Planning for a week’s vacation and taking a week’s vacation kept me from writing my column over the last two weeks. But I’m back and rested. Often times, planning the vacation is the best part of the whole thing. In this case, my vacation with family surpassed expectations.

I flew out of Midway in Chicago on Sunday. Upon arriving to the airport I found my ticket was for Saturday. Duh! I got into Newark, N.J., around 5 p.m. and drove up to Maine, getting in about 1:30 a.m.

Driving through New York City and that whole Boston corridor is not for the timid.

My brother Alan greeted me at his in-laws cabin on North Pond, which really is a big lake. I had my first kayaking experience and now I want one.

We went to the coast and had fresh-steamed lobsters right off the boat for $5 a pound. It is the only way to eat lobster, although the lobster rolls we ate the next day were mighty tasty.
The scenery and the weather were amazing. I heard the eerie cry of the loons for the first time.

On Wednesday I headed down to New Jersey to stay with my daughter in historic Bordentown, home of “Common Sense” author Thomas Paine and Francis Hopkinson, a signer of the Declaration of Independence. It’s also the town where my dad sold ads for the newspaper, the Bordentown Register. My first writing job was covering high schools sports there when I was in high school.

One of the highlights of my stay was three-plus hours walking around town with my grandson Caleb. Sometimes electronics get in the way of good conversation with that generation, but he brought no electronics on the walk. It was great to catch up in person.

Mom is doing pretty good as she approaches 84 with my sister Cindy helping her out.

The old farmhouse could use some paint, but all looked well. My son Chris and I capped things off with a great breakfast at one of my favorite spots.

It was good to get some one-on-one time with each member of my family.

Now I’m back and figuring out a budget and plan for the Leader.

My deadline is Monday and I’m not even close. The stress level is building as we develop improvement for you in our future products.

I think I’m ready for a vacation.

Michael Bennett can be reached at michael.bennett@leaderpub.com or (269) 687-7700.