|
In the spring of 2017, I took my parents and adult children on a whirlwind tour of Seattle. Growing up, my parents would plan our travel, and whenever we’d vacation we’d always pack in everything we could into our days—researching the best sights to see and things to do that were unique, or cool, or “highly suggested” in each locale. But this particular trip, my parents weren’t up to planning, and I—having trained over four decades to lead my own vacation tour—was ready to take the travel-guide reigns.
To prepare, I searched the internet and discovered the ultimate “CityPASS” for Seattle which included access to many of the “top things to do”. It was fabulous. You could choose your top five excursions and cater it to your personal interests. With this particular pass, even if you did only two and 1/2 of the items, you’d still be ahead, dollar for dollar. Such a deal (as my mom would always say). We could see the Aquarium and the Space Needle, plus our choice of three from: the Chihuly Glass Museum, The MoPop (Museum of Pop Culture), a harbor boat tour, or a visit to the zoo.
Of course we each had our own personalities and preferred choices as to what the last three items would be. And then there were the concerns over how much we each could handle in our allotted day 36 hours: scheduled naps, when and where to eat, how to elevate our sore feet (or push on through). I quickly discovered that we could use my mom’s handicap parking pass, obtain wheelchairs if needed, and mapped out all the allergy-free restaurants and easy-access restrooms.
So, off we went.
Not surprisingly, we started with the Chihuly Museum since we were all excited to see the beautiful colors and well-known sculptures. It was a win-win for all; it did not disappoint. Next, was a meal of various fresh fish (fried or baked) and a sunny boat tour. This was followed by fun at the MoPop museum’s Muppet Show theatre and Star Trek exhibition (complete with tunnels of Tribbles and photo-ops in Borg regeneration chambers—oh, so cool!). My parents didn’t get our fascination with fake rocks from the original series or Spock’s costume, but they saw how much fun we were having and enjoyed their time. Then we regrouped with another seafood dinner at Duke’s with family and headed to the Space Needle to see the night sky and city lights surrounding the harbor that we had previously toured by water. My parents were troupers, hour after hour, going everywhere with enthusiasm; we all slept well that night. In the morning before we headed up to visit extended family in Bellingham, we bopped over to the aquarium so that my daughter could see her fill of fish and the famous “silly” swimming otters. The grand finale was a search for the original Starbucks at Pike’s Place (after seeing fish tossed around at the market) to get my mom her must-have latte.
We did it all!
After our thirty-six hours of fun, I wondered why we never lived with this much enthusiasm in our home city—why there were so many suggested “to dos” in Minneapolis that hadn’t been done. There was always so much work, school, and responsibility in our day-to-day lives, crazy schedules, and no time for days of touristing. Maybe that is why when we all got in the same car (in a new city) we had way more energy and excitement to see it all. We were together, making memories, taking photos—ones that would pop up in my phone years later to remind me of all the smiles and laughter we had together in our very last family vacay before my parents passed.
I am forever grateful that we took the time to have our whirlwind experience—grateful for our CityPass day.
The Bible doesn’t specifically mention vacation, or even days of levity or fun with family, or their value. Yet, there are plenty of references to the need for rest. God rested after the creation of everything, and His work was finished (Genesis 2:2-3). In Exodus 20:8-11, God tells His people to rest from their labors on the seventh day of the week (perhaps, the first encouragement of vacation). These days of rest could be filled with quality family time in addition to prayer, praise, and naps. Things that didn’t occupy your day-to-day work. And, Jesus took time to refresh himself and ensure his disciples did the same. He said to his disciples, “Come with me by yourselves to a quiet place and get some rest” (Mark 6:31).
Obviously, taking breaks was a good thing, but never a mention of a whirlwind vacations. But, I’d like to think that in addition to days of rest—the alone time, maybe to ponder the importance of God’s love in our world, what plans He has for us; to read the Bible, listen to music, get some extra R&R—that days of fun (especially with loved ones) are equally restorative. Just a different type of restoration. I’d like to think that Jesus enjoyed days of enjoyment, even laughter, in addition to days of rest with his earthly family, friends, and disciples. Maybe not worldly things like the Space Needle or a Glass Museum, but perhaps a trek to a tall mountain bluff with a loaf of bread and good conversation, stories shared; fishing trips by the stream. At the very least, a good meal surrounded by friends. Companionship is very important to making memories. When the disciples wrote down their experiences with Jesus, my guess is that even though they were not remembering “vacations” they were remembering days of significance. Days that seared moments into memory better than the best family selfie to view later, and far better than any day spent alone in solitude.
So, in this final month of summer, 2023, I hope that you are making blessed memories with loved ones—taking time and whirlwind vacation days (with your own personal CityPasses) to check out the special “to dos” and bucket-lists in your life with others— to share experiences. My hope is that you will get plenty of good photos of smiles and laughter that will pop up on your phones someday in the future, and remind you of good memories. Good memories that will refuel and restore you.
Amen.
| 
