Weekly Comments from Dale Martin

Dale Martin
City Manager
Fernandina Beach
July 29, 2016 1:00 a.m.

Our house finally emptied of our July guests. Lisa’s daughter Hannah and three friends and my daughter Emily and her boyfriend all joined us over the Fourth of July weekend. The following weekend, my brother came down for two weeks, the last weekend of which had my twin daughters join us. For nearly all of them, it was a repeat visit to Fernandina Beach. We expected such visits as the result of our relocation here. What we have further discovered is that our vacation budget is now being more allocated to bringing our families here rather than us going elsewhere.

A trip that Lisa and I contemplated while still living in Connecticut was a trip to Hawaii. I am joint owner in a time-share unit which is physically located in Hawaii (but the ownership offers access to other vacation sites and opportunities). Our consideration of a Hawaiian vacation was jumbled with our move here. With new jobs and establishing a new household, not much thought or time is given to think about vacations. Additionally, when I asked what her interest was in going to Hawaii, Lisa said, “The beaches, the ocean, and the scenery.” I told her to look out the front door! Nonetheless, we’ll eventually make it to Hawaii.

All that talk about vacations got us thinking about past vacations. We noted how many states we have visited. My biggest regional deficiency of states visited is “Big Sky” country: I’ve been to none in that area. I think I’ve pretty much covered all of the states east of the Mississippi River, although perhaps a few (Mississippi, Wisconsin, South Carolina, and West Virginia) may have been simply “drive-throughs.” Other than the previously mentioned Big Sky region west of the Mississippi, I don’t recall any visits to Oklahoma or New Mexico.

An interesting note is that I visited several different states as part of my professional career search effort prior to moving to Connecticut: Texas, Missouri, Delaware, Vermont, and Alaska. What I found very heartening just those six years ago is that the topics of discussion varied minimally from site to site- sitting in the various restaurants and hotels let me overhear many interesting conversations. Those conversations then offered wonderful examples of both the vastness and the commonality of our nation. (Now, however, I think that those casual conversations would be less cordial today given the divisive rhetoric offered at each of the national political conventions this month.)

As for international travel, I have been a frequent visitor to Canada, mainly because of its proximity to my home state of Michigan. While living in Connecticut, it was also more convenient to travel through Canada to get to Michigan. My brother lived in Toronto for several years, so that, too, accounted for a few visits. I enjoyed visiting Toronto (also been to Montreal, Quebec City, Vancouver, as well as St. John’s and Halifax).

While stationed in Germany, I was able to visit England, the Netherlands, Italy, Greece, and Turkey. During my time then in Europe, I regretted that I never ventured north into the Scandinavian countries. A trip to those countries is now near the top of my vacation wish-list.

Since my oldest daughter was born in Germany and we subsequently left Germany when she was only nine-months-old, I took the opportunity to return to Germany with her while she was in high school. I showed her where she was born, where we lived, and where I worked (Schweinfurt). As part of that trip, I asked her what else she wanted to see while in Europe. We travelled around Germany (Munich, Berlin) before heading to France (Paris, Normandy) and England (London).

That trip spawned similar trips with my other daughters. One opted to go to Italy. We travelled by train from Rome to Venice to Florence and to Naples before sailing to stay with a friend in Sicily. Of those cities, I most enjoyed the sites of Venice and Florence, but the time with my friend’s family in Sicily was most warm and welcoming. I hope that he can visit me some day here so that I can return his genuine hospitality.

The last daughter wished to visit Ireland and Scotland. We rented a car and toured Ireland in a relatively counter-clockwise direction, starting and ending in Dublin, seeing Cork, Glenbeigh, Limerick, and Galway, before sailing to Wales and travelling by train to Scotland. We stayed in Edinburgh throughout our stay, with the exception of a lengthy day-trip to St. Andrews. It was while we were in Scotland that I received the email message indicating the interest of some small city in northeastern Florida to interview me for its City Manager position.

Now that the travels with my daughters have been completed, Lisa says that it’s her turn (and it is). The travel environment has changed so much in the last year, though, that the carefreeness of international vacations has diminished. The internet and the proliferation of digital and social media have reduced some of the mystique of travel, as well. I strongly encourage you to actually print those pictures instead of leaving them on mobile phones or computers: it’s more enjoyable to look at actual prints instead of scrolling across a small phone. Despite those changes, I look forward to more travel to new places in the future.