas (don’t worry, I googled it for you, it’s a Portugese doughnut without a hole). David and his family also enjoy beachy trips. For years, they have had a family tradition of Spring Break in Playa del Carmen on the Mexican Caribbean.  Hanging around, swimming, visiting Mayan ruins in Coba and Tuluum, and enjoying fantastic food and drink.

 

We like the good old USA as well. Pat dreams of traveling the country in an RV, seeing our national and state parks, and the mountains and wildlife along the way. David has wonderful memories of his family’s summer vacations in Big Bend National Park, hiking and canoeing in the Santa Elena Canyon on the Rio Grande. He’s headed back to celebrate his 25th wedding anniversary this June.

Rebekah and her two boys had great adventures in the California Redwoods, camping, swimming, and hiking. They had their own wildlife encounter,  a visit from a furry black and white critter who decided to invite himself to dinner. Rebekah says her idea of camping these days is a nice hotel and a bottle of wine.

Sarah shares her great memories (and a special souvenir) of a camping trip:

One of my favorite vacation memories was my post-bar trip. It was supposed to be a group of five or six people who would drive up to Wyoming together and go camping – but everyone save one person bailed about two weeks before the trip. After spending about 50 hours in a car and five days hiking, cooking outside (including a laborious coffee-making process), and hiking some more with the only other soul brave enough to make the trip, I figured we should probably start dating. We’ve been together ever since and got married earlier this year

Of course, Europe also figures in our dreams and memories. Laura loved her trip to the Greek Islands, noting that there are few places more beautiful than Santorini.

Leslie recalls a Mother’s Day celebration with her husband and mother-in-law in Holland, complete with tulips, windmills, wooden shoes, and cheese.

Sheila, who had a lovely wedding in Ireland,  says she dreams of kayaking in Norway (or salmon fishing in Alaska), but she just had a baby, so those visions may be the result of sleep deprivation.

My first family vacation as a kid was a trip to the California coast and Disneyland. I have loved California ever since, but my most treasured vacation memories are of Italy. On my first trip, my husband and I fell in love with the Tuscan town of Siena, with its medieval architecture and traditions.

We later made Italy a family vacation spot, enjoying the sights, along with pasta, vino, and gelato (hmm, do you sense a theme here?). We threw our coin in Trevi fountain, so we will definitely be back.

Eric says that planning and anticipating a vacation is almost always as exciting as the trip, but his world-traveling ways suggest otherwise. He likes all kinds of vacations: relaxing, “do nothing” beach vacations, food travel, and energetic expeditions of adventure. It sounds like we all have those dreams in common.