Since I’m the author and the only person working on this book I’m not going to limit myself to just one first big trip. Rather, I would like to identify several first trips at stages of my life.

First High School Trip: As was the tradition for the senior class of St. Patrick’s High School my classmates and I traveled by bus to Washington, D.C. in the Spring of 1962. We stopped in Harrisburg on the way for a brief tour of the Pennsylvania State Capitol and a boring chat with our local state legislator. We stayed at a downtown hotel in Washington and to assure there would be no sexual dalliance during the trip our parish priest who accompanied us booked the boys and the girls on separate floors. It was nevertheless fun staying in a hotel. While there was no hanky-panky of which I was aware, there were hijinks and rowdiness on the boys’ floor. One instance of mischief that I clearly remember is when the boys who were our class bullies lit matches and candles and held them so close against the feet of us sleeping nerdy boys such that we actually sensed a burn, awakening us with the fear that we were on fire. During our three days in Washington we had tours of the White House, the Capitol, the Lincoln and Jefferson memorials, and several of the Smithsonian Institution museums, pretty much the standard fare for a tourist visit to our Nation’s Capital. It was thrilling for a teenager from Scranton to actually visit the famous edifices and memorials located in the seat of our government, and the trip was particularly noteworthy for me because it was the first time I was away from home without family.

First College Trip: In the Fall of 1966 I was included in a select group of University of Scranton accounting majors to be interviewed in New York for a possible internship with one of the so-called “Big 8” international accounting firms. We stayed at the Barbizon-Plaza Hotel on Central Park South. We were excited about staying there because it reputedly hosted models and airline stewardesses. Perhaps so, but regrettably not during the week we were there. I had interviews with four of the accounting firms and accepted a 3-month internship with Arthur Andersen in their New York office. I saw a lot more of Manhattan that week than I had in previous visits to the Big Apple with my Dad, so I’ll always remember this trip for that as well as for the fact that it was the first time I flew!

First Law School Trip: Well, it really wasn’t a law school trip. I didn’t go anywhere while in law school other than to Dick & Gary’s across the D.C. line in Hyattsville. But the trip I’m going to describe involved a bunch of law school friends, so this will have to do. Skip Gillespie and Pat Cummings were two of my law school classmates. I was at their apartment the night of the 1968 election and buoyed by the projection that their candidate, Richard Nixon, would be our next President, they announced that they have decided to get married and we would all be invited to the wedding in New York. I attended and stayed with another law school classmate in Brooklyn. While this was a short trip it was special because of the venues. The wedding ceremony was in St. Patrick’s Cathedral, the reception was at the Playboy Club, and the post-reception party for family and close friends was at the Plaza Hotel. Notwithstanding the majesty of all that I was pretty disappointed that there was no bachelor’s party (or if there was one, I wasn’t invited).

First Arthur Andersen Trip: In August 1969 I joined the tax staff of Arthur Andersen in its Washington office. Its home office was in Chicago and new professional staff was required to attend a 3-week orientation program there. In September another new tax staff member and I drove nonstop to the Windy City for the orientation. Our employer arranged for us to stay with attendees from other offices at a Northwestern University dormitory situated along the banks of Lake Michigan. It seemed weird to return to a dormitory room after starting a professional career, but it was Arthur Andersen’s dime so we had no choice. It was really cool, though, to appreciate the beauty of Lake Michigan each day we were there. In our free time we toured some of the sights of Chicago, including a walk down the Magnificent Mile, the Chicago Loop area, the Playboy Club, and the Rush Street bar and club scene. On one Saturday night visit to Rush Street I literally almost bumped into Frank Sinatra. I was leaving a bar when he was entering with his two bodyguards. He looked at me and I looked at him and neither of us said anything. Our return trip to Washington was made in record time. I remember being scared by how fast my friend was driving throughout the dark of night and early morning. I asked him to slow down but he said he was married and after three weeks away from his wife he was very horny. We did arrive home at the crack of dawn. I liked Chicago. It’s my kind of town. But for me it will always be second to New York.

First Ash, Bauersfeld, Burton Trip: One of the partners (Charles Burton) in the law firm I joined in 1971 represented a life insurance company which was based in Phoenix. It had some tax and accounting issues that needed to be addressed and Mr. Burton and I traveled to Phoenix in the early summer of 1973 to work on those matters. We were there about 3 weeks, and it was extremely hot in the daytime. I did get to see much of Phoenix and its upscale neighbor, Scottsdale. The most memorable event of this trip was a Saturday drive up to Flagstaff. On the way we stopped at the desert town of Sedona where we visited a native trader who sold all kinds of Indian art, jewelry, and other wares. I bought a bracelet for my wife from him. We also stopped at a chapel in Oak Creek Canyon to view the surrounding spectacular red cliffs. The chapel was open but empty, and while we were there the chapel’s bell started ringing. I remember feeling that it was a spiritual moment. When we got to Flagstaff I was amazed at seeing snow on the ground. I had many more visits to Phoenix during my years with the law firm, particularly to work on tax cases for a company that operated dog tracks throughout Arizona, and while I enjoyed the area I was saddened by the time away from my family.

First Dembo Jones Trip: Dembo Jones was a member of an association of regional accounting firms called ARAF. Representative partners in the firms would attend the various conferences sponsored by ARAF. I was selected by Dembo Jones to attend a tax conference at the legendary Broadmoor Hotel in Colorado Springs. It was a typical 3-day ARAF conference – attend a three hour meeting in the morning, play golf in the afternoon, and drink in the evening. The Broadmoor is a five star hotel and it had a great golf course. Coleman White was also at that conference and we played golf one afternoon. The first 4 or 5 holes were played in beautiful sunshine and pleasant temperature. Then we got to a couple of holes close to the mountain where the temperature was about 30 degrees lower and hail was falling on the greens! Amazing. We also learned that putts always slope away from the mountain. Neither one of us scored anything close to decent that round, but we did find comfort each evening at a local pub. I attended three more ARAF conferences in later years, in Atlanta, Nashville, and Montreal, but none of them was as much fun as Colorado Springs. Maybe they would have been if Coleman was around.

First U.S. Territory Trip: After my Dad had his open heart surgery in 1965 he decided to travel a bit. I don’t know what got him interested in Puerto Rico, but in the summer of 1966, after my college graduation and before my start at law school, he decided to visit Puerto Rico and he invited me to accompany him. There was no connection to Puerto Rico from Scranton so we had to fly there from Philadelphia. We stayed at a resort-type hotel in San Juan, which seemed to be a popular hang-out place for ladies of the evening. We enjoyed the beach and the warm waters of the Caribbean Sea and the Atlantic, although neither of us could swim. We went to a racetrack outside San Juan one afternoon and it actually was fun to place $2 bets on each race. As I recall my Dad won about $20. I didn’t pick any winner, but so what, I was playing with his money. On another day we boarded an island hopper and flew with a tour group to the nearby St. Thomas U.S. Virgin Islands. It seemed to be a very scenic and peaceful island, but most of our time there with the tour group was spent in shopping venues. Dad and I agreed that for us anyway St. Thomas was a tourist trap. We did frequent the hotel casino in the evening. We both played Blackjack at the $2 minimum table, and Dad also liked to play Roulette. One evening we had dinner after our casino activity and then went up to our hotel room. Dad said he was going back down to the casino for a bit. I fell asleep and when I woke up the next morning Dad was not there and his bed was not slept on. About 15 minutes later he came into the room and just suggested we go downstairs for breakfast and plan our day. I never asked my father where he was all night, but if the reason for his absence was what I thought maybe it was, I probably would have given him a high five.

First Foreign Country Trip: For our summer vacation in 1975 my wife said she wanted to visit Sue Michel and her parents in Seattle. Chris was about 15 months old and didn’t want to go, but we made him. After we got there Sue suggested that we embark on an overnight trip to Vancouver. Sue’s mother agreed to watch and spoil Chris. I think she felt like he was her grandson. So we left Seattle early one morning and Sue drove us to Vancouver. We spent the day hanging out in the downtown area. I was surprised by how much Vancouver looked like any major American city. I guess I was just naïve and expected to see a different urban setting in a foreign country. The ladies decided the next morning that we should take the ferry over to Victoria Island and visit the highly-acclaimed Butchart Gardens. I can’t begin to tell you how thrilled I was to spend another day of my vacation on that excursion. After spending a full afternoon there, smelling flowers and taking pictures, we returned to Seattle that evening and found that Chris was still thriving. I could hardly wait for him to be old enough for me to tell him all about our first visit to a foreign country.

First Bob, Claudia & Kids Trip: I can’t remember. It doesn’t matter. They all took place subsequent to all of the trips described above, and in my opinion all of our family trips were first rate.