How I Spent My Summer Vacation by Hannah Rowan #RomanceGems

Remember this essay topic greeting you when you returned to class after a summer hiatus?

No?

I don’t!

But I’ve seen it often enough in comic strips and on TV shows.  And if I were still a student, I’d have a very peculiar essay to hand in.

Generally around this time of year my husband and I are getting ready to set out on a great adventure.  We wouldn’t take a beach vacation when we have nice, hot sun right at home.  We save that for the cold winter months. We’ll do day trips to the Jersey shore, but our standard getaways usually involve visiting another state to continue my quest to go to all fifty.  (At this point I’m up to 42.)  Sometimes we’re fortunate enough to travel to another country.

In the year 2020, it sometimes seems we’ve traveled to another universe entirely.

This year’s shelter-in-place directives have introduced my husband to the wonders of grocery stores.  Where before he might have made a quick trip to pick up milk and bananas, he found himself accompanying me on more extensive excursions as a way to get out of the house.  After the initial excitement wore off, he found he was just as bored as I usually am with the task. In fact, he could get downright impatient while I stood pondering which tomatoes were ripest or which loaf of bread had the most fiber and the least sugar. I finally realized that buying him a Kit Kat or a bag of pretzels made the trip more palatable to him.

Our horizons expanded beyond groceries when I discovered websites listing all the local, county, and state parks in our area.  We found parks right near our house that we never knew existed.  Some featured nice, gentle strolls on paved paths.  Others required the dexterity of a mountain goat but we were forced to keep going only because it would have been more difficult to go back the way we came.

We discovered that New Jersey has many ponds, lakes, and rivers hidden in the woods in state and county parks. Several times we were rewarded with a view of the Manhattan skyline after scrambling up a rocky path.  We found the remains on many a colonial stone foundation deep in the woods.  And I can’t even remember how many spots where we learned colonial soldiers rested or hid to prepare for the next battle.  The forest also hides the rusted out parts of old cars and appliances, leading us to wonder why someone would take the trouble to lug something so far into the woods that it takes an hour to get to it.

On the first mild day we decided to go down the shore just to walk on the beach and the boardwalk.  The fog obscured the ocean and it was chilly and cloudy, but it was also delightful to be out of the house and near the water.

When outdoor dining first opened up we rushed to a favorite restaurant with tables spread out on the sidewalk.  Just as our food arrived, the skies opened up and we might as well have been eating in the shower.  We grabbed our dishes and ran to a nearby empty table that had an umbrella.  Yes, our backs were soaked, but our fronts were deliriously happy eating at a restaurant for the first time in many months.

We’ve been swimming in a nearby pond because the pool in our complex won’t open this year.

We’ve been sitting in the dark watching a hurricane blow trees past our window.

We’ve seen enough wildlife to assemble our own private zoo.  The chipmunks are running rampant, but we’ve also seen a man rescuing a frog from the jaws of a snake on a forest path, a red-shouldered hawk, a very fat groundhog, a blue heron, a white heron, lots of bunnies and deer, and the occasional coyote.

All in all I guess you could say that though it hasn’t been the most pleasant summer on record, at least it’s been interesting.

You may have noticed that I’m somewhat fond of water.  Lakes, rivers, ponds, swimming pools, and the ocean.  The beach is my happy place!  So when I was given the opportunity to join 13 other authors in the Last Chance Beach box set, it seemed like the natural place to be.

Click Last Chance Beach on the menu bar above to follow me to Last Chance Beach, and pick up a copy of our free companion e-book featuring recipes for delicious beach-side drinks in Cocktails on Last Chance Beach.  And be sure to enter this month's giveaway!