Title: Family Vacation
A/N: Yes, Fair Hills is a real place that has to be experienced to be believed; www.fairhillsresort.com
“There are no locks on the door.”
“Your powers of observation are unparalleled.” Donna drawled. “None of the cabins have locks on
their doors.”
“I don’t think I can stay someplace that doesn’t have a lock on the door.” Josh maintained.
“Too late. You promised me we could go anywhere for our family vacation. I picked here.”
“But I only promised you that because I was pretty sure you’d pick somewhere…closer to civilization. I
didn’t realize you were on some mission to relive a summer vacation from your Midwestern roots.”
Josh looked around in vain. “Where is the TV?”
“No televisions at Fair Hills.” Donna informed him.
“Excuse me?” Josh choked.
“And it isn’t a desire to relive a summer from childhood. It’s a desire to share some of my personal
history with you.” Donna explained. “My family came up here for a week every summer for years.
Maybe next year we’ll bring our family here for a vacation.”
Josh took her in his arms and rubbed his hand over the growing expanse of Donna’s stomach. “Not a
chance in hell.”
“Joshua!”
“There are no locks on the doors and no televisions. This is not a safe environment in which to bring
a baby. The phones are probably still rotary dials.”
“No phones in the cabins.” Donna delighted in informing him.
“Where the hell have you brought me, Donna?” Josh shook his head. “Thank God for cell phones.”
“Good luck finding a signal up here.” Donna began unpacking their clothes knowing that Northern
Minnesota was not known for it’s cell towers.
“Tell me the truth. I’m being punished for something aren’t I?”
“Yes, Josh, it’s all an elaborate plot to punish you for some unknown sin you’ve committed.” Donna
shook her head. “Go take a walk down to the main lodge. You can get us some ice and pick up a
copy of the newspaper.”
“A Minnesota newspaper.” Josh amended.
“Yes, here in Minnesota they sell papers written in and about Minnesota.” She pushed him toward
the door. “It’s straight down the path there.”
Josh reluctantly followed her instructions and began walking down a well traveled path. He’d only
been without his detail for a couple weeks now and it felt more than a little strange to be walking in
the woods completely alone. When he got to the lodge, he found a few people milling around, but it
was hardly like a posh hotel lobby. Once again, he wondered what Donna had been thinking when
she chose this place for their vacation.
“What can I do for you, Mr. Lyman?” An older gentleman behind the counter greeted him by name.
Josh didn’t find it odd that the man recognized him. He had been a very visible member of the Santos
administration for the last 2 years.
“I was sent to get some ice.” Josh informed him.
“I can help you with that.” The man grabbed an empty ice cream tub and filled it with ice. “That’ll be
15 cents. Should I add it to your tab?”
“Sure… that would be fine. It’s…”
“Cabin 36.” The man finished for him. “How’s Donnatella doing? I’m sorry I missed her when you
checked in.”
Now Josh blinked in surprise. Yes, Donna had been visible as Helen’s COS, but her exposure was
mostly in and around D.C.
“She’s…fine.” Josh answered reluctantly.
“Tell her to stop by and I’ll make her a triple decker cone; just like the old days.”
“You know Donna from when she came here as a kid?”
“Sure! Her family came down the week of July 4th for years!” The man exclaimed. “I’m Dan Preston.
My family has owned and operated Fair Hills for three generations now. It’s a small resort so we get
to know all our families pretty well. The Moss family was one of my favorites. And Donnatella? With
her blond pony tail and bright blue eyes, she was always a sweetheart.”
“None of that has changed.” Josh shared.
“How are her brothers doing?” Dan asked amiably.
“Good. At least they were the last time we were through.”
“That’s right. You’re in Washington?”
“Yes, well, Virginia, but near D.C.”
“It’s just great that you’ve brought Donnatella back for a visit.”
“Honestly, it’s more like she’s brought me.” Josh admitted.
“Either way, it’s good that you’re here.” Dan handed Josh the ice laden bucket. “If there’s anything
you need, anything at all, you come see me. Dinner is served in about an hour. The bell rings to let
you know the dining hall is ready.”
“Ah…okay. Thanks.” Josh replied and made his way back to the cabin. Donna had them completely
unpacked.
“Dinner won’t be ready for another hour.” Josh announced.
“I know. I remember the schedule.”
“So…what should we do until then?” Josh asked looking around the sparse cabin.
“I remember something I want to show you.” Donna smiled and took his hand. They walked for a few
minutes until they came to a hammock settled between two trees near the edge of the lake. Taking
the hint, he settled it for her to climb into and quickly joined her.
“When’s the last time we had the time, and the privacy, for this?” Donna asked.
“Transition. Hawaii.” Josh smiled at the memory.
“Two years ago, Joshua.”
“Hey, the Secret Service wasn’t MY choice.”
“I’m just saying that now that they’re no longer legally required, I want more of this.”
“Are you wanting the hammock in particular or…”
“You know what I’m saying.”
“I guess I do.” Josh kissed her forehead and closed his eyes, content to just be in the moment. The
next thing he knew a loud clanging was waking him from a sound sleep.
“Dinner is served.” Donna grinned and they followed other couples and families up to the dining hall.
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“It’s for kids.”
“It’s for anyone at the resort.”
“Then why is it listed under the ‘children’s activities’?” Josh demanded.
“Think of it as practice.”
“For what?!”
“For next summer when we bring our baby back here.” Donna patted her six months pregnant
stomach.
“I hardly think the baby will be ready for the sandcastle building contest.” Josh gestured to his feeble
attempt.
“That’s why she’ll be depending on you to help her.” Donna added a lopsided turret to their creation.
“HE will most likely be more interested in something more testosterone driven than a sand castle
contest.” Josh willingly picked up the gauntlet in their never ending battle over whether the baby
would be a boy or a girl. As soon as they’d found out they were pregnant, they had decided to leave
the sex of the baby as a surprise.
“Some would say sand castle building is an excellent precursor for engineering or architecture.”
“Riiiiiight.” Josh rolled his eyes but he continued his efforts. “I’m just saying we could do the adult
recreation activities and practice our sand castle building on our own time, when the beach isn’t quite
so…crowded.” Josh finished his sentence as a young boy crashed into him.
“Adult recreation is golfing today. You told me you never wanted to see a golf club again after that
last fundraising event when you…”
“You need a flag.” The young castle crasher announced to Josh.
“I do?”
“Yeah.” The boy nodded wisely and ran off.
“The kid destroys my castle and then tells me I need to purchase a flag to make it complete; must be
a Republican.”
“Josh!” Donna laughed as the boy returned with a large leaf still attached to a small piece of twig.
“Here you go.” The boy planted the twig into the tallest part of Josh’s structure.
“Thanks. That definitely helps.” Donna told him.
“You need something extra on your castle or you won’t even make third place.” The boy continued.
“You sound like you have a lot of experience with castle building.” Donna noted.
“I win every year. My name is David. What’s yours?”
“Donna. And this is Josh.”
“Where are your kids?” David asked.
“We don’t have any yet.” Donna shared.
“Huh. That must be boring.” David surmised.
Josh and Donna shared a smile. “We’re going to have some excitement in a few more months.” Josh
told him and indicated Donna’s swollen stomach.
“Are you going to have a boy or a girl baby?” David wanted to know.
“We don’t know.” Donna said. “Which do you think would be best?”
“Boys for sure.” David nodded wisely. “Girls cost a FORTUNE! Just ask my dad. I have three big
sisters. Dad said if I was a girl, he’d have left me at the hospital.”
“Definitely a Republican.” Josh muttered.
“You can help me with my castle, if you want.” David offered.
“Really?” Josh asked in surprise.
“Sure. You need some practice.”
“Thanks.” Josh offered a hand to help his wife up from the sandy beach, but she refused.
“I’ll just wait for you here.” She decided and pushed her sunglasses down onto her nose and leaned
back to get the full effect of the summer fun.
“See, I’ve got a couple different floors and a special place for the knights to sleep.” David pointed to
the various selling points of his castle. “Then I put these little rocks around the top for de’cration.”
“Decoration is very good. Women love decoration.” Josh agreed.
“Beth is a woman, and she judges the castles every year.”
“Ah, an in with the judge; always a smart move.” Josh watched as David carefully made a circle
around his castle and poured water in the ‘moat’. The water quickly disappeared in the sand but it
looked good. “How old are you, David?”
“I’m eight.”
“Your family comes here every year?”
“Since my biggest sister was a baby.” David shared. “It’s lots of fun here. Friday is the water slide.
You gonna go on it?”
“You think I should?”
“Yeah! It’s fast and slippery, but you get kind of messy so some of the grownups won’t even go. Do
you like getting messy?”
Josh choked back on his reply that all the adults in his line of work got messy. “I don’t mind once in
awhile. What else is fun here?”
“Well…you’ve got pony rides for the girls, water sports day, tennis, and I like the Pirate cruise.”
“Pirate cruise?”
“We go out on the Big Pelican.” David pointed to a large boat tied to the dock. “We have lunch on
barrier island and then we get attacked by pirates. We have a huge water gun fight. It’s really just the
people that work here but it’s really great.”
“It sounds great.” Josh watched David put the final touches on his castle.
“See? That’s how you do it.”
“Thanks for the tips. I better go check on Donna now. Nice meeting you David.”
“Oh! At breakfast, the cook will make pancakes in any shape you want. We try to stump her, but we
never can. Don’t forget to try that tomorrow.”
“Got it.” Josh chuckled. It was a little rough the first couple days adjusting to no television or
telephones, but he was actually getting used to it now. It was…peaceful.
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“And you, sir?” The waitress asked.
“I’ll have…” Josh gave Donna a surreptitious glance. “A pancake shaped like a boat.” Donna
sputtered but the waitress didn’t bat an eye; just wrote down the order and brought it to the kitchen.
“A boat?”
“David recommended it to me.”
“Uh-huh.” Donna smirked. “Shuffle board this afternoon.”
“Not on your life.”
“You’re going to make us play by ourselves?” Donna pouted and patted her stomach.
“If that baby is able to grasp a shuffleboard stick on his own, I’ll join you for a game.” Josh bargained.
“Then what are you going to do this afternoon?”
“I was thinking about taking one of the kayaks out.”
“On the lake? By yourself?”
“No, Donna, in the pool.”
“I don’t think it’s safe for you to go out by yourself, Josh. They have staff people that will take you
out.”
“I’m perfectly capable of managing on my own.” Josh insisted.
“Ohhhh-kay.” Donna waited until Josh’s boat shaped pancake was delivered. “That’s quite the
breakfast there, Joshua.” She used her camera phone to take a picture. “Nobody in the West Wing
will believe this.”
‘And I’ll never live it down’, thought Josh.
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“You just run…and slide.” David instructed but Josh looked dubious.
“How do you avoid the huge mud puddle at the bottom?”
“You don’t. That’s the fun part!” David exclaimed.
“You’re nuts.” Josh decreed.
“No I’m not. Watch!” David put his money where his mouth was and took a running dive onto the
huge plastic tarp that constituted the Fair Hills water slide. He gave a primal scream as he went down
the length of the side and a huge belly laugh when he landed smack dab in the middle of the puddle.
When he stood up, he was coated with mud and grass. David waved Josh on enthusiastically.
“Come on, Josh! You can do it. It’s easy!” He encouraged.
“Yeah, come on Josh!” Donna joined in from her place behind the videocam. “I dare you!”
Josh rolled his eyes, but before he could think better of it, he propelled himself to the slide and rode
the wet wave all the way down. He couldn’t see the picture he made but judging from Donna’s
reaction, he must have looked pretty ridiculous. She was laughing so hard that tears were coming
down her face.
“You did it!” David cried in delight. “You’re a mess!”
“So are you, pal.” Josh laughed. “And you lied to me. You said it wouldn’t hurt going down the slide.
My whole back is going to be bruised!” Not to mention his backside.
“It doesn’t hurt me. Maybe it’s cause you’re old.”
“Okay. That does it. It’s time for retribution.” Josh declared.
“What’s ‘retibushon’?” David asked.
“This.” Josh picked up the young boy and tossed him over his shoulder in a fireman’s carry. “Time to
clean off.”
“Where?” David asked in delighted terror.
“The lake of course.” Josh replied and tossed the young boy into the water before jumping in after
him. Donna got the whole thing on film for posterity. Both males came up for air laughing.
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“…I’m just saying that I never before correlated a Hootenanny with an enjoyable experience.”
“That’s because you’re an East Coast snob.” Donna explained.
“Hey!”
“It was a lot of fun even if it was horribly hot in there.” Donna fanned herself with the paper program.
“Come on then. I’ll buy you a triple scoop ice cream cone; I hear they’re your favorite.”
“How do you know THAT?” Donna asked in surprise.
“I have my sources.” Josh refused to name them even after the ice cream was purchased.
“Donnatella Moss. You haven’t change a bit.” Dan Preston enthused.
“I’m pretty sure a couple things have changed.” Donna smiled and hugged the old family friend.
“Starting with her name.” Josh said under his breath but the other two thirds of the conversational
group ignored him.
“You’re glowing.” Dan said politely.
“I’m expanding, that’s for sure.” Donna agreed. “We loved the Hootenanny. I think I could have
closed my eyes and been back here as a child; some of the songs are exactly the same.”
“Lots of our families like the tradition of it.” Dan explained. “I’m sure it’s nothing like the entertainment
you get in D.C. though, eh Mr. Lyman?”
“Josh, please. It’s different, but definitely charming.” Josh said diplomatically.
“So we might see you again next year?” Dan asked shrewdly.
“I’m afraid my husband might implode if he was forced to go unplugged for a week each year.”
Donna laughed.
“I’ve done alright this week.” Josh maintained.
“Yes, you have. You’ve been very accommodating.” Donna soothed his ego, then turned to Dan.
“You just need to understand that my husband begins to twitch when he’s cut off from civilization for
too long. You should have seen him when he realized there were no televisions or telephones in the
cabin.”
“A lot of our guests react that way at first, but they come around to appreciate the peace and quiet
after a while. In any case, I hope we see you two, and this new little one next summer. Maybe
someday she’ll play flute in the talent show just like her mom.”
“You played in the talent show?” Josh smiled broadly.
“Everyone does something for the talent show; you’ve seen that.”
“What I wouldn’t give for a picture of that.” He wiggled his eyebrows.
“We’ve got photo albums going back 40 years in the great room. I’m sure you can find what you’re
looking for in one of them.” Dan offered. Josh needed no more provocation. He quickly found the
approximate years and since they were organized by date, easily found some Moss family pictures,
including a couple with Donna playing flute. Donna blushed with embarrassment, but Josh soon got
lost in all the pictures in the album.
All these families had their summer memories firmly entrenched in this place. Donna pointed out
different events and points of interest in the photos. Josh was charmed to see a water slide from
when Donna was little and the whole Moss family covered in mud. These pieces of personal history
kept running through Josh’s mind long after they went to bed for the evening.
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“Hello?” Josh’s mother Sarah answered the phone quizzically.
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Joshua? Where are you calling from? I don’t recognize the number…or the area code.”
“It’s our last day in Minnesota. We’re heading home in the morning. I’m calling from a pay phone at
Fair Hills. The place Donna wanted to vacation at; where her family always went growing up.”
“Really? What’s it like?”
“It’s…different.” Josh shrugged even though his mother couldn’t see him. “The cabins don’t have
any locks, TV’s, or telephones.”
“And you’ve lasted there for six days?”
“Yes, I have, smart aleck.” Josh chuckled. “Actually, it’s been okay. Lots of families with small children
running everywhere. Seems like everyone knows everyone else here.”
“Not quite what you’re used to.”
“No, but…” Josh hesitated. “Remember when we’d go the shore in the summer?”
“Yes, of course.” Sarah answered immediately. They’d gone religiously every summer until the year
that Joanie died. Then they never went back again. Perhaps the memories there were too deep.
“It’s kind of like that.”
“So you’re having a good time?”
“It’s this backwards, time warped village like in that Night Shyamalan movie…uh…”
“The Village?” Sarah prompted with a chuckle.
“Yeah! Except without the killing obviously.” Josh qualified.
“That would put a damper on things.” Sarah agreed. “So, you’re having a good time?”
“Did I not mention the lack of phones and locks and televisions?”
“Yeah, so you’re having a good time?” Sarah laughed again.
“I really am.” Josh admitted. “In fact, I already booked us for the same week next year.” Josh patted
his pocket where the receipt for his reservation resided.
“It will be a whole new experience vacationing with the baby.” Sarah reminded him.
“I know.” Sarah could hear the smile in her son’s voice. “Hey! Would you like to come too?”
“To a place in Northern Minnesota that has no locks, telephones, or televisions?” Sarah asked.
“Yeah.”
“Love to.” Sarah answered quickly. “Count me in.”
“Deal. I’ll call you when we get home.”
“Okay. Have a safe trip and give my love to Donna.”
“Bye, Mom.”
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“Josh! Josh, wait!” David came running at their rental car, full speed.
“I looked for you at breakfast to say goodbye, but I couldn’t find you.” Josh told him.
“I had to pack.” David rolled his eyes in the time honored tradition of children who felt put upon by
their parents’ unreasonable demands.
“Ah. Thanks for showing me around Fair Hills. I had a great time.” Josh shook the boy’s hand in a
way that had him immediately puffing up.
“I’ve got my email address so we can write to each other until next year.” David handed him a piece
of paper. Donna felt she better step in. Josh had been very sweet to the boy, but she didn’t want
David to be disappointed when Josh neither emailed nor showed up at Fair Hills next summer.
“Oh, David, Josh isn’t a very good emailer, and I’m not sure if we’ll be back next summer.” She tried
to ease out of it.
“I don’t know where you’re planning to be next summer, Donnatella, but Mom, the baby and I will be
right here; same week, same cabin.” Josh breezily tossed the reservation receipt to his wife whose
eyes boggled at the paper. “She is right about the emailing, though. I’m not very good about writing
much. I’ll try.”
David nodded his acceptance of Josh’s promise. “At least when the baby is born, right?”
“At least that. I’ll even attach a picture.”
“Cool. See you next year!”
“Bye!” Josh and Donna chorused. Josh watched until David ran out of sight before getting into the
rental car. “Are you sure we have to go to Fargo?”
“It’s the closest airport, but if you’d prefer to drive four hours to Minneapolis…”
“No.” Josh answered quickly and began to drive. Donna waited a full two minutes.
“So…next year?”
“I thought it would be fun for the kid?”
“Which kid? Ours or David?” Donna laughed.
“Both, smartass.”
“And your MOTHER?”
“I thought she’d enjoy the trip back in time since she lived through the original period of no
televisions or telephones.”
“I’m SO telling her you said that.”
“I’ll deny it.”
“She’ll believe me.”
“Shit.”
“Uh-huh. Care to amend your answer, counselor?”
“I just thought a family vacation should include the whole family, okay?”
“Okay.” Donna agreed and took his hand in hers. It looked like a family vacation was going to be an
annual thing.