Summer Vacation Plan

Glenn & Sydney Anderson

First of all, we’re visiting Searstone next week! Sydney and I are looking forward to actually being on site and learning more. In July, we will go to Kennebunk, ME to visit Sydney’s brother. He lives near the shore and we’re looking forward to spending time with him, his new moyen poodle “Oscar,” and to enjoying eating lobster and walking along the beach. No plans beyond that, but we’re curious to hear where others are going!

John & Diane Wright

The Wrights will be making a short visit to Cherokee, NC. We’ll be staying at the Harrah’s Resort and Casino. While there, we are taking a side trip to Bryson City to go on the ”Great Smoky Mountains Train Ride.” We thought it sounded like fun and it will be nice to get out and visit the mountains again!

Jim Gile & Sue Goldstein

We are going to Center Moriches, NY in July and San Diego in August — both trips are to spend time with family. 

Munir & Saeeda Ladhabhoy

Saeeda and I are visiting Saeeda’s sister Ismet in New York from June 6 – 19, 2021. Ismet’s husband Razak passed away suddenly last November 2020. Due to Pandemic restrictions we couldn’t travel to be with Ismet and comfort her. We plan to be with Ismet and cheer her up. Next, we are going to Menlo Park, CA from July 2 – 14, 2021 after 18 months to be with our grandkids Dylan (10) and Cami (8). We plan to have a good time with our son Riaz, Melanie, Dylan and Cami.

Anton & Sue Jetten

We are planning to spend 2.5 weeks in July in the Rocky Mountains in Colorado, where we will go hiking and etc.

Marcia DiMartino

I’ll be going to Wrightsville beach in Wilmington for a family get-together at the end of June.  The rest of the summer I’ll be having friends and family visit me here in Cary so they can spend time with me in my beautiful new apartment at Searstone! 

Pete Lunt & Melissa Martin

Your timing is excellent because I just bought a plane ticket to Iceland. I’ll be heading there in late June for about ten days and hope to see all sorts of things, perhaps including the volcano that is erupting right now. 

I picked Iceland for a few reasons:

1. My husband Pete and I were supposed to visit Iceland last summer as part of British Isles and Iceland cruise, and it’s a place I’ve wanted to go for several years.
2. I’m used to taking solo trips to Europe every summer (I’m a college professor and don’t teach in the summer), and I’m experiencing serious Europe withdrawal! Iceland, despite its remote location, is part of the European Union.
3. Iceland makes sense as a destination right now for various COVID-related reasons.

Pete and I will also be visiting our daughter and her family (including two granddaughters) in northern Michigan some time in late July or early August. It’s been two years since we’ve seen them, so I probably don’t need to explain why we chose that location!

Drew & Laurie Finn

We don’t have firm plans due to the uncertainty of my shoulder surgery recovery period and pressing business issues. Because of this and the pandemic, I cancelled a trip to Kilimanjaro in July. Maybe I will get to hike in Tanzania next summer.

In the meantime we will be traveling locally for hiking and biking adventures with an eye to visiting Portugal in October if the virus becomes better controlled.

We look forward to reading about the plans of others in the newsletter. 

Thomas and Sue Burkhard

We are hopefully going to Northwest Ireland for a golfing vacation in September.

Jay and Maureen Hartford

Jay and I just returned from a trip to Seattle to see our daughter’s family and then to our pandemic- postponed, bucket list trip to western national parks. We went to Jackson Hole, the Grand Tetons, Yellowstone, the Little Bighorn, Mt. Rushmore, Spearfish Canyon, Deadwood, Custer State Park, the Mammoth Dig Site, Wall Drugs, and the Badlands.  Just the two of us, no crowds, cool (sometimes cold) weather and a lot of fun. It snowed 6 inches in Yellowstone!

John & Nancy Engle

John and I would love to be traveling this summer, but alas, we will be staying at home. We do have a cruise in the South Pacific booked for February 2022. We are keeping our fingers crossed that Australia and New Zealand will be open for tourism in time for our journey. 

Paul and Anne Cain

Paul and I are heading to the Belmont Stakes tomorrow. It is the third leg of the triple crown which is a bucket list item for me. We’re also spending three days in New York City and then back home. Summer weekends will be spent at Holden Beach.

Jerry & Sharon Wilhelmy

We are taking a 2,000 mile road trip to AZ, NM, CO, UT, and NV to visit family and friends—our first flight out of Honolulu in a year and a half, it’s definitely a record.

Dennis & Jan Hefner

Our much anticipated trip to our favorite destination, Secret Harbour Resort in St. Thomas, had to be canceled. I ruptured a tendon in my ankle  playing pickleball and just had surgery. Unfortunately,  I cannot bear weight on my foot for a very long 5 months. We look forward to “summer vacation” in December!

Roger & Doris Vaughan

Roger and I are taking the American Cruise Lines 8-day Music Cities Cruise from Memphis to Nashville in July.  This includes 2 nights prior to the cruise at the Guest House at Graceland with tours of Graceland and Memphis.  It also includes a tour of historic downtown and a show at the Grand Ole Opry in Nashville as well as stops in towns along the way.  We also expect to spend a week in Hilton Head in September.  It feels good to be traveling again!

Richard Crawley

I am currently travelling in Thailand. I will be back with you for July 4th.

Safe travels for all who are venturing this summer! We may be partial, but a staycation at the lovely grounds of Searstone sounds just as exciting to us!