Monday, April 21, 2008

Home Sweet Home!

What Aunt Betty Learned On Vacation

Sorry the blog is a bit late today, but your Aunt Betty is still recovering after a fabulous week-long vacation in San Francisco last week! The whole family went and we hit all the landmarks: The Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, Chinatown­–we even ventured down to Santa Cruz (what a boardwalk!), Monterey and Carmel. No, we didn’t see Clint Eastwood, but we did see baby sea lions sunning on rocky cliffs with their roly-poly moms nestled close-by!

But like every great vacation, the West Coast adventure taught us just as much about “home” as it did about the city by the Bay.

No matter how many rolled-up balls of socks, Ziplocks full of shampoo and toothpaste, or cell phone chargers I carefully pack, there’s always that one thing I kick myself for forgetting! This time it was my Marilyn Monroe Glamour Purse! It’s the perfect size for my wallet, maps, digital camera, hand sanitizer and every other “mom” travel essential. Plus, its soft, sateen retro-style would’ve been oh-so-chic in San Francisco! Nostalgia is very cosmopolitan!





And speaking of nostalgia, healthy California cuisine is fine and dandy, but I’ll tell you–when it’s 2 a.m. in a hotel room and you can’t sleep, you dream of White Castle hamburgers! My son wore his White Castle t-shirt one afternoon, and thereafter, I couldn’t wait to get home to sink my teeth into 3 or 4 or 12 of those tiny slices of Heaven!



And speaking of snacking, getting the family together for an in-room movie over 2 mini bar packets of crackers was not exactly a cinematic event. We were exhausted after a day of hiking steep Frisco streets so we made due, but once we got home to Florida, I popped a fresh buttery batch of popcorn and filled our Disney Popcorn Bowl that includes a cute Mickey Mouse-shaped salt shaker.



I still have laundry to do and it’ll be weeks before our photos are emailed and printed, but all of that can wait. For now, I’m enjoying the best part of every vacation: relishing how much I love being home.

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