The Art of Vacationing

The Maundy Monday Newsletter - This Week in History March 15 - 22.

“I have found out that there ain’t no surer way to find out whether you like people or hate them than to travel with them.” — Mark Twain

I married at 46. I didn’t want to rush into anything. When I mention the age I was when I stood before God, declaring that I took Anonymous to be my wife, people tend to ask me if I was ever married before. It’s not unreasonable to assume that someone like me, a guy with a great set of hair and who writes a mediocre US History blog, would have been snatched up many years prior.

But there are many reasons I denied other women the chance to allow me to bring them coffee in the morning. One important factor was that I never vacationed with anyone I had dated before I met Anonymous. Just like what Mr. Twain said smartly years ago, I never really determined if I liked any of the others, because I decided I never wanted to figure it out by going somewhere and vacationing.

To be fair, I wasn’t good at vacationing for most of my life. To me, there’s an art to vacationing, and I am fortunate that my wife has made a huge difference in my life when it comes to taking a break.

For long-time readers, you know, Anonymous and I have spent time together at St. Martin, a gorgeous Caribbean island directly east of Puerto Rico in the Lesser Antilles. It has two halves and therefore two different experiences. We always stay on the French side, which is the north. It’s like experiencing the Mediterranean, or so Anonymous tells me, because I have never been there, but I do know it’s very different than the Dutch south, which looks too loud and therefore too much for this snob who thinks he has a great set of hair.

But unlike the trip I made four years ago, my brief sabbatical last week was spent on the other side of Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic.

Neither of us had been there before, making last week a rare moment when my wife and I were experiencing the same thing in real time. This might be the second time this has happened. As a spy, Anonymous travels a lot, like this upcoming weekend.

But the Dominican Republic was a lovely place to unwind. If you don’t know anything about the Dominican Republic, here’s the Okay History version:

In 1492, Christopher Columbus arrived and declared the place for Spain. Then, over centuries, they massacred the indigenous people, leaving just a few tens of thousands, who then intermixed with the Spaniards and enslaved Africans. Many centuries passed, and they declared their independence. Then, Haiti took them over. Then they declared their independence. Then France took them over. Then they declared their independence. Then the United States took them over, and later we granted them independence. Then they had about 200 leaders and 75 constitutions until they figured out democracy on their own. The US Ambassador to the Dominican Republic is Secretary Road Rules, sister-in-law.

Today, the Dominican Republic is thriving, producing some of the best professional baseball players (like my all-time favorite – Jose Ramirez), and even though they lost last night in the World Baseball Classic, they are a force on the diamond.

It was a wonderful trip. I read three books (I’ll share the list next week), caught up on sleep, and met almost everyone from Canada. I’m not kidding, every person in the place we stayed was either from Canada or Buffalo. These people understand the art of vacationing.

It’s always fun spending time on vacation apologizing to the nicest people on the planet about our cruel president and his administration. On our final night there, we had the pleasure of meeting a few of Halifax’s finest, who proved their kindness by subscribing. So special welcome to Dave, Ducky, and Ruth!

I spent a lot of time in that ocean.

Okay, let’s highlight what else happened this week. As a reminder, these events mark their anniversary, ending in 5 or 0. Here’s what I got:

1. Vans opened its first store on March 16, 1966. Paul Van Doren founded the Van Doren Rubber Company with his brother James and another guy named Gordon. They started off by selling shoes with thick rubber soles. Paul’s son Mark was into skateboarding, which was all the rage in Anaheim, California. The company shortened its name to Vans, and the “Off the Wall” motto was adopted in 1976 as a reference to skateboarders’ perspectives on life (I’m guessing). I’m bringing this up at this moment in history because Anonymous and I love Vans, and we wore a special pair at our wedding reception. If you were there, you know. Also, I brought a pair on this vacation. I’m “Off the Wall!”

2. Nevada legalized gambling on March 19, 1931. Unlike its neighbor, California, Nevada never had a big gold rush boom in the mid-1800s. Instead, it had a minor silver boom in the early 1900s. Surrounded by desert and not much else, Nevada began a steady decline when the silver mines dried up. Then the Great Depression hit, so in response, the state legalized gambling to bring people in, have them stay, and then lose all their money. The outpost desert town of Las Vegas took off after World War II, thanks to the Mafia, and now gambling is no longer considered a vice, because we walk around with little casinos in our pockets, ready to rob us of our money that we could spend on a cool pair of Vans and be “Off the Wall!”

3. The Social Media network Twitter launched on March 21, 2006. Twitter.com was already owned and being used, so Twitter went by Twttr, which is cool because they left out the vowels. Co-Founder and long-time CEO Jack Dorsey typed the first tweet – a declaration of words within the set limit, with “just setting up my twttr.” The world’s wealthiest man now owns it, and it’s a place where people go and yell at each other over their gambling losses.

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Blue did not enjoy our break. Instead, he had surgery on his paw that had developed a cyst. Our poor boy spent the week with a cone on his head at his dog sitter’s, and we hope everything has healed.

I’ll see you on Saturday. I’m a bit behind on the Vice President rankings, so let’s get back at it.

Thanks for supporting Okay History. “Okay” is one of the favorite words in Canada. Have a great week.

Okay,

Chris

You can just feel Blue’s misery. Hope this week it gets back to normal.