Asheville - Me and My Traveling Hat

For as long as I can remember, my mom would share her trips as a child about how she, her parents and siblings traveled over the years. When she was five years old or so, she went to Italy with her parents and siblings to live in Sicily for a year or two. Imagine traveling across the Atlantic on a ship! It was like jumping on a plane to get from place to place, not just to take a cruise for vacation. Photo when they were heading to Italy When my mom was in her 20’s, her dad decided to travel with the family across the country from New York to California to live for a little while; but they didn’t live there too long because my grandfather missed New York City. California wasn’t like New York, where you could walk to most places to get what you needed without using a car. In Arizona on their way back to New York from California on Route 66 After my mother and father married in the 1940s, they still liked to go away on weekends, most of the time with their close friends Sylvia and Sam. The Catskill Mountains was one of those places. My Mom and Her Best Friend Sylvia This photo below was in the 1960s; then in 1995, I wore this exact dress that my mom was wearing in this photo for my rehearsal dinner. It was a classic dress; she reminded me of the pictures I saw of Jackie Kennedy growing up as a child. She would dress up so pretty, and my dad would wear a suit, Mad Men days! Date nights and weekends away were essential to them raising four children. My dad was a blue collar man and worked very very hard. My Mother and Father in the 1960s In the later years, the children became adults; each of us lived in different states and at one point, different countries. Even in my parents’ later years, they still loved to travel, and they would visit us all. When I lived in New York, my parents traveled to visit me, and we had a blast going around the city, and then to upstate New York where I grew up. We also visited places they lived before they had children, and of course, we visited our relatives. Traveling to New York from North Carolina When my mom was in her 90s, yes 90s, she still loved to travel. I was able to take her on some trips she wanted to go on, either for the first time or back to places she loved. She loved LOVED Disney World; she was like a kid in a candy store! My mom and dad, both in their late 70s, would go on rides like Splash Mountain in the Disney's Magic Kingdom even I would not go on that ride! Adventurous for sure! My Mother, I and her Two Sisters at Disney World 1980s One of the trips I loved taking her on was to Asheville, North Carolina. We are Sicilian, so we kind of love wine! While there, we went on a tour at the Biltmore Estate; then we went to a wine tasting at the Biltmore Wine Shop. My mom truly enjoyed it, a great memory for me to treasure. Front of the Biltmore Estate My Mother at the Biltmore Estate The Sunsets are so Beautiful - This was a Sun Dog Sunset Having a Wine Tasting at the Biltmore Wine Shop We stayed at one of my favorite places, the Omni Grove Park Inn. They have a beautiful lobby with a grand piano, a long bar, a massive stone fireplace, and a priceless view. We would sit in the big rocking chairs near the fire stove while my mom would have one of her favorites, Kahlua and Cream. It was Christmas time, so the lobby was decorated beautifully. My Mom Enjoying her Kahlua and Cream The Huge Fireplace at Omini Grove Park Inn I took her a few years before that to Disney World with my niece who also loves Disney World! We got to take her on some of her favorite rides like It's a Small World and many others. She just enjoyed them all! My Mother at the Grand Floridian at Disney World I truly enjoyed these times with my mom and both my parents. Now that they are no longer here, I love to reminisce on the great times and the memories we built and the fun we had together. The point I am making is to take your parents whether together or separately on trips that you will cherish and build those memories you will look back on and enjoy forever. What was the trip you took with your parents in their later years?