December 3, 2020

I remember when my brothers and sisters were young, I had an opportunity to take them on a bus trip from New York to Montreal. I took two sisters, two friends, and a niece, and we got on the bus in Manhattan with all of the hustle and bustle of the bus station that we were in. And I think we took a Greyhound, I can’t remember, or Trailways. It was about an eight-hour trip and before we got to Montreal, they stopped us at the Canadian border.

And of course, I had the five or six children with me. And I was in my 20s, and I was told to come off the bus. So when I got off, they opened the bottom of the bus and looked through all the luggage because we were at the border and my sister, I remember them pressing their noses and looking scared out the window because these were customs inspectors that were inspecting at the border. And they were wondering why a young woman was taking all these children.

So I explained to them it was family and friends and that we were gonna stay at the Hotel Laurentian in Montreal. And it was a wonderful, wonderful trip. I had liked the hotels in Canada. I stayed at the St Michael’s Hotel in Toronto, also very beautiful and very nice views from the high floors. But with hotels, my most comfortable, I think, would be in my hometown, Annapolis, renting a suite at the Hampton in Annapolis during the summer so the children in my family could use the pool and we could have barbecues.

They have all the tables and things set up. But that’s really been most memorable for me because I get to see 50 or 60 of my more than 150 family members who live or come to the area. And that has been wonderful to see the children as they grow and to cook and to see them in the pool. So it’s been nice. I remember when I went to Hearst Castle, I stopped at Madonna Inn. I think it was near the Madonna Inn. I think it was right outside of Santa Barbara or just before it.

And it was San Luis Obispo, that’s where it was. And Madonna Inn had all these baby dolls that were in the rooms and in the lobby, and hundreds of baby dolls. And as a child, I loved baby dolls, but never really had them. There were so many children. I would get a bouncing ball for Christmas, which my brother would wrap, the same brother. And then he’d bounce it and say, “I wonder what this is?” I’d get the same present every year. But I always wanted a baby doll and never had it. But I’ve had wonderful trips, as I said mostly to Hampton Inns, which I really love. And it’s been nice memories.