August is traditionally the time for summer vacations (I’m personally of the opinion that all American businesses should take a cue from Europe and shut down for the month—that’s cool with you, Protima, right?). And who doesn’t love a good family summer vacation--full of bonding, fun, love, and siblings fighting each other in the backseat during those excruciatingly long car rides. We therefore asked D&B staff to share their best summer family vacation stories. – Joseph McKeown

Matt Bray, Attorney    
I went with the extended family on my mom’s side to Cape May, NJ--I was probably about ten or eleven. We all--five full families--stayed together in a big house (which itself was a step up from previous years’ vacations spent at campgrounds on the Jersey Shore). All the kids--the cousins--performed for the adults. We wrote original plays and lip-synced and did routines to some family favorites (including The Beatles’ “Yellow Submarine”). I also remember the dunes and grass and walking to the beach in beautiful weather. And getting a hermit crab (which I later killed by leaving in the house during an extermination).

Elizabeth Brettschneider, Attorney
My best family vacations growing up were when my parents, my brother, and I went to Maine. I remember lots of messy lobster eating with the plastic bib around my neck and my fingers covered in butter. On one particular summer trip to Maine when I was about eleven years old, the family drove up Cadillac Mountain in Acadia National Park and then went for a walk around the paths on top. There are many scenic overlooks and we posed for photos. My dad was getting nervous that my brother and I were too close to the edge so of course I took advantage and started posing on what looked like a dangerous precipice (but really wasn’t) while balancing on one leg. A photo of this shenanigan was snapped and now this practice has become a family tradition. Even into adulthood I continue to send my father photos of myself balancing on the edge of what looks like a cliff.