Every summer, I climb into the back seat of my dad’s Traverse, dogs in tow, to head to Carolina Beach for a week of family time.
It’s a laid-back vacation during which nothing much happens, nor is it supposed to. We simply relax and enjoy each other’s company.
My mother and I pay for a couple chairs to be set up each day, where we’ll sit, weather permitting, toes in the sand, reading, listening to podcasts, talking, not talking. Me in my bikini, sun worshipper that I am, her covered up head to toe despite the protective shade of her umbrella.
Every so often, she’ll emerge from her cocoon to take a dip to cool off, while I obey her directive to “watch my stuff.”
On a designated day, my dad and I will stop in at Dude … Sweet for a salt water taffy contest, each trying to outdo the other on the candy scale at the counter.
In the mornings and evenings, I take the fur kids down to the beach, so they can run at the water’s edge and sniff the tiny crabs that burrow into the sand with each tide.
But perhaps the best bonding that goes on during this period is between Moo and his grandpa.
Because my dear old dad doesn’t like the beach itself, and Mr. Moo isn’t welcome there between 9 a.m.-5 p.m., the two spend the days together on the house’s screened in porch.
Moo sits by his gampy’s side and the two watch the world go by — beachgoers with coolers, kids on fat-tired bikes, scores of families cruising the strip in golf carts and dune buggies.
Gampy eats snacks and kindly shares his Cheetos, a favor Moo repays by flipping out and scaring the hell out of him whenever a motorcycle dares to drive past.
During these hours, the two are virtually inseparable, except when Mommy returns from her run to take the kids out for potties, or when Moo wanders inside to quick check on his sister, Tulip, who tends to prefer the comforts of air conditioning.
Just a boy and his grandfather, making memories together — summer family vacation style.
Happy Father’s Day, everyone. Here’s wishing you, too, a time worth cherishing.
Katie McDowell is the managing editor and lifestyles columnist for The Dominion Post. Email kmcdowell@dominionpost.com
