But there is no rest for the weary. My To Do List includes items like unpacking, mowing the lawn, cleaning the fish tank, identifying and removing anything that looks like a science experiment from the fridge, preparing materials to send to prospective new agents.
Somehow I will do it all but I really need a vacation!
Fortunately that’s the other thing on my plate this week: getting myself and the family ready for a trip. Soon we will be driving to Florida where my husband and I will deposit our darlings with their grandparents and go for a short 20th anniversary cruise. We’ve never cruised before but thought it would be fun to try. Four days of relaxation and fornication can’t fail! On the return trip, we’ll go more slowly, stopping to visit relatives and friends in Asheville, where we also plan to tour Biltmore House. Then we’ll visit Monticello on the way home. My kids are budding history geeks, so I expect they’ll enjoy the historic home tours as much as I will.
So this trip will be part sightseeing, part unwinding. If I were going on holiday during the Regency, I’d still want that sort of mix. Time and budget allowing (and of course it would, because in my Regency fantasy my husband would be worth ten thousand a year) we might go to the Continent for sightseeing and shopping. But I’d also be happy rambling around the Lake District or by the seaside.
Just imagine this scene from PERSUASION:
“They went to the sands, to watch the flowing of the tide, which a fine south-easterly breeze was bringing in with all the grandeur which so flat a shore admitted. They praised the morning; gloried in the sea; sympathized in the delight of the fresh-feeling breeze–and were silent…”
So how about you? Have you been on–or are you planning–any cool vacations this summer? What would be your fantasy Regency vacation? If anyone has cruised before, do you have any advice to share?
So this trip will be part sightseeing, part unwinding. If I were going on holiday during the Regency, I’d still want that sort of mix. Time and budget allowing (and of course it would, because in my Regency fantasy my husband would be worth ten thousand a year) we might go to the Continent for sightseeing and shopping. But I’d also be happy rambling around the Lake District or by the seaside.
I’m shedding tears as I read these posts from the conference. I miss y’all so much. The History and National conferences were marvelous! It’s always meeting friends which makes this such a memorable experience. Wish they had National biannually. I’ll comment more on the posts after I return in the afternoon.
I do envy you, Elena! I always feel like I need a vacation to get over RWA. A beach would be ideal at the moment. Or maybe a cool, quiet cabin in the mountains where I could finish the WIP 🙂
Uh, for some of us National IS our vacation–and isn’t the definition of a vacation something that’s supposed to wipe you out afterwards?
Monticello is gorgeous and the gardens are spectacular!
Have a great time, Elena!
I know nothing of cruising…except second-hand. My mother goes on one every year, and this year went on a round-the-world cruise!
As for me… My vacation is right now — I’m at the World Science Fiction convention. One of my fave authors of all time, Lois McMaster Bujold, is the Guest of Honor this year, so I’m very excited. (We already had “Summerfair on Barrayar” — we came in costume, and danced!)
Some day I do need a relaxing vacation, though… 🙂
Cara