By Christine Haines
I have a whale on my tree from a trip to Cape Cod a few years ago that included an incredible whale watch and a visit to Plimouth Plantation (Plymouth, Mass.) The finback whales played around our boat for hours, turning our short cruise into an all-day excursion because the whales were too close for the captain to restart the engines.
I gave my niece Emily a replica of a 19th century toy giraffe from the toy museum at Old Salem in North Carolina. When she was a pre-schooler someone told her she could be anything she wanted to be when she grew up. Being relatively short and highly imaginative, Emily said she wanted to be a giraffe. The toy museum, in addition to being a great place to find wonderful presents, is an amazing place dedicated to the playthings of the past. The intricacy of some of the old animated or mechanical toys can still fill a person with wonder.
On that trip I also picked up a delicate, folded paper Moravian star for my own tree. Old Salem was founded by a group of Moravians who had moved to North Carolina from Pennsylvania. The restored historic village within the city of Winston-Salem is a gem for history buffs. I found it at least as interesting as Colonial Williamsburg, but without the crowds and commercialism.
More than 20 years ago I flew to Seattle with a friend and on that trip I found the most delicate wooden snowflake and an elegant lit rose. Even though it was early spring, flowers were in bloom everywhere I looked in Seattle, yet we found ourselves in a blinding snowstorm when we headed up Mount Rainier. (Don’t ignore the signs that say “Last chance for snow chain rental.”)
A scale model of the Susan Constant was added to our tree this year, commemorating the 400th anniversary of the landing at Jamestown. Many of our vacations are spent volunteering for the Jamestown Yorktown Foundation in Virginia, so it also reminds us of our many good friends who work for the foundation.
A gumball machine (floor model) reminds me not of a vacation, but of the many trips to my grandmother’s house when I was a child. My grandfather, who had died long before I was born, had run a shoe shop and had a gumball machine that eventually ended up in the basement at my grandmother’s house. The ornament provides a connection for me to a man I never met, but whose history is part of my past as well.
An ornament of a black bear making a snow angel reminds me of the incredible man I married. I spotted the fanciful ornament on a summer trip to Snowshoe, W. Va., but had passed it by as being too expensive to justify buying for myself. I still have no idea how my husband, who I swear never left my side, managed to purchase it and hide it not only during our vacation, but for another five months until Christmas!
E-mail your travel memories and photos to chris@howyouspinit.com.
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