My family and I have vacationed to many different places over the years. Some of our travels kept us close to home, while some led us farther away to new places. No matter the distance, the most rewarding part of vacations is time spent focused on family.
As a child, my family traveled all throughout our home state of Alabama. From museums to the beach to everywhere in between, our vacations never had a dull moment. We always loved piling in the car and embarking on another round of summer travels.
One of my favorite memories of our family vacations came during a stop we made for lunch in Prattville, Alabama. We were craving burgers and fries and found ourselves as the only patrons in the restaurant. As you can imagine, we were ravenous after hours spent in the car. My dad was especially hungry. To this day I’m still convinced that he ordered everything on the menu.
When our order was ready, rather than simply saying “Order up,” our waitress proceeded to yell out each individual item on our order. I can still hear her Southern drawl as she recited “Two double cheeseburgers, three strawberry milkshakes (hold the cherry on one!), a large onion ring, a kid’s chicken finger plate…” By the time Dad made it to the counter to claim our food she had almost reached the end of our lengthy order. As the last item was called out, my mother got her signature twinkle in her eye and, in her best sing-song voice, ended the list with “…And a partridge in a pear tree!” Everyone burst into hysterical laughter and Dad was totally embarrassed. It was a signature move of my mom’s.
The reason that moment is so precious to me is that we didn’t have to travel around the world to find it. We were simply a few hours from home, eating burgers as a family. All it took was Mom’s seamless incorporation of a favorite Christmas song to make that lunch unforgettable.
I hope that no matter where your travels take you this summer that you are surrounded by those you love. It can be the smallest moments that make the biggest impact. May your summer days be full of laughter…and lots of burgers and fries!
What is one of your favorite summer vacation memories?
