Not Like it Once Was

I just returned from a short trip up north to visit family and celebrate the birth of my grandnephew Michael in the suburbs of Boston. The city of Boston was my old stomping grounds. I was born there; I worked right in the heart of downtown as a kid and learned my trade as a goldsmith. I also enjoyed the night life in the Faneuil Hall district when I was a young man. Back then I lived only minutes away in the outskirts of the city.

One thing I have noticed… The more things change the more they remain the same. Traffic in Beantown back then was bad as with most large cities; antiquated roads with potholes that would swallow a motorcycle. The pain and anguish of daily commuting was a deciding factor and one of the reasons why I left Boston lock, stock and barrel to relocate and live here on Marco In 1994. The traffic situation I experienced last week…it’s beyond words. Even the secondary side roads move at a snail’s pace and major highways are virtually slow-moving parking lots.

I decided to head to the Gloucester seashore where I spent some of the best years of my life and there were roadside neon signs that blared “absolutely no beach access unless you made a reservation in advance.” These signs were posted on the highway miles before the beaches were even in sight! Luckily, I wasn’t going to the beach - I was seeking fresh Atlantic lobster downtown.

And that was the North shore area. Heading southeast from Boston is how you get to Cape Cod. I honestly believe it would be quicker to walk than to attempt driving there on any giving day between April and September. If you dare to join the stagnant traveling masses, be sure to leave at the crack of dawn and pack a lunch, dinner and plenty of fluids, if you have kids, aspirin, and good luck with keeping your sanity on that trip!

That brings me to my current stomping grounds… “Paradise Found” (aka Marco Island). This place is for sure not like it once was. We can all argue all kinds of points, the longtime residents, the not so long time and the newbies. There are, without a doubt, plenty of both pro and con issues. And just recently we can add the battle of the tennis crowd versus pickleball enthusiasts. There are some who tell me that things on the island are currently better than ever; these must be the folks who are off their med’s riding bikes in the middle of the road with ear-to-ear grins on their faces and heads in the clouds, who the remaining islander’s and commercial traffic are trying to avoid running over! 

And then the majority of islander’s argue…what are you talking about? The island’s going to hell in a handbasket! Be what it may, I still love it here. I raised my kids here, I built my dream house, started and grew a successful business here from nothing. Life is good.

One thing is for sure, I have been very fortunate. In the off season I enjoy the fruits of my labor by occasionally (Okay! Maybe a little more than occasionally if you happen to ask my son, daughter and store staff!) traveling abroad with my wife and sometimes with naive friends who want to come along and enjoy our adventures into the unknown and don’t mind traveling by the seat of their pants. (Reservations? Who needs reservations?)

The European countries are my favorites. Where else can you have breakfast in Dusseldorf, Germany, lunch in Brussels, Belgium and a candlelight dinner in Paris, France all in the same 24 hours! 

There is nothing more exciting than getting off the roads most traveled and poking about where tourists rarely go (I have never gone on group travel tour junkets and never will!) My advice: rent a car with a GPS and go where the road takes you.

You have to have the will and chutzpah to really and truly get lost in the French or Tuscan countryside not even knowing in advance where you will be spending the night, a daunting thought for many. (This included some friends from Naples that we traveled with a few years back who thought my intentional quest of “getting lost” was a good reason I should seek professional help. To this day they never stop talking about our “lost adventures” in the Italian countryside.)  

I learned the best way to avoid lamenting about what it once was, and what it is now was to go and do something different…somewhere different. 

I’m often asked what’s the big deal about Mallorca, Spain? It’s a destination place my wife and I frequent regularly - in fact, I’m returning this summer. My only answer is that I haven’t gotten tired of vacationing in a picture-perfect environment yet! For those of you who are unaware, Mallorca is an island off southern Spain in the Mediterranean. The people, it’s culture, (I am an avid fan of siesta time!) always sunny weather, ink blue deep water and boating to discover it’s one hundred and twenty-five mostly private beaches, plus the seafood and wine and most importantly…reasonable prices.

I’m sorry but for what it costs to vacation on Marco for a week you could live like a rock star for a month in Mallorca! For example, a four-course dinner for two from soup to nuts, more than a single bottle of wine with complimentary brandy…the bill is 57 Euros or $60 American greenbacks. Now that, my friend, is paradise!

I have only put a dent in traveling to mainland Spain. That’s on my bucket list. I have been to Venice and Rome, Italy numerous times, way too expensive and too many people and if I never set foot there again, there would be no regrets. Yet Florence, on the other hand, has even more people and it remains a place I will never tire of. It is a magically historic city of culture, romance, food and wine. You have not lived until you taste fresh Tuscan prosecco - an ice-cold bubbly sweet white wine often proudly made by small individual restaurant owners kept cold in centuries old cellars in the city and country.

Oh! I almost forgot! I do a lot of business there with large and small manufacturers; it is the world’s center for the finest gold jewelry. There is my jewelry shop’s plug.

You may notice a common thread here… the word “WINE.” Of all the countries I have visited in my sojourns the best wines I ever tasted were in Tuscany, Italy and Spain. Yes, I agree France should make the top three but they, more often than not, were not to my taste or wallet (really expensive). Whereas in Italy and Spain they were often homemade or from local vineyards and you only paid a ridiculous $10 or $12 a bottle that tasted like the nectar of the gods. And the Sangria is the best in Espana at a couple of Euros a glass.

When the travel time is done, I always look forward to coming home to “The Rock” regardless of what controversies are brewing. It is what it is - some call it progress. 

There is no need to worry about the past or the way things used to be. More than a few of us are not exactly “stuck here” so go out and travel and find what you have never experienced, be adventurous, don’t lament…live life! 

Richard Alan is a designer/goldsmith and owner of the Harbor Goldsmith, Marco’s go-to jeweler since 1994. He welcomes your questions about All That Glitters. www.harborgoldsith.com.