We happened upon the black bear in the photo near a Salmon hatchery in Ketchican, Alaska. He was quite the fisherman and was eating far too well to pay any attention to the nearby gaggle of admiring tourists. Oh, Alaska. When I’ve recounted my recent family trip to our northern most state (via a cruise ship), it’s the tales (and photos) of the transcendent wilderness and wildlife that intrigue the most. But one of my favorite moments was more personal, at the end of the trip, during a family trivia contest.
The cruise was a seven day round-trip out of Vancouver. In the course of the trip, if you ask me, my children spent too much on their electronic gadgets and not enough time off them. But my wife and I felt that, as it was their vacation too, they deserved a break from parental authority interceding between them and their pleasures. Most of the time—and especially during meals. We returned to Vancouver this past Saturday, and at dinner time we agreed to play vacation trivia—meaning we’d try to stump each other on questions about our time in Alaska.
Here’s the surprising (and wonderful) thing: My 10-year-old son dominated. The boy who seemingly balks at most forms of reading, paying attention, consideration, contemplation, respect for his sister, and listening to his parents, really knew his stuff.
Places, facts, names of tour guides, names of tour lines, minutia about nature and animals, and on and on.
“Who is this boy?” I asked my wife?
She didn’t know either.
But clearly aspects of our time in Alaska had captured his imagination and attention as much as it did ours. And what more can your ask for as traveler and a parent?
Eric Messinger is the editor of New York Family. He can be reached at emessinger@manhattanmedia.com.
