I’ve always loved to travel. When I was young, my dad had a private plane – a sleek Mooney Mark 21 – that we flew on day trips around New England and, every spring, to Florida during school vacation.
It was an amazing way to see the country – and because we were traveling by small plane – experience parts of the U.S. unexpectedly, when weather forced us to detour or set down early. I vividly remember staying in the very elegant Richmond Hotel in Richmond, Virginia when weather forced us to cut a day’s flying short – and listening to the train being announced all night long at the station next door to our hotel. I learned the history of the 504th Infantry Parachute Regiment – WWII’s “Devils in Baggy Pants” – at the U.S, Airborne & Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina during another unexpected layover. We found things to do during seven days of rain in Ft. Lauderdale one year. Another year we discovered the enchanting town of St. Augustine, Florida, and the historic Marineland of Florida oceanarium – one of the country’s first marine mammal parks – just up the coast. Marineland had a motel near the beach, which we stayed at – and early in the morning you could hear the dolphins in the ocean talking to those in captivity if you stood quietly on your balcony. Small plane travel was an amazing way to get bitten by the travel bug.
I’m lucky, my husband also loves to travel, and his job in food service sales afforded us many opportunities to indulge our shared passion. On company trips to Marco Island, Florida, the Cayman Islands, Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic, we saw a lot of romantic sunsets and strolled hand in hand on some amazing beaches. My parents introduced us to cruising, and a trip to Bermuda quickly became a favorite escape. But the biggest travel adventure of our lives was the 21 days we spent in Russia to adopt our son. Navigating in a word where you don’t know much of the language – and the alphabet looks nothing like the one you are used to (the Cyrillic alphabet has letters that look like spiders and a pumpkin with a stake through it) – gave us not only an appreciation of what it must be like for immigrants to our country, but for simple things we take for granted here at home, like ordering a cup of coffee and getting what you want. Our son loved traveling as much as we did – taking to cruising and airplane flights at an early age. He toured the Caribbean at age 4, Disney World multiple times, Bermuda, and when he became a competitive gymnast, we all visited Las Vegas and Los Angeles for annual competitions. For our 30th anniversary – when Evan was 12 – we all took an unforgettable cruise to Italy, Greece and Croatia.
Our love of travel hasn’t dimmed over the years – but now my husband and I are looking at what some may call the “bucket list” trips – London and Paris, Ireland and Scotland, maybe a river cruise in Portugal – my grandparents came from the mountains there – and possibly a trip back to northern Italy where my husband’s grandfather immigrated from. There’s so much of the world to see.
I hope you find your own travel inspiration in this month’s feature on romantic getaways. Travel agents Amy Frank from Magical Moments Vacations and Karen Basilone from AAA have years of experience – and a wealth of information – on trips as close as New Hampshire and as far away as the Mekong Delta. Whatever “romantic” means to you – from a secluded beach to a hike through the Alps, these women have the lowdown on how to make it happen! Indulge your personal wanderlust starting on page 8.
A sad note to readers
For more than 20 years, Alternative Medicine columnist and Herbal Information Specialist Jonathan Evans of the Herbarium shared his expertise with readers in the pages of Prime. Sadly, Evans passed away from the effects of a massive stroke on Jan. 16. I know readers will miss his knowledge and counsel as much as I will. We at Prime extend our condolences to his wife, Kathy Duffy, and family.
As always, thanks for reading.
Debbie Gardner
