The day after our wedding reception, Justin and I headed to Bermuda for a short post-wedding trip.  In spite of the timing, we didn’t call it our honeymoon – for several reasons.  First, we had a honeymoon planned for May, 2008 in Europe, most specifically, Portugal and Spain.  Secondly, the trip to Bermuda was scheduled to last a whopping 72 hours.  Third, being the spontaneous planners that we are, the trip to Bermuda was planned within 5 days of our actual wedding.  Our honeymoon to Europe, we planned over the course of 5 months.

 

Here’s how this all unfolded. In August 2007 one of my colleagues took a trip to Bermuda with her husband and his family.  Their trip was spontaneous in the sense that they had a trip planned for later that month, but were offered this opportunity and decided to forgo the latter trip for travel to Bermuda.  Makes sense, right?  You’re probably thinking, well her colleague probably had a very boring trip planned to bumble-nowhere, OF COURSE she chose Bermuda over that.  You’re right – her trip was to bumble-nowhere – about 300 miles inland of Bermuda in Cape Hatteras, NC.    Cape Hatteras is where I spent every summer vacation of my life until becoming an RA in college and where my mom got the sand for our wedding “unity sand” ceremony.  It’s my favorite place in the world, a place where I feel most at peace with myself and with the universe.  Lying on the beach, book in hand, surrounded by family, a cooler full of Coke and my mom’s homemade chex mix is my ultimate vacation, and I knew that my colleague felt the same way.  Cape Hatteras, NC was where my colleague was scheduled to go initially with her family, just as she had done every other summer of her life.  And she decided instead to go to Bermuda, a vacation place where she had been before.   As my brain processed her decision, a small light turned on.  Hmmm….Bermuda in lieu of Cape Hatteras….. 

It took me 2 weeks to let that though stew before I proposed the idea Justin. Then another 2 weeks before he was on board with the idea.  Which left us with one week to research flights, hotels, extra time off from jobs, and put finishing touches on the wedding and reception plans.  I’d like to think that we had a little help from the universe as we scrambled to make these plans.  Coincidently, I had accrued enough frequent flyer miles to account for one round trip ticket and it just happened to be with the one airline that was flying to Bermuda the day after our reception.  We found a “hotel” that was offering a great deal on 4 night stay and most importantly, our employers were more than happy to accommodate our spontaneity. 

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Justin, Dori, Elizabeth and Jon at Nashoba Valley Winery

One of the best things about living in New England is the beautiful fall weather.  Each year, the leaves begin to change at the beginning of October and the mornings become crisper.  For a month, even though it’s chilly, it’s refreshing to wake up in the morning and start your day outside.   This year has been no exception.  Though we’ve had some warm days,  we’ve also had our fair share of crisp, cool mornings.

One of my other favorite aspects of living in New England at this time of year is the annual jaunt to the apple farm!  Each year since I moved north, it has been important to me to find a place to engage in good old fashioned apple and pumpkin picking – hayride and caramel apple eating included.  To me, this is a fall tradition started when I began working for a small family farm, Butler’s Orchard, while in middle school.  I worked for this kitschy, family oriented employer beginning in 8th grade through my sophomore year of college – quite a stretch!  The most exciting time to work on the farm was September – November, which was when, it seemed, that everyone who lived within a 50 mile radius would come out to “pick their own” pumpkin, apples, gourds, and eventually, Christmas tree.  The Butler family was very generous – allowing each employee to select a pumpkin and Christmas tree to take home as our “bonus” for having helped with a successful fall season.  I LOVED working there.  As part time jobs go,  it is probably my favorite, second only to my stint as a “beer cart girl” at Little Bennett Golf Course. Because after all, when you are a college student, there isn’t really a job that seems quite as cool as the one that allows you to go home each night with $200 in cold hard cash after a day of driving a beer cart around a sunny golf course.

But, back to my deep appreciation for fall and apple picking.  While working on the family farm, each October we would celebrate “Octoberfest.”  This involved a sizable festival in the farm fields each weekend and all employees were required to wear a costume to work.  Early in my employment at Butler’s I purchased a Raggedy Ann costume for $50 and proceeded to wear it during each weekend of Octoberfest throughout the years.  I proudly wore it year after year while operating the popcorn both, the caramel apple booth, while monitoring the pumpkin patch, face painting tiny cheeks and operating the cash register.  When I recently asked my mom to dig the costume  out of the depths of our basement in anticipation of a Halloween festival that would take place at work, it arrived to me dotted with old caramel spots.  And, it brought me back to the days when I stood outside in my black patent leather shoes, breathing in the sweet smell of the farm and taking in the excitement of the season.

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