We are about to pack up our airbnb and head back to FLL (hopefully this time it will not take 14+ hours . . .) but I’m so glad we made the trek out here.
It was fun connecting with people I hadn’t seen in years but even cooler was how much fun there was for the kids, and the completely different weather + scenery.
We will definitely be back in 5 years. And I am now even more motivated to do a family New England summer trip one year. While I love our FL beaches (esp Amelia Island), there is something to be said for weather where you get to wear a fleece outside in the morning in the SUMMER.
I did not end up going running, which is kind of a shame, but our airbnb wasn’t perfectly situated and I never really relish the idea of getting up early on vac. Next time!
We hung out for a while and then headed to a soccer clinic put on by the reunion — C lasted the whole time and A&G participated for 30-40 minutes or so. (He was on the field and missed this picture)
This was followed by a magic show which all 3 kids were into and then Josh and I made the executive decision to stray from reunion festivities and head out to dinner as a family. Mezze was elegant (maybe a bit TOO elegant for our crew, but we managed) and delicious. I already want to book for 2027. FUN FACT: Mezze used to be in a different location, but I spotted George Clooney there in summer ~2001 (or possibly 2000) when he was in town for the theater festival.
Anyway, I’m very happy we went. Reunions are such an interesting phenomenon and a chance to think about your life in 5 year chunks. (Someone should write a novel jumping through reunion years!).
Now if only I had taken tomorrow off . . . ha. In my defense, I have so much travel this summer (a week in July, a week in August, and a long weekend) that I didn’t want to take any excess PL time! The kids have camp, our nanny will thankfully help restock the fridge, and we managed to do laundry at the Airbnb, so that helps too.
All that said – my show notes MIGHT be a day late. We will see. (Probably depends on airport waiting time + internet on the plane!)
OHHHH last thing: I finished The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai. You all were right — it was an amazing book and an emotional ride. Highly recommend. Next up is Sea of Tranquility (my book club pick!) which I’m also excited about.
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I’d love to go to Maine sometime. VT is nice, and so is where my parents live in NW CT in the Berkshires. You could also do northern MI or even western MI.
Just chiming in to say that I second the rec for Maine. I’m biased – my parents built a house in Bar Harbor after I graduated high school so we now have a built-in place to vacation every summer – but it is great for a family trip. Lots to do in Acadia and Mount Desert Island if you go up that far, but I also find that the towns and beaches in southern Maine are equally fun and beautiful (and much more accessible from the Portland airport without a multi-hour drive). It would be such a nice change for your (SHU’s) kids to be in the Maine weather!!!
I laughed at your George Clooney anecdote — the one time I was in Williamstown for an afternoon (2019?), I ran into Modern Family’s Jesse Tyler Ferguson, who was also there for the festival. I am terrible at recognizing celebs but he held a door open for me at a cafe and I immediately knew who he was.
Williamstown and surroundings are beautiful — great place to have an excuse to return to every five years!
I’ve read all Emily St. John Mandela’s work. sea of tranquility might be better than station eleven? Highly recommend
Glad you all had so much fun! I’d highly recommend Maine for a family summer vacation. The ocean water is frigid but the rocky coast is so beautiful.
I’m considering going to my own 20th college reunion next year at a different New England small liberal arts college. I assume they’ll have similar kinds of kid activities as Williams did. Were there things to do that were entertaining for the teen and tween crowd? My daughter will be 12. I think she would at least enjoy walking around campus and imagining her own future college years.
I saw some tweens / teens just hanging out in groups. Could always just go to part of the reunion and otherwise just enjoy local attractions!
I’m also a Williams grad and was there for my 25th this weekend. Most people in my class have teens and tweens and they had lots of activities for them.
It seemed like a great turnout from your class! Hoping my group of college BFFs will come for 25!!
I thought so too but someone told me it was very similar to the 20th! (This was the first time I’d been since our 5th.) I’m lucky that most of my close friend group was also going (esp bc my kids are still in school in the U.K. so I was on my own) but, as you said, it was also fantastic to catch up with other people I didn’t know that well!
So glad you’ve had such a great trip! And nice to hear your reflections about how much more fun it is with slightly older children- definitely gives me hope! Life has been exhausting lately with a 1 and 4 year old.
I’m glad you had such a great trip! I know the feeling of adoring the change in weather – that’s how we feel when we visit FL in February when we are escaping subzero temps! It’s so refreshing. Traveling with young kids is a chore, but it ends up being worth it for us since the weather we are leaving is so awful! Although it should only get better for you guys going forward with G being almost 5. We have a good 2-3 more years of traveling being quite the slog, but once the youngest is 4, I think things will feel MUCH easier. Although I wonder when we will be down to traveling with boosters only? Our 4yo weighs 30 pounds so he’s going to be in a big, bulky car seat for a LOOONG time. Although when we went to AZ in Feb, we rented car seats which was much better than hauling car seats.
I’ll be curious to see what you think of Sea of Tranquility. I liked Station Eleven but didn’t love her next book so haven’t requested Sea of Tranquility yet.
She isn’t 5 until December but is 75% for height and over 40 lb so we felt ok with the booster for travel! We still use car seat at home.
Oh totally! I would have made the same choice. We are soooo far off from Paul being big enough to use a booster because of how teeny tiny he is.