WILL UNWOUND #213: “Fantasy Friday…Your Dream Staycation” by Will Manley
August 27, 2010I thought the replies to Tuesday’s blog post on why some librarians are vacation phobic was very, very interesting. There were all kinds of creative reasons why some librarians don’t take vacations:
- They are covering up fraud.
- Prefer the company of their co-workers to spousal unit.
- Don’t want to have a heart attack in a remote location.
- Hate air travel.
- Murphy’s Law: everything that can go wrong will go wrong on a vacation.
- Everyplace looks like every other place.
- Don’t want to be downsized, re-organized, or otherwise stabbed in the back while away.
- Don’t want to return to a mountain of undone work.
- Don’t want to upset their body metabolism by establishing a new daily pattern.
- Don’t trust road food.
- They are going to be called and e-mailed so why bother to take a vacation.
- The library can’t run without them (or so they think).
- Need to squirrel the time away in case of a heart attack.
- There are no 12 step programs for workaholics.
- Don’t have the money to take a decent vacation.
Okay, let’s focus on that last reason. Times are tough. Money is scarce. Vacations are expensive. This has become so widespread in our society that a new word has arisen on the internet for people who can’t get away during their allotted vacation time. This new phenomenon is called the “staycation.”
So today…the genie has decided to work within the framework of the limitations of our economy. He asks you: What is your idea of the perfect staycation? That’s right… the genie is here to give you the staycation of your dreams. What do you need to make a week at home a perfectly wonderful, relaxing, and regenerating time?
The dogs stay well.
The Red Sox are playing in Toronto.
There’s a good pile of new books by favorite authors (Dave Duncan, Orson Scott Card, Uncle John of the Bathroom Readers’ Institute)
My wife has vacation too, but a very small list of “Honey Do”s
People are coming through on their way to somewhere else, so we have good visits, but they’re short.
The season at Stratford and the Shaw Festival are long on Shaw and Shakespeare, short on Andrew Lloyd Webber
I get a call inviting me to tape a Jeopardy! episode a month later.
Bill…great list. For my birthday someone gave me the complete set of the Slings and Arrow t.v. show. I hate tv but I loved those shows. One of Canada’s greatest exports. How close are they to the real Stratford???
Been to Stratford (love it!) and have seen Slings and Arrows (love it!) While I don’t know the goings on between actors off stage, but the rest of it seems to ring true.
Slings and arrows now on my list to see if it is at Netflix. TYVM
Since I don’t drive, I’d ask the genie to provide me with a car (doesn’t have to be a fancy limo) and driver to take me where I want to go. There are many great attractions in Southern California that are day trips.
Monday – The Los Angeles Zoo. I’m a zoo freak, and having a car to return for me will make it much more pleasant than taking the bus. I’d be tired before I got there!
Dinner at the Tam O’Shanter in the Los Feliz area. (The genie would also pick up the tab for restaurant meals.)
Tuesday – The museum complex in Exposition Park. When I had season tickets for the Raiders, I used to arrive early and hang out in the free museums.
I’m not sure where I’d have dinner. I’ll have to check local restaurant guides for interesting places in the Exposition Park area.
Wednesday – The Huntington Library, Art Galleries, and Gardens. It’s one of my favorite places to visit. I love the library’s exhibits of a Gutenberg Bible, the Ellesmere Chaucer (a beautful manuscript of the Canterbury Tales), and Audubon’s Birds of America. The gardens are spectacular, and I’d try to get one of the docent tours.
I’d try to have their tea service, which could replace dinner! If the food isn’t enough at the Huntington, I’d try one of the restaurants near my house.
Thursday – Getty Museum. I haven’t been there yet, but there are a lot of interesting things to do and see, according to their website.
Friday – Dodger Stadium. The Dodgers give tours in the off-season as well as when the team is on the road. I’ve taken it a couple of times, but not since the most recent renovations. I’ll smile sweetly at Frank McCourt if I see him. (For the baseball-challenged: McCourt and his wife Jamie are involved in a nasty divorce.)
Dinner – Lawry’s Prime Rib. Haven’t been there in years, but I’d be ready for some beef.
Saturday/Sunday – San Diego Wild Animal Park and Zoo. This would be a two-day event. I’d like to take their photo safari (Wild Animal Park) and see many of the animals there. They have a small herd of African elephants, rescued from a planned culling by the Swaziland animal people.
Sunday – the Zoo. Of course, I’d visit the pandas. The zoo has recently opened an Asian elephant exhibit.
Normally I’d take the train to San Diego, but I’d need transport once I got there.
Sue…what a brilliant idea. Do all the sightseeing things in your own hometown. The genie loves it! Too bad about Manny.
Don’t know Sings and Arrows at all. Sorry
Bill you have to see Slings and Arrows! Have to!
First reply is in the wrong slot. As for Manny…
Have to find S&A. (HBO or where? I don’t think it’s CBC) Stratford is actually near the top of the “places to retire” list
Bill…just google slings and arrows. You will get all the necessary info. Canada’s finest. You have a treat coming.
Sue – when you go to the Zoo, don’t miss Griffith Observatory up the hill.
Actually, I haven’t been to the Observatory in years. (They used to have a marker for REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE, because it was the location for Corey Allen’s dive over the edge.)
I should also vist the Autry museum, which is across the parking lot from the Zoo. They have a nice restaurant where I could have lunch.
Oh, I am on this like tart on lemon.
Genie, to get this staycation rolling, I’ma ask you to send me a basket of vegan goodies from Lush. That will make for a week of excellent baths, which is the foundation of any good me-staycation. I’ll keep up with the cleaning/grocery shopping/cooking myself, as I like those things quite a lot, so no need to send a substitute. I’ll need for my lappy and internet to continue working since I’ll be doing a lot of hooping, and I get my instructional videos on YouTube. (Today’s accomplishment: hooping around my chest and neck! It takes muscles I didn’t know I had. :O) I’ll make some progress on scaling what a previous Unwinder called Mt. Bookmore, sleep, hoop, go for walks, get some time with Mr. jessa and our cats… sounds good to me. Is that do-able, Genie?
jessa…a big welcome back to a primo unwinder. The genie heartily approves of all your wishes. They are reasonable, healthy, planet wise, and otherwise wonderful. You’re back. So much for mucho separation anxieties on the part of all true unwinders!!!
Thank you! <3 It's a pleasure to be back with the Unwinders. I missed you!
The move, thankfully, has been more or less uneventful so far. We did think we'd lost one of the cats at a gas station, but he resurfaced later. He'd hid under the driver's seat; we didn't even know there was space there! Now we wait til our stuff arrives on the moving truck… *twiddles thumbs*
Despite our profession, I can’t know it all. What is hooping?
Hula Hoop for grown-ups.
http://www.hooping.org
It’s using a hula hoop to exercise/dance, Vicki H. Here’s a trailer for “The Hooping Life” that covers many aspects of the activity: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CBaWPTCzhM4
I’d love to have a week off to just spend in Fresno and points nearby! I need perfect weather first – warm enough to hike in Yosemite and Sequoia, but cool enough to get in some serious torch time in the garage. Throw in some good books and movies on DVD, a box of microwave popcorn, the big bottle of Tanquery gin, and plenty of diet tonic water, and I’m set. And most important, Dave wants to watch the same movies so I get to use the big plasma TV.
The genie wants everyone to know that Fresno is the gateway to Yosemite. The genie would like to know what torch time in the garage entails.
I make glass beads as a hobby. When I switched to an oxygen/propane mix torch Dave made me move to the garage even though I promised not to set the laundry room on fire.
The genie approves enthusiastically of your hobby, and agrees with Dave about its appropriate venue.
Mid-October in Chicago is usually beautiful, so the staycation would be then. The worst part of my week is planning, cooking and cleaning-up dinner (and receiving family complaints about what they didn’t like), so a week of restaurant meals is a must. Home every night in my own bed is usually better than a hotel.
Having my young adult children (17, 19, 21) home and generally getting along with each other would be nice. About five days together is enough for all of us now.
Here’s where I’d spend my time with my husband in metro-Chicago: Morton Arboretum at the peak of fall color, Field Museum with a ticket to the premiere special exhibit of the season, downtown Chicago with a literary lecture at the Cultural Center and a concert at Millenium Park, a World Series game at Wrigley Field, and the discovery of a great, new, well-written mystery series with lots of sequels to look forward to in the coming months and years.
It’s gonna have to be a VERY powerful genie for the Cubies World Series wish.
This IS Will’s FANTASY Friday posting!
Donna…the genie loves your fantasy because Chicago is in the genie’s top 5 vacation cities (the others are NYC, San Francisco, Montreal, and Toronto). However the genie wants to refer you to the text of today’s post. He specifically stated that today he is working his magic within the limitations of reality. That eliminates the Cubs playing baseball in October. The genie regrets that he cannot turn back the very strong cosmic forces that have put an eternal curse upon the Cubbies. Sorry.
Will, if you haven’t tried it, Canada has another city to add to your fave list. (No, not Vancouver although it’s great) Quebec City is like a trip to Europe without the tedious crossing of the ocean. The food is beyond belief. It’s not only impossible to get a bad meal, it’s nearly impossible to get a mediocre meal. I swear that they even do something to the McDonald’s to make it edible.
Gee, I was hoping to slip that “World Series in Wrigley” pass the genie, but genie you are too clever. Got my 15-year-old heart broken in 1969 and have never recovered. 2003 and 2008 are too painful to consider. I will go and cry now.
Chicago is a wonderful place to live and the museums and other cultural attractions are awesome. I invite all Unwinders to visit.
I grew up in Chicagoland, would love to be doing all the things you mention. Sounds like a perfect stay at home week!
Was lucky enough to spend 2 whole weeks in Chicago this summer near the John Hancock. I think I want to retire there! What about the Museum of Science and Industry? Some fascinating exhibits there that made us go back twice. Field Museum was way to crowded for our taste, so I hope October is better. Don’t forget going on long bike rides along the lake and eating some delicious food.
Oh Fantasy Friday Genie I do enjoy your weekly appearances!
A week at home would go something like this:
The condo is completely clean, laundry is done, and all errands completed before staycation begins.
Friday evening – dinner with friends.
Saturday – breakfast with friends, afternoon and evening with a good book. At some point in the day, local TV is showing a Yankees game.
Sunday – church first thing, home to read the paper. Since it’s the sabbath I’ll spend the day reading and herding the cats.
Monday – a trip to the museum of art, lunch there and a stroll through that area.
Tuesday – take the car out to the country to visit a friend and visit with the cows. We’ll watch a movie, lie in the hammock afterward and watch birds.
Wednesday – it’s raining! Stay at home and watch some of my favorite movies: Desk Set, The Princess Bride, Bull Durham, Casablanca, A Fish Called Wanda, The Gay Divorcee, Rear Window and/or Sleepless in Seattle.
Thursday – more reading. Have dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Definitely have a martini and the menu will feature the special I absolutely adore. All served by my favorite waiter – one of the nicest guys I’ve ever met.
Friday – meet up with the transplanted New Yorkers at their favorite pizza place. We’ll have a great pie and split a sandwich. Lots of laughter.
Saturday/Sunday – a repeat of the previous weekend.
Dang!! I forgot to include the zoo and botanical gardens! I’ll fit one/both in on Thursday along with reading.
Ellen: the genie is impressed with the rich diversity of your plans. He has one question: what does “herding cats” entail? And he has one suggestion: Spend your entire rainy day Wednesday watching the complete run of Slings and Arrows.
Herding cats – it’s hard to describe, Will. It can entail brushing them if they’re in the mood, giving them treats, watching them chase after the laser pointer, having them snuggle in my lap, etc. When I herd the felines I’m enjoying their company.
Never heard of Slings and Arrows. Sounds like something for Netflix!
Well, this librarian always takes vacations! Some years I save it up a bit so that I can be away longer, but I always take some of it every year. In fact, I am taking a week soon…and it will be a staycation…so my ideal is a week that gives me leisure to read some long anticipated novels, meet friends for long lunch hours, and enjoy a good visit and glass of wine (!), to take walks in the morning that can last beyond 7:30 AM, to catch up with movies I have missed, listen to wonderful music all day long, and try out some new recipes on willing friends who join me for wonderful conversation, food and laughter…what can be better!
Vicki…the genie gives his enthusiastic approval. You are a primo candidate for retirement. Your plans sound like my life.
Staycations are the ones I’ve usually taken and funnily enough I’ve got another one coming up next week!
My ideal staycation would have someone else coming in to cook all my favorite dishes and wash the dishes and clean up the kitchen so I don’t have to even step into the kitchen and can still be provided with delectable food and drink.
This magical cook could be magical cleaner too and clean and organize my house while he or she is at it (think along the lines of Toots and company in the Dresden Files books)
I’d like to have a catered party during that vacation with a fall themefor family, friends and co-workers – and include a storyteller telling magnificent stories around a bonfire while the rest of us listen with baited breath and toast and consume smores.
I’d also like the genie to pay for a all the ebooks I can read in a week and provide two magical extra rooms to my house one with a combo bath, swimming pool and hot tub (with a large flat-screen TV on the wall – minimum of 52”)
But fantasy aside I am really looking forward to the resting part of my vacation – no noise allowed in the AM until I climb out of bed at my leisure, reading all day if I chose or taking a long walk down Market Street (that’s our main street here) and simply window shopping and stopping for lunch without having to rush. It’s funny how the busier you get in life the more rest, relaxation and peace and quiet appeal to you…
Linda…the genie wonders how this bonfire will jive with local ordinances.
It’s a magical fire — multi-colored and burns nothing but the wood beneath and toasts the marshmellows for the smores otherwise it won’t burn anyone or anything!
My usual vacation is two weeks at a lake north of Duluth but due to a demon-possessed hot water heater that had to be exorcised, I may bet staycationing. What would help most is a set of realistic expectations. I always want to get EVERYTHING in and it never happens. I’d like to pull out the Moosewood Restaurant cookbook I bought a month or so ago and try several things from it. I’d like to work on some genealogy and read a book a day.
Beth…the genie approves!
Video games, pajamas, a well stocked fridge, and the occasional run out for more food, beer, exercise, or the hell of it. =D
Andy…beer and exercise? Do they mix?
Let’s see – see a Pat’s game in which they trash the Jets, a Sox game (and may I add, oh genie, how thrilled we are NOT to have Manny around anymore) in which they stomp the Yankees, a visit to worship at the shrines of Ben & Jerry’s and King Arthur Flour in Vermont. Plenty of wine from local vineyards and a day sitting on the beach with clam cakes & chowder.
But not this week or two – currently moving into temporary quarters in preparation for a building project. Nightly mini-staycation is currently stuffing handfuls of potato chips in self while driving home and vegging in front of Doc Martin after a take out supper. Must try Slings & Arrows.
Clams in the rough at Woodman’s!
Quito’s in Bristol, RI or Aunt Carrie’s in Narragansett – nothing like sand, surf, and clams!
Leslie…because of the current stress you are under, the genie hereby grants you two weeks in Hawaii.
bless you oh genie, 2 weeks in Hawaii will be grand!
Just ordered the entire S&A series through interlibrary loan. May just buy it for my library…sometimes it’s good to be the king!
For the baseball-challenged: Manny is Manny Ramirez, who’s a pretty good ballplayer. However, I think he’s become a uniform model (playing for a lot of different teams), but not in the same league with Milton Bradley (a ballplayer, not the game company. He’s been known to have the nickname “Gameboy.”)
And Manny is sure to have a hard time in LA. During his time in Boston, he’d occasionally forget to ‘take care of business’ between innings. Boston has a hand scoreboard inside the left field wall. Manny was known to go into the scoreboard and, um, fill an empty Dunkin’ Donuts coffee cup during the inning if the need arose.
Vin Scully, blessed be his name, would have had many multi-syllabic words to say about that, complete with historical references, if Manny found an opening in the Chavez Ravine wall.
When you live in a small rural area, staycations aren’t quite the thrill they are if you can visit lots and lots on places like museums and such. We have no fine restaurants – hardly even fast food. I do get so tired of Perkins. However. Our lake cabin is only 45 minutes away. We spend most weekends there so it should not be a stretch to spend a whole week there. And do all the fun things we don’t get to do as often as we like. First, run across the lake in the pontoon for pizza at Zorba’s. Then head out to the middle of the lake and sunbathe, dipping into the water when getting too hot and then back to the beer and reading – rightnow finishing up Shutter Island. (The movie was interesting, wanted to see how the book compared.) Then back to the gardening and doing steaks or whatever on the grill, and maybe tubing. Repeat daily. In the evening, campfire on the beach and s’mores, and listen to the quiet. Maybe there will be a local street fair if we are lucky, craft show, or somebody putting on a show at a local art center. That’s about it around here for staying at home. Other than going to work every day, it is sort of like regular life. I tell people from home (Chicago) that I really live in vacation land. So genie, don’t need a lot help here other than to convince my boss I need some extra vacation (mine is all gone this year. boo.)
Karen…the genie thinks the lake cabin sounds idyllic. Enjoy.
I’m with Linda, someone has to come in and cook for me. However, instead of just cleaming up the kitchen, I want the whole house cleaned. Other than that, a computer with internet access, a pile of books, my knitting and some puzzles and I’m good to go…. er… stay.
Irene…the genie wants to know if there are dust bunnies under the sofa.
Unlike most small animals that avoid cats and dogs, dust bunnies thrive, nay, multiply, in their presence. Petless households tend to have fewer.
There are six foot dust bunnies under the sofa. They are all named Harvey. With a nineteen year old cat and a twelve year old dog, we don’t know the meaning of a shed free zone. One useful hint: when sweeping up shed fur — never sweep over the top of the floor vent when the air condintioner is blowing. That is unless your goal is a mere redristribution of fur.
Lots of sweet iced mint tea, sewing machines that work perfectly and the phone’s broken… sigh.
Vickie…the genie wants to know what’s up with the sewing machine.
My serger MAY be coming to the end of its useful life. This makes me very sad, because it has been a loyal companion and friend. I used to demo and sell sewing machines and sergers and that serger is the first one I ever sold. I tried the thing out and I was in serious love. We have been through thick, thin, slippery and fuzzy for 15 years together.
Hi all you S&A fans and fans-to-be.
Here’s a link with info for all….
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387779/
and here’s one for Bill M. (and any other Ontarian) who could interloan all three seasons from the Hanover Public Library.
http://24.138.161.246/cgi-bin/koha/opac-search.pl?q=slings+and+arrows
Many thanks, Bill. Unwinders will need S&A for their staycations.
My perfect week: cleaner/organizer comes in to work magic in my house (then moves on to my office so it will be oh so inviting to return to the following Monday), then putter away to my heart’s content. Walk the dog at our leisure, tidy up the dying plants in front, get caught up on my reading, maybe even take in a movie at the theater (assuming there’s anything playing that I’m at all interested in so it may be a DVD festival at home, which is not a bad thing). No doubt eat out at least once (preferably breakfast, which is a treat that I don’t have time for on workdays), perhaps grill out on the deck since the weather will be blessedly cool. One day of showers is allowed; I can sit on the covered part of the deck & soak in the serenity.
And no doubt spend some time looking over my finances to determine when I can retire & take staycations every week.
CarolAnn…if you are going to do the DVD couch potato routine, the genie recommends all 3 seasons of Slings and Arrows.
After a five week stay-recuperation, I know what I’d do. I’d read, visit with granddaughters and family, read, work on my photo scrapbooks, read, talk on the phone or Skype, sleep, read, watch TV, catch up on the last season of Battlestar Gallactica, read, sleep, spend time on the computer, sleep, and read.
By the end of the 5 weeks I could have gone out to museums, the zoo, the movies, or whatever, but I was enjoying doing pretty much nothing.
Now if genie is providing tickets and the transporter to whisk me up there, I’d really like to get up to the Getty museum in LA and the Huntington Library in Pasadena during that time.
Vicki H…it’s a STAYcation. Sorry says the genie.
From San Diego, Los Angeles is considered staying – I just don’t want to spend 2 or 3 hours on the road one way in the car.
Oh I love the FF Genie!
Stay-cations have been my Vacations for years now. We just purchased a house in 2007. So my dream staycation would start as many of your has with a housekeeper to come and clean the house, take care all of the dust bunnies, or for me dust kitties, as all the cat hair collects around the corners of our Hardwood floors.
Laundry & ironing would be all done, and I could finally organize my home office and basement (which has become the catch-all dumping ground)
I’d spend a delightful day at one of the local beaches. (to recharge my battery)
I’d get a friend to go to some area museum with me. (I can’t seem to drag hubby to go to) I’m dying to spend the day at the Peabody Essex Museum.
I loved Linda’s idea of having someone to come in and cook and clean up for us.
And since we’re dreaming, I’ll take the cleaner/organizer to take care of my work office as well.
Thanks FF genie!
Colleen…are cats really worth it? The genie needs to know.
I’m not Colleen, but yes, the cats are worth it!
Just think – cats don’t have to be walked in all weathers. They will not have children out of wedlock (at least when they’ve been spayed or neutered), require high-maintenance educations, run with the wrong crowd, or get involved with drugs or gangs.
Cats are totally worth it for all of Sue’s reasons and more.
We love our kitties Milo and Fiskars that we adopted a little over a year ago. They each have different personalities that keep me and my hubby thoroughly entertained.
I would agree with Deb, though and also like the genie to take care of the cat’s litterbox as well.
Unqualified YES.
Vickie is in serious love with her Cat Genie — I haven’t touched litter or cleaned a box in 8 days now… And I have three cats.
We have had a Cat Genie since March and am still glad we have it.
Will, sitting with a book in hand and a cat on your lap is the height of comfort, especially if the cat is purring.
Will, cats are so very worth it. I am currently typing with one purring in my lap (the gynormous Maine Coon, of course) and a second staring at us balefully, waiting his turn for once. (Normally he just jumps up and squashes the incumbent lap-sitter. No manners from him!) Anyway, all three of our cats are wonderful. They are full of personality, and taking care of them is a real pleasure. And I say that as someone who just moved them across several states. o_O
I’ve seen the cat genie…But was concerned at how it REALLY sanitizes the crystals. My hubby grew up with his Dad an anatomy and physiology professor. So, I have to hear about all the germs that are in cat poop…
Do you know how it sanitizes. I checked out their website. I was thinking of getting the litter robot, when we got a little more $$.
Thanks
Honest to goodness, painting the house, working in the yard & bicycling during a wonderful summer week. Any time I can be outside getting physically exhausted, it’s a good day.
K. sol…the genie loves the simplicity of your plan. You will be happy.
Indeed, I am happy. I have a cubic yard of compost to spread on the lawn awaiting me when I get home tonight for the weekend. Heaven!
Oh staycations!
1. Clean house & yard – this sounds totally lame on a staycation, but afterward I’d feel productive and have a great environment for the rest of the week!
2. Sleep in every morning – I’d definitely take my time getting up every morning and wait to get up until I feel awake – no alarms!
3. Ride my bike every morning – It would be a beautiful, sunny, 75-80 degrees every day of my staycation (no rain, of course) and I would take a ride on my new bike every day.
4. I would check out at least 2-3 books to read during the week.
5. I would finally go check out the local farmers market on Wednesday mornings. Now that I have a bike I don’t have to worry about paying for or finding parking!
6. Do random things that I don’t usually have time to do – spend a couple hours at the bookstore, eat at a nice restaurant downtown, visit friends and family, go shopping. If I’m feeling really ambitious, I may try to do a few improvements around the house (put up pictures, paint garage).
7. Work on my scrapbook. I’m so behind!
8. I would definitely make an appointment at the end of the week for a day at the spa – full body massage, manicure/pedicure, and just pamper myself. I justify the expense of this since I’m not paying for a hotel or airfare or anything.
Sara…the genie loves your list and will pick up all expenses.
Saturday: Lost Lake
Sunday: Pomeroy Lake
Monday: Crooked lake
Tuesday: Bobcat Lake
Wednesday: Ontonagon River
Thursday: Brule River
Friday: Turtle-Flambeau Flowage
Saturday: Clark Lake
Sunday: porn on DVDs and Max after Dark
Walt…interesting disconnect between Sat. and Sun. Hmmmm.
Walt, porn on DVD must be a generational thing. For my age group, porn lives online.
Please share your sites with me. I’m always learning.
Walt, your desire to keep learning is laudable. To know which sites to share, though, I’d have to conduct a reference interview; I’m not sure that WU is quite the venue for that particular run of questions. *grin*
Hello Genie,
What an interesting idea a stay-cation. I have been thinking a lot about money and my lack of it for anything other than my house, bills, etc. and my desire to travel and I had this wild idea…
I am sure we have all heard of sites that offer services where you can swap out your house for another in another area or host someone in your home/hometown? What about something like that for librarians/library staff? I know many of my colleagues love the idea of travel but often have little time or limited finances.
I don’t know about you but I always, and I mean always visit the local libraries when I travel. Wouldn’t it be great to have a network of librarians willing to host each other in their homes/hometowns?
Now I know some might be hesitant but you could check all of the references through their employers, etc. and any other way that these sites typically screen potential hosts and guests this Librarian hosting site could do the same. Anyway, that was my brainstorm. What do you think?
As for a stay-cation. I would love the genie to provide me with the time off and I would drive down to Laguna Beach for the Pageant of the Masters, go to the Hollywood Bowl for The Jazz Festival, visit MOCA, LACMA, the Getty and Huntington Gardens. I would also take some nice long runs and spend as much time with friends and family as I could. I would also pamper myself with a luxurious spa day and last but not least, I would sleep in a lot!
Heather, the genie loves your idea of a house swap for staycations! You have given the genie an idea for next Friday’s post! Thanks!
Why Will, I am honored! Can’t wait to see Friday’s post!
Perhaps I’m odd, I always prefer to be able to go home, be in my home, be with my family. This does not mean constant interaction/stimulation w/ my family, but to be within the comfort zone of my home.
I have my books, my computer, a nice house, a cute and interesting small community (28,000) – what’s not to like?
However, if I’m going to “take a real vacation” travel is on the ticket.
Staycation just means I get to go home at the end of my work day and on weekends.
Best, John D. Berry, U.C. Berkeley
The genie loves that you mentioned family.
First, the genie will arrange for my cats’ litter boxes to magically clean themselves. Also, the laundry will fold itself and put itself away, and the dishwasher will empty itself. The cats will not have any hairballs for the entire week, and my husband will stop snoring (can we extend that last one indefinitely?) Plus, my husband and daughter will have vacation, too.
So, with all that taken care of, we might drive down to Atlanta to visit the Aquarium and the High Museum. We might drive over to Chattanooga to “see Rock City”, and they have a fine Aquarium, too. We will probably drive over to Asheville to see the Biltmore and its gardens, or maybe visit the Arboretum. We might go geocaching in the local mountains. My husband will probably opt out of a couple of these to stay home and work on his model train layout. We will all probably catch up on our reading.
During this entire week, the genie will arrange for nothing to happen at the library, no last minute grants, no ILS system failures, no emergencies that require anyone to call me.
Oh, Genie, can you get rid of hairballs for a week? That would make a great addition to a staycation.
I believe that *I* live in the best staycation city in the world — New Orleans. But I want my in October or November, please.
So, first and cheap, a one week pass on the streetcar line. (There is no “Desire” line any more, but I would ride up and down St. Charles, and Canal, and even the Riverfront lines.) The best thing is being able to get off and on where you want.
One day would definitely include lunch on the grass in Audubon Park watching the birds on the water (and keeping a half an eye out for the alligators). A trip to the Audubon Zoo, and the paddlewheel boat down to the Aquarium. Another day would include taking the ferry (free to walkers) to Gretna and back, and to Algiers and back.
Definitely one trip up the Canal Streetcar to the cemeteries to wander around a little.
There are restaurants galore. From our cute little shotgun double we can walk to about 40 in the Carrollton/Riverbend area. There are a few we have not tried yet. But definitely breakfast a couple times at Ricobono’s Panola Street Cafe. And their special one day should be corned beef hash.
One trip to the CBD/Warehouse District to visit the Ogden Museum and some of the dive bars in that neighborhood to prepare for ALA 2011.
Time goes so fast.
Oh, Former Director, you are making me sad. My brother used to live in the Riverbend area, and moved to Baton Rouge a couple of years ago. How I miss staying there. You could probably eat out every meal for days and never repeat. Even the little chain counter restaurant (Le Madeleine?) is better than a lot of what we have here.
I recently took a staycation with my husband (I’ve been taking them by myself for years, as our vacations rarely coincided for more than a day or two). We went to our local zoo, which is quite good, and the local children’s science museum (they had a Lego castle exhibit that I HAD to see!). We also went to our favorite local winery, a local bead store, and a favored used book store. We had a grand time.
I spent the rest of the week (by myself again) playing with my jewelry-making hobby, and cuddling my kitties. That’s better and more relaxing than any trip, which I always need to spend days recovering from.
Aaaahhh,Redfish Lake all day long. Lunch at the gazebo, reading on the beach, hike up to Bench Lakes and shuttle back across the lake. Music on the lawn and happy hour with Jen the best bartender ever. Dinner in the restaurant, star gazing til the wee hours. Perfect weather and NO mosquitoes. Ah, tis truly the stuff of fantasies. Thanks for taking us away in our own worlds, Will.
http://www.redfishlake.com/
I am lacking inspiration, since I’m retired and I wake up EVERY morning thinking, “I’m on vacation!” But for THIS staycation, I will make sure not to waste my time as I do so often by puttering the time away. I’ll sit down a few days before the vacation starts and plan my days, just as if I were traveling in another country. One day for the Bronx Zoo – arrive at opening and leave at closing, one for the aquarium (that might be just a half day, but I’ll spend the rest of the day on the beach next to the aquarium), maybe after a hotdog at Nathan’s. At least one day at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in a section that I haven’t been to before (I tend to stick to the temporary exhibits and then to my favorites). I just went to MOMA last week, so I won’t go there this trip. But there are so many museums I haven’t been to – like the Tenement Museum on the Lower East Side. I keep seeing ads for “Bodies – the Exhibition” – that sounds like one I’d find interesting. And something I’ve never found appealing, but this is a time for new experiences: the Museum at Fashion Institute of Technology. At least one day at the American Museum of Natural History, with a trip to outer space in the Planetarium. If I’m not too tired, maybe a different movie every night. And of course, if the genie is paying, dinner in a different restaurant every night.
I’ll save my reading for after I get back – what good is a vacation if I’m not exhausted at the end of it and glad to settle into the mundane routine just to rest up?
Hmmmm…the perfect staycation. First, my wife would have to get the same time off from her employer, which is hard to do. Second, having company at night but then being able to sleep in the morning. Third, spending time on one or two projects that there is never enough time for, but not overdoing it. Fourth, having at least one book I have been itching to read. Fifth, being able to just listen to music with nothing else competing for my attention. Sixth, no emergencies at work or other crises among family and friends. Seventh, some fun exercise. Give me all that and I should return to work refreshed. If the genie would toss in a little money, then an overnight trip to the city for a concert, three good meals out, and some unhurried sightseeing would make it even better.
Hello Genie!!
I must concur with Heather F! I would love to do a swap! I would want to get out of my teeny tiny apartment and into a secluded place in the hills or canyons. I would spend my mornings running followed by a spa visit. There would be plenty of wine, cheese, pastries, pizza, and every other food I can OD on!
During the day I would lounge by the pool, switching between reading and napping. Other days I would go out and explore areas of LA that I’ve never been too.
In the evenings I would cuddle up on the very large, plush sofa that I’m sure this mansion would have and watch some classic movies I’ve been wanting to see.
I want simple, easy, peace, and quiet =)
If the Genie can manage ANYTHING—I would like for the Genie to banish the month of August. It is the killer month in Texas. We can handle the rest and find the museums and the parks and the restaurants, but to get out in 107 degree heat and expect anyone to enjoy anything? There is the challenge.
Here are some “Jeff Foxworthy-cadenced” observations:
If your steering wheel melts in your hand, you may be in a Texas August.
If you step out of the shower needing a shower, you may be in a Texas August.
If you have to wait till the sun goes down to get into the swimming pool, you may be in a Texas August.
If your underwire bra starts to feel like a branding iron, you may be in a Texas August.
Actually THIS week we HAVE cooled off! Don’t know why but we are loving it! Genie if you could tell me there would be no more Augusts—I’ll take care of the rest of the staycation arrangements.
P.S. June and July can be bad too but its August that puts the final nail in the coffin.