“The Way Life Should Be” – Kennebunkport’s Hidden Pond resort, I discovered during two recent stays, epitomizes the state motto of Maine. Though no simple task, I was able to narrow my favorite things about the property into a short-list for “Five Things We Love,” published on the Virtuoso Life blog. For my longer piece on Hidden Pond, family travel, and summer vacations in K’Port, check out “Prime Time.”
A few of my favorite things, all in one spot: Stays at Hidden Pond resort in Kennebunkport, summers on the Maine coast, traveling with family – in this case, my oldest daughter/cover girl – and the April issue of Virtuoso Traveler. For anyone who’s ever lamented how quickly childhood passes, or suddenly realized how imperative it is to travel with our kids when they’re still young, “Prime Time” – my story about our visit to KPort last July (and the first in a trilogy of features based on family vacations) – will hopefully hit home.
One of my favorite things about traveling home to New Hampshire in spring and summer: slipping into sleep by open windows at my parents’ house to the sounds of the surrounding forest: sudden, baritone calls of barred owls (“Who, who, who cooks for you?”), wild cackling of coyotes, and (accompanied below by my two-year old daughter: “Froggie, Dada?”), choruses of crickets, tree-, and peeper-frogs.
So proud of my nephew, Stew, for all of his accomplishments (physics major, 4.0, class marshal, CERN internship, etc.) as he graduates today from the University of New Hampshire. So grateful, too, for the opportunity to return to my alma mater precisely 20 years to the month after donning my own cap and gown here. Highly recommended, particularly for anyone at mid-life and/or mid-career: Returning to your place of study and attending its graduation ceremony decades after your own. It occurs to me today that there is no better place to reflect on the roads we’ve traveled since, and to contemplate (ideally, with the same enthusiasm I witnessed this morning) those we hope to travel in the future. Immense thanks to the graduate who crafted the above cap, relaying a message that feels as significant and timely for me at age 42 as it did when I was 22. And godspeed to my nephew as he heads out on his own roads. May every one lead you to the place you want to be.
Lessons that come from travel can be as critical for kids as any learned in a classroom setting. I’ve witnessed this firsthand, from beach combing the Maine coast with my young daughters to exploring the Galápagos Islands with my nephew, but also, more recently, while penning a series of articles pertaining to Virtuoso’s Journey to Global Citizenship theme.
Whether it’s an ecology lesson in the Mexican Riviera or a hands-on cooking class in Morocco, it’s clear that educational-themed travels can provide a powerful, positive influence in a child’s life. Read more in “Higher Education,” (August 2015 Virtuoso Traveler) and “Food for Thought” (October 2015 Virtuoso Traveler), or in my “Global Good” post below.
Summer bliss along the 1.25-mile Marginal Way footpath in Ogunquit, Maine, where my beautiful daughter flips off her shoes and meets her reflection in the sand.
Other path highlights: the views afforded from 39 seaside benches, each dedicated to those who walked this way in times past; a classic New England lighthouse (yes, I’m a New England nerd, but check out this live lighthouse webcam); and the lobster rolls at M.C. Perkins Cove, founded by Top Chef Masters and James Beard “Best Chefs of the Northeast” winners Mark Gaier and Clark Frasier.
Sleeping late (i.e., past 6:00 AM), sipping cocktails in silence while watching the sun set over the Pacific, swimming (yes, actually swimming) beneath waterfalls, drinking coffee unfettered from breakdowns, and strolling through botanical gardens without surprise bathroom breaks….
How nice is it to be exploring Oahu’s North Shore sans kids (sorry, daughters!) with my wife by my side (our first vacation together in nearly four years)? So nice. Here, some of our favorite moments so far…
Once again I’m reminded that traveling to the other side of the globe isn’t always required when it comes to witnessing life at its most sublime. Today I give great thanks to my wife, Adrienne (nice work!), for the best Father’s Day gift a dad could ever ask for – a healthy, happy, beyond words beautiful baby girl. Wishing the warmest of welcomes to our second daughter, June Anita Centano! Here’s to you, your life, and your own journey, June. May you always arrive at good places and forever see the world with new eyes.