Vacation

WHILE I WAS GROWING UP AMID THE rugged, manicured lawns of Framingham, my family's annual Cape Cod vacation always loomed on the horizon like a prize for eating a year's worth of Mom's asparagus souffle. Even the name, Cape Cod, had such tangy promise in it. To a 9-year-old in the mid- 1950s, a two-week stay on the Cape seemed vaguely patriotic, too. Our vacation always kicked off with the car-packing argument. For our two weeks at a cottage in Dennis, my mother packed everything but the oil burner, while my father, a minimalist by default, was willing to hit the road with his shaving kit and a clam rake.

Don and Barbara Dennis were the classic definition of "house poor. " They had used so much of their money buying a beautiful home on the water in Marblehead in 2004 that they had little left to travel as they used to with their sons. But then the couple realized the house itself was a valuable bargaining chip. "Our home is in a great location, and it dawned on me that we could swap it for any place in the world," said Don Dennis, an architect. And so they have. The Dennises have been able to travel around the United States and Europe by swapping homes with other owners in San...

When Johnny Graham, 40, a personal chef on Martha's Vineyard, visits his family in Missouri he spends hours alone fishing and bike riding. At least that's what his loved ones are led to believe. The rides are actually two blocks long, to a cafe. And the closest he comes to actual fishing is when he throws a rod in his car. "You can be gone for five or six hours," he said. "No one wants to hear fishing stories. " Duplicitous? Certainly. But it's preferable to saying what he thinks: "I need a break from you and I'm going to a bar. " This summer, from July 1 through the end of September,...

LEND A HAND Randolph, New Hampshire Members of the venerable Randolph Mountain Club ( randolphmountainclub.org ), founded in 1910 in northern New Hampshire, care for more than 100 miles of trails on three majestic Presidential peaks — Adams, Madison, and Jefferson — as well as Randolph's town trails located in the Crescent Range. Volunteer Trail Days on Saturdays in July and the beginning of August invite the public to give a little back with their backs.

When Lee Glickenhaus and his four buddies attended Oberlin College in the 1970s, no day was complete without a hard-charging game of Ultimate Frisbee. But 25 years later, few Frisbees were being tossed during their annual get-togethers. In their new roles as husbands and fathers, they found their weekends together to be pleasant but . . . different. Inevitably, the spontaneity of their undergraduate days took a back seat to domestic obligations. What could they do to recapture the old camaraderie?

Patriots receiver Wes Welker doesn't appear to be upset with Gisele Bundchen about her post-Super Bowl comments. ("My husband cannot [expletive] throw the ball and catch the ball at the same time. I can't believe they dropped the ball so many times. ") The receiver and his fiancee, Anna Burns, joined Bundchen and QB Tom Brady in Costa Rica on Tuesday. In case you're wondering, Welker is wearing a Sportiqe T-Shirt. We know that because Sportiqe told us so. We don't know what Brady is wearing.

RE: "VIGILANCE or obsession? Wildly different child-safety norms vex an American mother abroad," Op-ed, Sept. 1: According to UNICEF, India suffers one of the highest rates of infant and child mortality on the planet. This small fact seems to bother Kate Darnton less than America's "Good Mommy Rules" that she finds herself chafing under after the first week or two of her annual summer vacation back in the United States. If the threat of extortion from marauding gangs in Delhi is preferable to her than being required to install child car seats in Cambridge,...

Mayor Thomas M. Menino will leave behind the daily grind of Government Center today for glaciers, whale watching, and maybe a taste of moose meat. Goodbye, Boston. Hello, Alaskan cruise. "He is going on a personal vacation with his wife," Menino's spokeswoman, Dot Joyce, said in an e-mail that offered no specifics about the trip. "He will be gone for one week. Probably the shortest Alaskan adventure ever. " Menino, 68, had promised his wife, Angela, a vacation after winning reelection to a fifth term in November 2009.

"There are three wants which can never be satisfied," Emerson once wrote: "that of the rich, who wants something more; that of the sick, who wants something different; and that of the traveller, who says, 'Anywhere but here.' " As "Always Delightfully Cool" charmingly demonstrates, a large and popular industry grew up in New England during the 19th century determined to prove Emerson wrong on that last count. The exhibition, which runs at the Boston Athenaeum through Aug. 22, consists of nearly 60 items relating to summer vacations in Maine, Vermont, New...

Q. I am a new supervisor. I am being besieged by the requests from my employees. Right now, the hot button is vacation requests. Everyone wants to take the week after Independence Day off. It is impossible to grant everyone that week off. What is the best way to handle such requests? The onset of summer often brings these conflicts to the forefront. Here are some recommendations: A. 1. Find out what has been done historically in your department. It is important to understand certain special requests.

Q. I will be leaving a job where we use flextime for our time off. All of our days off come from the same pool, be it holidays, sick leave, vacation, etc. I have accumulated nearly 900 hours [about 23 weeks] in my flextime pool. The written company policy is that if I give my employer four weeks' notice, I am entitled to cash out a maximum of four weeks of flextime. Is this legal? If not, what kind of recourse do I have to ensure compensation? Can I take the number of hours that I will forfeit by virtue of leaving as a capital loss on my taxes?

We love our gadgets, gizmos, and high-speed connections. It is heady stuff: We sign in, link in, tweet, post, and Google. But all this technology makes it difficult to relax, especially when we are expected to be connected 24/7. A trend is emerging to free us from this constant communication: the unplugged vacation. Many hotels and resorts are offering outdoor activities, yoga classes, and even old-fashioned board games as ways to relax. Some boast of rooms with no phones, TV,...

The town Recreation Department has lined up two programs this week for children on school vacation. The sports program, for children in grades 4 through 6, will include games and tournaments of dodge ball, soccer, capture the flag, basketball, and a home run derby. The program will be held Monday through Friday, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., at the Town Park, behind Town Hall. Fee is $75 for the entire week or $15 per day. Also, children between the ages of 4 and 12 can take part in gymnastics camp, with activities including trampoline, zip-line, foam pit, recreational games, and arts and crafts.

The Friends of the Tewksbury Public Library have organized a fund-raising program in which participating restaurants will make a donation for every library patron who dines in their establishment on a specified night. For a list of restaurants and scheduled dates, go to tewksburypl.org. Meanwhile, the library is offering special programs for children during spring vacation week. Among the events are the Silly Laughing Musical Fun Poetry Show with Jeff Nathan at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday and A Family Movie Matinee on Friday at 10:30 a.m. The library is also reminding residents of its Shakespeare in the Stacks...

Try out the Fenway's single red seat, a tribute to the longest home run ever hit inside the park, by Ted Williams in 1946. April 15-16 You have until Monday at 11:59 p.m. to enter the lottery for free tickets to the Antiques Roadshow taping in Boston in June. pbs.org/wgbh/roadshow/tickets.html April 16 THE RACERS ARE COMING! The best places to cheer on Boston Marathon participants. > At the halfway point, in Wellesley's downtown near the 13.1-13.2-mile mark, charged-up runners zoom, and fan amenities include a choice of cafes in case watching the race...

With so many new interactive e-books, apps based on favorite stories, and online games with beloved characters, it's easy to forget about just plain books. But children's novels and picture books can become real-world adventures when you take young readers to children's literature-centered destinations throughout New England. Grab some snacks for the drive, the GPS, and your library card (you might need to make a stop on the way home) and set out for a kid lit road trip. Massachusetts If you want to stay in Boston for the day, fans of Esther Forbes's "Johnny Tremain" can take a...

BERN, Switzerland - Who turns down a long vacation? Known for their work ethic, Swiss citizens appear to be leading the way on European austerity, rejecting a minimum six weeks paid holiday a year. Swiss polls closed Sunday on several national referendums, including one pushed by a union to raise the minimum holiday from four weeks to the standard used in Germany, Italy, Russia, and other European nations. The Swiss heeded warnings from government and business that more vacation would raise labor costs and put the economy at risk.

The White House is urging people living in the path of Hurricane Irene to follow the advice and warning of state and local officials as the storm approaches. White House spokesman Josh Earnest says President Barack Obama was briefed Wednesday on the latest developments. He says FEMA is also coordinating with state and local officials. Hurricane Irene strengthened to a major Category 3 storm over the Bahamas on Wednesday. Evacuations began on a tiny barrier island off North Carolina as the storm moved toward the East Coast.

Call it where the buoys are. April school vacation week nears. Admittedly even in a blessedly unseasonably warm year, it's probably a little early to break out swimwear but that should not keep families from going down to the sea in trips. Here are some options. SOUTHERN MAINE Ogunquit celebrates Patriot's Day Weekend (www.visitogunquit.org) April 13-15 with concerts, historical reenactments, food and wine tastings, children's activities, and a beach bazaar. Play on the beach or download the Kids' Guide to the Marginal Way (www.ogunquit.org/justforkids.php)