Summer 2026

At a neighborhood cookout last weekend, a friend asked if we had taken a vacation this summer. While we did not take an extended trip, as I thought about our summer, I realized we covered a few of our favorite destinations that are not too far afield.

We went to two concerts at Tanglewood, a beautiful outdoor concert venue in the Berkshire mountains. This is one of our favorite New England destinations with beautiful scenery, good food and a great place to spend time with friends. Jon Stewart from “The Daily Show” was one of the performers, and if you have a chance to see him perform, I highly recommend it. Two hours of non-stop laughing is good for your mental health.

My son Pete and I also made our annual trek to western Massachusetts to spend a few days golfing. We couldn’t make our schedules work for a couple of Pete’s college summer years, but we have successfully renewed the tradition. The experience has changed from when the highlight for Pete was driving the golf cart to him substantially out driving me off the tee. But by some miracle I scored pretty well and managed to win a round from him one day. It probably won’t happen again for a while, but it won’t stop me from reminding him every chance I get.

We were also able to see the Tall Ships, including the U.S.S. Constitution, celebrating our nation’s 250th birthday in Boston Harbor. It was quite a setting seeing so many classic vessels with Boston as the backdrop.

So while we did not get our passports stamped with any exotic locations, we had a wonderful summer which of course again went by far too quickly