The Dramamine Incident

As this year's family vacation draws near, I have started to reminisce about the vacations we've taken in years past. My family has gone on vacation together every summer for about the past 13 years. Every summer my parents (very generously) rent a house somewhere and we all get together for a week of fun.

Our first vacation was to the UP in Michigan (that's Upper Peninsula for those of you not familiar with the Midwest - not the newest feature from the team at Disney/Pixar) It took place in the summer of 2006 right after I met Mr. Crackers. We talked on the phone a few times that week. My Mom told me she knew the relationship was getting serious because my feet were doing a happy dance the whole time I was talking to him. She was right, since that year Mr. Crackers has bravely been on every family vacation.

My Uncle and Cousin usually come along on most of our vacations too. Since they live all the way out in California, this gives us another opportunity to see them during the year besides Christmas when everyone is a bit hyped up with holiday stress cheer.


Back in 2001 (before we had to worry about air travel with small children) the whole family took a trip to Barbados. My Mom's family came to America from England via Barbados and she thought it would be fun to vacation somewhere that was both tropical and where we had some familial ties.

That group of trouble is my cousin Drey on the far left, my brother-in-law Fred, my Uncle George, my sister Linda & Mr. Crackers. My Mom was right, we had a great time that week. We played in the ocean, did some crossword puzzles, toured the island, did some crossword puzzles, did a bit of ancestral research, did some crossword puzzles, took a Catamaran ride, did some crossword puzzles... (Seriously this family is addicted to them. You would be shocked if you saw the stack of crossword puzzles that are brought on these trips. My Mom saves them up from the NY Times as well as our local paper for weeks before the trip to ensure the group does not run out of the puzzles while we are vacationing.)

There's my cousin Drey standing with my Dad. Drey is probably about 13 years old in this picture. He's always been a great kid and something of a younger brother to my sister, myself and our 2 husbands. This is a bit novel for all of us since none of the 4 of us ever had a younger brother. We've always had fun teasing him a bit, but mostly we just enjoy his company. Occasionally though our instincts as older siblings (& here I am mostly referring to Mr. Crackers and myself. I think Fred & Linda were pretty free of those instincts) have gotten a little out of hand and we may have become a little bossy overly concerned about his welfare.

I am speaking specifically of the "Dramamine incident" as it is referred to in our family. We had rented a Catamaran and Captain for a 2 or 3 hour boat ride in the Caribbean to watch sea turtles, dolphins and other ocean life. Mr. Crackers and I were a bit worried about Drey since he has a history of motion sickness (I have been traveling with him on more than one occasion when the car has made a sudden maneuver to the shoulder of the road so that Drey could divest himself of the contents of his stomach). Since we wanted him to enjoy the boat ride to it's fullest, Mr. Crackers & I double teamed him and insisted convinced him to take some Dramamine. After all, we pointed out, he wouldn't have any fun on the cruise if he spent the whole time throwing up over the side of the boat. Eventually he got tired of hearing us whine about it relented and took the Dramamine and we set off for our adventure.


The boat was beautiful, the seas were calm and the weather was perfect. We didn't get to see any sea turtles (that I remember), but we all had a wonderful time. Well...almost all of us had a wonderful time.

Some of us just had a really relaxing time. The thing is... Mr. Cracker's and I didn't realize that Dramamine can make you drowsy. Very, very drowsy. The good news is that Drey didn't get sick even once on the cruise. The bad news is that he didn't get to really enjoy the boat ride after all since he slept through the entire thing. So you know, it's like a glass is half empty/half full situation. Sure he missed all the cool sea creatures, but at least he didn't throw up...right?! Right?! (Since we are on the subject, I'll go ahead here and say it once again: so sorry Drey!)

Despite the teasing and occasional bossy episode he experiences from his cousins, Drey still travels back East once a year to go on vacation with us. It's been 8 years since the dreaded "Dramamine incident" and since then the family has grown to include 4 kids. Most of our trips these days are within driving distance from Ohio so that we can avoid air travel.

Drey's in his early twenties now and this year he's making the journey back East alone since my Uncle isn't able to join us. He's probably happier than anyone else that there are now 4 kids in the family. We expend so much energy watching the kids that much to his pleasure we pretty much leave him alone now.

The kids have the last laugh though. Their favorite vacation activity (besides swimming) is waking him up. Once out of bed the kids start clamoring to make sure Drey doesn't sleep too long. It's hard, but we make them wait until 9:00am before they can raid his room and jump on his bed until he is forced to get up. What can I say? Things can't be too bad - he keeps coming back year after year for more. See you soon Drey - We miss you!