Packing up the car early on an steamy summer morning, grabbing a large iced coffee, snacks, and shades, cranking up my ultimate American playlist, maxing the AC, and hitting the open road bound for the beach is simply synonymous with the American summer I know and love best. Growing up, such dawn marked drives meant heading north to Cape Cod to narrowly catch the mid morning ferry across to Nantucket island. Vacation didn’t really begin for me in fact until the engine hummed, hot and heavy on the asphalt of the parkway, rolling into Hyannis Port. With the car parked on the ferry, I’d roll the windows down and close my eyes, only to smell the salty sea air as rolling east, and awoke an hour later to the blair of the fog horn, signaling the the true start of summer.
Dave Matthews Band Under the Table and Dreaming was the summer soundtrack of choice then, and without a moment lost, my sister and I would take off, ants marching straight from boat to beach, suitcases still stuffed, unopened in the trunk.
Wheels are a summer girl’s best friend. Whether it be a car, a bike, a vespa, you name it: the freedom to get up, get in, get on, and go is what summer in the states is all about.
So as I make my way on my first summer road trip with my own family, that is me, my husband and our twin corgis, I can’t help but celebrate the stolen hours spent just cruising. Because there is an inexplicable joy; a total release when you feel the power to take yourself not just where you need to go, but where you want to go.
This summer, I wish you all more time spent out on the open road to find out where it may take you.
